FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Is it my imagination or are there no free books anymore? Did people stop looking for them or have they just disappeared as a thing?

I think free books are rarer now than they used to be. And those that are free are often not worth mentioning.

[issybird]

The books that have been on my wishlist for a while have been there for a very long time. It's obvious both that they're never going to get cheaper and that they're not worth it to me at the given price, to the extent that every now and then I go in and purge the oldest.

I have plenty to read and I'm lucky that overall I'm not invested in any particular author or series or topic; in the rare instances where I am, I just pay the going price.

ETA: Oops, I just saw this is the SF thread. I don't read SF, but I'll let my comment stand as I think it's a universal issue.

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think free books are rarer now than they used to be. And those that are free are often not worth mentioning.

Yes, I was thinking the second bit myself. When I first got a Kindle and found eReaderIQ I downloaded a massive pile of free books. I've read and enjoyed a couple but the rest just need deleting. But I swear 'proper' books used to appear for free too.

Andrew

[lkmiller]

Yes, way back when, you'd see first in series or backlist book for free to promote new book and such like. For a long time now, it's just discounts. And even the promo prices have increased to at least $2 or $3 instead of $1 (or equivalent).

[DNSB]

Over all, I tend to agree that new free books that we want are getting rarer and rarer. All too often I see a free book by an author that my spouse or I are interested in and then a quick search in our calibre libraries shows that we picked up the book 2 or 3 years ago. The price drops on the previous books in a series when a new book is released are not what they used to be either.

Where once we picked up 12-18 freebies per year, last year it was down to 11 and two of those were re-badged re-releases.

[DrNefario]

I still pick up the odd indie freebie, but I can't usually vouch for the quality. Just yesterday I found one of my wishlist had gone free at Amazon UK, and it looks like it still is - Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghosts-Tomo.../dp/B06VTF9BSG ).

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I still pick up the odd indie freebie, but I can't usually vouch for the quality. Just yesterday I found one of my wishlist had gone free at Amazon UK, and it looks like it still is - Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghosts-Tomo.../dp/B06VTF9BSG ).

That looks interesting. Many thanks! So there are still freebies out there worth grabbing.

Andrew

[Sumanuil]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I still pick up the odd indie freebie, but I can't usually vouch for the quality. Just yesterday I found one of my wishlist had gone free at Amazon UK, and it looks like it still is - Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghosts-Tomo.../dp/B06VTF9BSG ).

It's also free on Amazon in the USA.

https://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Tomorr.../dp/B06VTF9BSG

[zje]

I get freebies, mostly 1st in series, from Amazon, at least a couple per month. I have a book mark that selects SciFi books and sorts by lowest price. Sometimes I look and there is nothing I want to try, sometimes there are a few. Mostly authors I don't know. Many have been the last book I read in that series but others have lead to purchasing more from the same author.

The problems with the method is that the established authors that come up are usually books I already have, I have to add exclusion terms to the search to get rid of some series that seem to be entirely free and uninteresting. If there are too many exclusion terms they seem to be ignored completely. And it limits the number of books it is going to return.

[salty-horse]

Cross-posted to Horror.
The Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff is $2 in the US. (Kobo US, Kobo WW, Amazon)
Sequel to Lovecraft Country.

n this thrilling adventure, a blend of enthralling historical fiction and fantastical horror, Matt Ruff returns to the world of Lovecraft Country and explores the meaning of death, the hold of the past on the present, and the power of hope in the face of uncertainty.

Summer, 1957. Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina to mark the centennial of their ancestor’s escape from slavery, but an encounter with an old nemesis leads to a life-and-death pursuit.

Back in Chicago, George Berry is diagnosed with cancer and strikes a devil’s bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure—but only if George brings Winthrop back from the dead.

Fifteen-year-old Horace Berry, reeling from the killing of a close friend, joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend Letitia Dandridge on a trip to Nevada for The Safe Negro Travel Guide. But Hippolyta has a secret—and far more dangerous—agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia’s doorstep.

Hippolyta isn’t the only one keeping secrets. Letitia’s sister, Ruby, has been leading a double life as her white alter ego, Hillary Hyde. Now, the supply of magic potion she needs to transform herself is nearly gone, and a surprise visitor throws her already tenuous situation into complete chaos.

Yet these troubles are soon eclipsed by the return of Caleb Braithwhite. Stripped of his magic and banished from Chicago at the end of Lovecraft Country, he’s found a way back into power and is ready to pick up where he left off. But first he has a score to settle . . .

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Modern gothic fantasy.

I dream sometimes about a house I’ve never seen….

Opal is a lot of things—orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier—but above all, she's determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author of The Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago.

All she left behind were dark rumors—and her home. Everyone agrees that it’s best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. Almost everyone, anyway.

I should be scared, but in the dream I don’t hesitate.

Opal has been obsessed with The Underland since she was a child. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House—and make some extra cash for her brother's escape fund—she can't resist.

But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur’s own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around.

In my dream, I’m home.

And now she’ll have to fight.

[sufue]

Slay is the thirtieth and most recent (2023) Anita Blake book by Laurell K Hamilton. It's on sale for £0.99 today in the UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BZVV9V37
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/slay-14

Spoiler:

My name is Anita Blake and my family think I'm marrying a demon straight out of hell. If they'd ever met a real demon, they'd understand the difference . . .

Considering my dark and dangerous past, I never expected preparations for my wedding to Jean-Claude to go smoothly. We've already faced naysayers and a power-hungry ancient evil and come out the other side still standing. But now I need to do the one thing that actually scares me - introduce my very religious, very human relatives to my fiancé, the newly crowned vampire king of America.

As I try to keep the peace between the family I left behind and the family I've chosen, dark forces jump at the chance to take advantage of the chaos. With our happy-ever-after and everyone's immortal souls hanging in the balance, it's time to face a hard truth . . .

Blood makes you related, but only loyalty makes you family.

[gbm]

Yes I still get notice of freebies, and aslo $.99 and $1.99 boxsets.

Just picked up this box set this weekend for $.99.


Echoes of War: The Complete Series (An Epic Military Science Fiction Box Set) Kindle Edition
by Daniel Gibbs (Author)

Almost 3,000 pages of Military Science Fiction action!

Corporal David Cohen thought he’d left war behind.

He was wrong.

The Terran Coalition faces repeated and brutal attacks from the repressive League of Sol. To defend his home planet, David trades his dream of becoming a rabbi for a battlefront in the far reaches of space. When particle beams fly, his courage under fire brings quick promotion. But in the lulls between battles when he must confront his soul, David finds a different enemy: the ghosts of those killed under his command.

Spoiler:

Yet in war, it’s kill or be killed—and the enemy shows no mercy.

David must square the tenets of his faith against his responsibility to crew and country. If he fails in his command, billions face enslavement by a ruthless regime. Now it’s an all-out fight for the galaxy’s freedom.

Because a man’s greatest foe lies within.

If you love Babylon 5, Safehold, and Destroyermen, you must read “Echoes of War,” a military sci-fi series that will take you to the heart of duty, sacrifice, and the unseen scars of those who serve.

Includes all 7 novels in the Echoes of War series:

Fight the Good Fight
Strong and Courageous
So Fight I
Gates of Hell
Keep the Faith
Run the Gauntlet
Finish the Fight

I have read the first three book in this series and they tell a good story.

bernie

Originally Posted by zje

I get freebies, mostly 1st in series, from Amazon, at least a couple per month. I have a book mark that selects SciFi books and sorts by lowest price. Sometimes I look and there is nothing I want to try, sometimes there are a few. Mostly authors I don't know. Many have been the last book I read in that series but others have lead to purchasing more from the same author.

The problems with the method is that the established authors that come up are usually books I already have, I have to add exclusion terms to the search to get rid of some series that seem to be entirely free and uninteresting. If there are too many exclusion terms they seem to be ignored completely. And it limits the number of books it is going to return.

[salty-horse]

PM Press have a sale on all ebooks. $2 each with the coupon code READ until 2/13.
Their ebooks: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_list&c=12
For SF&F I think their mostly relevant offering is the Outspoken Authors series edited by Terry Bisson. (Almost-accurate asearch query)

[salty-horse]

Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders is $2 in the US (Kobo US, Kobo WW, Amazon)
An anthology from 2010 with original fiction (for the time of publication).

Table of contents:
Goats of Glory — Steven Erikson
Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company — Glen Cook
Bloodsport — Gene Wolfe
The Singing Spear — James Enge
A Wizard of Wiscezan — C.J. Cherryh
A Rich Full Week — K. J. Parker
A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet — Garth Nix
Red Pearls: An Elric Story — Michael Moorcock
The Deification of Dal Bamore — Tim Lebbon
Dark Times at the Midnight Market — Robert Silverberg
The Undefiled — Greg Keyes
Dapple Hew the Tint Master — Michael Shea
In the Stacks — Scott Lynch
Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe — Tanith Lee
The Sea Troll’s Daughter — Caitlin R Kiernan
Thieves of Daring — Bill Willingham
The Fool Jobs — Joe Abercrombie

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders is $2 in the US (Kobo US, Kobo WW, Amazon)
An anthology from 2010 with original fiction (for the time of publication).

Table of contents:
Goats of Glory — Steven Erikson
Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company — Glen Cook
Bloodsport — Gene Wolfe
The Singing Spear — James Enge
A Wizard of Wiscezan — C.J. Cherryh
A Rich Full Week — K. J. Parker
A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet — Garth Nix
Red Pearls: An Elric Story — Michael Moorcock
The Deification of Dal Bamore — Tim Lebbon
Dark Times at the Midnight Market — Robert Silverberg
The Undefiled — Greg Keyes
Dapple Hew the Tint Master — Michael Shea
In the Stacks — Scott Lynch
Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe — Tanith Lee
The Sea Troll’s Daughter — Caitlin R Kiernan
Thieves of Daring — Bill Willingham
The Fool Jobs — Joe Abercrombie

The "exclusive" Moorcock novella has since been reworked into his latest Elric novel, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths, IIRC.

Still probably worth grabbing.