FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by DNSB

You poor soul. I read the first book in the series back in the late sixties and then read the next one because "they can't all be that bad" (those were the ones that read like a Edgar Rice Burroughs pastiche). I was wrong.

But are they worse than the Rendezvous With Rama sequels that Gentry Lee vomited out onto paper?

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by Manabi

But are they worse than the Rendezvous With Rama sequels that Gentry Lee vomited out onto paper?

Bad in a different way. The Rama books were just poorly written and kind of ruined the original classic.

The Gor books are advocating a mindset and behavior that most people find pretty repugnant (the sexual slavery of women).

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Manabi

But are they worse than the Rendezvous With Rama sequels that Gentry Lee vomited out onto paper?

They were worse. A mix of Burroughs/Kline (anyone else here read Kline's Robert Grandon (Venus) or Harry Thorne (Mars) series?) and S/M. To quote several blurbs: "the brilliantly imagined world of Gor, where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire". Kinda of like Justine but without any pretenses of consensuality. The Rama sequels were just badly written.

[Dr. Drib]

I'll make it simple to understand:

Gor = Toilet + Vomit

[Fbone]

Dark Deeds (Keiko Book 3) by Mike Brooks is $1.99. The lowest price I've seen for this title.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...oreType=ebooks

In the third book of the “entertaining” (Kirkus Reveiws) Keiko series, Captain Ichabod Drift and his crew find themselves in another mess as a ship-wide vacation leads to their second-in-command taken hostage by the planet’s criminal mastermind.

After the riotous civil war in Dark Sky, the crew of the Keiko decides to go on vacation at an illegal gambling port for a little fun. What they don’t realize is that the casinos are run by an ex-client who didn’t get his shipment due to the war. The mob boss decides to take Tamara Rouke, the Keiko’s second-in-command, and hold her hostage until the crew raises enough money to pay him back for the lost shipment. If they don’t pay up in time, Rouke will be killed.

Captain Ichabod Drift and his crew agree. But as they find a way to get the funds, one will betray everyone and one will die…

[Fbone]

Taking Wing (Star Trek: Titan Book 1) by Michael A. Martin, Andy Mangels is $0.99.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...oreType=ebooks

[snarkophilus]

Originally Posted by Tarana

The Eon Series By Greg Bear $2.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N Omnibus of 3 books

And somewhat amazingly, only $AUD1.98 in Australia:

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Eon-Legacy.../dp/B071YMZ3RT
Google Play Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=Cm-9DgAAQBAJ

[bookmarked]

Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg: Girl Genius, Book Four by Phil Foglio & Kaja Foglio is on sale for $1.99

In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, mad science rules the world—with mixed success.

In Agatha H and the Siege of Mechanicsburg, Agatha Heterodyne, the last of the Heterodyne family, has returned to her family’s hereditary town with the might of the Wulfenbach Empire hot on her heels. The only thing holding off an outright attack is Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, the heir to the Empire, who has joined Agatha and her friends inside the great artificially intelligent fortress of Castle Heterodyne. Now they must race to repair the mechanisms that once allowed the Castle to defend Mechanicsburg, before the rest of Europa shows up to take all the revenge the mad Heterodynes of the past so richly earned.

From the Hugo Award–winning Girl Genius online comics comes this fourth book in the Agatha H. series, and like the previous three books, it will engage you in a unique world of adventure, romance, and mad science!

[Tarana]

Mastodonia By Clifford D. Simak $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N

I've never read this author but he is a SFWA Grand Master, so probably good.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mastodonia-Cl...6568947&sr=8-1
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mastodonia-1

[Dr. Drib]

^ Give 'City' a try and the dogs will tell you everything you need to know about human nature.

[Brief quotes below by Clifford D. Simak]

These are the stories that the Dogs tell when the fires burn high and the wind is from the north. Then each family circle gathers at the hearthstone and the pups sit silently and listen and when the story’s done they ask many questions:
“What is Man?” they’ll ask.
Or perhaps: “What is a city?”
Or: “What is a war?”
...
Rover believes that in the first tale we are dealing with almost pure myth and that as a result no situation or statement can be accepted at face value, that the entire tale must be filled with a symbolism to which the key has long been lost.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

And with a religious cult ready to buy up as many copies as required to get it onto the bestseller lists, as with all of his books.

I did actually read all of these, many years ago, and while yes, they are terrible, there was some amusement to be had.

I read the first Mission Earth book and felt I lost a valuable part of my life reading that awful book. It was really really bad.

Anyone who reads the entire series needs to be locked up as sanity is completely gone.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by GlennD

I actually enjoyed Battlefield Earth. Of course, I read it as a teen. I couldn't get past the third book of Mission: Earth if I remember correctly.

Battlefield Earth is a horrible book.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I read the whole series not too recently (maybe 10 years ago) because the library had them all and I had started, but not finished them as a teen. They actually are quite funny, although much of the humor is heavy-handed and you can see all of L. Ron's pet peeves clearly. Even in their current state they read quickly, I finished each book (and they're all pretty thick) much quicker than I expected. They really need drastic editing, (as I like to say, they need editing with an ax) cutting it down to a trilogy would likely make for some seriously funny and quick-reading books that most people would enjoy. I don't regret reading the whole series once, although I'll never do it again.

The editing they need is very easy. Forget the red pen. Get the red paint and the roller and go over each page. There, edited.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Manabi

But are they worse than the Rendezvous With Rama sequels that Gentry Lee vomited out onto paper?

Rendezvous With Rama is so dry with very little actually happening.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Taking Wing (Star Trek: Titan Book 1) by Michael A. Martin, Andy Mangels is $0.99.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...oreType=ebooks

There is one Titan book written by just Michael martin and it's a real stinker. The frst Titan book is good.