FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[darthyoda6]

I'm from Canada, so used a commercial vpn, went for the $1 so at least I'm not out much. Purchased the order without creating an account, and used Paypal to purchase the order, which has a Canadian address. Humble Bundle processed the order, gave me the redemption options. Tried redeeming it without the vpn, using my Canadian account, got "Sorry, but this promotion is currently not available." Created a new account in Kobo US, without needing to enter an address, then tried redeeming the 3 books, and got the same error message. Not sure if it was because I tried redeeming in Canada first, or if Kobo is detecting the vpn, or if they are having problems.

EDIT:
refreshed the Humble Bundle screen, reclaimed the 3 books, and they were successfully claimed in Kobo US. Guess it was a server error at that time.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I wonder what's new about it, aside from the beautiful cover?

This is the first time there's an ebook edition, and the first time it's in print after the previous publisher scammed Beagle, and was sued for elder abuse.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

This is the first time there's an ebook edition...

Not so. The first ebook edition was from twelve years ago. Conlan was the publisher.

...and the first time it's in print after the previous publisher scammed Beagle, and was sued for elder abuse.

Well, I guess I feel better having bought the current edition then.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Not so. The first ebook edition was from twelve years ago. Conlan was the publisher.

Oh right. I checked ISFDB before posting and missed it.
Anyway, as I have a signed Conlan edition (the publisher that was sued), I felt compelled to get the ebook edition.

This discount might mean an upcoming discount for the new edition A Fine and Private Place.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

... This discount might mean an upcoming discount for the new edition A Fine and Private Place.

That would be welcome news! I first read A Fine and Private Place when I was a teen ... many years ago. I re-read it a few years ago after picking up a battered paperback at a used book store.

[Fbone]

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher is again $2.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FHYLY31...v_ov_lig_dp_it

[maddz]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

I don't have an account on humble bundle, and was able to checkout with just my email address. The checkout process just spun on Chrome so I killed that tab and did the same checkout on Safari which worked.

So maybe sign out and/or try another browser?

Someone I know on another forum tried to buy using a Swiss email and company VPN to the US, and failed on payment. I think he was using a UK credit card though so I suggested trying with Paypal.

[salty-horse]

It's "rest of the series" sale day on Amazon.com (Kobo prices are still the originals)
Of note and mostly first-time-on-sale:
Ancillary Sword + Ancillary Mercy
Jade War + Jade Legacy
The Obelisk Gate + The Stone Sky
John Gwynne's The Faithful and the Fallen
The last books of The Expanse

[Fbone]

The Robots Of Gotham by Todd McAulty is $2.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074FDN6RX...v_ov_lig_dp_it

[Tarana]

Santiago: A Myth of Far Future by Mike Resnick $1.99 Amazon, Kobo

Santiago is a legend, known far and wide across the galaxy as the greatest killer and thief alive. He’s the subject of songs, the faceless wanted poster on the wall, the bogeyman that parents name to scare their children into behaving. And he’s the target of every bounty hunter in the universe.

Sebastian Nightingale Cain has quite the reputation himself. Known as the Songbird, he’s a former revolutionary who has killed hundreds of criminals for the right price. But one has always eluded him: Santiago. Now, Cain has gotten a lead on the elusive outlaw, and it’s too hard to resist. In a race against a rival bounty hunter, Cain’s quest will take him to the far-flung Frontier planets, where he’ll encounter aliens and evangelists, journalists and cyborgs—all of whom have a stake in finding or protecting Santiago. But unraveling the threads of Santiago’s life might get Cain tangled up in something far bigger than he ever imagined . . .

Return of Santiago by Mike Resnick $2.99 Amazon only

Danny Briggs is a simple yet conflicted thief. To successfully ply his trade, Briggs can’t draw attention to himself, but he longs to do something worth remembering. Luck is on his side when he hits the mother lode: discovering the original manuscript of the balladeer who wandered the spaceways a century ago, recording the adventures of larger-than-life heroes, villains, and misfits—including Santiago.

Briggs doesn’t want to sell the manuscript, he wants to add to it. All he needs is his century’s version of Santiago, a man who may be on the wrong side of the law, but the right side of justice. To find this protagonist, Briggs partners up with Santiago’s last descendant, a dancer named Waltzin’ Matilda. They comb through the universe’s good, bad, and ugly looking for a new folk hero to inspire the masses. It’s not easy, but Briggs is willing to pay the price—even though there’s one on his head.

[salty-horse]

Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

A visionary, genre-crossing story about a future utopian community on the Northern California coast. This new edition features an introduction by Shruti Swamy, author of A House is a Body, as well as illuminating extra material that includes interviews and liner notes to the book's musical soundtrack.

Midway through her career, Le Guin embarked on one of her most detailed, impressive literary projects, a novel that took more than five years to complete. Blending story and fable, poetry, artwork, and song, Always Coming Home is this legendary writer’s fictional ethnography of the Kesh, a people of the far future living in a post-apocalyptic Napa Valley.

Having survived ecological catastrophe brought on by relentless industrialization, the Kesh are a peaceful people who reject governance and the constriction of genders, limit population growth to prevent overcrowding and preserve resources, and maintain a healthy community in which everyone works to contribute to its well-being. This richly imagined story unfolds through a series of narrated “translations” that illuminate individual lives, including a woman named Stone Telling, who travels beyond the Valley and comes to reside with another tribe, the patriarchal Condor people. With sharp poignancy, Le Guin explores the complexities of the Kesh’s unified society and presents to us—in exquisite detail—their lives, histories, adventures, customs, language, and art.

In addition to poems and folk tales, Le Guin created verse dramas, records of oral performances, recipes, and even an alphabet and glossary of the Kesh language. The novel is illustrated throughout with drawings by artist Margaret Chodos and includes a musical component—original recordings of Kesh songs that Le Guin collaborated on with composer Todd Barton—bringing this utterly original and compelling world to life.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

The original edition came in a boxed set with an audio cassette -- Music and Poetry of the Kesh.

It's now available from Bandcamp.

[Fbone]

Terminal Alliance (Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse Book 1) by Jim C. Hines is $1.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0232CC...v_ov_lig_dp_it

The Krakau came to Earth to invite humanity into a growing alliance of sentient species. However, they happened to arrive after a mutated plague wiped out half the planet, turned the rest into shambling, near-unstoppable animals, and basically destroyed human civilization. You know—your standard apocalypse.

Now, a century later, human beings might not be what they once were, but at least they’re no longer trying to eat everyone. Mostly.

Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos is surprisingly bright (for a human). As a Lieutenant on the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish, she’s in charge of the Shipboard Hygiene and Sanitation team. When a bioweapon attack wipes out the Krakau command crew and reverts the rest of the humans to their feral state, only Mops and her team are left with their minds intact.

Escaping the attacking aliens—not to mention her shambling crewmates—is only the beginning. Sure, Mops and her team of space janitors and plumbers can clean the ship as well as anyone, but flying the damn thing is another matter. As they struggle to keep the Pufferfish functioning and find a cure for their crew, they stumble onto a conspiracy that could threaten the entire alliance… a conspiracy born from the truth of what happened on Earth all those years ago.

[salty-horse]

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu is $2 on Amazon.com

A century after the Martian war of independence, a group of kids are sent to Earth as delegates from Mars, but when they return home, they are caught between the two worlds, unable to reconcile the beauty and culture of Mars with their experiences on Earth.

Set on Earth in the wake of a second civil war…not between two factions in one nation, but two factions in one solar system: Mars and Earth. In an attempt to repair increasing tensions, the colonies of Mars send a group of young people to live on Earth to help reconcile humanity. But the group finds itself with no real home, no friends, and fractured allegiances as they struggle to find a sense of community and identity trapped between two worlds.

[ZodWallop]

Homunculus by James P. Blaylock is $2 at Amazon, B&N and Kobo. This is an early steampunk novel, published in 1986.

It is the late 19th century and a mysterious airship orbits through the foggy skies. Its terrible secrets are sought by many, including the Royal Society, a fraudulent evangelist, a fiendish vivisectionist, an evil millionaire and an assorted group led by the scientist and explorer Professor Langdon St. Ives.

Can St. Ives keep the alien homunculus out of the claws of the villainous Ignacio Narbondo?

Blaylock wrote further St. Ives stories over the years and all the novels are $2 each:
Lord Kelvin's Machine - Amazon, B&N, Kobo
The Aylesford Skull - Amazon, B&N, Kobo
Beneath London - Amazon, B&N, Kobo