

Humble eBook Bundle - josso
http://www.humblebundle.com/?humbleEbookBundle

======
kqr2
Links to Amazon reviews for all the books:

[http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Cinema-Cory-
Doctorow/dp/0765329...](http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Cinema-Cory-
Doctorow/dp/0765329085/)

[http://www.amazon.com/Pump-Other-Stories-Paolo-
Bacigalupi/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Pump-Other-Stories-Paolo-
Bacigalupi/dp/1597802026/)

<http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-City-Lauren-Beukes/dp/0857662163/>

[http://www.amazon.com/Invasion-Secret-World-Chronicle-
Chroni...](http://www.amazon.com/Invasion-Secret-World-Chronicle-
Chronicles/dp/1451637721/)

[http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Things-Happen-Kelly-
Link/dp/1...](http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Things-Happen-Kelly-
Link/dp/1931520003/)

[http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Beginners-Kelly-
Link/dp/01560318...](http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Beginners-Kelly-
Link/dp/0156031876/)

Bonus Books (If you pay more than average) :

[http://www.amazon.com/Signal-Noise-Edition-Neil-
Gaiman/dp/15...](http://www.amazon.com/Signal-Noise-Edition-Neil-
Gaiman/dp/1593077521/)

[http://www.amazon.com/Old-Mans-War-John-
Scalzi/dp/0765348276...](http://www.amazon.com/Old-Mans-War-John-
Scalzi/dp/0765348276/)

~~~
roryokane
Also, links to reviews on Goodreads:

 _Pirate Cinema_ by Cory Doctorow –
<http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13539171-pirate-cinema> (rating: 3.82)

 _Pump Six and Other Stories_ by Paolo Bacigalupi –
[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8503271-pump-six-and-
othe...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8503271-pump-six-and-other-
stories) (rating: 4.11)

 _Zoo City_ by Lauren Beukes –
<http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11351953-zoo-city> (rating: 3.68)

 _Invasion: Book One of the Secret World Chronicle_ by Mercedes Lackey –
<http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10824696-invasion> (rating: 3.73)

 _Stranger Things Happen_ by Kelly Link –
[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66659.Stranger_Things_Hap...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66659.Stranger_Things_Happen)
(rating: 4.00)

 _Magic for Beginners_ by Kelly Link –
<http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66657.Magic_for_Beginners> (rating: 4.01)

bonus books:

 _Signal to Noise_ by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean –
<http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/957373.Signal_to_Noise> (rating: 3.88)

 _Old Man’s War_ by John Scalzi –
<http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51964.Old_Man_s_War> (rating: 4.18)

~~~
a_bonobo
You know what would be great if adapted by Goodreads?

Standard Deviation for ratings. I have a hunch that with the standard-
deviation, all ratings for all books even out at 4/5. Not sure why, but I
think that goodreads-users are too nice due to using real names.

Edit: Just played around with the "rating details" tab and numpy:

Magic for Beginners has a mean rating of 4.01 and a stddev of 0.99, Pirate
Cinema has a mean rating of 3.85 and a stddev of 0.89, Pump Six has a mean
rating of 4.11 and a stddev of 0.81, so looking at only the standard
deviations, all books have a very similar rating. Interesting, but that
doesn't tell me much, except that the standard-deviation is massive in this
context.

------
vsviridov
There's also a Story Bundle (<http://storybundle.com/>) that is happening
right now.

I think they also did the first eBook bundle some months ago, before Humble
Bundle.

~~~
TylerE
I actually find storybundle a much more intriguing project, whereas Humble is
it's usual "Hipster" self - e.g. stuff I've already heard about, stuff that
has a fair amount of promotion behind it in there first place.

With books, mostly unlike with video games, curation is an actual value-add:
there's absolutely no way any one person could keep on top of all the new book
releases.

~~~
waterlesscloud
The Humble stuff is largely from a certain clique of writers, a little
monoculture in a way. I like the stuff, but I'd also like to see a little more
diversity. Even if it's all contemporary sci-fi there's a lot more to choose
from than the small group represented here.

~~~
peterarmstrong
If you want diversity, Leanpub authors can create their own bundles of Leanpub
books (both their own and of other authors). Here's an example of what one of
these looks like: <https://leanpub.com/b/node>

Of course, we're currently a bit of a monoculture too: mostly programming
books, since our early adopters are largely programmers. But that will change
as we grow, hopefully...

------
engtech
The Scalzi and Bacigalupi books are so worth it.

Bacigalupi is a great author. I really liked the Wind Up Girl, and about 80%
of the short stories in Pump 6 were good.

Old Man's War is a recent classic. I've read all the books in the series, and
the first is the best.

I've read all the Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean collaborations, and honestly I
don't care for McKean's artwork. It took me a while of looking at the preview
to realize I'd already read Signal-to-Noise. Forgettable.

I haven't read:

    
    
       Cory Doctorow: Pirate Cinema 
       Lauren Beukes: Zoo City 
       Mercedes Lackey: Invasion 
       Kelly Link: Stranger Things Happen 
       Kelly Link: Magic for Beginners
    

Although I own the Kelly Link books. Never got around to them. My wife liked
Magic for Beginners.

~~~
engtech
Invasion sounds a bit like Wild Cards and Bitter Seeds, both of which I loved.

I hadn't realize that Wild Cards is finally back in print!

[http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Cards-George-R-R-
Martin/dp/076536...](http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Cards-George-R-R-
Martin/dp/0765365073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349805784&sr=8-1)

[http://www.amazon.com/Bitter-Seeds-Ian-
Tregillis/dp/07653612...](http://www.amazon.com/Bitter-Seeds-Ian-
Tregillis/dp/0765361205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349805676&sr=8-1)

------
Bakkot
I find it interesting that they still provide payment breakdowns by
platform... and that Linux and Mac OS are still so much higher than Windows.

When those two were paying for games it was obvious why that should be, since
games on Linux are so comparatively scare, but it doesn't make so much sense
with eBooks.

~~~
PotatoEngineer
My theory is that Linux is used by experts, usually people with high-paying
programming jobs, who can afford to drop a little more money. Macs are more
expensive, so they'll also belong to people with higher income. Windows
machines are cheap, so they're bought by everyone else, and (on _average_ )
they can't afford to drop as much money on the various bundles.

Also, since Windows machines are cheaper, they're more likely to be bought by
cheapskates.

~~~
leftnode
For the Games bundles, I always figured it was Linux users showing that
they're willing to buy games if people will make them for Linux.

~~~
dorian-graph
People repeat that for every Humble Bundle and I'm still dubious.

------
kqr2
It would be cool if they could offer "kindle keys" just like they do with
steam keys.

~~~
lazerwalker
That was my initial thought as well, but it wouldn't surprise me if there are
layers of Amazon bureaucracy that would make that difficult.

I'd settle for a simple way to enter my Kindle's email address and have them
email the mobi file right to my device.

~~~
kqr2
I purchased the bundle and they will email the files to your kindle. You have
to go to your Amazon account settings and whitelist kindle@humblebundle.com,
however, in order to receive it.

~~~
lazerwalker
Oh, awesome! I purchased it as well, but somehow missed the gigantic bold link
offering to do that.

~~~
GotNothing
I'm still missing it... any help for us blind bats?

~~~
melg
The option "send to Kindle" appears on the page
<https://www.humblebundle.com/downloads?key=YOURUNIQUEKEY> after you purchase
the bundle.

~~~
GotNothing
Ah! Twas looking under my account, has no such link... Thanks for your help!

------
ernesth
A few things really upset me with that:

First, books are a special kind of products, they do not obey the same rules
as commercial products, they are culture. To explain a little, I am french and
we have a law for the unique price of books: the price you will pay for a book
will be the same on amazon, at fnac, in your local bookshop or in a
supermarket.

Second, the word e-reader is nowhere to be found, ePub is also not prominently
featured, contrary to iPad and Kindle. For a no-DRM ebook offer, I would have
thought that the standard format for ebooks would be more important than the
name of the most DRM-filled devices.

Third, Pirate Cinema, Stranger Things Happen and Magic for Beginners are CC
licensed (some NC-ND, some only NC), I would be happy to know the license of
the books that are here sold (included the other ones) and in the case of
Magic for Beginners if it includes the non CC licensed short stories. For the
first humble indie bundle, there was a promise that some games would be
opensourced, a similar promise would be great here.

~~~
jlgreco
_"First, books are a special kind of products, they do not obey the same rules
as commercial products, they are culture. To explain a little, I am french and
we have a law for the unique price of books: the price you will pay for a book
will be the same on amazon, at fnac, in your local bookshop or in a
supermarket."_

You can pay as much _or as little_ as you wish. They are not gouging you, how
could it possibly be objectionable that they are not forcing you to spend
_more_ money?

~~~
xemoka
The "Lang Law" [0][1] (Lang is in reference to Jack Lang who proposed it, as
opposed to language) isn't meant to stop price gouging. It's to stop larger
book sellers from being able to make special deals with publishers for bulk
purchase discounts.

It stipulates that the publisher's book price on the back may only be
discounted up to a further 5% by the retail store.

There are also other fixed book price laws [2] around the world.

[0] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lang_Law> \- English version [1]
<http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Lang> \- French and more information [2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_Book_Price_Law>

~~~
jlgreco
I see. I suppose I understand that, even if I don't agree it is good.

However I can't wrap my mind around why he would simultaneously want Humble
Bundle to raise their price to "protect" local bookstores _and_ want them to
license the books with permissive licenses that permit free redistribution.

Would he presumably be okay with the Humble Bundle if they were _non-
commercially_ distributing the books for _only_ free with permissive licenses?
Wouldn't that cause _even more_ harm than merely allowing people to pay what
they want?

Or does he want the privileges granted by permissive licenses, but doesn't
want Humble Bundle to have the same?

------
graham_king_3
On an unrelated note, that site uses SPDY (looks like it's on app engine or
apps for your domain).

------
darklajid
If anyone cares, my two cents so far. Disclaimer: I love scifi and fantasy
stuff in general and think that I have a rather high bullshit tolerance.

Started with Old Man's War and finished it in one go. Liked it a lot, although
it was really simple. It was a great start for this bundle and set some high
expectations.

I started Magic for beginners, a collection of short stories. The first one
was.. weird. But fun and a good read. The second was unreadable. I tried
multiple times, restarted.. No luck. Checked the third and it's a freak story
in a q/a format.. Tried, failed. Last chance, story four. Maybe that one isn't
bad, I was annoyed by now. The beginning is.. totally off though. I stopped,
deleted the book.

How about Invasion? Deleted it after 10 minutes. I'll keep it in an index of
reference books for crap that is impossibly bad. Its like a C-movie, but
without the special effects and with a worse plot. Granted, Hitler/Nazi plots
have a hard time with this German reader. If an author thinks that it makes
sense to drop German-except-not-really quotes on every other page I'm deeply
disgusted. Don't. Oh my god is it bad.

So.. I'm now disillusioned. I love the Humble Bundle stuff, but so far this
particular one was exceptional in only one way, a bad way.

Obviously this is a matter of taste and maybe everything else is good anyway,
but I cannot recommend this Bundle to friends.

------
verisimilidude
This bundle has some fantastic books. They did a really good job putting it
together.

On to more interesting thoughts, I wonder if future ebook bundles will be
filled with serial titles. In other words, you pay the nominal Humble fee to
sample the first novel of several series; publishers will bite hoping you'll
get hooked at full price. I don't recall seeing an appeal to episodic content
in other Humble Bundles, but ebooks are a different market with different
publishers looking at different trends. Interesting times.

~~~
bryanlarsen
The next John Scalzi book is going to be episodic. I'd far rather buy it from
Humble Bundle than from Amazon...

------
noirman
Oh, they made an illustration for "hungry author" too:
<http://cdn.humblebundle.com/1/hbb1/sad_author.jpg>

------
_djo_
Fantastic extension of the Humble Bundle concept. Good titles too, Old Man's
War, Pump Six and Zoo City are all great books I've read recently.

------
squidsoup
Might be worth mentioning that the two Kelly Link collections are licensed
Creative Commons and available here free: <http://smallbeerpress.com/creative-
commons/> Well worth checking out if you enjoy contemporary 'weird' fiction.

------
artursapek
Humble Bundle has such a great website design.

------
bryanlarsen
The instructions for Android seem needlessly complicated. Here's easier ones.

\- install FBReader \- click on the EPUB link

Depending on whether you've done this before, you may get a dialog asking
whether you want to make FBReader the default for epub.

What's more surprising is that neither Aldiko nor Kobo work this simply.

------
mxfh
Here's the post from Humble bundle blog, with a very short synopses for each
book on one page.

[http://blog.humblebundle.com/post/33237485887/introducing-
th...](http://blog.humblebundle.com/post/33237485887/introducing-the-humble-
ebook-bundle)

------
buster
Wow.. ok, now i bought it but i didn't think it would be so much trouble
reading the books on my iPad.. itunes? syncing? Bahh, i don't even know when i
last used itunes :(

 _boots into windows to update some crappy buggy software to read an ebook on
his tablet_

~~~
jeff18
We are working on updating our instructions in favor of a direct download
approach, which seems to be way better. Sorry about the iTunes favoritism!

-Jeff from Humble Bundle

~~~
nathos
You might want to consider adding "Add to Readmill" buttons to the post-
checkout page: <https://readmill.com/developers/send-to-readmill>

(and no, I'm not affiliated with them, I just think they've built a great
platform)

~~~
homosaur
YESSSS Please do this, I'm really liking Readmill integration for the DRM free
eBooks lately.

------
Wingman4l7
FWIW, Cory Doctorow's _Pirate Cinema_ is CC licensed and is [legally]
available for free from his personal website:
<http://craphound.com/pc/download/>

------
cicloid
Is really hard for my wallet to resist bundles like this. When the price and
process get together, is easy to give your money.

Just bought a bundle for myself and one for my girlfriend.

------
adhipg
I had two of the books there on my Reading List. Instant buy!

------
robobenjie
"Pump 6" is a fantastic book. I find the genre of Science Fiction short
stories is very hit-and-miss. Pump 6 is a hit.

------
dorm
Try donating $0.01 and see what happens ;)

------
drharris
Some good books here. Well worth the buy.

------
bravoyankee
Why is Neil Gaimen in the humble bundle? I thought this was to help under-
exposed artists, not writers who are already a massive success.

I say make room for talented writers who could use the money.

~~~
a_bonobo
Gaiman's book is actually a graphic novel -

you could say this showcases more the work of the illustrator Dave McKean than
Gaiman's work, with two more stories written and illustrated by McKean. So you
could say Gaiman's name is for the pull, while the majority of the work was
done by McKean, who'll probably get most of the money, too.

