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Topic: Purchasing Groombridge Log? (Read 4034 times)
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mytamhuyet
Zebranky food
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Hi, I'd like to purchase the Groombridge Log ebook by Tiberium, but neither the Australian Amazon nor the Australian Kobo store will sell it to me. And you can't buy ebooks from the US Amazon or Kobo stores from Australia without using a VPN and making a bogus US account.
What other stores is it available at, that I might be able to purchase it for my eReader? I really want to support Tiberium, rather than just reading the free version.
Thanks for any help you can give!
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Tiberian
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I have no information on Australian local ebook systems. In addition to Amazon and Kobo, I know that both Groombridge Log and Eternal Doctrine are available in the Finnish Elisa kirja service. Perhaps there is something similar in Australia? I know that at least Walmart sells them as ebooks.
Since Kindle as a whole is not supported in Finland, I myself have simply created a US Amazon account and purchased everything from there. I don't know if that works for you, though.
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Casseus
Zebranky food
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Australia is a special case when it comes to stuff like this. They make you jump through hoops... Just get a VPN and make a US account or something.
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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I remember starting the book and being a bit put off by it. This thread got me to start it over again.
I remember the problems from before and still think they're problems. Generally, it seems like the author was just running with nifty ideas that popped into his head rather than thinking things through and searching for consequences and making sure that things were in the state they would have been in already when it starts.
1) The porn watching is dumb except the first time, and especially dumb when people who'd been involved in things get distracted by it as if it's new and they'd never seen any before.
2) They should have been shutting down sections for a long time, not thinking about it a few days out from the very end.
3) One would not expect there to be a science section on the starbase, which is present for refuelling and repair. Where would you get a science section in time for all those '"that's our scientists' report"? Well, the colony was about 30% scientists by population!
4) Nitpicky, but gravitational waves are REALLY hard to detect. There's no way they'd have a gravitational wave detector active if there was anything they could shut down. Especially not if they had given up on powering the optical telescope.
5) Wu is a moron if he didn't immediately get the implication that he should get his telescope. Why make a deal out of his taking a while?
6) Why is every starbase crewman we see in part 1 male?
7) Why did the Ur-Quan put a major human tactical genius on the station? They should all be on the ground. I can't tell why he didn't push for and get overall operational control immediately. I suppose he kind of did, but after the battle I don't see how he could end up not keeping it (I haven't gotten that far, so maybe something comes up).
8) The fight against the Ilwrath is weird. Stall it for ten minutes? The Vindicator would have been toast by then. Also, that Avenger had a damaged cloaking device; it wasn't simply overconfidence.
I did like the 'what if it was a trap' thought. That was a nice addition.
I don't know, maybe Peeru couldn't stand up to such scrutiny. I just feel like this needed some beta reading. Most of these would only take tiny tweaks to address (either explain and otherwise leave as is, or remove)
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« Last Edit: April 06, 2019, 01:47:44 pm by Death 999 »
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Tiberian
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Now that we're on the topic... (!)
Beta reading would definitely have helped. The time for that was over six years ago, though.
When I started writing Groombridge Log, it wasn't that serious yet. I had zero experience. It got serious sometime during the project. I don't remember when exactly.
Coincidentally, I read the last chapter of Eternal Doctrine yesterday, for fun. The quality was a lot better than in the first chapter of Groombridge Log - which shouldn't surprise anyone. I'm sure all writers feel the same way when reading their early works.
Also, I feel a strong urge to respond to your points (all eight of them) !
1) agreed
2) agreed
3) agreed, but the story required it
4) disagreed! I disagree on all technology-related critizism on stories set out far in the future
5) I don't remember the details. There probably was no ulterior motive. So - agreed
6) no reason. There probably are more males overall. I don't see a problem.
7) I never thought of it like that. But again: the story required it
8 In the original story it was simply a gameplay thing that the Ilwrath told about their malfunctioning cloaking device. I tried to think of how that fight could really have panned out.
In the beginning I was too focused on following the original story as closely as possible. It took some time until I found the courage to take more liberties.
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« Last Edit: April 06, 2019, 06:05:53 pm by Tiberian »
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Tiberian
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8 is a good point. Unfortunately I learned an important lesson too late:
You should never use specific measures in stories like this - unless you have the entire physics system thought out really well all the way. It was a mistake to mention that the flight took 10 minutes. For consistency, everything would then have to be calibrated against that one measure. If I were to write it again, I would leave out all exact times like that.
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Tiberian
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New relevant information to the original topic:
The publisher has informed me that they do not have a contract with American Amazon and therefore the books are not supposed to be available there. There are a few interesting observations though...
- The availability issue supposedly only affects the Kindle version
- I was able to buy the Kindle version from the American Amazon
- Some American dude was not able to buy the ebook from UK Amazon
- Some Indian guy saw the books listed as available in US Amazon prior to logging in, but unavailable after logging in
- It might also have something to do with the account holder's listed home address, but this is unverified.
So here are my suggestions if you are having trouble purchasing the books from Amazon:
- Try another locale's Amazon
- Try another store entirely
- Pose as a non-US customer in the best way you see fit
- Settle with the printed version if that one is available, but the ebook is not
- as a last resort, live with the PDF version
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« Last Edit: January 17, 2020, 07:35:17 pm by Tiberian »
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