FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[Apache]

Originally Posted by curtw

Pre-2016 Dilbert, or post?

It's been a long time since I followed Dilbert. What is the difference?
Apache

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Apache

It's been a long time since I followed Dilbert. What is the difference?
Apache

My understanding is that Scott Adams ran out of funny material, took a break, and came back with mean and hurtful material culminating in racist rants on youtube.
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/26/11595...t-by-its-creat

[Aleron Ives]

I continued to read the strip until its demise, and I never noticed a decline in quality, but of course the topics covered did change over time, since the tech world is always moving.

[ZodWallop]

Von Bek: The Warhound and the World's Pain and The City in the Autumn Stars by Michael Moorcock is $2 at Amazon, B&N and Kobo

Ulrich von Bek, a facet of The Eternal Champion, makes a deal with the devil in this exciting adventure story from one of the greatest authors of our time.

This is the story of Ulrich von Bek, a cynical mercenary who sells his skills as a soldier in the wars taking place all over Europe. After the particularly horrific destruction of a city in which he played a role, von Bek decides to desert the military company he was working for and travel alone for a while before seeking further employment.

On his solo journey, he happens upon a castle where he takes refuge with—and then falls in love with—the keeper of the castle, the beautiful Sabrina. It is in this castle that he meets Lucifer, the master of Hell, and finds out that his soul is already destined for Hell. And so, in exchange for his soul, von Bek agrees to go on a quest for Lucifer, namely to find the Cure for the World’s Pain. This quest is also known as the Search for the Holy Grail.

As von Bek travels around Europe on his impossible quest, he will find himself caught up in wars, politics, intrigue, and romance. But he can never forget his purpose—or the terrible bargain he has made with the devil…

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Von Bek: The Warhound and the World's Pain and The City in the Autumn Stars by Michael Moorcock is $2 at Amazon, B&N and Kobo

Good price. I previously had to travel overseas to get the two books from Kobo's UK store.
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the...e-world-s-pain
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the...e-autumn-stars

Nicer cover, too, although I'm partial to the Yoshitaka Amano artwork from one of the paperback compilations:
https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/a/...LJMXDC1992.jpg
---

Humble Bundle is running an encore of the Steven Erikson Malazan Book of the Fallen bundle from last year:

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/s...ng-group-books

[salty-horse]

The Etched City by K. J. Bishop is $7 (50% off) in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
The self-published UK edition is much cheaper, but it's only available on Amazon.

Gwynn and Raule are rebels on the run, with little in common except being on the losing side of a hard-fought war. Gwynn is a gunslinger from the north, a loner, a survivor . . . a killer. Raule is a wandering surgeon, a healer who still believes in just—and lost—causes. Bound by a desire to escape the ghosts of the past, together they flee to the teeming city of Ashamoil, where Raule plies her trade among the desperate and destitute, and Gwynn becomes bodyguard and assassin for the household of a corrupt magnate. There, in the saving and taking of lives, they find themselves immersed in a world where art infects life, dream and waking fuse, and splendid and frightening miracles begin to bloom . . .

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

Nicer cover, too, although I'm partial to the Yoshitaka Amano artwork from one of the paperback compilations:
https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/a/...LJMXDC1992.jpg

I really like Robert Gould's cover art. To me, his Elric is the definitive one. Michael Whelan's Elric always seemed too beefy to me.

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I really like Robert Gould's cover art. To me, his Elric is the definitive one. Michael Whelan's Elric always seemed too beefy to me.

Depends on the cover. Elric seems suitably gaunt to me on the cover of Stormbringer:

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/wp-con...ormbringer.jpg

But perhaps too muscular on e.g. King of the Dead:
https://www.michaelwhelan.com/wp-con...7084124288.jpg

[Cactus Chef]

The Complete Poppy War Trilogy by R.F. Kuang is on sale for $4 at the usual vendors:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXLM3JSF
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...py-war-trilogy
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-...y/id6446088137
https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=sjqyEAAAQBAJ
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the...ang/1143338166

From R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Babel, this collection features the novels in her historical military fantasy trilogy—The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, and The Burning God—a complete epic inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic.

The Poppy War

A war orphan, Rin earned her place in Nikan’s most elite military school. There, she discovers her lethal, unearthly power of shamanism—and learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive. When an inevitable conflict arises between longtime enemies the Nikara Empire and the Federation of Mugen, Rin realizes her shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity. . .

The Dragon Republic

After committing an atrocity in battle, shamanic warrior Rin is consumed with guilt, an opium addiction, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix god. Channeling her anger against the Empress who betrayed Rin’s homeland, she chooses to join forces with the Empress’s enemy, the Dragon Warlord. But as Rin discovers the true natures of the Empress and the Dragon Warlord, the temptation to unleash the Phoenix’s fearsome power grows—and so does her vengeance. . .

The Burning God

After saving Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress in a brutal civil war, Rin realizes that her homeland’s real power lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation. Vowing to defeat all who threaten the shamanic arts, Rin’s power and influence grows—but so does the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it. . .

“Mixing historical parallels of Chinese history, the themes of war, politics, and colonialism are balanced with terrific, flawed characters and amazing worldbuilding.”—Library Journal (starred review)

[ottdmk]

A collected edition of Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer's Cecilia and Kate Novels is on sale at Kobo Canada for $2.99 CDN ($2.69 if you're a VIP member.) Also on sale at amazon.ca for $2.99 CDN.

I've owned these books for years. Very enjoyable mix of historical and fantasy fiction, IMO. A real bargain at this price

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I really like Robert Gould's cover art. To me, his Elric is the definitive one. Michael Whelan's Elric always seemed too beefy to me.

That's interesting; I've always disliked the Gould covers. His style does nothing for me, and his work all seems very similar, even in other series. The Whelan covers were the versions that I read as a teen and Whelan is by far and away my favorite SF/Fantasy artist so I gravitate to those.

Moorcock wrote a brief essay in the Whelan collection "Wonderworks" and comments on Elric's muscles (something to the effect of he's more muscular than described but probably had to do that for sake of the market) but that he felt Whelan captured Elric's internal struggles better than most artists had. He cited Stormbringer as his favorite of Whelan's Elric paintings.

[Tarana]

Most of Discworld by Terry Pratchett is on sale for $1.99 each at Amazon. I was finally able to complete my collection at discount!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Most of Discworld by Terry Pratchett is on sale for $1.99 each at Amazon. I was finally able to complete my collection at discount!

Even better given Amazon's shenanigans with downloading eBooks is that Kobo has a number of Discworld eBooks on sale for $1.99 as well.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?qu...&sort=PriceAsc

[salty-horse]

Cross-posted to Horror.
Subcutanean by Aaron A. Reed, a procedurally-generated novel where each copy is different, is now free.
This is an indie horror/fantastical novel that I read and enjoyed, so it's OK to post here.

Anyway, the source code to generate the novel is now available, along with 10,000 pre-generatd copies.

Insecure college senior Orion loves music, books, and his best friend Niko. When the two of them find a secret basement in their rambling old off-campus house, at first Orion’s thrilled. It’s another secret to share, another adventure to maybe, at last, bring them closer together.

But something's wrong: the basement doesn't end. Blandly decorated halls stretch on for miles past peeling wallpaper, empty bedrooms, and countless stairwells always leading down. Soon they realize Downstairs is a snarled tangle of possibilities, more and more opening up the deeper they go. Something down there multiplies everything: architecture, emotions, even people.

Together they must navigate an increasingly dangerous labyrinth that peels back their friendship to raw and angry roots, filled with two-faced doppelgängers, treacherous architecture, and long-buried secrets. Most dangerous of all is Orion's consuming obsession: somewhere down there, is there a Niko who loves him back?

Subcutanean is a unique novel that changes with every printing. Each copy contains a unique telling of the story: no two are ever quite the same.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

Depends on the cover. Elric seems suitably gaunt to me on the cover of Stormbringer:

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/wp-con...ormbringer.jpg

But perhaps too muscular on e.g. King of the Dead:
https://www.michaelwhelan.com/wp-con...7084124288.jpg

In the end art is subjective and Whelan is a very talented artist for sure. When I pick my own covers for old sci-fi and fantasy, a Whelan cover is usually a winner.

But these are portraits of a character with certain properties. And for a gaunt, sickly man reliant on a vampiric sword, Gould wins for me.