E-book errors in Neal Stephenson's 'Reamde' annoy Kindle users

Kindle readers are fuming after an e-book malfunction on the new Neal Stephenson book “Reamde.”

Earlier this week Amazon wirelessly replaced the eBook version of "Reamde" because readers had complained about typos and errors in the original version.

But even more upsetting to some readers was the fact that, after the book was replaced, an e-mail went out advising that "Missing Content that have [sic] been corrected” - but without explaining what or where the missing content was. In addition, the act of replacement wiped out any highlights, bookmarks, or notes that readers had already made.

Some users vented their frustrations on the page for the “Reamde” e-book on Amazon's website, including one user who goes by fisherKing and lists his or her location as Brooklyn, New York.

“how did this happen?” fisherKing posted. “How can they release the kindle book and THEN catch these errors… there's no excuse. how many people have finished the book already? do i start over? or let it go....”

“After reading over 500 pages of this great book, Amazon tells me there was 'missing content,' " fumed another reader. "After a live chat and talking to 2 support people, they won't tell me what was missing, how much, what type of content, or why. The customer service people are zombies.... When I demanded a refund, they said I would lose access to this book. There is no consideration that I invested hours in a flawed product. No desire to provide information to customers. Nothing. Not even an apology."

“Reamde” tells the story of a computer virus and a large cast of characters, including a business CEO, a member of the Russian mafia and two fantasy authors.

Amazon hasn’t yet released a statement about the error.

Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.

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