FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[salty-horse]

Lots of repeats today, which I won't mention. Of note:

The Drought by J. G. Ballard is $2.99 on Amazon.com

Water. Man’s most precious commodity is a luxury of the past. Radioactive waste from years of industrial dumping has caused the sea to form a protective skin strong enough to devastate the Earth it once sustained. And while the remorseless sun beats down on the dying land, civilization itself begins to crack.

War of the Maps by Paul McAuley is $0.99 on Amazon.com and similarly-priced in other retailers worldwide.

On a giant artificial world surrounding an artificial sun, one man - a lucidor, a keeper of the peace, a policeman - is on the hunt. His target was responsible for an atrocity, but is too valuable to the government to be truly punished. Instead he has been sent to the frontlines of the war, to use his unique talents on the enemy. So the lucidor has ignored orders, deserted from his job, left his home and thrown his life away, in order to finally claim justice.
Separated by massive seas, the various maps dotted on the surface of this world rarely contact each other. But something has begun to infiltrate the edges of the lucidor's map, something that genetically alters animals and plants and turns them into killers. Only the lucidor knows the depths to which his quarry will sink in order to survive, only the lucidor can capture him. The way is long and dangerous. The lucidor's government has set hunters after him. He has no friends, no resources, no plan.
But he does have a mission.

[salty-horse]

Ra by qntm is $1.50 on Amazon.com (50% off)

Magic is real.

Discovered in the 1970s, magic is now a bona fide field of engineering. There's magic in heavy industry and magic in your home. It's what's next after electricity.

Student mage Laura Ferno has designs on the future: her mother died trying to reach space using magic, and Laura wants to succeed where she failed. But first, she has to work out what went wrong. And who her mother really was.

And whether, indeed, she's dead at all...

[Dr. Drib]

^

This appears to be a self-published title. In fact, all books by this man/woman appear to be self-published.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

This appears to be a self-published title.

Yes, sorry for not stating that. Self-published works have appeared here before so I thought it was fine despite the forum rules.
qntm is mostly known for short stories at https://qntm.org/ and for the "Antimemetics" stories in the SCP wiki.
Here's a taste:

• I don't know, Timmy, being God is a big responsibility
• Lena

[Tarana]

Two books from the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber:
Fantasy

Swords of Ice and Magic - $2.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Book 6

The Knight and Nave of Swords - $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Book 7

Be sure to check if you bought the Omnibus Vol 2 last July as it contains book 6. Now just waiting on book 2 to go on discount.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Yes, sorry for not stating that. Self-published works have appeared here before so I thought it was fine despite the forum rules.

Self-published works may be posted here. But they should be personal recommendations of a book you have read and enjoyed.

As the first post says "Please don't post any self-published books (unless you have read them yourself, think they are excellent, and you're not connected to the author in any way)"

The problem is that there are far too many self-published books, and the quality of most self-published books is poor.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Two books from the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber:
Fantasy

Swords of Ice and Magic - $2.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Book 6

The Knight and Nave of Swords - $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Book 7

Be sure to check if you bought the Omnibus Vol 2 last July as it contains book 6. Now just waiting on book 2 to go on discount.

These books are great, especially if you enjoy witty, sardonic sword & sorcery somewhat similar to the refined style of James Branch Cabell - but without the urban fantasty element.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The problem is that there are far too many self-published books, and the quality of most self-published books is poor.

The balance has been shifting in recent years. I find better books in the self pub slosh than from big publishers quite often these days.

There are still poor ones out there, but they are generally easy to spot by starting to read a first page.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

The balance has been shifting in recent years. I find better books in the self pub slosh than from big publishers quite often these days.

There are still poor ones out there, but they are generally easy to spot by starting to read a first page.

Amen! Much of the kindle unlimited offerings are self published, and I've found quite a bit of reading material of quality. True there are still some 'stinkers' But the writers do tend to get better as they write that second and third book. The reviews of self published books on Amazon can be brutal. I suspect, one either stops writing, or vows to get better.

I would say from the outside, looking in, it seems that the economic advantages of the traditional forms of publication are fading away.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

The balance has been shifting in recent years. I find better books in the self pub slosh than from big publishers quite often these days.

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Amen! Much of the kindle unlimited offerings are self published, and I've found quite a bit of reading material of quality.

And if you find any self-published book on special offer that you've read yourself and enjoyed, please do post them here.

But please don't recommend self-published books on special offer that you haven't read and enjoyed.

[DrNefario]

There are definitely good self-published books out there, but self-publishers are also - necessarily - self-publicists, and that makes it very difficult to trust a blind recommendation, so I think the policy here is a good compromise.

[Critteranne]

Amazon has some SF and fantasy titles in today’s Early Black Friday deals. They include:
“The Sirens of Titan” by Kurt Vonnegut
“The Water Dancer” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“A Game of Thrones” by GRRM
“Small Magic” by Terry Brooks (a Rey recent collection of his short fiction)

[salty-horse]

Rabbits by Terry Miles is $2.99 on Amazon.com

It’s an average work day. You’ve been wrapped up in a task, and you check the clock when you come up for air—4:44 p.m. You check your email, and 44 unread messages have built up. With a shock, you realize the date is April 4—4/4. And when you get in your car to drive home, your odometer reads 44,444.

Coincidence? Or have you just seen the edge of a rabbit hole?

Rabbits is a mysterious alternate reality game so vast it uses the entire world as its canvas.

Since the game started in 1959, ten iterations have appeared and nine winners have been declared. The identities of these winners are unknown.

So is their reward, which is whispered to be NSA or CIA recruitment, vast wealth, immortality, or perhaps even the key to the secrets of the universe itself.

But the deeper you get, the more dangerous the game becomes. Players have died in the past—and the body count is rising.

And now the eleventh round is about to begin.

Enter K—a Rabbits obsessive who has been trying to find a way into the game for years. That path opens when K is approached by billionaire Alan Scarpio, rumored to be the winner of the sixth iteration. Scarpio says that something has gone wrong with the game and that K needs to fix it before Eleven starts, or the whole world will pay the price.

Five days later, Scarpio is declared missing.

Two weeks after that, K blows the deadline: Eleven begins.

And suddenly, the fate of the entire universe is at stake.

Serpentine (His Dark Materials) by Philip Pullman is $2.99 on Amazon.com
This is a novella set after the events of the original trilogy.

[salty-horse]

The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk is $1.99 on Amazon.com
Last week it was on sale for several hours before the World Fantasy Award cerenomy. It's back now.

A sweeping, romantic new fantasy set in a world reminiscent of Regency England, where women’s magic is taken from them when they marry. A sorceress must balance her desire to become the first great female magician against her duty to her family.

Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress who practices magic in secret, terrified of the day she will be locked into a marital collar that will cut off her powers to protect her unborn children. She dreams of becoming a full-fledged Magus and pursuing magic as her calling as men do, but her family has staked everything to equip her for Bargaining Season, when young men and women of means descend upon the city to negotiate the best marriages. The Clayborns are in severe debt, and only she can save them, by securing an advantageous match before their creditors come calling.

In a stroke of luck, Beatrice finds a grimoire that contains the key to becoming a Magus, but before she can purchase it, a rival sorceress swindles the book right out of her hands. Beatrice summons a spirit to help her get it back, but her new ally exacts a price: Beatrice’s first kiss... with her adversary’s brother, the handsome, compassionate, and fabulously wealthy Ianthe Lavan.

The more Beatrice is entangled with the Lavan siblings, the harder her decision becomes: If she casts the spell to become a Magus, she will devastate her family and lose the only man to ever see her for who she is; but if she marries—even for love—she will sacrifice her magic, her identity, and her dreams. But how can she choose just one, knowing she will forever regret the path not taken?

[salty-horse]

Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson is $2.99 on Amazon.com
This is a brand new release, just a few weeks old. Was on my wishlist. Locked room murder mystery in space.

The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having traveled light-years to bring one thousand sleeping souls to a new home among the stars. But when first mate Michelle Campion rouses, she discovers some of the sleepers will never wake.

Answering Campion’s distress call, investigator Rasheed Fin is tasked with finding out who is responsible for these deaths. Soon a sinister mystery unfolds aboard the gigantic vessel, one that will have repercussions for the entire system—from the scheming politicians of Lagos station, to the colony planet Bloodroot, to other far-flung systems, and indeed to Earth itself.