Free (Kindle KDP) Beyond Sanctuary by Janet Morris [Thieves' World Adventure Fantasy]

[ATDrake]

Diminishing returns in the KDP exclusive-or-else-but-you-get-5-days-free-out-of-90-in-return-for-locking-your-books-to-Amazon slushpile.

But we do have a rather nice vintage fantasy backlist treat and a bonus for readers who enjoyed the Thieves' World shared fantasy setting that Robert Asprin created long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Okay, not really, but somewhere around that time, which, incidentally, happens to be before I was born. Just so you know and can feel old if you remember getting the books new then.

Beyond Sanctuary by Janet Morris (ISFDB, Wikipedia which says she had something to do with a nonlethal weapons concept, which sounds cool and potentially useful) was apparently one of the first authorized official novel-length spinoffs from the collaborative short story anthology Thieves' World adventure fantasy series (Wikipedia entry) created by Robert Asprin (you probably don't need his Wikipedia entry) which had a lot of the big names of the day, such as Poul Anderson and Marion Zimmer Bradley (both of whose Wikipedia entries you shouldn't need if you've any real acquaintance with the sf/fantasy field) contributing.

This novel was originally published in a hardcover by Baen and a paperback by Ace, in 1985/1986, according to its own ISFDB entry.

As a bonus, Morris also separately offers another shorter work in the same setting which appears to be a tie-in story.

Free for who knows how long with what form of DRM @ Amazon main UK DE ES FR IT

Description I skipped the really long 3rd paragraph of the blurb which details the provenance of the novel
In Beyond Sanctuary, the immortal Tempus and his ancient cavalry squadron take the war between magic and the gods to the mages of Wizardwall. Tempus and his Sacred Band of Stepsons begin a series of new adventures that start in Sanctuary(R) but go far "beyond," pitting some of Thieves World's(R) most canonical characters against unforgettable villains and their own frailties while souls hang in the balance.

Love and war mix in a heady mix of ancient history and mythic fiction, love and hate, philosophy and ethos. Sacred Band pairs are forged in the crucible of the wizard wars: lovers and warriors win and lose as the hurly-burly of battle tests all loyalties. Some of Thieves' World's most popular characters stretch out and new characters are introduced in this fast-paced tale that's lyrical and lucid: the immortal Tempus and his sister; the allergic mageling Randal; the Froth Daughter Jihan, join the Sacred Band of Stepsons, fighting for freedom of the human spirit.

Mage Blood a tie-in short which has actually been free for a few days already and so will probably expire soon @ Amazon main UK DE ES FR IT

Tempus and his Sacred Band of Stepsons prepare to take the Wizard War to the Mages of Wizardwall in this gripping story set "Beyond Sanctuary." With Jihan the Froth daughter at his side, Tempus and the core of the Stepsons ride into the embattled town of Tyse, where they find friends and foes among the witches, wizards, and warfighters. From the first full length novel inspired by the Thieves' World (R) series, "Mage Blood" takes you into unknown realms fraught with unimaginable peril.

The following consist of the newer recognizable parts of the slushpile. I've skipped obvious repeats, but listed some of the repeat author names at the end if they had decent credentials, if you want to go searching for them yourself.

Ken McClure returns with another in his series of medical thrillers, out from Allison & Busby in 2005: EYE OF THE RAVEN (Dr Steven Dunbar 5)

Harlequin-published Carol Grace offers two romance shorts with a doctor and a geologist in them: Always a Bridesmaid

Colin Bowles offers some sort of historical 1926-set coming-of-age which seems to have been published by Penguin Australia: Nights in the Sun

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Reader's Choice Award-winner Dave Zeltserman returns with a crossover urban fantasy/crime thriller (may be a repeat, this blurb looks kind of familiar): Blood Crimes: Book One

Mark Wheaton, who's written comics for Dark Horse and authored that post-apocalyptic dog thing that people were interested in earlier, returns with a disaster/monster thriller: Flood Plains

ISFDBed Keith A.R. Candido and Stoker-nominee David Niall Wilson contribute to the four complete sf/fantasy/horror novellas included in: Crossed Worlds - A Crossroad Press Original Series Sampler which were written as tie-ins to the various novel series.

Canadian Rick Dewhurst repeats some of his BH Press-published Christian cozy & noir PI mysteries and at least one of them is probably new for most people, since IIRC it expired before I remembered to include it last time: Linkage for the lot

Another batch of short stories from Canadian writer of economics and construction articles Alex Carrick, if you've been collecting them: Ten Tales of Tilted Love

Armand Rosamilia who has a modest ISFDB entry for editing stuff offers some zombie shorts: Dying Shortly

I'm not going to bother linking, but there are repeats from J. Carson Black (some are her backlist mystery/thrillers), Jason Jack Miller, Gerrie Ferris Finger, David Bain, Lee Goldberg, and Gordon Ryan who've all had published credentials of some sort.

Happy reading, if indeed you spot something you think you might like, or those Thieves' World tales really do evoke some sort of ancient nostalgia in your heart.

[Blue Tyson]

Thanks.

The postapocalyptic dog thing 'Bones' by Mark Wheaton was great, actually. His short story collection only average. The former had monsters in it, so worth giving his book a go. Thieves World for free? Can't go wrong there.

[piperclassique]

Thank you for that, ATDrake. Always did like thieves'world.

[DrNefario]

Mage Blood appears to be some sort of extract from Beyond Sanctuary. I'm not sure how much it's been modified or expanded.

[Dr. Drib]

Picked 3 or 4.

Thank you.



Don

[Gardenman]

got the Thieves' World ones. Thinks

[ATDrake]

Feature novel still free, though the Mage Blood short has gone back up in price. Some minor updates below, recognizable repeats skipped, though I'll mention that if you're looking to fill gaps in your Jake Lassiter legal thriller collection, one of the series by fellow MR member author Paul Levine is being reoffered again if you missed it earlier.

Edgar/Stoker-nominated Billie Sue Mosiman returns with a 1984 paperbacked/1997 Leisure/Dorchester-reprinted suspense thriller and a supernatural novelette which are either new, or old enough that I don't have them in the newer KDP-only auxiliary account: Linkage for them both

Robert W. Walker returns with a psychic detective mysterythriller: PSI: Blue

Harlequin-published Patricia Watters offers another contemporary romance: Broken Promises

Berkley-published western writer Jory Sherman offers a collection of shorts (may not all be western, judging from the cover): Little Journeys: Collected Stories

ISFDBed Bruce Memblatt returns with another horror short: A Dream for Sugar

Diane Davis White who has had some short stories anthologized alongside more established romance writers offers another "HeartSent" imprint romance, this one a multicultural time-travel Native American semi-historical tale: Moon of Hard Winter (The Lakota Moon Series)

Pocket-published Joseph Nasisse and I-think-it-was-Macmillan-who-published Jon F. Merz team up for some kind of techno-horror action thriller: The Cerberus Protocol (Hellstalkers)

Jordan Krall (ISFDB) offers three novellas of "squishy-noir", including a story that appeared in a 2007 small press horror anthology: Squid Pulp Blues

Books We Love/BWLPP have about a half-dozen newly offered mostly-romance and one or two YA-looking novels, including a few from Betty Jo Schuler who's been Harlequin-published, IIRC: Linkage for the first version of their imprint and linkage for the 2nd (ETA: There's some kind of Hindu mythology-inspired litfic/personal journey/maybe-suspense novel and also an m/m romance by Phaze-published Jenna Byrnes in the lot of mostly f/m romances as well.)

Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers offer a half-dozen literary fiction/historical novels set in various regions of Africa. They seem to reprint old or print new novels by established writers from African countries and one of their novels about the Rwandan genocide lists praise in the blurb from a professor of political science and African-American studies at a specified Michigan university and another which seems to be a culture clash/coming of age lists praise from a specified university professor in England whose wording implies that the author previously won a literary prize, and these do look interesting and unusual for the slushpile, so: Linkage for the lot

[Blue Tyson]

Thanks.

516!