FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[maddz]

Originally Posted by isarl

Goooood question; I haven't used Chirp before myself. From their website:

So I saw. As I only listen to audio on an old iPod, that rules them out. Pity, there were a handful of bundles I was interested in: Mary Stewart, CJ Cherryh, Charles de Lint, SM Stirling, and Lois McMaster Bujold.

Sadly, not on sale at Libro.fm.

[isarl]

Originally Posted by maddz

So I saw. As I only listen to audio on an old iPod, that rules them out. Pity, there were a handful of bundles I was interested in: Mary Stewart, CJ Cherryh, Charles de Lint, SM Stirling, and Lois McMaster Bujold.

Yes, it is a pity, and I am very grateful that you prompted me to learn the answer to that question before I spent any money! Thank you!

[Tarana]

Not sure this is the right place for it but Stephen King's Fairy Tale is on sale for $4.99 at Amazon and Kobo. It's listed as magical realism and YA.

[isarl]

Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake series appears to be on sale as a bundle for $7, all three books.

https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-maddaddam-trilogy

I was not able to find this bundle for sale from Amazon.

[salty-horse]

The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison is £2.6 in the UK (Amazon only, but price-matchable on Kobo)
New edition of a 1992 novel, first time in ebook form.

The cult classic novel from the author of Climbers and The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again

With an introduction by bestselling author of Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield

On a hot May night, three Cambridge students carry out a ritualistic act that changes their lives. Decades later, none of the participants can remember what transpired; but their clouded memories bind them together. Unable to move on, Pam Stuyvesant has epilepsy and is plagued by sensual visions. Her husband Lucas believes that a dwarfish creature is stalking him, and invents histories to soothe Pam's fears. Self-styled Sorcerer Yaxley becomes obsessed with a terrifyingly transcendent reality. The narrator is seemingly the least effected participant in the ritual: he is haunted by the smell of roses, and his guilt as he attempts to help his friends escape the torment that has engulfed their lives.

Strange, dreamlike and moving, The Course of the Heart is an examination of the edges of humanity where we lie, hide, hurt and heal.

'A spare textual elegance and closure-denying restraint that impresses and fulfils' IAIN BANKS

[salty-horse]

The Summer War by Naomi Novik is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)

In this enchanting, poignant novella from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Spinning Silver and the Scholomance trilogy, a young witch who has inadvertently cursed her brother to live a life without love must find a way to undo her spell.

Celia discovers her talent for magic on the day her beloved oldest brother Argent leaves home. Furious at being left behind, she lashes out, not realising her childish, angry words will suddenly become imbued with the power of prophecy, dooming him to a life without love.

While Argent wanders the world, forced to seek only fame and glory instead of the love and belonging he truly desires, Celia attempts to undo the curse. Yet she cannot find the solution – until she learns the truth about the centuries-old war between her people and the summerlings, the immortal beings holding a relentless grudge against their mortal neighbours.

With the aid of her unwanted middle brother, Celia may be able to undo her eldest brother’s curse and heal the lands so long torn apart by the Summer War. But what price will she have to pay?

[Cactus Chef]

1Q84 (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A tremendous accomplishment. It does every last blessed thing a masterpiece is supposed to—and a few things we never even knew to expect.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Brilliant . . . an irresistibly engaging literary fantasy.”—The Washington Post

A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.

A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s—1Q84 is a striking feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

Whoever holds the publishing rights to Murakami's stuff in the US has reissued most of his books with new covers. I'm not always fond of efforts to harmonize an author's book covers and make them all look the same...but in this case I do think it's an improvement over the cover on the edition I already bought:

https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/com...R1200,630_.jpg

[Cactus Chef]

Kafka on the Shore joins the list.

Kafka on the Shore (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

**NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and one of the world’s greatest storytellers comes “an insistently metaphysical mind-bender” (The New Yorker) about a teenager on the run and a deceptively simple old man.

Now with a new introduction by the author.**

Here we meet fifteen-year-old runaway Kafka Tamura and the elderly Nakata, who is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey.

“As powerful as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.... Reading Murakami ... is a strikingexperience in consciousness expansion.”—Chicago Tribune

[pdurrant]

There's currently a UK Kobo VIP 70% off sale (code: VIPREAD)

In the SF/Fantasy list I noticed these two (I already have both).

The Damiano Trilogy by R A MacAvoy for £4.29 with discount

Primary Inversion by Catharine Asaro for £1.56 with discount

[salty-horse]

Angry Robot has a sale with 40% off everything (physical and ebooks) using the coupon BLACKFRIDAY40

Store page

Announcement on BlueSky

[salty-horse]

In the Shadow of the Ship (Xuya Universe) by Aliette de Bodard is £2 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
The latest Xuya novella. These are standalones.

When she was sixteen, Khuyên left behind her family, the decaying sentient spaceship Nightjar, and the Tribute—the regular disappearances of children offered to Nightjar. She’s never once looked back.

But now, her grandmother has passed away and duty dictates that Khuyên the adult, Khuyên the magistrate, must return to Nightjar for the funeral. Yet it’s also a return to the past: children are still disappearing, and worst of all, after making cryptic statements, her cousin Anh vanishes.

Accompanied by Thảo, an alluring and mysterious woman who seems to know too much about her and Nightjar, Khuyên sets out to save Anh. But saving Anh requires Khuyên to do what she could not in the past: she will have make her own stand against Nightjar. And only when Khuyên can find her own strength will she be able to build a future—one that might well include Thảo.

Praise for Aliette de Bodard:

“Incredible ... This is a world of dizzying tech, gorgeous illusions and twisty political thrills.” — The New York Times

“Beautifully written and deeply imagined... highly recommended.” — Kate Elliott, New York Times bestselling author

“[In The Shadow of the Ship] is a dense and emotionally complex piece, carrying grief and hope, pain and potential, in equal measure. The ashes of the past meeting the chance to build something different for the future. I always enjoy de Bodard’s work, and In the Shadow of the Ship is no exception: a sharp-edged and glittering science-fictional gem.” — Liz Bourke, Locus

[salty-horse]

Children of God (The Sparrow Series #2) by Mary Doria Russell is $2 in the US (Amazon only, but price-matchable on Kobo)

[salty-horse]

Tachyon Publications has a year-end sale of 30% off everything with coupon YEAREND30.

https://tachyonpublications.com/prod...egory/e-books/

[salty-horse]

The Hexologists: A Tangle of Time (The Hexologists #2) by Josiah Bancroft is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

From one of the most exciting and original voices in fantasy comes the second book following the adventures of the Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, as they tackle a case that could redefine the nature of magic itself.

As the nation’s foremost investigators of the paranormal, Isolde and Warren Wilby are accustomed to bumping up against things that go bump in the night. They have made quite a name for themselves as the Hexologists: detectives of the uncanny, the monstrous, the strange. After a decade of wedded bliss and dozens of fantastical adventures, there is little in the world that can still surprise them.

But when a famous artist dies under suspicious circumstances, Isolde finds herself investigating a murder that may not have happened, and a crime scene that seems to shift beneath her feet. Not one to be easily thwarted, Isolde is compelled to take greater and greater risks in pursuit of her elusive answers. Meanwhile, the laws that govern magic appear to be breaking, and those cracks are spreading to the everyday world.

The mystery will carry the devoted duo to seedy underworlds, enchanted gardens, and subterranean military zoos. Old friends will come to the Wilbies’ aid as they infiltrate secret societies, battle vicious imps, and flee from a pack of venomous wolves. Equipped with Isolde’s hexes, Warren’s muscle, and an enchanted bag full of magical relics, the Hexologists will have to risk life and limb to unravel the riddle at the heart of A Tangle of Time.

Januaries by Olivie Blake is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

An instant USA Today bestseller!

A stunning collection of short fiction featuring fourteen magical ruminations on life, death, and the love—or desire for revenge—that outlasts both

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, a wish-granting spirit rapidly approaches burnout. Meanwhile, a banished fairy answers a Craigslist ad, a Victorian orphan navigates an occult situationship, and a multiverse assassin contemplates the one who got away.

With both iconic fan-favorite stories and entirely original pieces, Januaries features modified fairy tales, contemporary heists, absurdist poetry, and at least one set of actual wedding vows. Escape the slow trudge of mortality by diving into these enchanting new worlds with a master of imagination.

Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
Reviews:
Locus - Niall Harrison
Ancillary Review of Books - Noah Micah

From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky and The Stardust Grail comes the tender and gripping tale of two sisters who sail across oceans to find their missing third sister – and Earth’s environmental salvation.

In Earth's near future, seas consume coastal cities and mutant fish lurk in their depths. Skipper, a skilled sailor and the youngest of three sisters, earns money skimming and reselling plastic from the ocean to care for her ailing grandmother.

Her eldest sister, Nora, left home in pursuit of a cure for failing crops all over the world. Now, she’s missing. When Skipper and her other sister, Carmen, receive a cryptic plea for help, they must put aside their differences and set out across the sea to save her.

But their voyage through a dying world both beautiful and strange brings them to question what dangerous attention did Nora attract, and how well do they really know their sister – or each other?

Thus begins an epic journey spanning oceans and continents and a wistful rumination on sisterhood, friendship, and ecological disaster.

[salty-horse]

The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)

THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DEBUT ADULT NOVEL BY LOUIS SACHAR, THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF CHILDREN'S FICTION AND AUTHOR OF CLASSIC NOVEL, HOLES.

Is true love the greatest form of magic?

Long ago, in a kingdom far away, the magician of tiger castle is on thin ice. Once the greatest in the land, Anatole's spells have dried up. He can't even turn sand into gold anymore. The only one who still believes in him is kind Princess Tullia, and he hopes - for the sake of their friendship - that he can soon redeem himself and stay within the king's court.

When the opportunity arises, Anatole is faced with an impossible decision. Princess Tullia is betrothed to the prince of a rich neighbouring kingdom, an alliance which will save bankrupt Esquaveta and all its citizens. But, Tullia has secretly fallen in love with a lowly apprentice scribe and refuses to wed the prince.

The King tasks Anatole with the most difficult magic of all: an anti-love potion. Anatole can save everything and everyone if he can shatter the young lovers' romance. But, with the fate of the kingdom hanging in the balance, can he achieve it? Can he even bring himself to try? After all, is true love not the purest form of magic?

Told with the same wit and warmth that has made Louis Sachar's books classics of children's literature, The Magician of Tiger Castle is a colourful and enigmatic tale of adventure, love, loss and triumph.