FREE/BARGAIN - Science Fiction, Fantasy - 2016

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

These appear to be self-published. Are you recommending them through having read them yourself, or have they been commercially publisher at some point in the past? The reviews are poor.

HarryT,
There are some authors that had a commercial publisher and left them.
Give me about 5 minutes and I will check on the book's in question.
Just a quick glance, tells me the writing is ok.
However, his double spacing between paragraphs got annoying.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

HarryT,
There are some authors that had a commercial publisher and left them.
Give me about 5 minutes and I will check on the book's in question.
Just a quick glance, tells me the writing is ok.
However, his double spacing between paragraphs got annoying.

Which commercial publisher have these books previously been published by?

[Little.Egret]

Endeavour / Venture

The Faithful Traitor (Wizard & Dragon Book 2) by Robert Don Hughes

First published 1992 Ballantine.

Seagryn the Powershaper has freed the two-headed dragon, but it was Sheth who made the beast. Now the dragon is scorching the land and devouring its people. And for that, Seagryn is seemingly to blame.
Now a traitor to his former people, Seagryn and his wife are driven from his home as outcasts. Nobody wanted him - nobody but the dragon, Vicia-Heinox.
Seagryn finds himself caught between the people who have disowned him and a malicious - and hungry - two-headed dragon.

Dr. Robert Don Hughes is also the author of The Prophet of Lamath and The Eternity Gene.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DUMYNIE/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DUMYNIE/
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01DUMYNIE/

[itisbomb]

Aftermath: Star Wars
Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens
by Chuck Wendig

is $1.99 at

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...math-star-wars

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Sta...atch+star+wars

Below is the blurb:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens

“Star Wars: Aftermath [reveals] what happened after the events of 1983’s Return of the Jedi. It turns out, there’s more than just the Empire for the good guys to worry about.”—The Hollywood Reporter

As the Empire reels from its critical defeats at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance—now a fledgling New Republic—presses its advantage by hunting down the enemy’s scattered forces before they can regroup and retaliate. But above the remote planet Akiva, an ominous show of the enemy’s strength is unfolding. Out on a lone reconnaissance mission, pilot Wedge Antilles watches Imperial Star Destroyers gather like birds of prey circling for a kill, but he’s taken captive before he can report back to the New Republic leaders.

Meanwhile, on the planet’s surface, former rebel fighter Norra Wexley has returned to her native world—war weary, ready to reunite with her estranged son, and eager to build a new life in some distant place. But when Norra intercepts Wedge Antilles’s urgent distress call, she realizes her time as a freedom fighter is not yet over. What she doesn’t know is just how close the enemy is—or how decisive and dangerous her new mission will be.

Determined to preserve the Empire’s power, the surviving Imperial elite are converging on Akiva for a top-secret emergency summit—to consolidate their forces and rally for a counterstrike. But they haven’t reckoned on Norra and her newfound allies—her technical-genius son, a Zabrak bounty hunter, and a reprobate Imperial defector—who are prepared to do whatever they must to end the Empire’s oppressive reign once and for all.

Praise for Aftermath

“The Force is strong with Star Wars: Aftermath.”—Alternative Nation

“The Star Wars universe is fresh and new again, and just as rich and mysterious as it always was.”—Den of Geek

“[Chuck] Wendig neatly captures the current states of the Empire and Rebel Alliance and does so through flawed, real, and nuanced characters. His writing gets you up close and personal. . . . Wendig does wonders with dialogue and voice and carving out space for everyone to breathe. Aftermath is a strong foot forward into unexplored territory and puts down just enough foundation that you can start picturing the Resistance and First Order of The Force Awakens taking shape.”—Nerdist

“If the opening chapter of the Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy is any indication, the ‘Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ will be every bit as exciting as the movie.”—New York Daily News

“A wonderful Star Wars adventure by a gifted author.”—SF Book Reviews

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Which commercial publisher have these books previously been published by?

Goodreads only shows self-published editions for those books, including the first book in the series. I don't think they've ever been commercially published.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Goodreads only shows self-published editions for those books, including the first book in the series. I don't think they've ever been commercially published.

Thank you. That's also the conclusion I'd reached.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Which commercial publisher have these books previously been published by?

I said some books had.
Alas these two were not among them.
And as I said in the same post, hard to read.

[ATDrake]

In Canada at Kobo (usually but not always price-matched at other Canadian retailers), a number of titles going dirt-cheap as part of the Victoria Day long weekend sale, still good for the next couple of hours (sometimes Kobo has a nasty habit of expiring sale prices an hour or two before midnight Eastern Time, though):

Guy Gavriel Kay has assorted novels going at $4.99 CAD from Penguin Canada. NB: the two parts of the Sarantine Mosaic are also priced at $4.99 together in the omnibus also on sale as well as individually, and some of the novels have been in sale-priced omnibuses previously, so check your records before purchasing. ETA: Tigana is newly discounted. I haven't previously noticed it on sale in the past couple of years, and it's not in any of the omnibuses, so this is another title that I'll be snapping up shortly.

Sebastien de Castell (eligible for the Campbell Award this year)'s first 2 swashbuckling fantasy novels are just $1.99 each, also from Penguin Canada.

There's a bunch of Kelley Armstrong and Justin Cronin for $3.99 each.

Linkage:

Fantastic Science Fiction & Fantasy
Fabulous Fiction (one of the GGK novels is filed here)
Hurray, YA! (some of the Kelley Armstrong is filed here)
Page Turning Mysteries and Thrillers (also contains Kelley Armstrong)

[datcha]

I saw on BookBub that Contamination: Dead Instinct by T.W. Piperbrook is available at various vendors for $0.99 instead of $2.99.

It seems to be an extra book in an infection-virus-zombie apocalypse series called Contamination.

As I looked up some vendor sites, I found that a 4 books omnibus (books 0 to 3) of the series (which is longer) is available for free at Smashwords: Contamination: Boxed Set 0-3 A Zombie Apocalypse Story by T.W. Piperbrook

I have no idea whether it is good, I did not much enjoy reading a more recent post-apocalyptic book by T.W. Piperbrook and Bobby Adair, the first book of The Last Survivors series. But it seem that other readers really enjoy it.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by datcha

I saw on BookBub that Contamination: Dead Instinct by T.W. Piperbrook is available at various vendors for $0.99 instead of $2.99.

It seems to be an extra book in an infection-virus-zombie apocalypse series called Contamination.

As I looked up some vendor sites, I found that a 4 books omnibus (books 0 to 3) of the series (which is longer) is available for free at Smashwords: Contamination: Boxed Set 0-3 A Zombie Apocalypse Story by T.W. Piperbrook

I have no idea whether it is good, I did not much enjoy reading a more recent post-apocalyptic book by T.W. Piperbrook and Bobby Adair, the first book of The Last Survivors series. But it seem that other readers really enjoy it.

Got it.

Thank you!

[koland]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Thanks for the Amazon link on this.

Edit: Holy crap, that's a 12 book series!

I read some of the reviews ... don't think I'd read the first book, let alone all 12. Seems the plot is unbelievable and the guy didn't have anyone proof it. More one-star reviews pan it, as well.

[koland]

Originally Posted by HarryT

These appear to be self-published. Are you recommending them through having read them yourself, or have they been commercially publisher at some point in the past? The reviews are poor.

Wow, lots of one-star reviews. Bad editing, 10 page plots with 800+ pages of filler, not a single compelling character, then no ending, just a cliff-hanger to get you to buy the next, and on and on.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by itisbomb

Aftermath: Star Wars
Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens
by Chuck Wendig

is $1.99 at

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...math-star-wars

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Sta...atch+star+wars

Thanks for this. I am a Star Wars fan but avoided this one because of the reviews. For this price, I will give it a shot.

[ATDrake]

X-link to the DRM-free megathread for this Tuesday's Wildside Press freebie:

Discover a New Author: Allan Cole & Chris Bunch, containing one short story in their Sten science fiction series, as well as sample chapters from the novels.

Also, if you happen to wish to practice your French-reading skills, publishers Bragelonne and Livre de Poche are holding sales on selected translated titles by Brandon Sanderson and Richard K. Morgan at $4.99 CAD each. Normally the Morgan books go for at least $8.99 CAD regularly, and French publishers rarely hold sales, so these are good prices if you're on the lookout for Francophone sf/fantasy. And Bragelonne's Milady imprint is also DRM-free.

Linkage to the Kobo Canada promotional page, but these are usually also price-matched at Amazon & iTunes CA (for some strange reason, Google Play CA does not carry books from the French publishers) as well: Incontournables de la science fiction en promo

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by koland

Wow, lots of one-star reviews. Bad editing, 10 page plots with 800+ pages of filler, not a single compelling character, then no ending, just a cliff-hanger to get you to buy the next, and on and on.

This reminds me of something I said about L. Ron Hubbard's ten volume Mission Earth series: It needs to be edited with an axe. (To be completely fair to Hubbard, the books did read fast and were mostly funny, although the humor tended to be heavy-handed. But they really needed to be condensed, a lot. Still sounds a whole lot better than this series.)