Free/Bargain Science Fiction & Fantasy in May 2014

[piperclassique]

The info only shows up if I am logged in to MR. I'm using Tapatalk on my tablet so I went to various web browsers to check it out and it only showed on some. It turns out I wasn't logged in on the ones that didn't show the info but as soon as I logged in it showed up. Does it work like that on a pc?
__________________

I think that's because you only see it when you see my signature....

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by piperclassique

I think that's because you only see it when you see my signature....

Doh!

[ApK]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Thanks for the information. It gave me a terrible fright when I saw it - I knew that the information has to be available to the receiving and sending computers, but I had no idea that some people get their jollies by making or using software that displays the information.

I've done a virus scan and checked out danasoftare, so am less concerned than I was.

By the way, until YOU posted the screen shot, only YOU saw that information.
While it's certainly possible to capture that info from a user on the server side and expose it to others, I'm willing to bet that even piperclassique never saw your info until you posted the screenshot.

So you gave you your info to the world. :-)

And, of course, there is absolutely nothing of special interest in there to anyone looking to do you harm. It's not like knowing your IP address and browser preference unlocks your bank account.

Unless those were your security questions....

ApK

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by ApK

By the way, until YOU posted the screen shot, only YOU saw that information.
While it's certainly possible to capture that info from a user on the server side and expose it to others, I'm willing to bet that even piperclassique never saw your info until you posted the screenshot.

So you gave you your info to the world. :-)

And, of course, there is absolutely nothing of special interest in there to anyone looking to do you harm. It's not like knowing your IP address and browser preference unlocks your bank account.

Unless those were your security questions....

ApK

Thank you for this information, which I didn't have when I first saw the popup.

I have some reservations about people showing me information that I haven't asked for without any information as to why it's being drawn to my attention.

And at least one person (#39) considers danasoft to be a tracker, so I have some doubts as to whether their software is entirely harmless, or will continue to be entirely harmless.

I think I'll use Tor to read MobileRead in future.

Edit: for some reason, probably because I don't know what I'm doing, the Tor browser won't let me post on MobileRead, or MobileRead won't accept posts from Tor.

[stutzj]

I just discovered 'Critical Failures' by Robert Bevan on Kindle Countdown for .99. I've read the first 30 pages and found myself laughing out loud. Definitely a little raunchy but also a whole lot of fun. I highly recommend this if you want to read a humorous fantasy novel and especially if you are or were at one time into Dungeons & Dragons. It's surprisingly well written and moves fast. Much better than any other 'real life players get sucked into the fantasy world of the game they are playing' kind of novels and yes I'm looking at you 'Guardians of Flame'. In fact all of Bevan's work is on sale for .99 each.

http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Failu...9859945&sr=1-4

And, yes, this doesn't appear to be indie published. It's also sitting in the top 20 Fantasy and #1 in Sword and Sorcery - it's legit.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by stutzj

I just discovered 'Critical Failures' by Robert Bevan on Kindle Countdown for .99. I've read the first 30 pages and found myself laughing out loud. Definitely a little raunchy but also a whole lot of fun. I highly recommend this if you want to read a humorous fantasy novel and especially if you are or were at one time into Dungeons & Dragons. It's surprisingly well written and moves fast. Much better than any other 'real life players get sucked into the fantasy world of the game they are playing' kind of novels and yes I'm looking at you 'Guardians of Flame'. In fact all of Bevan's work is on sale for .99 each.

http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Failu...9859945&sr=1-4

And, yes, this doesn't appear to be indie published. It's also sitting in the top 20 Fantasy and #1 in Sword and Sorcery - it's legit.

That sounds pretty hilarious, going to have to try that one.

[BetterRead]

ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE, The Farseer Trilogy Book 1 by Robin Hobb, is currently $0.99 at Amazon US, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father’s gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz’s blood runs the magic Skill—and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family.

As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by BetterRead

ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE, The Farseer Trilogy Book 1 by Robin Hobb, is currently $0.99 at Amazon US, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

Links:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Kobo

[Hampshire Nanny]

I just noticed that Acorna by Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball is only $0.99 today. This is the first of a 7 book series. As one reviewer said, "I wouldn't call it an excellent book, but I'd read it again with pleasure and recommend it to anyone looking for a good read." -- honsaej I've enjoyed the entire series and if I didn't have so many unread books living in my Kindle, I'd gladly read it again.

Acorna at Amazon US

[Brendan Moody]

A follow-up to the discussion in the April thread about the Hugo Voter Packet: Orbit Books has announced that it will not be including the full versions of any of its nominated novels, opting instead for "extended previews" of those three books.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

A follow-up to the discussion in the April thread about the Hugo Voter Packet: Orbit Books has announced that it will not be including the full versions of any of its nominated novels, opting instead for "extended previews" of those three books.

The authors have posted a joint statement about this here...
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog...ugo-voter.html

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

The authors have posted a joint statement about this here...
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog...ugo-voter.html

Seems the decision was made personally by Orbit's CEO and we shouldn't complain about it or the authors will suffer, from one of Charlie Stross' comments on that post:

The decision was taken by Orbit's CEO, personally. I have discussed the matter with him. So has my agent. So have Seanan's and Ann's agents. He's not budging.

Please DO NOT pester Tim Holman. It won't work, and he might get the impression I set you up to do so. My agent is currently in the process of closing the deal for the next two Laundry Files books with Orbit. If you want to see them published in the UK at all*, it would be a really bad idea to get my British publisher's CEO personally pissed-off at me. It will also leave a big fat hole in my cash flow for a couple of years if this deal tanks, so I won't thank you, either.

Are we clear, yet?

* We're talking books 6 and 7 of an existing series. No other British publisher would touch it at this point because the existing publisher could exert huge leverage over their marketing if they felt like getting nasty, for any reason at all.

So fine, I won't complain, but I will never buy anything published by Orbit or its subsidiaries ever again. This may hurt the authors, but I can't support a company that acts like this and would retaliate against its authors because their fans complained about Orbit's actions.

Also, ironic I commented before about being surprised Orbit participated in the Hugo packets at all in the past, and they go and do this.

[AnemicOak]

Just to be clear Stross is just speculating as to something that might happen, we have no way of knowing if it actually would.

The Hugo packets are a voluntary thing and if they choose not to participate well that's their choice. Perhaps they've looked at all the extra people signing up so they can get the entire Wheel of Time series (I read somewhere it's like triple the normal numbers) and feel that's just too many free copies? Some of the people commenting around the net seem to think that the packet is some paid right that goes along with membership instead of a nice bonus that's voluntarily provided by publishers/authors being generous. In general it seems like a good idea to provide voter copies, but I can kinda see the other side too. I just hope it doesn't cause a backlash on the authors. Seems to be a lot of Hugo drama this year between this and the Larry Corriea & Vox Day stuff I keep seeing discussed.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

A follow-up to the discussion in the April thread about the Hugo Voter Packet: Orbit Books has announced that it will not be including the full versions of any of its nominated novels, opting instead for "extended previews" of those three books.

Guess what I won't be voting for (can't vote unless I read...)

[jgaiser]

It does seems that Orbit doesn't care too much about the Hugos. Unfortunately one of the books in the shortlist is going to get my vote.

That said, Orbit has lost a regular customer. Their loss.