FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[salty-horse]

Bubble Off Plumb edited by KG Finfrock, Dan M. Kalin & Sarah Kalin is currently FREE on Amazon.com
Grabbed my eye because it has a story by Marie Brennan.
I believe this is a small press, not the forbidden "self published".
Contents: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?698915

What do stories about ephemeral Martian settlers, fascinating dimensional rifts, Spanish-speaking hummingbirds, Loki's children, WWII twins, hitchhiking swamp cats, a steam-punk octopus, Arkham card-games, using bad luck for fun and profit, demon home security systems, alternative criminal justice, workplace time travel, marketing to body-snatchers, alien attraction, and way too many barns all have in common? Simple: in one way or another they are all Bubble Off Plumb.

This genre-busting collection is meant for readers who prefer an odd story with their tea and biscuits. So sit back and let these 26 tales delight, confuse, and surprise you!

Featuring original stories by Marie Brennan, David Tallerman, E.E. King, Art Weil, Sarah M. Lewis, Pepper Hume, Karen Ovér, Liz Schriftsteller, Mariah Southworth, Mickey Kulp, Robert Millet, Valerie Manwill, Beth Winokur, Simone LW Mounsamy, Buzz Dixon, James Campbell, Frank Kozusko, Ellen Denton, Jill Hand, Veronica Brush, and Tim Jeffreys. Joining this stellar group are in-house authors KG Finfrock, Sarah Kalin, and Dan M. Kalin.

[tlc]

World War 3.2 by John Birmingham is $5.99 at Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0FQBMVP8K

Edit: If you click through on Birmingham's name, a few of his books are on sale.

[salty-horse]

Leviathan (The Leviathan Trilogy #1) by Scott Westerfeld is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
This is aimed at children, so might not be fulfilling to adults, but it has amazing illustrations. (Political-cartoon-style map of Europe with nations as animals, but they're of this steampunk animals-as-weapons world)

The first novel in a masterful trilogy about World War I with a steampunk twist by #1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld.

It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure…one that will change both their lives forever.

[ZodWallop]

The Book of Jhereg by Steven Brust is $2 at Amazon and Kobo.

The first three fantastical adventures of assassin Vlad Taltos—now in one volume.

A welcome addition to any fantasy fan's library, The Book of Jhereg follows the antics of the wise-cracking Vlad Taltos and his dragon-like companion through their first three adventures—Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla.

There are many ways for a young man with quick wits and a quick sword to advance in the world. Vlad Taltos chose the route of assassin. From his rookie days to his selfless feats of heroism, the dauntless Vlad will hold readers spellbound—and The Book of Jhereg will take its place among the classic compilations in fantasy.

[salty-horse]

Turning Darkness into Light by Marie Brennan is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

Marie Brennan's Turning Darkness Into Light is a delightful fantasy of manners, the heir to the award-winning Natural History of Dragons series, a perfect stepping stone into an alternate Victorianesque fantasy landscape.

This is a sequel to the Lady Trent series of books. That series has some revelations that I assume are spoiled here.

[ZodWallop]

Hard Reboot by Django Wexler is $3 at Amazon and Kobo. I've heard of this author, but haven't tried any of his books yet.

Django Wexler's Hard Reboot features giant mech arena battles and intergalactic diplomacy. When did academia get to be so complicated?
Kas is a junior researcher on a fact-finding mission to old Earth. But when a con-artist tricks her into wagering a large sum of money belonging to her university on the outcome of a manned robot arena battle she becomes drawn into the seedy underworld of old Earth politics and state-sponsored battle-droid prizefights.
Is it time to get back to the books, yet?

[salty-horse]

Iraq + 100 by Hassan Blasim is $3 in the US (Amazon only but price-matchable on Kobo, )

One of NPR's Best Books of 2017!

A groundbreaking anthology of science fiction from Iraq that will challenge your perception of what it means to be "The Other"
"History is a hostage, but it will bite through the gag you tie around its mouth, bite through and still be heard."— Operation Daniel
In a calm and serene world, one has the luxury of imagining what the future might look like.
Now try to imagine that future when your way of life has been devastated by forces beyond your control.
Iraq + 100 poses a question to Iraqi writers (those who still live in that nation, and those who have joined the worldwide diaspora): What might your home country look like in the year 2103, a century after a disastrous foreign invasion?
Using science fiction, allegory, and magical realism to challenge the perception of what it means to be "The Other", this groundbreaking anthology edited by Hassan Blasim contains stories that are heartbreakingly surreal, and yet utterly recognizable to the human experience. Though born out of exhaustion, fear, and despair, these stories are also fueled by themes of love, family, and endurance, and woven through with a delicate thread of hope for the future.

[ZodWallop]

Saturn’s Race by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes is $2 at Amazon and Kobo

The future is a strange and dangerous place. Chaz Kato can testify to that. He is a citizen of Xanudu, a city-sized artificial island populated by some of the wealthiest men and women on future Earth. A place filled with hidden wonders and dark secrets of technology gone awry. Lenore Myles is a student when she travels to Xanadu and becomes involved with Chaz Kato. She is shocked when she uses Kato's access codes to uncover the grizzly truth behind Xandu's glittering facade.
Not knowing who to trust, Lenore finds herself on the run. Saturn, a mysterious entity, moves aggressively to break the security breach. With the interests of the world's wealthiest people at stake and powerful technology at Saturn's fingertips, Lenore is in a race for her life, against a truly formidable foe.

[salty-horse]

Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher, Hemlock & Silver is a dark reimagining of Snow White steeped in poison, intrigue and treason of the most magical kind.**

Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.

Not to die, but to save – seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.

But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.

Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick.

Or it might be the thing that kills them all . . .

[Dr. Drib]

Thanks for mentioning Hemlock & Silver.

[salty-horse]

World's End (The Snow Queen Cycle) by Joan D. Vinge is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
With this one, all of the books in the series have been on sale in the past months, for the first time.

Book two of Joan D. Vinge's beloved Snow Queen cycle of classic science fiction, back in print!
When BZ Gundhalinu's irresponsible older brothers go missing in World's End, a badlands rumored to drive people mad, he begrudgingly goes after them. The further in he travels, the stranger things get.

[Cactus Chef]

Deal, sorta. Not entirely sure what's going on.

I purchased The Disfavored Hero some days back when it was on sale (Dec. 6th), then added the sequels in the Tomoe Gozen saga to my wishlist.

Those two seem to have dropped now to $2.99, although that seems to be the list price now rather than a "sale" price...not sure if that's a mistake or if that will just be the "new price" moving forward. I assume it's meant to be temporary, since The Disfavored Hero has reverted to its earlier $8.99 price.

So anyway...book 1 no longer on sale, here's books 2 and 3. Book 1 goes on sale all the time.

The Golden Naginata (The Tomoe Gozen Saga #2) by Jessica Amanda Salmonson is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

For the sake of an enchanted sword, Tomoe revolts against her father
In all of Naipon, there is no samurai more famous than Tomoe Gozen. Her skill with the blade is legendary, her honor unquestioned, and evil men everywhere fear her name.

No challenge is too great for Tomoe, but she is not ready for marriage. When her father announces that he has arranged a match for her—one that will mean laying aside her sword—Tomoe responds as she always does when her life is threatened: she draws her twin blades.

After fighting her way out of her father's house, Tomoe meets Azo Hono-o, a female samurai who plans to make a name for herself by killing Tomoe Gozen. Tomoe convinces Azo to join forces with her, and together they set out across Naipon in search of a golden sword, which they will use to carve a place for themselves in a man's world.

Thousand Shrine Warrior (The Tomoe Gozen Saga) by Jessica Amanda Salmonson is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

Tomoe turns to religion to escape her past, but destiny is not through with her yet
The young girl crashes through the underbrush, desperate to escape the cackling soldiers at her back. After catching her in a tryst with a local farm boy, they intend to execute her for her sin. She runs for as long as she can, finally collapsing outside a shrine where a traveling nun sits with her flute. When the soldiers arrive, the nun sets her flute aside, drawing a legendary sword. She kills the men easily and sets the young girl free. Though she tried to avoid it, Tomoe Gozen has shed blood once again.

After countless battles and endless wandering, this legendary samurai has renounced Bushido and taken the oaths of a wandering nun. But though she disguises herself as a mendicant, trouble will find her still. Tomoe must engage in one last fight—this time for the sake of her soul.

[salty-horse]

Books 2 and 3 frequently go on sale for $2 instead of $3.

[salty-horse]

A Bridge of Years by Robert Charles Wilson is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Bask in the glory of this German cover: https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/6/...NDLLRZ1995.jpg

A classic science fiction story of time-travel and human transformation.

Tom Winter thought the secluded cottage in the Pacific Northwest would be the perfect refuge—a place to nurse the wounds of lost love and happiness. But Tom soon discovers that his safe haven is the portal of a tunnel through time. At one end is the present. At the other end—New York City, 1963.
His journey back to the early 1960s seems to offer him the chance to start over in a simpler, safer world. But he finds that the tunnel holds a danger far greater than anything he left behind: a human killing machine escaped from a bleak and brutal future, who will do anything to protect the secret passage that he thought was his alone. To preserve his worlds, past and present, Tom Winter must face the terrors of an unknown world to come.

[WashWest]

Such a classic! If you've only seen the show, I highly recommend the book. If you've never seen the show, I highly recommend the book.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

**This Anniversary Edition of Station Eleven, a finalist for the National Book Award and named a Best Book of the Twenty-First Century by the New York Times, celebrates ten years of this now iconic novel with a new color illustration and a guide to “The Mandelverse”

A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century**

An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days following civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

It is fifteen years after a flu pandemic wiped out most of the world's population. Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony, a small troupe moving over the gutted landscape, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. But when they arrive in the outpost of St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the disaster brought everyone here, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty, telling a story about the relationships that sustain us.