FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Waypoint Kangaroo (KANGAROO #1) by Curtis C. Chen is FREE in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
This edition is self-published, but the original publication date was by traditional publisher St Martin's Press in 2016.

Thank you! I tried this a few years ago from my library, partly because he's a local to me author, and really enjoyed it. Worth having in my own library now.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Thank you! I tried this a few years ago from my library, partly because he's a local to me author, and really enjoyed it. Worth having in my own library now.

Here's a recent podcast interview with Chen by Scott Edelman:
https://www.scottedelman.com/wordpre...curtis-c-chen/

[salty-horse]

Horizons by Mary Rosenblum is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

Ahni Huang is hunting for her brother's killer. As a class 9 empath with advanced biogenetic augmentations, she has complete mental and physical control of her body, and can read other people's intentions before they can even think them. Ahni soon finds though, that there are deceptions behind deceptions, and in the middle of it lies the fate of her brother.
Earth is in the midst of a political struggle between the World Council, which governs humankind, and the Platforms, which orbit high above Earth. On the Platform New York Up, "upsider" life is different. They have their own culture, values, and ambitions--and now they want their independence from Earth. One upsider leader, Dane Nilson, is determined to accomplish this goal, but he has a secret, one that could condemn him to death.
When Ahni stumbles upon Dane during her quest for vengeance, her fate becomes inextricably linked to his. Together they must delve beyond the intrigue and manipulative schemes to get to the core of truth; a truth that will shape the future of the Platforms and shatter any preconceived notions of what defines the human race.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The Stand by Stephen King is $2 at Amazon and Kobo.

Excellent book. Well worth getting.

[salty-horse]

Luminous by Silvia Park is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
Based on the short story More Real Than Him (significantly expanded and very different, but you might want to sample the author first)
Review by Abigail Nussbaum, one of the critics for which it was a best book of the year.

* A Guardian pick: Top 5 Science Fiction Book of 2025 *

Three siblings. Two human, one robot. The spectacular new debut about what it means to be alive.

'Wildly and, yes, luminously emotional.' Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library

In a recently reunified Korea, robots have integrated seamlessly into society. They are our teachers, our bus drivers and policemen. They are our lovers. They are even our children.

Eleven-year-old Ruijie sifts through scrap metal in a Seoul junkyard, searching for anything that might repair her failing body. There amongst the piles of junk she happens across a robot boy: lifelike, strange and unlike anything she's seen before.

Across the city, estranged siblings Jun and Morgan Cho haven't spoken since the abrupt disappearance of their robot brother Yoyo, which shattered their childhoods and left a gaping hole in their lives. But Ruijie's discovery is about to bring the lives of brother and sister hurtling back together, forcing them to confront the reality of Yoyo's true nature, and the dark purpose their father never revealed.

At once a dazzling work of speculative fiction and a poignant family drama, Luminous is a timely, unforgettable story about what it really means to be human.

[WillAdams]

J.R.R. Tolkien's _The Adventures of Tom Bombadil_ is $1.99 at Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVFRSXQY

(possibly other stores as well)

[salty-horse]

Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three edited Stephen Kotowych is £2 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
Contents

Step into worlds of wonder with the definitive showcase of the best Canadian fantasy and science fiction of the year.

Discover the magic woven by more than three dozen of Canada’s most celebrated authors and rising stars in fantasy and science fiction, including Premee Mohamed, Kelly Robson, Karl Schroeder, Julie E. Czerneda, Tanya Huff, and Cory Doctorow.

From enchanted realms to distant galaxies, these stories reveal the strange, the familiar, and the deeply human—all through the unique lens of Canadian speculative fiction.

Curated by award-winning author and anthologist Stephen Kotowych and selected from top markets like Augur, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, khōréō, Mysterion, Nature:Futures, On Spec, Reactor, and Sunday Morning Transport, prepare to be captivated, challenged, and utterly transported by the very best fantastical fiction written by Canadians today.

Featuring stories and poems that were winners and finalists for the Aurora Award, BSFA Award, Prix Solaris, the Rhysling Award, and many more.

[salty-horse]

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
Literary fiction

Set in a not-too-distant America, I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of a bereaved musician taking to Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved bookselling wife. Encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, Rainy finds on land an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, crumbled infrastructure and a lawless society. Amid the Gulliver-like challenges of life at sea, Rainy is lifted by physical beauty, surprising humour, generous strangers and an unexpected companion in a young girl who comes aboard. As his essentially guileless nature begins to make an inadvertent rebel of him, Rainy's private quest for the love of his life grows into something wider and wilder, sweeping up friends and foes alike in his strengthening wake.

A rollicking narrative in the most evocative of settings, I Cheerfully Refuse is a symphony against despair and a rallying cry for the future.

[sufue]

Several months later, this is £0.99 again in the UK. And already also at Kobo UK, so you don't have to price match.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennet is currently on sale at Amazon UK for £0.99

This is the sequel to The Tainted Cup, his excellent fantasy murder mystery book that was WINNER OF THE 2025 HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL!

It's also at Kobo UK and should be price-matched if you fill in the price match form, but is currently listed at £14.99

[ZodWallop]

Hearthspace by Stephen Baxter is $1 at Amazon (only!)

Thousands of years ago, a massive colony ship arrived at the Hearth - the celestial birthplace of millions of planets, ranging from habitable earth-like worlds to unimaginable hellscapes of pressure and heat. Using lightsails to navigate, humanity has spread itself across dozens of these worlds. But they have also forgotten their beginnings, where they came from... and a terrible secret is about to be unveiled.

For Commander Ulla Breen, on her first tour of duty aboard a patrol sail-ship, the universe is about to change around her. Attacked by an unknown and unthought-of enemy, she and her fellow crewmembers will face slavery, punishment and death - and so will their home planets. Because someone else has seen the richness of the inner Hearth, and plans to take it for themselves. A new enemy, but one who seems disturbingly familiar. And perhaps knows more about the history of the Hearth than even Ulla and her crew.

Faced with a complete upheaval of all she thought she knew, Ulla must survive long enough to come up with a plan - one which will unite all the disparate elements of the Hearth, and perhaps discover the reason why humanity came to Hearthspace in the first place . . .

[salty-horse]

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz.

You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.

But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they’ll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other—and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn’t built for them.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

This doesn't actually sound like quite my kind of thing from the synopsis, but then, I like the title. And I like the cover. And it's DRM-free accessible epub. I like supporting that, for sure.

And I'm wondering if hubby might enjoy something a bit different in sci-fi. He did grow up in Oakland, CA. I didn't grow up anywhere near there, but I lived in Oakland for a bit during my college years. At any rate, I bit and bought. So thanks! I think. Can't wait to tell hubby and see his expression, LOL!

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by graycyn

This doesn't actually sound like quite my kind of thing from the synopsis, but then, I like the title.

But is it as good as The Transitive Properties of Cheese?

[salty-horse]

Empress of Dust and Relic of Heaven, the first two books in the Bastion Cycle by Alex Kingsley are $1 each on Amazon.com (only).
post-apocalyptic action, where Earth is ruled by gargantuan crab beasts.
These are from a small press, NOT self-published.

The first book just won the best sci-fi category in the Small Spec Book Awards.

Harvard is small, anxious, and plagued by a constant tremor, which is not an ideal combination for a desert scavenger. He and his crew are under constant threat of desertwalker attacks, and Harvard is nearly useless against them.

When the biggest mistake of Harvard’s life separates him from his crew, he must learn the secrets of the desert beasts in order to survive the dangers of the dusts. Returning to Bastion with a surprising ally, Harvard is forced to choose between saving his crew or allying with the “monsters” who rescued him.

Harvard never saw himself as a hero, but when the beasts of the dusts implore him to aid their rescue mission, he holds the lives of crabs and humans alike in his trembling hands.

Genres: Post-Apocalyptic / Sci Fi / Trans / LGBT / Sapphic

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)

Still on offer, and an excellent read. I recommend it.