# "Lord of the Rings" on Kindle -- when?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051 "2009-04-05T15:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/1 "2009-04-05T15:36:59Z")
When will Lord of the Rings be available for the Kindle? Is there a way to get books for Kindle some way other than the Amazon Kindle store? ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/2 "2009-04-05T16:03:03Z")
I found a web site that has html links to LOTR text. How do I get that onto a Kindle? (Obviously I’m new to Kindle.) ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/3 "2009-04-05T16:15:03Z")
Kindle will read any non-DRM protected Mobi books, as well as text files, such as you get from Project Gutenberg. Most (but not all) commercially available non-free Mobi books are DRM-protected, but there are lots of free Mobi books available on various websites like Tor publishing and [Manybooks.com](http://Manybooks.com). The problem with Lord of the Rings, unfortunately, is that Christopher Tolkien apparently hates ebooks and won’t allow any of his father’s works to appear in that format. (The inevitable response: But crappy, cheap paperback editions are fine?) Which means that there are NO legal ebook editions of Lord of the Rings in any format anywhere. The same is true of J.K. Rowling and all of her works. I gather John Grisham used to feel the same way, but has recently relented and is allowing ebook editions of his work now. ETA: In response to your latest, Kindle will not read html texts natively. You can convert them, but since we’ve established that the pages you want to convert are illegal, I’m reluctant to explain here. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/4 "2009-04-05T16:16:38Z")
I think I figured it out. This explains how to put regular documents onto the Kindle. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200321920&#k2files](http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200321920&#k2files) ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/5 "2009-04-05T16:18:34Z")
Hmmm… The text that I thought was LOTR is really just a joke with stuff about golf courses, etc. Does anyone know where I can get the real text? ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/6 "2009-04-05T16:28:18Z")
Legally, nowhere. Illegally, nowhere that can be mentioned here without drawing down the wrath of TPTB. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/7 "2009-04-05T17:09:58Z")
Technically you could scan & OCR your legally-obtained paper copy and load the file into your Kindle. I believe format-shifting of this sort for personal use remains legal. Would be a giant pain in the ass, though. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/8 "2009-04-05T17:16:35Z")
I accidentally opened a web page that happened to have the whole text of The Lord of the Rings in HTML with my PDA… ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/9 "2009-04-05T17:17:56Z")
My son has a learning disability and I am registering him with [bookshare.org](http://bookshare.org). They have the Hobbit but I cannot find LOTR. Anyhow I think it IS legal to download text is the person has a disability. So if anyone has it, please PM me. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/10 "2009-04-05T19:53:28Z")
I’m all set. I found the files, converted and downloaded to the Kindle. I’m glad because this was one of the main books I wanted him to have. We’ve both already read it multiple times, including aloud to each other, and it’s one of our most beloved books. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-on-kindle-when/492051/11 "2009-04-05T23:33:36Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > When will Lord of the Rings be available for the Kindle? Is there a way to get books for Kindle some way other than the Amazon Kindle store? Somebody mentioned Gutenberg. There is also [munseys.com](http://munseys.com), [feedbooks.com](http://feedbooks.com) and [manybooks.net](http://manybooks.net) which all have public domain freebies.