FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[salty-horse]

Self-Portrait with Nothing by Aimee Pokwatka is $3 on Amazon.com and Kobo US
On the literary side of the genre.

If a picture paints a thousand worlds...
Abandoned as an infant on the local veterinarian's front porch, Pepper Rafferty was raised by two loving mothers, and now, at thirty-six is married to the stable, supportive Ike. She's never told anyone that at fifteen she discovered the identity of her biological mother.

That's because her birth mother is Ula Frost, a reclusive painter famous for the outrageous claims that her portraits summon their subjects' doppelgängers from parallel universes.

Researching the rumors, Pepper couldn't help but wonder: Is there a parallel universe in which she is more confident, more accomplished, better able to accept love?

A universe in which Ula decided she was worth keeping?

A universe in which Ula's rejection didn't still hurt too much to share?

Combining a thrilling pan-continental race against time with an authentic and touching personal drama, Self-Portrait with Nothing is an unforgettable debut that explores what it means to be part of a family.

[salty-horse]

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler is $4 on Amazon.com and Kobo US
On my wishlist, but my library has it.

Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future.

Rumors begin to spread of a dangerous species of hyperintelligent octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. The marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them.

The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed off the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses were discovered, from the rest of world. Dr. Nguyen travels to the islands to join DIANIMA’s team: a battle-scarred security agent and the world’s first android.

The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. The stakes are high: there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of the octopuses’ advancements, and as Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves.

But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. Or what they might do about it.

A near-future thriller about the nature of consciousness, Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea is a dazzling literary debut and a mind-blowing dive into the treasure and wreckage of humankind’s legacy.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

We should probably keep in mind that Piers Anthony is now 88 years old, so I imagine he's slowed down a bit.

Only 2 puns per page now?

[TrevorViking]

All this Piers Anthony talk triggers an old memory of the SFBC (science fiction book club).

I cycled memberships in that thing many times back in the 80s I guess it was. Think I’d get like 6 hardcover books for about $10 total, then have to buy one more for maybe $10 shipped. Very very vague memories of where these books are now, or how many of them I actually read. I’m more a deal collector than a book collector or reader I must admit. But anyway, the Xanth books were often in my purchases back then, but I think I quickly tired of his style.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by TrevorViking

...the Xanth books were often in my purchases back then, but I think I quickly tired of his style.

I've read some Piers Anthony stuff, but not Xanth. What I have read just didn't click with me. (The first Bio of a Space Tyrant and the first Incarnations of Immortality.)

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Tarana

The Book of Three By Lloyd Alexander $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Fantasy Book 1 of Prydain Chronicles
Kid's book that I read in my 20s and it left a positive lasting impression hence my site name.

I read these again with my own kids a few years ago, this is one of the few series from the era that I think still holds up really well. Taran Wanderer in particular is just brilliant IMO. A great pick-up for pre-teens/teens but still good for adults.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Around a decade ago people started noticing Anthony had some truly disgusting themes in his books: misogyny, rape, pedophilia, etc. That stuff's definitely in his books and people calling attention to it severely damaged Anthony's reputation. No doubt that's a part of why his books aren't talked about much now, and why they aren't widely available.

Basically society changed, decided some of the things in Anthony's books were unacceptable and moved on from him.

Thanks. I tired of it early, but collected a few more, assuming I’d get back to them. Read 2 pages of two books just now (early ones) and saw the themes you mentioned. Despite it paining me to do this, I actually threw 9 paperbacks in the trash. Not donated or any such, actually threw them out.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by theducks

Only 2 puns per page now?

Fans send them in. The Xanth books were maybe the only ones ever worth reading and not that great.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Tarana

The Book of Three By Lloyd Alexander $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Fantasy Book 1 of Prydain Chronicles
Kid's book that I read in my 20s and it left a positive lasting impression hence my site name.

I read one on paper and liked it. Often American writers mess up Celtic inspired fantasy*. I've read about the Disney animation and they have a book from the movie, but I'd not get either of those.
I did later buy a paper box set plus one other book to read sometime. Easier to loan to the few younger ones. But I've not started yet.

(* The French messed up the Welsh Celtic Arthurian stuff, but it's so long ago that hardly anyone minds now. Morgan and Guinevere where both Celtic style fairies like Tolkien's Elves. The Grail, Launcelot and Morgana/Morgaine don't exist.)

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I read one on paper and liked it. Often American writers mess up Celtic inspired fantasy*. I've read about the Disney animation and they have a book from the movie, but I'd not get either of those.
I did later buy a paper box set plus one other book to read sometime. Easier to loan to the few younger ones. But I've not started yet.

The Disney movie was a composite of the first two books, IIRC, with some plot/character changes. Not a bad movie, really.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Fans send them in. The Xanth books were maybe the only ones ever worth reading and not that great.

The first couple of Xanth books are his own puns. After that they're mostly to entirely written around fan submitted puns.

I'm probably among the most widely read of his works here (who will admit it) all the way back to Cthon and the Battle Circle series. I will say this much: he's consistent up to the late 1980s. I can't say anything about his later works, haven't touched anything past... looks at Wikipedia... "Being a Green Mother". I was outgrowing his style by that point.

[Tarana]

Sleeping Beauties By Stephen King and Owen King $1.99 Amazon, Kobo and B&N
Witch and wizard thriller (that's how it is listed on Amazon).

In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep: they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent. And while they sleep they go to another place, a better place, where harmony prevails and conflict is rare. One woman, the mysterious “Eve Black,” is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease. Is Eve a medical anomaly to be studied? Or is she a demon who must be slain?

Abandoned, left to their increasingly primal urges, the men divide into warring factions, some wanted to kill Eve, some to save her. Others exploit the chaos to wreak their own vengeance on new enemies. All turn to violence in a suddenly all-male world. Set in a small Appalachian town whose primary employer is a woman’s prison, Sleeping Beauties is a wildly provocative, gloriously dramatic father-son collaboration that feels particularly urgent and relevant today.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by ratinox

I'm probably among the most widely read of his works here (who will admit it) all the way back to Cthon and the Battle Circle series. I will say this much: he's consistent up to the late 1980s. I can't say anything about his later works, haven't touched anything past... looks at Wikipedia... "Being a Green Mother". I was outgrowing his style by that point.

Anything of his you would recommend? I tried On A Pale Horse (which I might try again) and the first Bio of a Space Tyrant, which was just too damn depressing, though I think I understand what he was trying to do.

I've looked at Blue Adept and Ghost (which had a GREAT cover, but awful reviews). I might have Cthon, though I don't remember for sure.

I will eventually read Firefly. As a fan of '80's schlock horror how can I not?

[PredicateD]

Annihilation (The Southern Reach Trilogy - Book 1)
by Jeff VanderMeer is $1.99 on Amazon, Kobo, and B&N.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Annihilation-.../dp/B00EGJ32A6
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/annihilation-4
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ann...=9780374710774

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by TrevorViking

All this Piers Anthony talk triggers an old memory of the SFBC (science fiction book club).

I cycled memberships in that thing many times back in the 80s I guess it was. Think I’d get like 6 hardcover books for about $10 total, then have to buy one more for maybe $10 shipped. Very very vague memories of where these books are now, or how many of them I actually read. I’m more a deal collector than a book collector or reader I must admit. But anyway, the Xanth books were often in my purchases back then, but I think I quickly tired of his style.

I had a membership in that a few times and failures to send the card back in resulted in two books I loved. (Even though I wouldn't have picked either.) The first was Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett, serving as my gateway into Discworld novels. (Although it was a looooong time before I learned there were more.) The second was The Shape-Changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn.

On the other hand, I also ended up with Beauty. (I don't remember the author.) That book had some truly horrifying stuff in it, including lots of rape, partial self-dismemberment, and a depiction of Hell that's the most awful I've ever read.