FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by ratinox

I never suggested that it is anywhere near the best (it's not, by a lot), only that it has a place in a set of books that otherwise have no order to them.

Doesn't matter what your intent was or what you said, any mention can be construed as a summons. It's just the way it is.

The fact that so many people know exactly what ZW was talking about is the proof of that.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by isarl

If you ask the web, some people apparently rate The Player of Games as the most accessible entrance to the setting. (Others, of course, have other choices.)

I've tried getting into that series twice now, once with The Player of Games, and the novel that shan't be named lest we unleash a lecture. I got further in the unnamed novel, but I still couldn't finish it. There's a lot of interesting ideas in them, but the story falls flat to me. My impression was of a string of really cool ideas/scenes strung together with a lot of boring stuff.

But definitely don't take that as a truth. I've never managed to read The Lord of the Rings, because the first book is as dense a neutronium to me. Tried several times, don't think I ever got past the second chapter. I've been told numerous times that it gets better, but I couldn't make it to the better parts. It probably doesn't help that I'm mainly a scifi fan, not a fantasy one.

[specficwriter]

I enjoyed Consider Phlebas much more than I did Player of Games.

[salty-horse]

Chocky by John Wyndham is $2 in the US (Amazon, Kobo)

It’s not terribly unusual for a boy to have an imaginary friend, but Matthew’s parents have to agree that his—nicknamed Chocky—is anything but ordinary. Why, Chocky demands to know, are there twenty-four hours in a day? Why are there two sexes? Why can’t Matthew solve his math homework using a logical system like binary code? When the questions Chocky asks become too advanced and, frankly, too odd for teachers to answer, Matthew’s parents start to wonder if Chocky might be something far stranger than a figment of their son’s imagination.

Chocky, the last novel Wyndham published during his life, is a playful investigation of what being human is all about, delving into such matters as child-rearing, marriage, learning, artistic inspiration—and ending with a surprising and impassioned plea for better human stewardship of the earth.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I've tried getting into that series twice now, once with The Player of Games, and the novel that shan't be named lest we unleash a lecture. I got further in the unnamed novel, but I still couldn't finish it. There's a lot of interesting ideas in them, but the story falls flat to me. My impression was of a string of really cool ideas/scenes strung together with a lot of boring stuff.

But definitely don't take that as a truth. I've never managed to read The Lord of the Rings, because the first book is as dense a neutronium to me. Tried several times, don't think I ever got past the second chapter. I've been told numerous times that it gets better, but I couldn't make it to the better parts. It probably doesn't help that I'm mainly a scifi fan, not a fantasy one.

That unnamed book has some interesting ideas that were very poorly executed.

[ZodWallop]

The Stars, Like Dust by Isaac Asimov is $1.99 at Amazon, Kobo and B&N US.

The first book in the Galactic Empire series, the spectacular precursor to the classic Foundation series, by one of history’s most influential writers of science fiction, Isaac Asimov

His name was Biron Farrill and he was a student at the University of Earth. A native of one of the helpless Nebular Kingdoms, he saw his home world conquered and controlled by the planet Tyrann—a ruthless, barbaric Empire that was building a dynasty of cruelty and domination among the stars.

Farrill’s own father had been executed for trying to resist the Tyrann dictatorship and now someone was trying to kill Biron. But why?

His only hope for survival lay in fleeing Earth and joining the rebellion that was rumored to be forming somewhere in the Kingdoms. But once he cast his lot with the freedom fighters, he would find himself guarding against treachery on every side and facing the most difficult choice of all: to betray either the woman he loved or the revolution that was the last hope for the future.

[Tarana]

Thieves World (Volume 4) - Robert Asprin and others $2.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Fantasy

Repeat deal in case you missed it before. I've only read the first 4 books so don't know how this series went over time.

The Spacetime Pool By Catherine Asaro $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Scifi
Nebula Award winning novella

[GlennD]

book 16 in Kim Harrison's 'The Hollows' series, Trouble with the Cursed, is on sale at Amazon for $1.99. A good way to catch up before the next book comes out in June (although I think I haven't read anything since book 13).

[salty-horse]

An Altar on the Village Green by Nathan Hall is FREE on Amazon.com
Dark Fantasy. Was on my wishlist. Has been compared to the video game Bloodborne.

“If one suffers, I suffer. If one is chained, I am chained.”

My faith called me to become a Lance. My compassion drew me into one of the fallen lands. Through my connection with the Chained God, I alone can find and destroy the Horror that stains the land.

Death can no longer chain me.

But I couldn’t have imagined the madness waiting for me in this village. I’m not sure my faith can withstand the secrets I’ll uncover. Or that my compassion can survive the violence to come. This Horror may swallow me whole.

Death can no longer free me.

A creature stalks in the dark. Buildings burn. People die. An altar has been built on the village green.

[kyrilson]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Guys, that was two mentions of Consider Phlebas. We are dangerously close to triggering a lecture on how terrible Consider Phlebas is...

Yes, I was about to chime in that you should skip Consider Phlebas. Player of Games is a great place to start. All of the Culture novels are standalone more or less, so you can jump in anywhere. My first (and favorite) was Use of Weapons.


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[gbm]

Open Road Media has a Andre Norton sale today--* 8 ebooks under $2, pick your favorite retailer at the page.

https://earlybirdbooks.com/author-catalog-8?



bernie

Be sure to check if you already have these ebooks some were part of the Open Road Media giveaway back in 2016.

[salty-horse]

Dragons of Deceit: Dragonlance Destinies: Volume 1 by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman is $3 in the US (Amazon, Kobo US, Kobo WW (also discounted))

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman return to the unforgettable world of the New York Times bestselling Dragonlance series as a new heroine—desperate to restore her beloved father to life—sets off on a quest to change time.

Destina Rosethorn—as her name implies—believes herself to be a favored child of destiny. But when her father dies in the War of the Lance, she watches her carefully constructed world come crashing down. She loses not only her beloved father but also the legacy he has left her: the family lands and castle. To save her father, she hatches a bold plan—to go back in time and prevent his death.

First, she has to secure the Device of Time Journeying, last known to be in the possession of the spirited kender Tasslehoff Burrfoot. But to change time, she’ll need another magical artifact—the most powerful and dangerous artifact ever created. Destina’s quest takes her from the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin to the town of Solace and beyond, setting in motion a chain of disastrous events that threaten to divert the course of the River of Time, alter the past, and forever change the future.

[Aleron Ives]

I really don't know where to put this, but since Michael Crichton usually writes science fiction, I'll put it here. Eaters of the Dead is $2 right now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007UH4ELM
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/eaters-of-the-dead

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

I really don't know where to put this, but since Michael Crichton usually writes science fiction, I'll put it here. Eaters of the Dead is $2 right now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007UH4ELM
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/eaters-of-the-dead

It goes in either Cooking or in Horror.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

It goes in either Cooking or in Horror.

BOTH! Why settle for one or the other?

(but seriously, Eaters of the Dead does belong here in SF & Fantasy)