FREE/BARGAIN - Science Fiction, Fantasy - 2015

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $2.99 each from Sourcebooks (couponable @ Kobo, price good at the usual Canada & US retailers, may or may not be discounted in other regions, etc.):

By Gillian Bradshaw (ISFDB, Wikipedia), #1 & #2 of her Down the Long Wind trilogy of historically-grounded Arthurian fantasy (starts out a little on the YA side), all three novels of which placed on the Locus lists for Best Novel of the Year when they came out. #3 is not on sale, but has previously been offered at a discount last October, so you might have picked it up then:

• The Hawk of May, #1 originally out from Simon & Schuster in 1980
• The Kingdom of Summer, #2 originally out from Simon & Schuster in 1981

By Anne Eliot Crompton (ISFDB), all 3 novels in her untitled otherworldly fantasy Arthurian trilogy (each readable standalone, centred around the relations of one of the heroes to the faerie world, may tilt a little YA-ish, Sourcebooks is marketing these in its Sourcebooks Fire teen imprint, while the originals came out from adult-level fantasy lines):

• Merlin's Harp originally out from Donald I. Fine in 1995 and picked up by Roc in 1997. This was a freebie a long time ago so you might already have it; I've read and mildly liked this one, enough to pick up the others in series when they went on sale the last time around
• Gawain and Lady Green originally out from Donald I. Fine in 1997
• Percival's Angel originally out from Roc in 1999

By Alexander Key (ISFDB, Wikipedia):

Escape to Witch Mountain, vintage 1968 YA sci-fi exploited teens with psychic abilities adventure (Wikipedia) and basis of the eponymous Disney film (Wikipedia)

[ATDrake]

X-link to the Tablets (and occasional apps & content) megathread:

B&N are offering free just for today (Jul 5th) Season 1 Episode 1 of the TV series Outlander, based on Diana Gabaldon's wildly popular time-travel historical w/romance series via their NOOK Video service, which can apparently be watched online via the browser via their Android/iDevice apps if you don't have their device.

[Brendan Moody]

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie is $1.99 at various retailers including Amazon.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME AND THE WASHINGTON POST • LOCUS AWARD WINNER

“A fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go.”—George R. R. Martin

“I swore an oath to avenge the death of my father. I may be half a man, but I swore a whole oath.”

Prince Yarvi has vowed to regain a throne he never wanted. But first he must survive cruelty, chains, and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea. And he must do it all with only one good hand.

The deceived will become the deceiver.

Born a weakling in the eyes of his father, Yarvi is alone in a world where a strong arm and a cold heart rule. He cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he must sharpen his mind to a deadly edge.

The betrayed will become the betrayer.

Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast and the lost, he finds they can do more to help him become the man he needs to be than any court of nobles could.

Will the usurped become the usurper?

But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi finds that his path may end as it began—in twists, and traps, and tragedy.

BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Joe Abercrombie's Half the World.

I've read this one and would recommend it. It's the first in a trilogy, but can be read as a standalone novel.

[mewmartigan]

^

Thanks for this. Really enjoyed the First Law Trilogy and will give this a shot.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mewmartigan

^

Thanks for this. Really enjoyed the First Law Trilogy and will give this a shot.

Just a note that it's a "YA" book, and so if you enjoyed things like the scenes of graphic torture and battle-butchery in the "First Law" trilogy, you won't find them in this .

[itisbomb]

The Lives of Tao

is $1.99 at

Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...e-lives-of-tao
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Tao-Wesl...s=Lives+of+Tao

Below is the blurb:
Goodreads Choice 2013 Finalist - Science Fiction

Winner of the Alex Award for the American Library Association's 2014 Youth Media Awards

When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it.

He wasn't.

He now has a passenger in his brain - an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions - the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix - the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that's what it takes.

Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that's going to end up well...

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by hemisphire

The ebook for The Human Division by John Scalzi is now on sale for $2.99!
http://torforgeblog.com/2015/06/29/t...sale-for-2-99/

I just finished it, HIGHLY recommended by me. An interesting organization, it isn't a traditional 'linear' story, it's more episodic in nature but still manages to tell the story. I don't know that I'd want a steady diet of this sort of organization, but it made for a fun change of pace.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just a note that it's a "YA" book, and so if you enjoyed things like the scenes of graphic torture and battle-butchery in the "First Law" trilogy, you won't find them in this .

Haha, yeah I know its YA. I will miss my torture and butchering but I will force myself to live without them.

Have you read this trilogy?

[sinoue]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is $1.99 at various retailers:

Amazon (US)
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

In this Newbery Medal-winning novel, Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him.

Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are being such as ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other.

The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal and is a Hugo Award Winner for Best Novel.

Supports the Common Core State Standards

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie is $1.99 at various retailers including Amazon.



I've read this one and would recommend it. It's the first in a trilogy, but can be read as a standalone novel.

£1.79 in UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Half-King-Sh...dp/B00I7K2FZ8/

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mewmartigan

Haha, yeah I know its YA. I will miss my torture and butchering but I will force myself to live without them.

Have you read this trilogy?

Not yet. I too thoroughly enjoyed the "First Law" trilogy, so this is very high on my "to read" list!

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

I just finished it, HIGHLY recommended by me. An interesting organization, it isn't a traditional 'linear' story, it's more episodic in nature but still manages to tell the story. I don't know that I'd want a steady diet of this sort of organization, but it made for a fun change of pace.

I see that this book is #5 in the Old Man's War series - do they need to be read in order? I'm currently reading Locked In and enjoying it, but I don't know if I want to have to read a series that's currently on book 6.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I see that this book is #5 in the Old Man's War series - do they need to be read in order? I'm currently reading Locked In and enjoying it, but I don't know if I want to have to read a series that's currently on book 6.

It's set in that universe and tangentially related to the other books and knowing the previous books is not essential, but I think you'll wish you had read "Old Man's War" for basic background info.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie is $1.99 at various retailers including Amazon.



I've read this one and would recommend it. It's the first in a trilogy, but can be read as a standalone novel.

Thanks, enjoyed it a while ago via B&N Nook instore, willing to donate $2 to Abercrombie for it to add it to my Kindle library.

[basschick]

if you haven't read the graveyard book and are a fan of neil gaiman, it's really wonderful.

Originally Posted by sinoue

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is $1.99 at various retailers:

Amazon (US)
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

In this Newbery Medal-winning novel, Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him.

Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are being such as ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other.

The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal and is a Hugo Award Winner for Best Novel.

Supports the Common Core State Standards