FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by GlennD

Dragon Assassin by Piers Anthony is free on Amazon US. I have not read this, Piers Anthony is on my ereader IQ watchlist. Hard to go wrong with free, although Anthony's later work is generally nothing to shout about. It was cowritten by J.R. Rain, hopefully having a cowriter bumps up the quality.

Piers Anthony is a writer that was wildly popular previously, but seems to have just vanished from the public consciousness.

I never got into him, but knew people that loved his work. Not just the Xanth stuff either. I remember a story on This American Life about a kid that ran away from home, thinking he could live with Piers.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Here's a link to the bundle: https://storybundle.com/steampunk

I don't understand your joke, Drib. What do you want them to write?
Curators obviously pick works they like. In Story Bundle, clicking each book lets you read a "Curator's Note" with more of their reasoning.

They're always happy and pleased and full of wonderfulness. (I feel like I was dropped into a Neal Breen film with a granola bar or two!)

Truly, doesn't anyone ever have a bad day? A dandruff day?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by isarl

A little dose of reality to counter the usual artifice! I love it.

You got it! Exactly!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

(I feel like I was dropped into a Neal Breen film with a granola bar or two!)

Have you ever watched a Neal Breen movie? I've watched some hilarious reviews. But I don't know if I would have the willpower to make it through a whole film of his.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Here's a link to the bundle: https://storybundle.com/steampunk

I don't understand your joke, Drib. What do you want them to write?
Curators obviously pick works they like. In Story Bundle, clicking each book lets you read a "Curator's Note" with more of their reasoning.

Ah, yes. I forgot the link. Thanks for supplying it.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Have you ever watched a Neal Breen movie? I've watched some hilarious reviews. But I don't know if I would have the willpower to make it through a whole film of his.

How funny this is: I posted BEFORE I read your post. And yes: I've been keeping Youtube and my son very busy watching his hair-raising, hilarious films.


Off-Topic: Try the guy named Space Ice for his hilarious take on Steven Seagal films.

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Piers Anthony is a writer that was wildly popular previously, but seems to have just vanished from the public consciousness.

I never got into him, but knew people that loved his work. Not just the Xanth stuff either. I remember a story on This American Life about a kid that ran away from home, thinking he could live with Piers.

I think the first 4 or so Xanth books still hold up as an adult reading them. That was before he was basing stories on the silly puns that readers were sending him. I also enjoyed the Split Infinity series as a teen but I haven't read them since. His books rarely go on sale, or if they do it's the same ones every time.

[pdurrant]

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi is on sale for £0.99 at Amazon UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09DD2DK5Z/

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Piers Anthony is a writer that was wildly popular previously, but seems to have just vanished from the public consciousness.

Pretty much because none of his stuff became a movie, so younger generation just doesn't discover him. Xanth doesn't really lend itself to a movie, but Incarnations would have been an interesting series.

[pdurrant]

The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett is available for £0.99 at Amazon UK:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00WERXEVE

(That was the last Discworld novel I didn't have in ebook form....)

[isarl]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett is available for £0.99 at Amazon UK

Also appears to be on sale on Kobo UK but completely unavailable for purchase via Kobo Canada.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Pretty much because none of his stuff became a movie, so younger generation just doesn't discover him. Xanth doesn't really lend itself to a movie, but Incarnations would have been an interesting series.

That's not the only reason younger readers aren't reading Piers Anthony. When I was reading his books, they were in all the bookstores -- and he was writing a lot of them. But now, his books are available mainly through POD or eBooks. Younger readers would have to go into used bookstores, stumble upon his eBooks or POD copies, or have family members who recommended the books. Some libraries will have the books, but there are also lots of other books by authors they are familiar with competing for their attention.

Some people started giving Piers Anthony the side-eye after books like Firefly. These are people who might have recommended his Xanth books to their kids -- and then decided against it. Especially if they reread them first and decided the books had been visited by the "suck fairy."

[isarl]

Today I experimented with “moving” to the UK in my Kobo account. All my store credit moved with me and I was able to buy The Last Hero without issue.

However, it seems to simply use a separate JPG for each page. This wouldn't bother me quite so much except it also does it for the two-page spreads, so I'm toying with the idea of stitching those two-part images together myself and replacing the references in the ebook. Just a bit leery of messing something up, I suppose. Any cautions or words of encouragement from more experienced readers who are also picky about this sort of thing? I guess I can always just make a copy of the original EPUB so that if I mess up I can go back to the original version.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by isarl

Any cautions or words of encouragement from more experienced readers who are also picky about this sort of thing?

I'm not bothered by two-page spreads that appear as one page - I want to view them as one page anyway.

[isarl]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

I'm not bothered by two-page spreads that appear as one page - I want to view them as one page anyway.

I do too – what bothers me is that, in the ebook, they are separate pages. You turn a page, you see the first half of the illustration; in order to see the rest, you have to turn the page again. I can't do that to Paul Kidby!