MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Free (Kindle KDP) A Bad Spell in Yurt by C. Dale Brittain [Magic Adventure Fantasy]

ATDrake · 03-08-2012, 11:15 AM

So, it seems that the KDP Select exclusive-or-else yanking I Can't Believe I Can't Re-Download My Paid-For Purchased Book! problem that affects B&N also extends to Smashwords as well.

I must say, this is profoundly discouraging me from ever spending actual money on a book by an author who's made a point of yanking their stuff to KDP Select exclusivize, just in case.

Not that I was particularly inclined to pick up their Select books in the first place, but now I'll probably avoid picking up their other books elsewhere if they've shown a habit of pulling established works from other stores.

(And it argues for getting stuff directly from Smashwords, because if one has to re-buy the book after it reappears under a new listing, at least the author can issue discount coupons sufficient to make the replaced version free for original purchasers, if they are not so inclined as to insist on said re-purchase.)

Anyway, the following sf/fantasy backlist slushpile treat is one which as far as I can tell, has not been yanked from anywhere, as the author has yet to put her works in any stores besides Amazon that I know of.

A Bad Spell in Yurt by C. Dale Brittain is apparently the 1st in her The Royal Wizard of Yurt light magical adventure fantasy series (may be comedic).

This was originally published by Baen in 1991 and the author offers a 20th anniversary special e-book edition of what she blurbs as a "cult classic", which may well be true, considering that it seems to have gone on for a few more volumes and people love comedic fantasy.

Anyway, free for who knows how long (probably a couple of days, as her previous book was free for a few) with unguessable DRM @ Amazon main UK DE ES FR IT Additional surcharges may apply in particular regions.

Description
The ebook version of "A Bad Spell in Yurt" is the special twentieth-anniversary edition of this cult classic.

The tiny kingdom of Yurt is the perfect place--or so it seems--for someone who barely managed to graduate from the wizards' school, especially after all that embarrassment with the frogs. But Daimbert, newly hired Royal Wizard of Yurt, senses an evil spell at work.

But who could be responsible? The beautiful young queen? Her flighty aunt? The dour chaplain? The old, retired Royal Wizard, who seems to know more than he's saying? Or someone from out of the castle's past?

Daimbert quickly realizes that finding out and saving his kingdom may take all the magic he never learned properly in the first place, with his life the price of failure--good thing he knows how to improvise!

The rest of the slushpile which I bothered to look at, which does have a few non-repeat things from previously-included authors you may have been following, and some nifty historical-ish backlist works from new people as well, including a non-fic about the giant panda.

L.T. Fawkes returns with a 2004-Signet published mystery in her series with the working class amateur sleuth (I think he was supposed to be some kind of construction guy, from the last offering she made): EARLY EIGHT (TERRY SALTZ MYSTERIES)

Minor ISFDBed Matt R. Jones offers a few more tales in his Hollywood Vampires series if you've been picking it up: Linkage for the lot

Previously-included small-pressed fellow MR member author Linda S. Prather offers a mini-collection of short stories and recipes with a reality show TV chef vs serial killer thriller for the lead feature: Food To Die Smiling For

Much-published romance author Lori Brighton returns with a historical romance which appears to be backlist (not linked to a paperback, but quotes an official outlet review; may be a repeat, these things tend to look alike to me): To Seduce an Earl (The Seduction Series)

Stoker/Edgar-nominee Billie Sue Mosiman returns with a 3-item collection of previously-freebied works: SUSPENSE THRILLERS-A Boxed Set

ISFDBed horror writer Aaron Polson returns with two more works: Linkage to them both along with the Prime "free" stuff Amazon refuses to filter out

Ella Vines has written a few things for erotic romance specialty small imprint Siren Publishing. Here's her self-pub BDSM erotic romance: Lashed

Mildred Colvin offers an inspirational historical romance, which she says is revised from the original 2003 Christian publisher Barbour-printed version which was #543 in their Heartsongs line: Cora's Deception (Brides of Cedar Creek)

Minor ISFDBed Amber Sistla returns with another short: Fortune Smiles (Break Bites)

Decadent Publishing LLC do seem to be branching out from the romances and offer Graylin Fox's paranormal/urban fantasy caught-up-in-the-middle-of-a-faerie-war thing: Coming Home

PS Publishing, who've given us some very nice sf/fantasy collections in recent months, returns with a work by Robert Edric (ISFDB entry) involving: The Mermaids

Stephen Melling, who has exactly one printed short story in his ISFDB entry offers said short story here: Falling From Grace

Minor Canadian SF-magazine contributor Edward W. Robertson returns with a fantasy/maybe-dark-to-horror-ish novella: Lightless

Sometime ago, Shahzad Rivzi had a book out from minor small press Dorrance, who are participating in Read an Ebook Week. This is not it, but an historical romance+murder mystery novel: The Last Resident: The Love Story of a British Official and an Indian Princess

Imajin/n participated in RAEBW last year. They published Susan J. McLeod's Egyptian archaeology-based: Soul and Shadow (A Lily Evans Mystery)

The late Don Pendleton of Mack Bolan Executioner fame has an offering from another series of his, presumably made by his widow Linda: Time to Time: Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective (Ashton Ford Series)

Harlequin-etc. published Patricia Watters returns with a contemporary romance: Adversaries and Lovers

Sourcebooks-published Lisa Renee Jones returns with a full-sized "sexy romantic suspense" novel which was previously released under another title and helpfully advises you in the blurb that Sourcebooks has marked down a particular novel in one of her series to $1.99 and encourages you to pick it up at that price while you still can (cheapest at Kobo using the coupons, btw): Secrets Exposed (Prelude to the sexy romance suspense series Tall, Dark, and Deadly) I must say that her marketing tie-in sale instincts are pretty good, even if they do clutter up the blurb (but with more useful info than the usual variety of quoted general-author praise that most writers put into theirs).

Former Scotland on Sunday article writer and Zen monk Barry Graham returns with his 1995 small-pressed literary/gritty "postpunk" urban fiction novel, which has praise from the included Booklist review and Details magazine, and which the blurb claims was "chosen by the American Library Association as one of the best books of 1995": The Book of Man

Five Star-published Julie Hyzy writing under her pen name N.C. Hyzy offers the 1st volume of her collected short stories (we previously received the 2nd or so free, IIRC) which includes one which won a Derringer Award: Mystery Short Stories: Volume 1

Tim Vicary offers a 1992 Simon & Schuster printed historical drama set in 1919 Ireland which involves doomed love and has lots of quoted praise from Irish newspapers: The Blood Upon the Rose

Previously-included video game artist Stephen Beam returns with another sf short: Galaxy Riff (there is trouble brewing in the southern end of the homeland universe)

S.V. Peddle is the pseudonym for a bookshop-owning UK couple who've had a travel guide published by UK publisher Robert Hale. This is their historical adventure novel set in Minoan Crete: The Moon Maiden (The Cnossos Trilogy)

Michael Kiefer's 2002-small pressed non-fiction book has a review from the Publisher's Weekly which praises his semi-biography of the two hunters who helped a wealthy socialite bring the first live panda to the US in the 1930s: Chasing the Panda: How an Unlikely Pair of Adventurers Won the Race to Capture the Mythical "White Bear"

Currently-praised-in-the-Reading-Recs forum Hugh Howey, author of Wool, has another work free (this one looks kind of litfic instead of sfnal): The Plagiarist

You know what, I don't really care what's inside this story besides the obvious, which sounds cracktastically entertaining: Giant Killer Eels This is set in England, by the way. I hope they get into a fight with the swans.

I have no idea how good this person's advice or techniques are. But this seems like a useful life skill to acquire: Sergeant Shenk's Book on Knife Throwing

Happy reading, if you happen to spot something you think you might like, as long as you don't get too happy trying out the stuff in that last work if you pick it up.

03-08-2012, 11:15 AM	#1
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Free (Kindle KDP) A Bad Spell in Yurt by C. Dale Brittain [Magic Adventure Fantasy] So, it seems that the KDP Select exclusive-or-else yanking I Can't Believe I Can't Re-Download My Paid-For Purchased Book! problem that affects B&N also extends to Smashwords as well. I must say, this is profoundly discouraging me from ever spending actual money on a book by an author who's made a point of yanking their stuff to KDP Select exclusivize, just in case. Not that I was particularly inclined to pick up their Select books in the first place, but now I'll probably avoid picking up their other books elsewhere if they've shown a habit of pulling established works from other stores. (And it argues for getting stuff directly from Smashwords, because if one has to re-buy the book after it reappears under a new listing, at least the author can issue discount coupons sufficient to make the replaced version free for original purchasers, if they are not so inclined as to insist on said re-purchase.) Anyway, the following sf/fantasy backlist slushpile treat is one which as far as I can tell, has not been yanked from anywhere, as the author has yet to put her works in any stores besides Amazon that I know of. A Bad Spell in Yurt by C. Dale Brittain is apparently the 1st in her The Royal Wizard of Yurt light magical adventure fantasy series (may be comedic). This was originally published by Baen in 1991 and the author offers a 20th anniversary special e-book edition of what she blurbs as a "cult classic", which may well be true, considering that it seems to have gone on for a few more volumes and people love comedic fantasy. Anyway, free for who knows how long (probably a couple of days, as her previous book was free for a few) with unguessable DRM @ Amazon main UK DE ES FR IT Additional surcharges may apply in particular regions. Description The ebook version of "A Bad Spell in Yurt" is the special twentieth-anniversary edition of this cult classic. The tiny kingdom of Yurt is the perfect place--or so it seems--for someone who barely managed to graduate from the wizards' school, especially after all that embarrassment with the frogs. But Daimbert, newly hired Royal Wizard of Yurt, senses an evil spell at work. But who could be responsible? The beautiful young queen? Her flighty aunt? The dour chaplain? The old, retired Royal Wizard, who seems to know more than he's saying? Or someone from out of the castle's past? Daimbert quickly realizes that finding out and saving his kingdom may take all the magic he never learned properly in the first place, with his life the price of failure--good thing he knows how to improvise! The rest of the slushpile which I bothered to look at, which does have a few non-repeat things from previously-included authors you may have been following, and some nifty historical-ish backlist works from new people as well, including a non-fic about the giant panda. L.T. Fawkes returns with a 2004-Signet published mystery in her series with the working class amateur sleuth (I think he was supposed to be some kind of construction guy, from the last offering she made): EARLY EIGHT (TERRY SALTZ MYSTERIES) Minor ISFDBed Matt R. Jones offers a few more tales in his Hollywood Vampires series if you've been picking it up: Linkage for the lot Previously-included small-pressed fellow MR member author Linda S. Prather offers a mini-collection of short stories and recipes with a reality show TV chef vs serial killer thriller for the lead feature: Food To Die Smiling For Much-published romance author Lori Brighton returns with a historical romance which appears to be backlist (not linked to a paperback, but quotes an official outlet review; may be a repeat, these things tend to look alike to me): To Seduce an Earl (The Seduction Series) Stoker/Edgar-nominee Billie Sue Mosiman returns with a 3-item collection of previously-freebied works: SUSPENSE THRILLERS-A Boxed Set ISFDBed horror writer Aaron Polson returns with two more works: Linkage to them both along with the Prime "free" stuff Amazon refuses to filter out Ella Vines has written a few things for erotic romance specialty small imprint Siren Publishing. Here's her self-pub BDSM erotic romance: Lashed Mildred Colvin offers an inspirational historical romance, which she says is revised from the original 2003 Christian publisher Barbour-printed version which was #543 in their Heartsongs line: Cora's Deception (Brides of Cedar Creek) Minor ISFDBed Amber Sistla returns with another short: Fortune Smiles (Break Bites) Decadent Publishing LLC do seem to be branching out from the romances and offer Graylin Fox's paranormal/urban fantasy caught-up-in-the-middle-of-a-faerie-war thing: Coming Home PS Publishing, who've given us some very nice sf/fantasy collections in recent months, returns with a work by Robert Edric (ISFDB entry) involving: The Mermaids Stephen Melling, who has exactly one printed short story in his ISFDB entry offers said short story here: Falling From Grace Minor Canadian SF-magazine contributor Edward W. Robertson returns with a fantasy/maybe-dark-to-horror-ish novella: Lightless Sometime ago, Shahzad Rivzi had a book out from minor small press Dorrance, who are participating in Read an Ebook Week. This is not it, but an historical romance+murder mystery novel: The Last Resident: The Love Story of a British Official and an Indian Princess Imajin/n participated in RAEBW last year. They published Susan J. McLeod's Egyptian archaeology-based: Soul and Shadow (A Lily Evans Mystery) The late Don Pendleton of Mack Bolan Executioner fame has an offering from another series of his, presumably made by his widow Linda: Time to Time: Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective (Ashton Ford Series) Harlequin-etc. published Patricia Watters returns with a contemporary romance: Adversaries and Lovers Sourcebooks-published Lisa Renee Jones returns with a full-sized "sexy romantic suspense" novel which was previously released under another title and helpfully advises you in the blurb that Sourcebooks has marked down a particular novel in one of her series to $1.99 and encourages you to pick it up at that price while you still can (cheapest at Kobo using the coupons, btw): Secrets Exposed (Prelude to the sexy romance suspense series Tall, Dark, and Deadly) I must say that her marketing tie-in sale instincts are pretty good, even if they do clutter up the blurb (but with more useful info than the usual variety of quoted general-author praise that most writers put into theirs). Former Scotland on Sunday article writer and Zen monk Barry Graham returns with his 1995 small-pressed literary/gritty "postpunk" urban fiction novel, which has praise from the included Booklist review and Details magazine, and which the blurb claims was "chosen by the American Library Association as one of the best books of 1995": The Book of Man Five Star-published Julie Hyzy writing under her pen name N.C. Hyzy offers the 1st volume of her collected short stories (we previously received the 2nd or so free, IIRC) which includes one which won a Derringer Award: Mystery Short Stories: Volume 1 Tim Vicary offers a 1992 Simon & Schuster printed historical drama set in 1919 Ireland which involves doomed love and has lots of quoted praise from Irish newspapers: The Blood Upon the Rose Previously-included video game artist Stephen Beam returns with another sf short: Galaxy Riff (there is trouble brewing in the southern end of the homeland universe) S.V. Peddle is the pseudonym for a bookshop-owning UK couple who've had a travel guide published by UK publisher Robert Hale. This is their historical adventure novel set in Minoan Crete: The Moon Maiden (The Cnossos Trilogy) Michael Kiefer's 2002-small pressed non-fiction book has a review from the Publisher's Weekly which praises his semi-biography of the two hunters who helped a wealthy socialite bring the first live panda to the US in the 1930s: Chasing the Panda: How an Unlikely Pair of Adventurers Won the Race to Capture the Mythical "White Bear" Currently-praised-in-the-Reading-Recs forum Hugh Howey, author of Wool, has another work free (this one looks kind of litfic instead of sfnal): The Plagiarist You know what, I don't really care what's inside this story besides the obvious, which sounds cracktastically entertaining: Giant Killer Eels This is set in England, by the way. I hope they get into a fight with the swans. I have no idea how good this person's advice or techniques are. But this seems like a useful life skill to acquire: Sergeant Shenk's Book on Knife Throwing Happy reading, if you happen to spot something you think you might like, as long as you don't get too happy trying out the stuff in that last work if you pick it up. Last edited by ATDrake; 03-08-2012 at 11:22 AM. Reason: Fix missing title which translates into a missing link.