Epic fantasy the last 5-6 years, nothing great?

[Jaxom 1974]

6 hours ago, One-Winged Balrog said:

Well, buying ebooks (and new paper books) directly benefits the author financially. Buying used books does not. if you go out of the way to buy used books in order to save money, you might as well just pirate ebooks instead. Ethically it seems the same to me.

Wait until you hear about these places called "libraries" that have one or two copies or a title and they constantly let people just borrow them...  

[Gigei]

9 hours ago, Rhom said:

Fair enough.  That adequately describes much of the first book.  The second and third get away from it and into the bigger metaphysical questions.  But when reading time is limited, I understand not wanting to spend time on a travelogue.

Oh dear, I didn't realize it was that kind of book. Hmm, I'm looking for a faster-paced epic fantasy with a little bit more action.

[One-Winged Balrog]

5 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Wait until you hear about these places called "libraries" that have one or two copies or a title and they constantly let people just borrow them...  

I'm not morally opposed to libraries. Or people borrowing books from other people. Then again, I'm also not opposed to pirating.

I mean, clearly the prevailing ethical consensus in our society (imperfectly encoded by laws) is that the author should get some financial award, but also that not absolutely every book-related transaction should benefit them.

But still, if you go out of your way to legally only consume books in ways that don't benefit the author (such as using libraries or used books), then morally your behavior is equivalent to illegally using pirated ebooks. In both cases the author gets nothing material. The only difference is that one is a crime (however petty) and the other is not.

[dog-days]

Not going to look this up now because I'm about to head to a library and pick up a book I have on hold, but I think public libraries in the UK have a reward scheme going for authors based on the number of times the book is loaned. Authors also  tend to be noticeably pro-library. There are probably authors out there who mutter to themselves every morning and evening about bloody libraries wrecking their lives with their public supply of education, personal consolation, community and warmth, but so far I haven't encountered any. 

I'd love to be able to buy a book whenever I find something I want to read, but like many people - as was true of the vast majority of people for recorded history, in fact - I simply can't afford it. OTOH, if I buy a book second-hand, I'm helping to save the resources that would have gone into the creation of a new copy of the same book, am possibly helping a charity depending on where I got the book, am keeping my mind somewhat alive which helps keep me sane enough for gainful employment and thus not a Burden on Society^TM, and my reaction to the book, as told to people in RL or recorded online, can help generate publicity for the author. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

1 hour ago, One-Winged Balrog said:

I'm not morally opposed to libraries. Or people borrowing books from other people. Then again, I'm also not opposed to pirating.

I mean, clearly the prevailing ethical consensus in our society (imperfectly encoded by laws) is that the author should get some financial award, but also that not absolutely every book-related transaction should benefit them.

But still, if you go out of your way to legally only consume books in ways that don't benefit the author (such as using libraries or used books), then morally your behavior is equivalent to illegally using pirated ebooks. In both cases the author gets nothing material. The only difference is that one is a crime (however petty) and the other is not.

Rubbish. In the UK, at least, authors do benefit from library use. 
The more people pirate, the more traffic pirate sites get and the more the pirates benefit, and the more it happens, and the more the author suffers.

And authors, barring thr big names, generally don’t make much money,  not enough to live on. I speak from experience.

[One-Winged Balrog]

58 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

And authors, barring the big names, generally don’t make much money,  not enough to live on. I speak from experience.

This just strengthens the case for buying new books. Or ebooks.

[Rhom]

7 hours ago, Gigei said:

Oh dear, I didn't realize it was that kind of book. Hmm, I'm looking for a faster-paced epic fantasy with a little bit more action.

It has that too, but as you’ve noticed it’s locked behind a travelogue.  

[Zorral]

22 hours ago, One-Winged Balrog said:

Well, that's what I meant - isn't it weird that ebooks haven't won over yet? People sure are old-fashioned when it comes to reading.

If you read only for lite entertainment, maybe.

But people who read for serious knowledge and information -- we need maps, citations, graphs, tables, footnotes, appendices, indices, illustrations, plates and so on.  Also even many novels are far better in hand, and certainly and essays, histories and so many other works like poetry is.  The very act of reading is easier with a print book. It has be studied to a degree; people retain information far more from eyeball reading a print book.

 

[LongRider]

I prefer print books over other venues.  Books on CD, no matter their quality, my either wanders or falls asleep.  My ereader has seen little use and is now in storage.  What I find ereaders good for is library books, if the book wanted is in hard copy but available in e-format then check out and download the ebook  I read The Mirror and the Light that way.

Give me a dead tree book from library any day.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

On 9/2/2022 at 11:14 PM, Jaxom 1974 said:

Wait until you hear about these places called "libraries" that have one or two copies or a title and they constantly let people just borrow them...  

But Libraries aren’t making additional copies to lend… that’s the issue.

[A wilding]

Several countries, including the UK have a Public Lending Right system, under which authors are paid a small fee every time one of their books is borrowed from a library. As I understand it, for at least some authors this adds up to a significant income.

[Rhom]

23 hours ago, A wilding said:

Several countries, including the UK have a Public Lending Right system, under which authors are paid a small fee every time one of their books is borrowed from a library. As I understand it, for at least some authors this adds up to a significant income.

Where does that money come from?

[A wilding]

29 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Where does that money come from?

In the UK libraries are run by the state at the taxpayer's expense. So the taxpayer pays.

(However, as with most public services in the UK, the funding has been drying up and many libraries have been downsized or closed. Another stupid ideology driven economy.)