gusamo

I like the price of teh omnibus books. You can find them cheaper that the seperate books. The real downside is he size. The books are so big that you can't take them anywhere. My biggest problem I find is I feel that I am not getting anywhere. I like to see that I am half way through a book when I am actully halfway through the book. I was just wondering what you guys thought.

flixtime

Hi gusamo, I'll cast my vote for "separate books" over "omnibus editions". Aside from being less expensive (maybe not even that much of a savings?), I personally don't see any benefit to omnibus editions. I don't care for the bulky size, though not so much for portability purposes, but more for display purposes; I don't care for how it looks on my shelf (I suppose I'm quirky that way). Also, like you said, the psychological aspect of not feeling that you are getting anywhere also comes into play. I guess I just like the look of an entire series of books lined up on my shelf as opposed to one great big omnibus edition; I find having the individual books to be more satisfying. I suppose you could compare it to DVD (since this is a DVD site). If I had a choice between having all the Bond films in one collective case or having all the Bond films in their individual cases, I would go for the individual cases. Also, I do get satisfaction from finishing a book, but maybe if I had finished one of the books included in the omnibus edition it would be less satisfying since I still had others books in the omnibus edition to go still. Omnibus editions to me, feel a little "impersonal" as if they are not the "true" way that the author would have you read his work (though I suppose an author wouldn't care as long as you do actually read his work no matter the form in which it is delivered). I have in the past considered omnibus editions for the works (if I recall correctly) of John Sandford (Prey detective series) and John LeCarre, but decided instead to go with the individual books.

milo bloom

I got rid of my individual Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novels when I got my collected edition with the short story. Also got the collected LOTR novels (wish I could find one with The Hobbit included).

I would hesitate to get anything in a series that's still being written (there are Harry Potter boxsets of the first four novels, and we all know there's going to be three more), or even if the author is still alive (morbid, I know).

What I'd really love to see in about 5 years or so, is a huge edition of the novelizations of Star Wars 1-6, annotated, with footnotes, and the dialogue marked in chapter and verses like they do bibles. Would also be neat to note any SE changes (but keeping the original text intact) I'd pay thru the nose sideways for something like that.

TeeSeeJay

The answer is, it depends.

1. Can i get an omnibus in trade paperback or hardback, where I can only get the individual books as mass-market paperback? I will get the omnibus.

2. Have the individual books proven to be poorly constructed? I will get the omnibus (I went through three copies of Hogan's "Inherit the Stars" before I got fed up with the MMPB falling apart on me, and got the "Giants Trilogy" omnibus instead).

3. Am I replacing worn or damaged books? My "Dragonlance Chronicles" paperbacks are in horrible shape (having been read dozens of times). Were I to replace them, I'd go with the trade-paperback omnibus.

4. Is the series just too big for an omnibus? (Lord of the Rings, while technically a single novel, is easier to handle as individual books).

5. Is the omnibus pure cheese? I saw a Stephen King omnibus with three of his novels in it. I'd rather have the three novels, especially since they are unrelated.

Lots of things I consider.

JawsAddict

For the most part, I prefer to buy separate books.
I will make an exception of the omnibus is especially well produced. For the most part, though, individual books are easier to read, don't cost that much more and usually have more collector value in the long run.