FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by rchiang

The Sword of Shannara Triology on sale for $2.99 at Amazon US. Not sure how long this deal will last.

Thanks, I have the hardcover on my shelf, but $1/book is a pretty good deal for a Kindle copy that I can share with the wife, or the kids down the road (my daughter likes fantasy although she is obsessed with the Warriors books about warrior cats mostly at this point).

[batpuppy]

Actually I have never read any books by this author but this looks like a good deal in the US anyway for 3.99 .

Seed to Harvest: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark, and Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by batpuppy

Actually I have never read any books by this author but this looks like a good deal in the US anyway for 3.99 .

Seed to Harvest: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark, and Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler.

If you haven't read anything by Octavia Butler, you really should correct that "flaw"!

[Ravensknight]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

If you haven't read anything by Octavia Butler, you really should correct that "flaw"!

Or not.
Some of us might see that "flaw" as perfection...

[jselby]

Vol 1 of Heinlein's Expanded Universe is 2.99 on Amazon.com and 1.99 on Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SM1MEHG

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SM1MEHG

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by jselby

Vol 1 of Heinlein's Expanded Universe is 2.99 on Amazon.com and 1.99 on Amazon UK

I think it's a shame Baen lost the right to publish this. My paper copy is a huge paperback, and I can understand why a publisher might split it in two, but there's no reason to do that to the ebook.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

My paper copy is a huge paperback, and I can understand why a publisher might split it in two, but there's no reason to do that to the ebook.

Completely agreed. I've got 3000-page ebooks in my collection; I can handle a one-volume Expanded Universe! (What I really want, though, is a good ecopy of The Past Through Tomorrow.)

[gbm]

Grand Central Arena by Ryk E. Spoor is now in the Baen Free Library Baen Amazon Google Kobo.
Now free at Kobo, Google and **Amazon** has it for free at the time of this post.
**Edit:

It was supposed to be a simple test flight, one that pilot Ariane Austin was on only as a last-ditch backup; intelligent, superhumanly fast automation would handle the test activation and flight of humanity's first faster-than-light vessel. But when the Sandrisson Drive activated, every automated system crashed, the nuclear reactor itself shut down, and only the reflexes and training of a racing pilot saved the test vessel Holy Grail from crashing into the impossible wall that had appeared before them, a wall which is just part of a monstrous enclosure surrounding a space twenty thousand kilometers across. With all artificial intelligences inert and their reactor dead, they had to find some other source of power to reactivate the Sandrisson Drive and—hopefully—take them home.

And that was only the beginning. As Ariane, Dr. Simon Sandrisson, darkly enigmatic power engineer Marc C. DuQuesne, and the rest of the Holy Grail's crew explore the immense artifact, they discover that they are not alone; they have entered a place the alien inhabitants call "The Arena," and there is no way out without joining one of the alien factions . . . or winning recognition as a faction in their own right, playing by the Arena's rules—and by the Arena's rules, one failed challenge could mean death or worse—perhaps for the entire human race. Surrounded by alien factions, each with its own secret plans and motivations, some wielding powers so strange as to be magical, Ariane sets out to beat the Arena at its own game. With DuQuesne's strategies, Sandrisson's genius, and her own unyielding determination, she's going to bring the Holy Grail home—even if she has to beat every faction in the Arena to do it!

bernie

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by gbm

Grand Central Arena by Ryk E. Spoor is now in the Baen Free Library Baen Amazon Google Kobo.
Amazon and Kobo have yet to change it to free, Google has it for free at the time of this post.

Must have been in the free library before & later removed? I got it free at Amazon in June of 2016.

[Dngrsone]

Not free at Amazon, but I did download it from Baen.

Sounds like a common trope for adventure and comic-book series, but the blurb was well written enough to convince me to give it a try.

[gweeks]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Must have been in the free library before & later removed? I got it free at Amazon in June of 2016.

Nope. There was a glitch when it was updated at some point and was free for a few days on Amazon only. I got it at the same time you did I think. Late June 2016.

Greg

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Must have been in the free library before & later removed? I got it free at Amazon in June of 2016.

Same here.

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by gweeks

Nope. There was a glitch when it was updated at some point and was free for a few days on Amazon only. I got it at the same time you did I think. Late June 2016.

Greg

Yes there was a glitch. The author explained that it wasn't meant to go in the Free Library until a "Second Edition" (with Additional Material) was published so readers could pay for it if they wished.

http://www.baen.com/grand-central-ar...d-edition.html

Dedication

This novel is dedicated to the memory of E. E. “Doc” Smith, the father of space opera and the author who showed me the most pure and undiluted sense of wonder I have ever known. In my “poor, limited, and thoroughly inadequate” way, I hope to give something of that same sweep of vision and thrill of adventure to a new generation of readers. There was, and will be, only one Doc Smith, but he lives through the memory of those he inspired.


The new afterword is

In-jokes, Shout-Outs, and References in Grand Central Arena
Faith in Wonder: Saluting the Past
==

[Rev. Bob]

Currently marked down to 99 cents at Amazon: the omnibus of Robert Bevan's Caverns and Creatures Books 1-4, as well as each of the four collections of short stories, aptly named d6 through 4d6. The first novel is also 99 cents, but why buy it when you can buy the omnibus at the same price and get books 2-4 included for free?

The series could use some editing (as expected for indie work), and there's a lot of juvenile potty humor, but I've found the books well worth the read so far. The markdown is good for the next week, as a way to commemorate the publication of the fifth novel.

This series is based on what's become a common trope: a gang of roleplayers gets transported into the game world and transformed into their characters, and they then proceed to search for a way back. The big differences here are that they're more beer-and-pretzels types than Serious Roleplayers (leading to some early mistakes in what passes for their strategy) and that their GM remains In Control when he deigns to pay attention. It's definitely played for laughs, and won't be to everybody's taste.

I should point out that the short stories don't really fit into the novels' continuity. As I recall, the shorts work best when read after the second novel, as either a different path or as "untold adventures" taking place during that book. They're mostly written as ways to put the party into embarrassing situations, so don't think too hard about it.

[LJJohnson]

Thanks Rev Bob. Anyone living in a RV (dumping the grey and black tanks), with multiple animals (dogs and cats), and has a 2 year old grandson who has recently learned both the English and Spanish words for #2 (and uses them a lot), would object to a little good, clean potty humor.