FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[Tarana]

The Eon Series Box Set By Greg Bear $2.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Omnibus - books 1-3 Legacy, Eon, Eternity

[salty-horse]

The Wormwood Trilogy (aka Rosewater) by Tade Thompson is on various levels of discount on Amazon.com

Rosewater - $4.99 (regular price, but frequently goes on sale)
The Rosewater Insurrection - $3.99 (lowest price in a while)
The Rosewater Redemption - $4.99 (50% off, lowest price)

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by Tarana

The Eon Series Box Set By Greg Bear $2.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Omnibus - books 1-3 Legacy, Eon, Eternity

These are excellent books, and a steal at that price.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

The Wormwood Trilogy (aka Rosewater) by Tade Thompson is on various levels of discount on Amazon.com

Rosewater - $4.99 (regular price, but frequently goes on sale)

Rosewater is now $0.99

[Tarana]

Hitler’s War By Harry Turtledove $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Alternative History

[salty-horse]

Cold Iron by Stina Leight is $1.99 on Amazon.com
Book 1 of the Malorum Gates series, but I think it's a standalone, as the other book is considered a "companion".

Fraternal twins Nels and Suvi move beyond their royal heritage and into military and magical dominion in this flintlock epic fantasy debut from a two-time Campbell Award finalist.

Prince Nels is the scholarly runt of the ancient Kainen royal family of Eledore, disregarded as flawed by the king and many others. Only Suvi, his fraternal twin sister, supports him. When Nels is ambushed by an Acrasian scouting party, he does the forbidden for a member of the ruling family: He picks up a fallen sword and defends himself.

Disowned and dismissed to the military, Nels establishes himself as a leader as Eledore begins to shatter under the attack of the Acrasians, who the Kainen had previously dismissed as barbarians. But Nels knows differently, and with the aid of Suvi, who has allied with pirates, he mounts a military offensive with sword, canon, and what little magic is left in the world.

Review by Liz Bourke on Tor.com: Approachable Epic Fantasy: Cold Iron by Stina Leicht

Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson is $2.99 on Amazon.com

Nalo Hopkinson--winner of the John W. Campbell Award, the Sunburst Award, and the World Fantasy award (among others), and lauded as one of our "most inventive and brilliant writers" (New York Post)--returns with a new work. With her singular voice and characteristic sharp insight, she explores the relationship between two sisters in this richly textured and deeply moving novel . . . Sister Mine We'd had to be cut free of our mother's womb. She'd never have been able to push the two-headed sport that was me and Abby out the usual way. Abby and I were fused, you see. Conjoined twins. Abby's head, torso, and left arm protruded from my chest. But here's the real kicker; Abby had the magic, I didn't. Far as the Family was concerned, Abby was one of them, though cursed, as I was, with the tragic flaw of mortality.

Now adults, Makeda and Abby still share their childhood home. The surgery to separate the two girls gave Abby a permanent limp, but left Makeda with what feels like an even worse deformity: no mojo. The daughters of a celestial demigod and a human woman, Makeda and Abby were raised by their magical father, the god of growing things--a highly unusual childhood that made them extremely close. Ever since Abby's magical talent began to develop, though, in the form of an unearthly singing voice, the sisters have become increasingly distant.

Today, Makeda has decided it's high time to move out and make her own life among the other nonmagical, claypicken humans--after all, she's one of them. In Cheerful Rest, a run-down warehouse space, Makeda finds exactly what she's been looking for: an opportunity to live apart from Abby and begin building her own independent life. There's even a resident band, led by the charismatic (and attractive) building superintendent.

But when her father goes missing, Makeda will have to discover her own talent--and reconcile with Abby--if she's to have a hope of saving him . . .

The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson is $1.99 on Amazon.com
This is more in the magical realism category.

First it's her mother's missing gold brooch. Then, a blue and white dish she hasn't seen in years. Followed by an entire grove of cashew trees.

When objects begin appearing out of nowhere, Calamity knows that the special gift she has not felt since childhood has returned-her ability to find lost things. Calamity, a woman as contrary as the tides around her Caribbean island home, is confronting two of life's biggest dramas. First is the death of her father, who raised her alone until a pregnant Calamity rejected him when she was sixteen years old. The second drama: she's starting menopause. Now when she has a hot flash and feels a tingling in her hands, she knows it's a lost object calling to her.

Then she finds something unexpected: a four-year-old boy washes up on the shore, his dreadlocked hair matted with shells. Calamity decides to take the orphaned child into her care, which brings unexpected upheaval into her life and further strains her relationship with her adult daughter. Fostering this child will force her to confront all the memories of her own childhood-and the disappearance of her mother so many years before.

[maddz]

The June Amazon.co.uk deals went up yesterday. Of interest are:

The Human, by Neal Asher (Rise of the Jain 3) is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Human-Rise-...l-text&sr=1-34

The Glass Hotel, by Emily St John Mandel is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glass-Hotel...al-text&sr=1-9

Gardens of the Moon, by Steven Erikson (Malazan Book of the Fallen 1) is £1.99 REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardens-Moo...l-text&sr=1-13

The White Dragon, by Anne McCaffrey (Pern 5) is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Drago...l-text&sr=1-16

The Reality Dysfunction, by Peter F Hamilton (Nights Dawn 1) is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reality-Dys...l-text&sr=1-20

The Golem and the Djinni, by Helene Wecker is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Golem-Djinn...l-text&sr=1-25

The Once and Future King, by T H White is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-Future...l-text&sr=1-35

Do You Dream of Terra-Two?, by Temi Oh is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Do-You-Drea...l-text&sr=1-39

Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchett (Discworld 17) is £1.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Interesting...l-text&sr=1-18

Stormrider, by David Gemmell (Rigante 4) is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stormrider-...l-text&sr=1-20

Snow Crash, by Neal Stevenson is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snow-Crash-...l-text&sr=1-24

The Black Elfstone of Shannara, by Terry Brooks (Fall of Shannara 1) is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Elfst...l-text&sr=1-35

The City, by Stella Gemmell is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/City-1-Stel...l-text&sr=1-36
(Yes, this is Mrs David Gemmell.)

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, by Angela Carter is £1.99 REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloody-Cham...l-text&sr=1-38

Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Dis...l-text&sr=1-54

The Thief on the Winged Horse, by Kate Mascarenas is 99p REPEAT
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thief-Winge...l-text&sr=1-67

The Vine Witch series by Luanne G Smith are all at £1.00 each REPEAT
The Vine Witch: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vine-Witch-...al-text&sr=1-1
The Glamourist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glamourist-...al-text&sr=1-5
The Conjuror: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conjurer-Vi...al-text&sr=1-4

Queen of Storms, by Raymond Feist (Firemane Saga 2) is 99p
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Queen-Storm...al-text&sr=1-6

[salty-horse]

Redwall by Brian Jacques is $2.99 on Amazon.com

This is the first in the Redwall children's series about a medieval-inspired culture of talking animals.

Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance. All is well…until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall. It is rumored that Cluny is coming—Cluny, the terrible one-eyed rat and his savage horde—Cluny, who has vowed to conquer Redwall Abbey! The only hope for the besieged mice lies in the lost sword of the legendary Martin the Warrior. And so begins the epic quest of a bumbling young apprentice—a courageous mouse who would rise up, fight back…and become a legend himself.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Sounds like it's no Consider Phlebas...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r...SIN=B00FQZWXEU

Sexist!! Includes rape scenes, other demeaning portrayals of women

That's the title of the review on Amazon of Transition. I've read the review and after reading it, cannot in good conscious say that that this is a book that should be read.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r...SIN=B00FQZWXEU


That's the title of the review on Amazon of Transition. I've read the review and after reading it, cannot in good conscious say that that this is a book that should be read.

If the AUTHOR is advocating rape and sexism, then I wholeheartedly agree. If, however, the author is PORTRAYING these two things through characterization and the cultural aspects of that future society (and how they may impact upon our current society), then I think the book should be explored by people who wish to see what and how this author's vision examines these aspects of a future world.

Disclosure: I have not read this book, and I have no intention of doing so. There are other books and authors I would rather read.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r...SIN=B00FQZWXEU


That's the title of the review on Amazon of Transition. I've read the review and after reading it, cannot in good conscious say that that this is a book that should be read.

It's unfair to advocate against reading the novel based on one bad review of a novel that you haven't read. That review could be entirely wrong, and I notice no one has marked it as helpful so far. Other reviews note that it's a very dark universe with a shadowy organization that's cruel:

The Concern is a cruel, merciless operation dedicated to keeping
"flitting" and its existence secret and unquestioned.

From the other reviews I've read I'm betting the violence is more along the lines of what occurs in Peter F. Hamliton's Night's Dawn trilogy. The main antagonist in that is a devoted Satan worshiper who delights in torture, rape and any and all horrible things you can think of (and many more you can't think of, because you aren't a horrible person). The level of violence (including sexual violence) in those three novels is off the scale, but it all belongs in the story, it's not there for the sake of having violence. I found parts of the novels quite uncomfortable to read, but I still recommend them to others, albeit with a warning about the violence. There's a great story in them.

It's quite possible to have horrible characters that are sexist and disgusting without the author being sexist and disgusting. There's plenty of negative reviews on Amazon & GoodReads both, criticizing the book for various things, but that's the only one I've seen saying it's sexist.


tl;dr: If you want to continue to strongly advocate against the novel, you need to read the damn thing first instead of relying on one solitary negative review.

[JSWolf]

You don't always have to read a book to know it's not a good book.

[DrNefario]

Maybe you might refrain from criticising an award-nominated book (it was up for the Campbell Memorial in 2010, losing out to The Windup Girl, which could maybe also be reviewed with that title if you were totally missing the point) if you haven't read it and aren't reflecting any kind of informed consensus? Just because you once read a totally unrelated book you didn't like by the same author?

If you don't know anything maybe don't say anything?

I have read Transition, quite recently. I think that review is a misunderstanding and a misrepresentation.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You don't always have to read a book to know it's not a good book.

Mmm, you can tell if the book is not for YOU. But I suspect you can't make definitive statements as to its significance and intent without reading it.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You don't always have to read a book to know it's not a good book.

Having an opinion about a book does not require reading it.
Having an informed opinion about a book typically does require reading it.