FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[sufue]

While on the way to other things, I noticed that the short story collection, Take Us to a Better Place, is free in English and Spanish (Llévanos a un lugar mejor), both in the US and the UK. It's themed around "well-being and the future of health and the planet" and includes stories by Martha Wells and a couple of other authors who were familiar to me. The (few) reviews are pretty good too, FWIW. Oh yeah, and the blurb indicates it's free due to sponsorship from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.


English:
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083WPZ83D
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tak...a-better-place
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B083WPZ83D

Spanish:
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083V8DXBX
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B083V8DXBX

Spoiler:

A profound and unforgettable original story collection about well-being and the future of health and the planet. With a foreword by bestselling author Roxane Gay and an introduction from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Pam Belluck. Offered to readers free by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

ADD: And the audiobook is free at Kobo US too: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook...better-place-1. I didn't find it at Kindle or Audible, although I'm not great at audiobooks, so someone else might have better luck.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov is $1.99 at Amazon US.

This is a really good book, and was Asimov's favorite scifi novel. I'll never find where I read it, as it was years ago, but apparently some of the elements in the novel were there to prove critics wrong. Because he didn't have aliens or romance in his works, critics kept saying he was incapable of writing either. A whole third of this book's from the viewpoint of a very alien species in an alternate universe, and there's a romance in the final third. Both handled well, in the case of the aliens, even brilliantly.

He definitely proved that just because he didn't write those things normally, he could do so easily.

[Kieran Seymour]

Some vintage science fiction in the UK.

The Brian Aldiss Collection: The Complete Short Stories: The 1950s - 99p

Kobo | amazon.co.uk

[Martinoptic]

Thanks Kieran. Got it. It’s the first volume in a series.

[sufue]

I've not read Neal Shusterman's Arc of a Scythe series, but the first book won a couple of respectable awards, all three books in the series are highly rated (4.7 and up on thousands of ratings each), and all three are $1.99 as part of today's US Kindle Daily Deal, matched at Kobo US. They look to be more YA, so I put them in the children's/YA thread (not that I don't read YA ), and here's a cross-link: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=4258030

[ZodWallop]

Foundation by Isaac Asimov is $2.99 at Amazon US.

The first novel in Isaac Asimov’s classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series

For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.

The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are among the most influential in the history of science fiction, celebrated for their unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. In Foundation, Asimov has written a timely and timeless novel of the best—and worst—that lies in humanity, and the power of even a few courageous souls to shine a light in a universe of darkness.

[ZodWallop]

Seventh Decimate by Stephen R. Donaldson is $1.99 at Amazon US.

The acclaimed author of the Thomas Covenant Chronicles launches a powerful new trilogy about a prince’s desperate quest for a sorcerous library to save his people.

Fire. Wind. Pestilence. Earthquake. Drought. Lightning.
These are the six Decimates, wielded by sorcerers for both good and evil.

But a seventh Decimate exists—the most devastating one of all...

For centuries, the realms of Belleger and Amika have been at war, with sorcerers from both sides harnessing the Decimates to rain blood and pain upon their enemy. But somehow, in some way, the Amikans have discovered and invoked a seventh Decimate, one that strips all lesser sorcery of its power. And now the Bellegerins stand defenseless.

Prince Bifalt, eldest son of the Bellegerin King, would like to see the world wiped free of sorcerers. But it is he who is charged with finding the repository of all of their knowledge, to locate the book of the seventh Decimate—and reverse the fate of his land.

All hope rests with Prince Bifalt. But the legendary library, which may or may not exist, lies beyond an unforgiving desert and treacherous mountains—and beyond the borders of his own experience. Wracked by hunger and fatigue, sacrificing loyal men along the way, Prince Bifalt will discover that there is a game being played by those far more powerful than he could ever imagine. And that he is nothing but a pawn...

[salty-horse]

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is $3 on Amazon.com

This isn't the kind of fairytale where the princess marries a prince.
It's the one where she kills him.

Marra never wanted to be a hero.

As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, she escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn’t so fortunate—and after years of silence, Marra is done watching her suffer at the hands of a powerful and abusive prince.

Seeking help for her rescue mission, Marra is offered the tools she needs, but only if she can complete three seemingly impossible tasks:
—build a dog of bones
—sew a cloak of nettles
—capture moonlight in a jar

But, as is the way in tales of princes and witches, doing the impossible is only the beginning.

Hero or not—now joined by a disgraced ex-knight, a reluctant fairy godmother, an enigmatic gravewitch and her fowl familiar—Marra might finally have the courage to save her sister, and topple a throne.

[salty-horse]

Memory's Legion: The Complete Expanse Story Collection is $4 on Amazon.com
Contains a new novella set after end of the series, and author notes for all stories.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is $3 on Amazon.com

This one is great! I'm buying it even though I bought the hardback (because of the cover art and endpapers).

[tch65721]

Originally Posted by Critteranne

This one is great! I'm buying it even though I bought the hardback (because of the cover art and endpapers).

This looks interesting. FYI... if you are an audible member a number of T. Kingfisher audio books are on sale at audible right now for 85% off, that is the $3- $4 range. I snagged a handful.

[salty-horse]

His Master's Voice by Stanisław Lem, translated by Michael Kandel is $2 on Amazon.com

By pure chance, scientists detect a signal from space that may be communication from rational beings. How can people of Earth understand this message, knowing nothing about the senders—including whether or not they even exist?

Written as the memoir of a mathematician who participates in the government project (code name: His Master’s Voice) attempting to decode what seems to be a message from outer space, this classic novel shows scientists grappling with fundamental questions about the nature of reality, the confines of knowledge, the limitations of the human mind, and the ethics of military-sponsored scientific research.

[salty-horse]

The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow is $2 on Amazon.com
Was on my wishlist.

Jennet Stearne's father hangs witches for a living in Restoration England. But when she witnesses the unjust and horrifying execution of her beloved aunt Isobel, the precocious child decides to make it her life's mission to bring down the Parliamentary Witchcraft Act. Armed with little save the power of reason, and determined to see justice prevail, Jennet hurls herself into a series of picaresque adventures—traveling from King William's Britain to the fledgling American Colonies to an uncharted island in the Caribbean, braving West Indies pirates, Algonquin Indian captors, the machinations of the Salem Witch Court, and the sensuous love of a young Ben Franklin. For Jennet cannot and must not rest until she has put the last witchfinder out of business.

[GlennD]

The Ship Who Sang, by Anne McCaffrey, is on sale for $1.99 at Amazon.

[ZodWallop]

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is $2.99 at Amazon US.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.