FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[salty-horse]

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Space Opera, was on my wishlist. Was recently reviewed by my favorite Wizards vs. Lesbians podcast, which called it an "ambitious failure" - all the more reason to try it out. It's otherwise generally well received.

A thrillingly told queer space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you.

While we live, the enemy shall fear us.

Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the majoda their victory over humanity.

They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands.

Alongside her brother’s brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr escapes from everything she’s known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Never ever listen to someone who said books in a series are standalone. Just read them in either published order, chronological order, or author preferred order (if such exists). But do not just take one at random and read it.

And this is where I point at the enormous catalog of adventure fiction like The Destroyer series. At least up to around number 106 (the most recent one in my library) they all stand alone and can be read in any order other than the first which just don't bother with unless you really, really like Mack Bolan (and if so then you might not like the following... checks... 155 or so).

Or... wait... no... not supposed to mention that series.

David Drake's Hammer's Slammers are mostly collections of short stories. Read those in any order.
Likewise, Keith Laumer's Bolo and Reteif stories can be read in any order.
Michael Moorcock's Elric stories and Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher stories can be read in any order.
ZodWollp already mentioned the Humanx Commonwealth so I'll mention James H. Schmitz' Federation of the Hub.

I could go on, but the short of it is that if an author fails to make any given installment of a series or collection of stories stand well enough on its own, for whatever reasons, then that author's works probably aren't worth my time.

[JSWolf]

I do prefer to read in order. If there's an author preferred order, I'll read that. If there are enough books and they were written not in chronological order, I'll read in chronological order. Otherwise, it's published order.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I've read books in a series out of order when someone whose opinion I trust has recommended a book which turned out to be part of a series and I have been impressed enough to read the series. A half decent author will write the books in a series to allow for them to be enjoyed as a standalone.

I read a few middle books in a series first back when I had to rely on my local library only, because that was all they had. I then went on to get copies of the previous book(s) (either used or via interlibrary loan) and read/reread in order. It never diminished my enjoyment. I read all of Discworld originally by subseries. I've stated this before, but if I'd started with the first book, I doubt I'd have read more. The first three or four published books are really rough compared to later ones once Pratchett had perfected his craft and I don't enjoy rereading them. I originally read Guards!, Guards! because I forgot to send back a card for the Science Fiction Book Club. (Remember those?) I enjoyed it and it piqued my interest, even though I prefer scifi, not fantasy. So that's 40+ novels (41 + four Science of Discworld books which are half novel, half science education) I'd have never read if I'd followed John's advice. Not to mention I didn't even realize it was part of a larger series until years later.

Originally Posted by ratinox

David Drake's Hammer's Slammers are mostly collections of short stories. Read those in any order.

There's not much point reading those in published order. Very, very few reference anything from previous stories/novels. And even if they do it's something subtle like a character returning, but nothing is mentioned about where they came from, even when it's notable. (Like a woman who saved her village but was shunned for it joining the Slammers and showing up later on.) Plus I think he added those bits in later collections of the stories, not in the original versions.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I do prefer to read in order. If there's an author preferred order, I'll read that. If there are enough books and they were written not in chronological order, I'll read in chronological order. Otherwise, it's published order.

Personal preferences are fine. Just try to remember that personal preferences are personal, and that others may have different preferences or none at all.

Thank you.

[Hollow Man]

At the risk of incurring wrath, Consider Phlebas is $2.99 at Amazon.

[JSWolf]

Order, chaos, magic, and technology

Lose yourself in the contemporary epic fantasy and science fiction of bestselling author L. E. Modesitt, Jr.! Journey to a realm where chaos and order clash in all 22 current volumes of Modesitt’s iconic Saga of Recluce series, from The Magic of Recluce to Fairhaven Rising, plus the short story collection Recluce Tales. Discover the history and fate of a lost civilization in all eight novels of the Corean Chronicles. Travel to the far future in standalone science-fiction works including The Hammer of Darkness, Quantum Shadows, and more—and help support World Wildlife Fund with your purchase.

Offer ends in 20 days : 21 hours : 22 minutes

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/l...ng-group-books

Humble Bundle's L. E. Modesitt, Jr. Bundle DRM FREE!

[ottdmk]

Humble Bundle has apparently decided that I have too much money and they need to relieve me of some of it. This is the fourth bundle of novels in the last few weeks that I want. Williams, Erikson, McGuire and now Modesitt.

[Aleron Ives]

Thanks for the heads up! Here's the list of L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s books, organised by series:

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/l...ng-group-books

The Corean Chronicles:

Legacies
Darknesses
Scepters
Alector's Choice
Cadmian's Choice
Soarer's Choice
The Lord-Protector's Daughter
Lady-Protector

The Saga Of Recluce:

The Magic Of Recluce
The Towers Of The Sunset
The Magic Engineer
The Order War
The Death Of Chaos
Fall Of Angels
The Chaos Balance
The White Order
Colors Of Chaos
Magi'i Of Cyador
Scion Of Cyador
Wellspring Of Chaos
Ordermaster
Natural Ordermage
Mage-Guard Of Hamor
Arms-Commander
Cyador's Heirs
Heritage Of Cyador
The Mongrel Mage
Outcasts Of Order
The Mage-Fire War
Fairhaven Rising
Recluce Tales (short story omnibus)

Science Fiction non-series novels:

The Hammer Of Darkness
The Octagonal Raven
Haze
Empress Of Eternity
Quantum Shadows

[salty-horse]

The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
First in a trilogy. Originally self-published in 2015, but this is an expanded version.
This review by John Mauro should let you know if it's for you:

In a world where battle-hardened warriors determine the fate of empires, war-ravaged nations seek out a new champion.​

In a world long ago ravaged by war, the nations have sworn an armistice never to use weapons of mass destruction again. Instead, highly-skilled warriors known as Grievar Knights represent their nations’ interests in brutal hand-to-hand combat.

Murray Pearson was once a famed Knight until he suffered a loss that crippled his homeland — but now he’s on the hunt to discover the next champion.

In underground and ruthless combat rings, an orphaned boy called Cego is making a name for himself. Murray believes Cego has what it takes to thrive in the world's most prestigious combat academy – but first, Cego must prove himself in the vicious arenas of the underworld. And survival isn’t guaranteed.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Thanks for the heads up! Here's the list of L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s books, organised by series:

This deal is so good it deserves a fourth post. Highly recommended.

At the risk of reigniting the reading order discussion, the Recluse 'series' is actually several distinct short series set within the same universe, hundreds of years apart. The first book written is actually almost the last in the timeline.

The writer's preferred reading order is the publication order.

As sometimes happens, the first couple of books aren't the strongest, and some of the 'rules' of the universe weren't quite fleshed out.

My personal favourite is the Lorn series (Magi'i and Scion of Cyador), the first in the timeline.

[SomeSteve]

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale and winner of the 2019 Booker Prize, is $1.99 at Amazon US and Kobo US.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KVLPYDQ

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-testaments

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

Humble Bundle has apparently decided that I have too much money and they need to relieve me of some of it. This is the fourth bundle of novels in the last few weeks that I want. Williams, Erikson, McGuire and now Modesitt.

This is the first one that has troubled my pocket. It's really a tough one. I already own (or have owned or borrowed in the past) most of the books, and I already have 8 unread Modesitt books that have been in my library for years (5 of them in the Imager series not covered by this bundle), but even so it still looks like good value. But is it really good value if I already have 8 unread books? Or is it just a bunch more things to go on my TBR and never be read?

I enjoyed the Recluce books, but maybe feel they're going off the boil up in the mid-teens where I stalled. I'm less keen on the SF; what I've read has been a mixed bag (and I'm not sure if I've read any of the books in the bundle).

I'll need to think about it.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

This is the first one that has troubled my pocket. It's really a tough one. I already own (or have owned or borrowed in the past) most of the books, and I already have 8 unread Modesitt books that have been in my library for years (5 of them in the Imager series not covered by this bundle), but even so it still looks like good value. But is it really good value if I already have 8 unread books? Or is it just a bunch more things to go on my TBR and never be read?

I enjoyed the Recluce books, but maybe feel they're going off the boil up in the mid-teens where I stalled. I'm less keen on the SF; what I've read has been a mixed bag (and I'm not sure if I've read any of the books in the bundle).

I'll need to think about it.

I recall reading the first couple of Recluce back when they were originally published, and didn't think much of them. They didn't stay in my paper library for long and I've never felt the desire to continue with the series. So I'm probably going to pass on this bundle - I got the Mercedes Lackey Valdemar bundle earlier this year, and the recent Williams and McGuire bundles, but we already had all the Malazan books anyway and himself wasn't that interested in the Esselmont titles.

I have picked up some of the audio bundles - the recent one with Bujold's Sharing Knife series (although not including Book 4 or the novella) and the Ringworld series, and the earlier one with Martha Wells' Murderbot series. Even though half the audiobooks aren't something I'd read at all, the price points are good for the audio titles I am interested in.

[Apache]

I have all of The Saga of Recluce in paper and eBooks. I have read and still enjoy rereading the series. His newest series is Grand Illusion, and I am enjoying it too. I could never get into Imager Portfolio though.
Apache