FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[Cactus Chef]

Peter F. Hamilton's The Night's Dawn trilogy is on sale on Amazon and Kobo for $2.99 per volume:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0841Y32FC...rwt_sb_pc_tkin

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...yGfpvxP&cPos=1
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...yGfpvxP&cPos=3
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...yGfpvxP&cPos=2

The Reality Dysfunction is a modern classic of science fiction from Peter F. Hamilton, an extraordinary feat of storytelling on a truly epic scale.

"A space opera that is big, boisterous, and has something for everyone." —Science Fiction Weekly

Space is not the only void. . .

In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace. A true golden age is within our grasp.

But on a primitive colony planet, a renegade criminal's chance encounter with an utterly alien entity unleashes the most primal of humanity’s fears. An extinct race which inhabited the galaxy aeons ago called it "The Reality Dysfunction." It is the nightmare which has prowled beside us since the beginning of history.


The Night’s Dawn Trilogy
The Reality Dysfunction
The Neutronium Alchemist
The Naked God

Never read any Peter F. Hamilton before. This is the first time I've seen all three volumes of this trilogy go on sale at the same time. I might pick them up for that reason alone.

[ZodWallop]

Azure Bonds: Finder's Stone Trilogy, Book 1 by Kate Novak and Jeff Grub is $1 at Amazon and Kobo.

Yes, it's a D&D book, but it is a good one:

Alias is a sell-sword, a warrior-for-hire, and an adventuress—and she’s in big trouble—in this epic fantasy novel set in Dungeons & Dragons’ Forgotten Realms!

When Alias wakes with a series of twisting, magical blue sigils inscribed on her arms, she has no memory of how she got them.

Determined to learn the nature of the mysterious tattoo, Alias joins forces with an unlikely group of companions: the halfling bard, Ruskettle; the southern mage, Akabar; and the oddly silent lizard-man, Dragonbait. With their help, she discovers the symbols hold the key to her very existence.

But those responsible for the sigils aren’t keen on Alias’s continued good health... And if the five evil masters find her first, she may discover all too soon their hideous secret.

[salty-horse]

Heart-Beast by Tanith Lee is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

A shapeshifter prowls England's countryside, driven by its primal killing instincts and desire for a woman, in this dark fantasy horror.

World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award–winning author

After committing a crime of passion, Daniel Vehmund fled his English family farm to disappear into the Far East, wracked with guilt for abandoning his mother in the wake of his violence. Then, one day in a marketplace, Daniel is mesmerized by a street peddler's diamond. Teardrop-shaped and tinted green, the jewel—known as "The Wolf"—features the silhouette of a beast within its facets. Although it carries a curse, Daniel cannot resist its powerful allure, or the impulse to possess it.

Now bound to the diamond, Daniel becomes a bestial wolf-like monster at the full moon, ravishing and slaughtering everyone he encounters. When he resumes his human form, he has no memory of the beast's atrocities, but revels in the power seething within him. Daniel divests himself of the jewel after carrying it across the sea back home, but the curse is not done with him, or with an unhappily married woman who waits there.

Disdained by her family who treated her like a servant, Laura Wheelwright found refuge with a wealthy man. Adored for her beauty and lavished with luxuries, she is grateful to have been rescued from a life of drudgery, but feels no love for her husband. His latest gift to her is just another expensive trinket, but it is one that has brought the mysterious, enthralling Daniel Vehmund into her life.

Now, as a ravenous creature preys upon the villagers, Laura is pursued by Daniel. His presence disarms her, compelling her into a dangerous affair with a man unafraid to unleash his inner demon . . .

[maddz]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Heart-Beast by Tanith Lee is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

Also £1.99 in the UK

[salty-horse]

Mythology by Edith Hamilton is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Classic Greek mythology primer for children. I read this in translation.

Discover timeless tales of gods and heroes in this bestselling book detailing classic Greek, Roman, and Norse myths and legends—featuring beautiful illustrations throughout.

Edith Hamilton’s Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the myths that are the keystone of Western culture—the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.

Follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. Hear the tales of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, and mighty King Midas. Discover the origins of the names of the constellations. And recognize reference points for countless works for art, literature, and culture inquiry—from Freud’s Oedipus complex to Wagner’s Ring Cycle of operas to Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra.

Both an accessible reference guide for curious readers and a book to simply enjoy, Mythology is a classic not to be missed.

Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan is £1 in the UK (Amazon only, but price-matchable on Kobo)
Note: There are small sections of this book that were written using ChatGPT.
Review by Abigail Nussbaum

‘So über-zeitgeisty that it might have been written this morning, yet it is far more than merely topical or trendy, as deep moral, political, social, cultural, architectural and lingual problems collide throughout this short novel. A contemporary gem.’ Spectator

Welcome to the Japan of tomorrow. Here, the practice of a radical sympathy toward criminals has become the norm and a grand skyscraper in the heart of Tokyo is planned to house wrongdoers in compassionate comfort – Sympathy Tower Tokyo.

Acclaimed architect Sara Machina has been tasked with designing the city's new centrepiece, but is riven by doubt. Haunted by a terrible crime she experienced as a young girl, she wonders if she might inherently disagree with the values of the project, which should be the pinnacle of her career. As Sara grapples with these conflicting emotions, her relationship with her gorgeous – and much younger – boyfriend grows increasingly strained. In search of solace, in need of creative inspiration, Sara turns to the knowing words of an AI chatbot…

Awarded Japan's highest literary prize, Sympathy Tower Tokyo is an extraordinary novel from one of the most exciting new voices in world literature. Partly inspired by conversations with an artificial intelligence, it offers an extraordinary defence of the power of language written by humans, a touching exploration of the imaginative impulse, and an often hilarious send up of our modern world's unrelenting conformity.

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
Magical realism litfic.

In this dazzling debut novel, a young reclusive coder unearths the story of a lost Shanghai pencil company and a legacy of magic, espionage and family secrets that will alter the path of her life forever.

Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-confessed recluse, she’s more comfortable navigating digital worlds than real-life friendships. The closest people in her life are her beloved grandparents who raised her.

Her grandmother Yun rarely speaks about her past. Now, in her nineties, her memory is fading and with it, the answers to Monica’s questions about their family’s history – about her grandmother’s long-lost cousin, Meng, and the years they spent working together at a mysterious pencil company back in Shanghai.

With the help of Louise, a young archivist, Monica decides to track down Meng and reconnect the cousins before it is too late. Her search unearths a legacy of magic, espionage and secrets that will alter the path of Monica’s life forever.

[salty-horse]

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman is £1 in the UK (Amazon only ATM, but price-matchable on Kobo)
This is the trad-pub edition. It's almost identical to the self-pub edition that was previously on sale, but has an introduction, and the removal of an attempted rape scene that the author wasn't happy with.

The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village.

An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm-that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict.

Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfil her mission: to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Mythology by Edith Hamilton is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Classic Greek mythology primer for children. I read this in translation.


Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan is £1 in the UK (Amazon only, but price-matchable on Kobo)
Note: There are small sections of this book that were written using ChatGPT.
Review by Abigail Nussbaum


The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
Magical realism litfic.

Rie Qudan is now available from Kobo.UK at £0.99

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/sym...lS32cHG&cPos=1

Purchased Qudan and King - both listed items from Kobo.UK.

Thank you!

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Mythology by Edith Hamilton is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Classic Greek mythology primer for children. I read this in translation.

I've long wanted to ditch my print copy.

[Ricky D'Angelo]

Goodnight Dune by Julia Yu is available for free on author's website as a pdf copy. A physical softcover or hardcover is also available at different price points.

https://www.goodnightdune.com/

[Hollow Man]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is $2.99 in the USA.

Amazon
Kobo
B&M

[salty-horse]

Kingdom Come by J. G. Ballard is £1 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)

‘Anticipates today’s Britain with eerie precision’ Guardian

A masterpiece of fiction from J. G. Ballard, which asks could Consumerism turn into Facism?

A gunman opens fire in a shopping mall. Not a terrorist, apparently, but a madman with a rifle. Or not, as he is mysteriously (and quickly) set free without charge.

One of the victims is the father of Richard Pearson, unemployed advertising executive and life-long rebel. Now he is driving out to Brooklands, the apparently peaceful town on the M25 which has at its heart the shining shoppers’ paradise where the shooting happened – the Metro-Centre. Richard, determined to unravel the mystery, starts to believe that something deeply sinister lurks behind the pristine facades of the labyrinthine mall, its 24-hour cable TV and sports club.

In this, his final novel, Ballard holds up a mirror to Middle England, reflecting an unsettling image of suburbia and revealing the darker forces at work beneath the gloss of consumerism and flag-waving patriotism.

[salty-horse]

Amazon has a new short story collection themed around fantasy mysteries.
Free with Amazon Prime. Otherwise it's $1 each for the text and audio.

https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Tusk-Ma.../dp/B0H8FQCSWG

Includes a new Ana & Din story by Robert Jackson Bennett if you're a fan of that series (or want an introduction - it's standalone).

EDIT: If you're paying for this, the audio is not part of the $1 price. It used to be for the early series, but that's no longer the case.

[Martinoptic]

Thanks. It is in UK too.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lions-Tusk-...s%2C161&sr=8-1

[maddz]

Unfortunately, it's an Amazon exclusive.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Amazon has a new short story collection themed around fantasy mysteries.
Free with Amazon Prime. Otherwise it's $1 each for the text and audio.

https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Tusk-Ma.../dp/B0H8FQCSWG

Includes a new Ana & Din story by Robert Jackson Bennett if you're a fan of that series (or want an introduction - it's standalone).

And for KU(ers):

"Get the audiobook automatically with the Kindle book as part of your Kindle Unlimited membership."