FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[salty-horse]

Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa is $2.99 on Amazon.com
First in a series. Reviews classify it as "grimdark", with many unlikeable characters.

From city streets where secrets are bartered for gold to forests teeming with fabled beasts, a sweeping epic of forgotten magic and violent conquests unfolds in this richly drawn fantasy inspired by the pre-colonial empires of West Africa.

IN THIS WORLD, THERE IS NO DESTINY BUT THE ONE YOU MAKE.

In the ancient city of Bassa, Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness—except he doesn’t want it. Instead, he prefers to chase forbidden stories about what lies outside the city walls. The Bassai elite claim there is nothing of interest. The city’s immigrants are sworn to secrecy.

But when Danso stumbles across a warrior wielding magic that shouldn’t exist, he’s put on a collision course with Bassa’s darkest secrets. Drawn into the city’s hidden history, he sets out on a journey beyond its borders. And the chaos left in the wake of his discovery threatens to destroy the empire.

[salty-horse]

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh is $1.99 on Amazon.com

When an Earth-like planet is discovered, a team of six teens, along with three veteran astronauts, embark on a twenty-year trip to set up a planet for human colonization—but find that space is more deadly than they ever could have imagined.

Have you ever hoped you could leave everything behind?
Have you ever dreamt of a better world?
Can a dream sustain a lifetime?

A century ago, an astronomer discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star. She predicted that one day humans would travel there to build a utopia. Today, ten astronauts are leaving everything behind to find it. Four are veterans of the twentieth century’s space-race.

And six are teenagers who’ve trained for this mission most of their lives.

It will take the team twenty-three years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years locked in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong.

And something always goes wrong.

[Tarana]

Current storybundle features cats in fantasy and scifi. Curated by Kristine Katherine Rusch.

https://storybundle.com/cats

[salty-horse]

Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen is $2.99 on Amazon.com
First in a trilogy. The sequel is out next year.
This has been described as very weird. Reviews are polarized.

In this dark, dangerous, roller coaster of a debut, a young man sets out on a single-minded quest for revenge across a breathtaking multiverse filled with aliens, mind-bending tech, and ships beyond his wildest imagining. Essa Hansen’s is a bold new voice for the next generation of science fiction readers.

Caiden's planet is destroyed. His family gone. And, his only hope for survival is a crew of misfit aliens and a mysterious ship that seems to have a soul and a universe of its own. Together they will show him that the universe is much bigger, much more advanced, and much more mysterious than Caiden had ever imagined. But the universe hides dangers as well, and soon Caiden has his own plans. He vows to do anything it takes to get revenge on the slavers who murdered his people and took away his home. To destroy their regime, he must infiltrate and dismantle them from the inside, or die trying.

[sufue]

I wish I had caught on to T. Kingfisher in time to buy a couple of these, but didn't become a fan until I read A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking a few months ago. Sigh! Now The Wonder Engine, which indicates it's the sequel to Clockwork Boys, is £0.99 at Kindle UK. I'll probably grab it, and hope the first in the series goes on sale again soon. Sigh! My library doesn't have the first one either. Double sigh!

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079KX1XFD
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079KX1XFD

Spoiler:

Pull three people out of prison--a disgraced paladin, a convicted forger, and a heartless assassin. Give them weapons, carnivorous tattoos, and each other. Point them at the enemy.

What could possibly go wrong?

In the sequel to CLOCKWORK BOYS, Slate, Brenner, Caliban and Learned Edmund have arrived in Anuket City, the source of the mysterious Clockwork Boys. But the secrets they're keeping could well destroy them, before the city even gets the chance...

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Several T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) books are on sale on Amazon.com:

Clockwork Boys is $1.99 - Link
First in the Clocktaur War series.

Swordheart is $1.99 - Link
Set in the Clocktaur world.

Paladin's Grace is $1.99 - Link
Set in the Clocktaur world.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by sufue

I wish I had caught on to T. Kingfisher in time to buy a couple of these, but didn't become a fan until I read A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking a few months ago.

You might also like the comic Digger, available as a free webcomic (the print version is not available anymore).

It won the Hugo and Mythopoetic awards.

Digger Is a story about a wombat.
More specifically, it is a story by author and artist Ursula Vernon about a particularly no-nonsense wombat who finds herself stuck on the wrong end of a one-way tunnel in a strange land where nonsense seems to be the specialty. Now, with the help of a talking statue of a god, an outcast hyena, a shadow-being of indeterminate origin, and an oracular slug she seeks to find out where she is and how to go about getting back to her Warren.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh is $1.99 on Amazon.com

Anybody read this yet? It sounds very good.

[CallOfCth'reader]

I Am Legend - Richard Matheson

This is the book that "inspired" the 1964 film Last Man on Earth (Vincent Price), and the 2004 film I Am Legend (Will Smith).

Amazon UK £0.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Am-Legend...al-text&sr=1-3

(Kobo price matches)

[CallOfCth'reader]

Survivors - Terry Nation

Written in the 1970s by well known screenwriter Terry Nation, this is described as "Survivors of a global plague battle for life on an empty planet. A gripping vision of a post-apocalyptic world..." and ties in with the 1970s TV series of the same name. Don't expect any smart phones or computers here!

He worked on a number of British science fiction series from that period: Dr Who, Blake's 7, The Avengers, and The Champions, amongst others.

Amazon UK £0.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Survivors-g...s=books&sr=1-6
Kobo UK £0.99: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/survivors-58

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Anybody read this yet? It sounds very good.

Review here: Recent Reading Roundup 53. I think I confused this with Terra Nullius, which the same reviewer liked better.

[salty-horse]

Sharp Ends: Stories from the World of the First Law by Joe Abercrombie is $2.99 on Amazon.com

[salty-horse]

Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley is $2.99 on Amazon.com
This is a critically-acclaimed modern translation of Beowulf.
Here's the beginning:

Bro! Tell me we still know how to speak of kings! In the old
days,
  everyone knew what men were: brave, bold, glory-bound. Only
  stories now, but I’ll sound the Spear-Danes’ song, hoarded for
hungry times.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by CallOfCth'reader

I Am Legend - Richard Matheson

This is the book that "inspired" the 1964 film Last Man on Earth (Vincent Price), and the 2004 film I Am Legend (Will Smith).

Amazon UK £0.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Am-Legend...al-text&sr=1-3

(Kobo price matches)

You forgot 1971's "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston. Which I would choose over Smith's version. But, I haven't seen Price's.

The book is a good read and interesting to compare to the movies.

[salty-horse]

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi is $2.99 on Amazon.com
Young-adult. Was on my wishlist.

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question--How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?

A riveting and timely young adult debut novel that asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini is $4.99 on Amazon.com
This is the author's first SF novel.

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.

Now she's awakened a nightmare.

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope . . .

[CallOfCth'reader]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You forgot 1971's "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston. Which I would choose over Smith's version. But, I haven't seen Price's.

How could I forget The Omega Man!

All three films are very different. Price's is a slower burn, from what I remember, where the emphasis is very much that he's alone in a world that has died.