FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[Kacetwo]

The 'First Ever Unhuman Bundle: (unhuman I, II and III) Addictive Humorous British Detective Cozy Mystery Fantasies' Kindle Edition is available for 99p at Amazon UK and $1.32 on Amazon.com. I enjoyed the first book and now have the next two at a bargain price

Escapism and crazy, quirky adventures in Wilkie Martin's unhuman series. If you are looking for a new fantasy series or a light, funny read, then this unhuman bundle or collection will show why Wilkie has a cult following for his cozy mystery crime fantasies. Set in the English Cotswolds, the series includes:

Inspector Hobbes and the Blood - unhuman I. Inspector Hobbes and his hapless side-kick, Andy Caplet, together with the eccentric Mrs Goodfellow, and the deviant dog, Dregs, come together to foil a wannabee vampire.
Shortlisted for the Impress Prize for New Writers 2012

Inspector Hobbes and the Curse – unhuman II. Andy unexpectedly finds love with a dangerously beautiful woman, while Hobbes investigates big cat and werewolf sightings.

Inspector Hobbes and the Gold Diggers – unhuman III. Andy finds new love and a skeleton, while Hobbes pursues gold robbers after they hit a vampire-run bank.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Kacetwo

The 'First Ever Unhuman Bundle: (unhuman I, II and III) Addictive Humorous British Detective Cozy Mystery Fantasies' Kindle Edition is available for 99p at Amazon UK and $1.32 on Amazon.com. I enjoyed the first book and now have the next two at a bargain price

This is $1.09 at Kobo AU, so it's probably the equivalent of that everywhere

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by davidfor

This is $1.09 at Kobo AU, so it's probably the equivalent of that everywhere

I normally never buy books but when I saw 'cult following for his whacky books', I decided to have a go for $.99. I'm a sucker for wacky books, so if people also get whacked that's icing on the cake...

[GeoffR]

The first two in Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of Empire series are £0.99 each (DRM-free) at the Rebellion Publishing store:

1. Ninefox Gambit
2. Raven Stratagem

[ATDrake]

X-link to the Non-Fiction thread for some Mariner Books titles by sfnal authors:

@ $1.99 in the US only, Polish author Stanisław Lem's A Perfect Vacuum, collecting his essays about imaginary books and related commentary topics.

@ $2.99 in Canada & the US, Airman's Odyssey, a 3-book omnibus of French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's vintage aviation memoirs + novel based upon, containing experiences which influenced his classic The Little Prince.

Also, the previously-linked Tom Shippey Tolkien biography cum analysis has dropped to $1.99 in the US.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by Kacetwo

The 'First Ever Unhuman Bundle: (unhuman I, II and III) Addictive Humorous British Detective Cozy Mystery Fantasies' Kindle Edition is available for 99p at Amazon UK and $1.32 on Amazon.com. I enjoyed the first book and now have the next two at a bargain price

Escapism and crazy, quirky adventures in Wilkie Martin's unhuman series. If you are looking for a new fantasy series or a light, funny read, then this unhuman bundle or collection will show why Wilkie has a cult following for his cozy mystery crime fantasies. Set in the English Cotswolds, the series includes:

Inspector Hobbes and the Blood - unhuman I. Inspector Hobbes and his hapless side-kick, Andy Caplet, together with the eccentric Mrs Goodfellow, and the deviant dog, Dregs, come together to foil a wannabee vampire.
Shortlisted for the Impress Prize for New Writers 2012

Inspector Hobbes and the Curse – unhuman II. Andy unexpectedly finds love with a dangerously beautiful woman, while Hobbes investigates big cat and werewolf sightings.

Inspector Hobbes and the Gold Diggers – unhuman III. Andy finds new love and a skeleton, while Hobbes pursues gold robbers after they hit a vampire-run bank.

The US price appears to have dropped to 99 cents. (Thanks for the heads-up!)

[ATDrake]

X-link to the DRM-free thread for the new Humble Bundle:

Humble Book Bundle A Galaxy of Stars in Sci-Fi & Fantasy presented by Open Road has an excellent selection, actually containing what look like some Houghton Mifflin Harcourt books as well. There's Ursula K. Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, R. A. MacAvoy (a charming time travel adventure to early medieval Ireland which I rather liked when I bought it via Fictionwise a long time ago), Poul Anderson, Robert McCammon, Patricia C. Wrede (what looks the entirety of her Lyra quintet, if you've missed the previous sales on the omnibus or it wasn't available in your region), Theodore Sturgeon (apparently geo-restricted to US only), Elizabeth Briggs, Octavia E. Butler, and more.

A few repeats (I'm pretty sure I already have the Butler (ETA: only the 1st of the quartet offered has been bundled before; the rest are new) and some McCammon from previous ORM bundles), but plenty of new-to-bundle looking stuff, although a lot of it has been discounted in the US before, and some of it was likely in their US-only giveaway a while ago. But aside from the geo-restrictions on the Sturgeon, it's a really good offer for international Gentle Readers who don't travel much.

[maddz]

The Robin Mckinley is also geo-restricted in the UK - which is annoying because it’s one I want. Still, there’s around 7 titles both of us want (enough to justify the top tier even though I already have many books in the bundle).

[Fluribus]

In the 6th installment of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series, they find the mystical blade known as DrinkMixer and proceed to get thoroughly sloshed. Chilled to perfection.

Swords and Ice Magic for $1.99.

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $1.99 from Ace Books in Canada & the US (should be the same price at all the usual stores):

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, her award-winning vintage classic science fiction novel exploring a genderless society.

Ursula K. Le Guin's groundbreaking work of science fiction—winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

A lone human ambassador is sent to Winter, an alien world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants can change their gender whenever they choose. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

[ATDrake]

For what they say is today only as part of a 1-day Christmas deal on assorted fiction and non-, both Amazon and Kobo in Canada have a number of discounted sfnal titles from major publishers on sale for $3.99 or less (some prices may also be available in the US):

In Canada only, it's just $3.99 for Simon & Schuster's 50th anniversary edition of Ray Bradbury's vintage classic Fahrenheit 451, which has extras like an introduction by Neil Gaiman, and what looks like a substantial set of supplementary analytical essays and bonus materials in the back.

There's also a similar 50th anniversary edition of Joseph Heller's literary fiction classic Catch-22 for the same price if you like annotated editions. These don't seem to be discounted elsewhere; both $11.99 in the US, and eReaderIQ says the lowest the Bradbury price has gone is $4.36 USD.

For $2.99, there's also the 10th anniversary edition of Neil Gaiman's American Gods enhanced with bonus materials and the author's preferred text (the long-ago HarperCollins BookPerk Humble Bundle only had the regular edition), what looks like Neal Stephenson's latest novel from 2017, a seasonal satirical fantasy by Christopher Moore, YA fantasy by Victoria Aveyard, etc. Those looked like they were available in the US when I spot-checked.

There's also a rather nice-looking fully illustrated edition of Neil Gaiman's YA short story The Sleeper and the Spindle for $1.99 in Canada & the US, but this is a regular HarperCollins weekly markdown rather than a special holiday sale promotion.

And Kobo Canada's special 12 days of Xmas Daily Deal is for Diana Gabaldon's Outlander universe (including the Lord John mysteries) short story collection for just $4.99 CAD ($14.99 in the US), collecting the previous shorts and novellas and adding new ones as well: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall

Linkage for the lot of the sale pages @ Kobo Canada & Amazon CA

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $2.99 in the US only from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HarperCollins has the rights elsewhere, price should be the same at all retailers):

Beren and Lúthien by the late J. R. R. Tolkien, apparently an expanded and annotated version of a tale in his Middle Earth setting, illustrated by Alan Lee.

The tale of Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Returning from France and the battle of the Somme at the end of 1916, he wrote the tale in the following year.

Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal elf. Her father, a great elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril.

In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he has told the story in his father's own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost.

Published on the tenth anniversary of the last Middle-earth book, the international bestseller The Children of Húrin, this new volume will similarly include drawings and color plates by Alan Lee, who also illustrated The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and went on to win Academy Awards for his work on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

And speaking of Tolkien, x-link to the DRM-free thread for bundle deals on The One Ring officially licensed tabletop RPG based on Tolkien's works, and also some StoryBundles expiring soon.

And x-link to the Comics megathread for the Humble Comics Bundle Judge Dredd presented by IDW Publishing and 2000 AD featuring a selection of newer titles from the popular futuristic dystopian franchise.

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $2.99 for today only (December 28th) from Tor Books as part of the Kobo and Amazon Daily Deals on Macmillan titles in Canada & the US (5x Super Points at Kobo; price should be the same at all the regular retailers):

Magi'i of Cyador by L. E. Modesitt Jr., #10 in Recluce series, The Highwayman by R. A. Salvadore, #1 in Saga of the First King, The First Confessor by Terry Goodkind, #1 in The Legend of Magda Searus (Sword of Truth prequel), The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson, Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (a recent Tor Teen Book Club freebie offer). Also YA fantasies Rebel Genius by Michael Dante Martino, co-creator of popular animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, and Nemesis by Anna Banks, from different Macmillan imprints (not DRM-free like the Tor titles).

Linkage for the lot of specials @ Kobo CA (switching the URL country code to US will bring the list up for shopping there) and Amazon main.

Also, x-link to the Non-Fiction and Mystery megathreads for some US-only $1.99 sale bargains on Polish author Stanisław Lem's non-sfnal works if you're interested:

One Human Minute, a collection of essays dealing with society and technology, The Chain of Chance, a murder mystery investigated by a former astronaut, Hospital of the Transfiguration, a literary psychological thriller set in Nazi-occupied Poland.

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $1.99 in the US only from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (couponable/VIP discount eligible @ Kobo; price should otherwise be the same at other retailers):

Changing Planes: Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin, a set of thematically linked tales.

This is also in the current Humble Book Bundle A Galaxy of Stars in Sci-Fi & Fantasy presented by Open Road at the $18 top tier with a bunch of other rather good titles from other authors at less than $1 per book for 26 books DRM-free mostly available iinternationally (25 in Canada, 24 in rest of the world due to geo-restrictions, it seems). But if you just wanted this one solo, it's a very good price in the US right now ($22 CAD).

Hailed by Neil Gaiman as “a master of the craft” and Margaret Atwood as “a quintessentially American writer,” Ursula K. Le Guin is at her entertaining, thought-provoking best in this collection of ingeniously linked stories.

Missing a flight, waiting in an airport, listening to garbled announcements—who doesn’t hate that misery? But Sita Dulip of Cincinnati finds a way to bypass the long lines, the crowded restrooms, the nasty food, the whimpering children and domineering parents, the bookless bookstores, the plastic chairs bolted to the floor. . . .

With a kind of twist and a slipping bend, easier to do than to describe, Sita travels not to Denver but to Strupsirts, a picturesque region of waterspouts and volcanoes. Or to Djeyo, where she can stay for two nights with a balcony overlooking the amber Sea of Somue. This new method of “changing planes” enables Sita to visit bizarre societies and cultures that sometimes mirror our own . . . and sometimes open doors into the thrillingly alien.

A New York Times Notable Book and Los Angeles Times bestseller, featuring illustrations by Eric Beddows, Changing Planes is your boarding pass to fifteen worlds that are vintage Le Guin, from a recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the art of the short story.

Bargain @ $2.99 in the US only from some Random Penguin House imprint (should be the same price at all retailers):

Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction by the late Kurt Vonnegut, illustrated with line drawings by the author himself. Technically, these look like more on the literary side of his works than sfnal, but I've personally never met anyone who'd read his novels who wasn't also an SF/Fantasy reader, so I figure the most likely audience for his works is here.

A collection of fourteen previously unpublished short stories from one of the most original writers in all of American fiction

In this series of perfectly rendered vignettes, written just as he was starting to find his comic voice, Kurt Vonnegut paints a warm, wise, and funny portrait of life in post–World War II America—a world where squabbling couples, high school geniuses, misfit office workers, and small-town lotharios struggle to adapt to changing technology, moral ambiguity, and unprecedented affluence.

Here are tales both cautionary and hopeful, each brimming with Vonnegut’s trademark humor and profound humanism. A family learns the downside of confiding their deepest secrets into a magical invention. A man finds himself in a Kafkaesque world of trouble after he runs afoul of the shady underworld boss who calls the shots in an upstate New York town. A quack psychiatrist turned “murder counselor” concocts a novel new outlet for his paranoid patients. While these stories reflect the anxieties of the postwar era that Vonnegut was so adept at capturing—and provide insight into the development of his early style—collectively, they have a timeless quality that makes them just as relevant today as when they were written. It’s impossible to imagine any of these pieces flowing from the pen of another writer; each in its own way is unmistakably, quintessentially Vonnegut.

Featuring a foreword by author and longtime Vonnegut confidant Sidney Offit and illustrated with Vonnegut’s characteristically insouciant line drawings, Look at the Birdie is an unexpected gift for readers who thought his unique voice had been stilled forever—and serves as a terrific introduction to his short fiction for anyone who has yet to experience his genius.

[orangekiwi]

JABberwocky has a Holiday eBook Sale on until January 15
They are a literary agency who now also publish ebooks for some of their authors. Of possible interest to readers here the following are on sale at all major retailers and seem to be available in multiple countries (although discounts vary).
Books are generally DRM free

Daughter of Dragons by Jack Campbell (The Legacy of Dragons #1) $1.99
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/daughter-of-dragons-2
First book in follow on series from the The Pillars of Reality series
Also eligible for 5x superpoints from kobo if you collect these

Deeds of Honor (Paksenarrion World Chronicles) by Elizabeth Moon $1.99
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/deeds-of-honor
Short story collection in the Paksenarrion World

Deathstalker by Simon R. Green (Deathstalker #1) $1.99
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/deathstalker-1
First book in space opera series originally published by Roc and Gollanz in 1995

Sing the Four Quarters by Tanya Huff (Quarters #1) $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Sing-Four-Qua...dp/B0115WIXM8/
Originally published by DAW in 1994