Vorkosiverse reread

[flourish]

So, there was some interest in the group of doing a "getting to know you" in the form of a Vorkosiverse reread.

If people are still interested in this, it might be nice to take it in single chunks (novels/novellas/short stories each being one chunk - not omnibus collections being one chunk) and in either publication or timeline order. In that case, the first book we'd read would either be Falling Free or Shards of Honor.

Which do people prefer as the first book?

When would people prefer to start? I was considering late May, perhaps; that's a long time from now, but it also gives plenty of time for new community members to show up and introduce themselves once the site enters open beta, plus it gives plenty of time for people's school years (if they have them) to be wrapping up. (Or does that just conflict with finals week?)

What are your thoughts? Certainly if the people who'd be re-reading can't do a certain time or don't want to do a certain book, we won't do it that way!

Comments

[elf]

Shards of Honor is available as an ebook from Baen; it's combined with Barrayar in a single ebook called Cordelia's Honor for $5. I believe the entire setof her Vorkosigan books are available; Falling Free is part of the "Miles, Mutants & Microbes" set, also for $5.

I know plenty of people won't touch ebooks, but if someone can't get a paper copy in time for a re-read, it's nice to have *something* available. And Baen's books are downloadable in something like a dozen formats, with no DRM.

[mel]

Thanks for mentioning these ebooks; I didn't realize Baen had them available. I'm another one who moved across the country and arrived without half my books.

I'm interested in this reread, I've actually already been rereading the ones I still have and putting the ones I don't on my library list. (Also, searching my house madly for The Warrior's Apprentice, which my son borrowed and swears he handed back to me, but which neither of us can find. It's driving me crazy. This house is just not that big.)

[feuervogel]

The best part, IMO, about the Baen's books is that they're totally 100% DRM-free. Even though I own physical copies of all of them, I'm contemplating e-versions just so I can search them.

I'm generally up for a re-read! I just re-read Memory and blogged it (on my blogspot blog); I love it to pieces. If anyone's interested, I can post it here?

[axelrod]

And I can read an ebook on my computer, if I don't have an ebook reader (yet - I think it's inevitable)?

[elf]

Yes! The ebook format tells you what program you need to read it (I think the kindle's .azw is the only one that doesn't have a computer program), but since Baen books are offered in .pdf, .rtf and .html, there's no problem reading them on any computer.

Buying a Baen ebook gets you access to all their different filetypes for download: Palm Pilot/Mobipocket/Kindle format, Rocketbook, EPUB/Stanza, Sony LRF, RTF and MS Reader.

[axelrod]

Thanks : )

So, at Baen, you get one filetype per download? Or once on you pay, you have access to all filetypes? And/or can you convert between the various filetypes? (Why do I suspect this question has been asked many many times before? ; ) )

[elf]

At Baen, once you pay, you have access to all the filetypes, downloaded as many times as you want.

You can convert between them if you have the right software, but they have enough types that you supposedly won't have to. But if you wanted, for example, a PDF that was sized for the Sony Reader (~A6 size, but not exactly), you could start with the RTF and convert it. Or you could convert the RTF to eReader pdb, or make it a TealDoc, or whatever.

(Asking questions that have been asked before is fine; so far, I never get tired of talking about ebooks.)