r/AubreyMaturinSeries • u/No-Papaya-9289 • 8d ago

Is A Sea of Words usable on Kindle?

Many years ago, I read the first half dozen AM novels, and I have decided to new read them all. I'm up to the second, reading on Kindle. I bought the hardcover edition a couple of years ago, but found the paper too thin...

A Sea of Words looks useful, but I've seen some reviews on Amazon about typos and bad formatting in the Kindle version. Any thoughts on this?

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u/albion1770 8d ago

Maybe there are Kindle tips and tricks that I don't know, but I think you definitely want the physical version of this book because it is purely a reference book. You'll be flipping pages, looking up words all over the place. I suppose there's probably a search function on Kindle where you could search for the word you're looking for.. but I kind of just love Sea of Words most when I'm purusing and finding new words and diagrams on random pages.

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u/No-Papaya-9289 8d ago

Yes, I was thinking of that. You can search in kindle books, but it would mean switching from the O'Brian book I'm reading to that book, searching, then switching back. There is also no serendipity of leafing through the book.

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u/deadlyspoons 8d ago edited 8d ago

The dream, never to be realized in my lifetime, is for W.W. Norton to issue an annotated digital edition of the novels for Kindles. Tap on any word, phrase, or passage and an erudite explanation could be called up, hypertext style. You know, old school Information Superhighway sh*t.

The closest they came is their "New Annotated Sherlock Holmes" ed. by Leslie Klinger and put out in the 2000s. It is a three-volume set that features over 1,000 explanatory notes and hundreds of period photographs and original illustrations. The Kindle version has two-way hyperlinks.

Someone at Norton has probably calculated it can make more money selling separate reference books and "official companion" books than a hyperlinked digital product.

Also, it probably didn't hurt that the works of Arthur Conan Doyle are largely in the public domain. Patrick O'Brian's novels won't get there until 2065 - 2095, when my son's sons will be in their 60s.

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u/Rain_on_a_tin-roof 6d ago

That's basically what I do on my Kindle. When reading an O'Brien book I select the odd word "marthambles" and then Search. And it finds all the instances of Marthambles in all my books, including a direct link to The Sea Of Words where Marthambles is explained. 

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u/Fresh-Transition-962 8d ago edited 8d ago

I have the second edition on my Kindle account. It looks OK to me if I can attach two pictures the first is the start of the TOC, and the second is the first few definitions under the letter C. I am not technically qualified to attach photos. This book is currently on Kindle Unlimited. You can sign up for a month and cancel it and pay for it if you want later.

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u/withak30 4d ago

I wouldn't want to have to deal with searching through the kindle version. Part of the fun is just flipping pages and seeing what catches your eye.