FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[ZodWallop]

A couple of Octavia Butler books are on sale at Amazon US:

Parable of the Sower - $1.99
Parable of the Talents - $2.99
Earthseed (A collection of Sower and Talents) is $20.41

[zje]

City - $1.99 Amazon Daily Deal

[Dr. Drib]

^ A classic Sci-Fi novel and highly recommended.

[Gardenman]

Thanks zje Got it

[ZodWallop]

It's Simak-iganza!

Time Is the Simplest Thing by Clifford D. Simak is $1.99 at Amazon US.

Space travel has been abandoned in the twenty-second century. It is deemed too dangerous, expensive, and inconvenient—and now the all-powerful Fishhook company holds the monopoly on interstellar exploration for commercial gain. Their secret is the use of “parries,” human beings with the remarkable telepathic ability to expand their minds throughout the universe. On what should have been a routine assignment, however, loyal Fishhook employee Shepherd Blaine is inadvertently implanted with a copy of an alien consciousness, becoming something more than human. Now he’s a company pariah, forced to flee the safe confines of the Fishhook complex. But the world he escapes into is not a safe sanctuary; Its people have been taught to hate and fear his parapsychological gift—and there is nowhere on Earth, or elsewhere, for Shepherd Blaine to hide...

[ReadingManiac]

WitchLit, an anthology of magical stories came out on Amazon today at .99. I had it on pre-order and started reading this morning. The first few stories were worth the price! Plus it all goes to the Books for Africa charity so win-win.

https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Lit-Wit...dp/B07SCVXR88/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Witch-Lit-W...dp/B07SCVXR88/

[ZodWallop]

A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony is $1.99 at Amazon US.

Xanth is an enchanted land where magic rules, a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks where every citizen has a unique spell to call their own. For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth is no fairy tale. He alone has no magic. And unless he gets some—and fast!—he will be exiled. Forever.

But the Good Magician Humfrey is convinced that Bink does indeed have magic. In fact, both Beauregard the genie and the magic wall chart insist that Bink has magic as powerful as any possessed by the King, the Good Magician Humfrey, or even the Evil Magician Trent. Be that as it may, no one can fathom the nature of Bink’s very special magic. This is even worse than having no magic at all . . . and he still faces exile!

Link above is for The Parallel Edition... Simplified. Described thusly:

Now, in an eBook exclusive, A Spell for Chameleon has been reworked line by line—its language matching the simpler, playful way with words that made Piers Anthony an enduring fan favorite.

Is that good? Bad? I dunno. I'm not a Piers Anthony fan.

Original edition is also on sale for $2.99

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony is $1.99 at Amazon US.



Link above is for The Parallel Edition... Simplified. Described thusly:

Now, in an eBook exclusive, A Spell for Chameleon has been reworked line by line—its language matching the simpler, playful way with words that made Piers Anthony an enduring fan favorite.

Is that good? Bad? I dunno. I'm not a Piers Anthony fan.

Original edition is also on sale for $2.99

Well, at least they made it obvious that it is not the original. I understand that some authors get mad about what they call over-editing, or editing based on the time, but having read a couple of those, I have no interest in reading another. Author ego thing, I think.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Well, at least they made it obvious that it is not the original.

And the original edition is still available. Piers Anthony is not George Lucas.

I understand that some authors get mad about what they call over-editing, or editing based on the time, but having read a couple of those, I have no interest in reading another. Author ego thing, I think.

I didn't get the feeling that the original book suffered from an aggressive editor. Rather, the Xanth books changed over time, with heavy use of wordplay. So he reworked the original to make it fit the overall style more.

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

And the original edition is still available. Piers Anthony is not George Lucas.



I didn't get the feeling that the original book suffered from an aggressive editor. Rather, the Xanth books changed over time, with heavy use of wordplay. So he reworked the original to make it fit the overall style more.

Given that the first four or so are pretty fun and after that they quickly became repetitive dreck, I went with the original version.

[specficwriter]

If you use the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon, you can see a good explanation of how that simplified version came about.

Originally Posted by Tarana

Well, at least they made it obvious that it is not the original. I understand that some authors get mad about what they call over-editing, or editing based on the time, but having read a couple of those, I have no interest in reading another. Author ego thing, I think.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by GlennD

Given that the first four or so are pretty fun and after that they quickly became repetitive dreck, I went with the original version.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who quit after the first few!

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I'm glad I'm not the only one who quit after the first few!

I think I made it as far as 10 books, and will occasionally reread the first 4 or 5 (although not the second one, I find it pretty boring). Can you believe he's cranked out 41 of them?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by GlennD

I think I made it as far as 10 books, and will occasionally reread the first 4 or 5 (although not the second one, I find it pretty boring). Can you believe he's cranked out 41 of them?

I've never read any. I've tried other Piers Anthony books and they just weren't for me. But looking at his vast body of work, I get the feeling the Xanth books just sort of took over his career, whether he liked it or not. Sort of like Latka did for Andy Kaufman.

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I've never read any. I've tried other Piers Anthony books and they just weren't for me. But looking at his vast body of work, I get the feeling the Xanth books just sort of took over his career, whether he liked it or not. Sort of like Latka did for Andy Kaufman.

He's got some gems in his catalog; I like the first 5 incarnations of immortality but stopped when he started playing around with Satan and God. Other folks may not be bothered by those themes. I also enjoyed the apprentice adept series.

You do have to tolerate a rather adolescent view of sexuality when you read any of his series - had I started reading his books as an adult rather than as a teen I might not have the affection for them that I do.