FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Correction: the ebook file on your Kindle uses the black and white title page as the cover.

If you use any reader other than a Kindle, you will see the book cover on the reader. And on a Kobo, it's the screensaver.

The point of going on about the cover is this is a book that is popular enough to remain in print nearly twenty years after publication, written by an established author and put out by one of the Big 5. If that's the attention they paid, what else is going on?

Nearly 30 years, which further strengthens your case.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Correction: the ebook file on your Kindle uses the black and white title page as the cover.

I don't have a Kindle. In the azw3 file, metadata.opf defines this as the cover:

<reference type="cover" href="images/00009.jpeg"/>

Publishers usually update the cover for store pages to coincide with promotional events (such as a tie-in movie) or new editions of the book without editing the ebook file itself. The Kindle reader uses the cover from the store, but that cover is not in the file itself.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Correction: the ebook file on your Kindle uses the black and white title page as the cover.

If you use any reader other than a Kindle, you will see the book cover on the reader. And on a Kobo, it's the screensaver.

The point of going on about the cover is this is a book that is popular enough to remain in print nearly twenty years after publication, written by an established author and put out by one of the Big 5. If that's the attention they paid, what else is going on?

Are you sure about the Kindle cover? In most cases, you have to go back to see the cover as Amazon has a grudge against covers which is why the new firmware likes to dump the cover thumbnails. when possible.

[salty-horse]

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann is $1.99 on Amazon.com.
Described by Karin Tidbeck as "a fresh and mind-bending mix of cosmic horror and space opera, a compelling story that spans from the deeply personal to the vast mysteries of time and space."

Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI Gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy – if she’ll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor. With her homeworld’s fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out.

[Tarana]

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files) is on sale today for $1.99 at Amazon, Kobo and B&N.

Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Blood-Rites...s%2C247&sr=8-1
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/blo...-dresden-files

[bob.f]

Hello readers,

I may have missed it but has any kind soul trawled through the latest amazon.co.uk monthly deals? I've noticed previously that there is often a post with a curated selection of the offers, but don't recall seeing one for June.

I used to go through them myself, but what with amazon's image view no longer working for me I just can't face paging through hundreds of books 16 at a time.

[brudigia]

All books from Charles Harness are on discount, both in USA and in Europe; the starting price was not so high (usually 3.99, in either Euros or in $) and is now 1.99 or .99. Both on Kobo and Amazon.
Best ones (my taste) are The Rose

https://www.kobo.com/it/en/ebook/the-rose-16
https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Charles-...les+L.+Harness

and The Ring of Ritornel

https://www.kobo.com/it/en/ebook/the-ring-of-ritornel
https://www.amazon.com/Ring-Ritornel...les+L.+Harness

I will not list the others, as it is easy, just search for the author name in both Kobo and Amazon.

Harnes is not well known, and has published few books, starting from the 50s of last century, till 2001 (according to Wikipedia) and it is well worth reading.
I read it when I was younger, and I sort of remember some review comparing the Ring of Ritornel to a VanVogt epic.
As an author, he was quite complex, stylistically. Worth trying.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Nearly 30 years, which further strengthens your case.

As I age I always think the past was ten years closer than it is

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

I don't have a Kindle. In the azw3 file, metadata.opf defines this as the cover:

<reference type="cover" href="images/00009.jpeg"/>

Publishers usually update the cover for store pages to coincide with promotional events (such as a tie-in movie) or new editions of the book without editing the ebook file itself. The Kindle reader uses the cover from the store, but that cover is not in the file itself.

Ah well. When I import azw files from Kindle for PC to Calibre, the azw always seems to display a proper cover. Of course, I convert the azw to ePub before I open it for an editing pass.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by bob.f

Hello readers,

I may have missed it but has any kind soul trawled through the latest amazon.co.uk monthly deals? I've noticed previously that there is often a post with a curated selection of the offers, but don't recall seeing one for June.

I used to go through them myself, but what with amazon's image view no longer working for me I just can't face paging through hundreds of books 16 at a time.

Usually it's me, but I wasn't well last week, and there wasn't much that wasn't a repeat.

Sword of Kings, by Bernard Cornwell (The Last Kingdom 12) is £1.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sword-Kings...al-text&sr=1-1

The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski (The Witcher introduction) is £1.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Wish-A...al-text&sr=1-2

Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett (Discworld 33 is £1.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Posta...al-text&sr=1-3

The Martian, by Andy Weir is £1.99 (possibly a repeat)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martian-Str...al-text&sr=1-4

Old Man's War, by John Scalzi (Old Man's War 1) is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Mans-Wa...al-text&sr=1-8

The Invisible Library, by Genevieve Cogman (Invisible Library 1) is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invisible-L...l-text&sr=1-10

Deadhouse Gates, by Steven Erikson (Malazan Book of the Fallen 2) is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deadhouse-G...l-text&sr=1-12

Weaveworld, by Clive Barker is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weaveworld-...l-text&sr=1-14

Saint's Blood, by Sebastien de Castell (Greatcoats 3) is 99p (possibly a repeat)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saints-Bloo...l-text&sr=1-17

Dogs of War, by Adrian Tchaikovsky is £1.79
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dogs-War-Ad...l-text&sr=1-23

Survive, by Vera Nazarian (Atlantis Grail 4) is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Survive-Atl...l-text&sr=1-24

There's also a 'Start a series' promotion running until the end of this month (again plenty of repeats and several books that aren't first in series):

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood (Maddaddam 1) is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crake-Madda...al-text&sr=1-1

Magician, by Raymond Feist (Riftwar 1) is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magician-Ri...al-text&sr=1-3

Just One Damned Thing After Another, by Jodie Taylor (Chronicles of St Mary's 1) is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Damned-Thin...al-text&sr=1-4

The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie (First Law 1) is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blade-Itsel...al-text&sr=1-5

Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach 1) is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Annihilatio...al-text&sr=1-8

The Diamond Throne, by David Eddings (Elenium 1) is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diamond-Thr...l-text&sr=1-11

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

I don't have a Kindle. In the azw3 file, metadata.opf defines this as the cover:

<reference type="cover" href="images/00009.jpeg"/>

Publishers usually update the cover for store pages to coincide with promotional events (such as a tie-in movie) or new editions of the book without editing the ebook file itself. The Kindle reader uses the cover from the store, but that cover is not in the file itself.

If the cover is a generic cover, it usually won't get updated when there is a new cover. If the eBook has a real cover, it gets updated.

[jhowell]

Could you all please move the cover discussion to another thread?

[salty-horse]

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami is $1.99 on Amazon.com
This is a literary novel (just to set your expectations)

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.

A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s—1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) is $0.99 on Amazon.com
YA novella.

Oliver was a very minor mage. His familiar reminded him of this several times a day.

He only knew three spells, and one of them was to control his allergy to armadillo dander. His attempts to summon elementals resulted in nosebleeds, and there is nothing more embarrassing than having your elemental leave the circle to get you a tissue, pat you comfortingly, and then disappear in a puff of magic. The armadillo had about wet himself laughing.

He was a very minor mage.

Unfortunately, he was all they had.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is $2.99 on Amazon.com
Sequel to Cinder. YA.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami is $1.99 on Amazon.com
This is a literary novel (just to set your expectations)

Thank you so much!

[ZodWallop]

Burn-In by P. W. Singer and August Cole is $3.99 at Amazon US.

I've not heard of the authors or their previous novel Ghost Fleet. But Burn-In has received a slew of glowing reviews.

An FBI agent hunts a new kind of terrorist through a Washington, DC, of the future in this groundbreaking book - at once a gripping technothriller and a fact-based tour of tomorrow

America is on the brink of a revolution, one both technological and political. The science fiction of AI and robotics has finally come true, but millions are angry and fearful that the future has left them behind.

After narrowly stopping a bombing at Washington’s Union Station, FBI Special Agent Lara Keegan receives a new assignment: to field-test an advanced police robot. As a series of shocking catastrophes unfolds, the two find themselves investigating a conspiracy whose mastermind is using cutting-edge tech to rip the nation apart. To stop this new breed of terrorist, their only hope is to forge a new type of partnership.

Burn-In is especially chilling because it is something more than a pulse-pounding read: every tech, trend, and scene is drawn from real world research on the ways that our politics, our economy, and even our family lives will soon be transformed. Blending a techno-thriller’s excitement with nonfiction’s insight, Singer and Cole illuminate the darkest corners of the world soon to come.