Free and Bargain SciFi/Fantasy in November 2012

[pdops]

Originally Posted by sufue

The Backlist Ebooks site has hit another 200 readers and is giving away a free book for two weeks to celebrate. I got the email just yesterday (Nov 5), so presumably the two weeks started then. I don't read much sci-fi, so don't have a feel for how good this book/author are, but Backlist Ebooks is a list for previously DTB-published authors.

Thanks for posting. Signed up for their news letter and got another free book too.

[Timoleon]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Guy Adams' book has a messed-up formatting involving question marke (?), rather than quotes (") throughout its entire short length.
As a freebie, I advise avoiding this one until the author does another pass with it on his computer.
Don

Converted it to rtf in Calibre, opened it up in Book Designer, cleaned it up, saved it as a lit, added it to Calibre and converted it to mobi and epub. Not perfect, but a lot better...

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Timoleon

Converted it to rtf in Calibre, opened it up in Book Designer, cleaned it up, saved it as a lit, added it to Calibre and converted it to mobi and epub. Not perfect, but a lot better...

The author should come online and thank you for doing what he failed to do.



Don

[conanfan]

Originally Posted by sufue

The Backlist Ebooks site has hit another 200 readers and is giving away a free book for two weeks to celebrate. I got the email just yesterday (Nov 5), so presumably the two weeks started then. I don't read much sci-fi, so don't have a feel for how good this book/author are, but Backlist Ebooks is a list for previously DTB-published authors. Here's the info.

The book is Promise of the Flame by Sylvia Engdahl:



Available in both ePub and mobi. Link is here:

http://backlistebooks.com/freebie/index.html

Also, Stewards of the Flame (the prequel to Promise of the Flame, or Promise of the Flame is a sequel to Stewards of the Flame, or something like that...) is currently free at Amazon, Kobo and Barnes & Noble.

[kyteflyer]

Thanks! Grabbed both
Also reminded myself of the Smashwords free list while I was at it.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/cat...est/0/free/any

I have the adult filter ON because I really don't want to see the sheer numbers of self-pubbed pr0n and "erotica". But there's a lot of other good stuff there. The link above is to scifi, but you can change the search to anything from any category .

[elaysee]

Perhaps not strictly a bargain, but I noticed a new title from Subterranean Press, The Best of Kage Baker (link to extended description).

The Best of Kage Baker is a treasure trove that gathers together twenty stories and novellas, eleven of which have never been collected anywhere.

Baker is best known for her Company series involving time travel, but also wrote in other SF subgenres. This collection includes both Company and other stories including Hugo-nominated work. I've got four of her collections and novels sitting on my physical shelves, and I'm glad to acquire more for $5.

Amazon US
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

[conanfan]

I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed the short story "Unnatural Time" by Julio Angel Ortiz, which is currently free on Amazon.

Mr. Kite's Cavalcade of Unnatural History tours the country, presenting unusual wonders and sights, but something more sinister is at work. For Palequus and Peter, agents sent to investigate, they realize what a threat the Cavalcade is. But can a retired Grim Reaper and discharged cherub stop Mr. Kite and his plans, lest they become a curiosity of the Cavalcade, a memento of a forgotten history?

Some of his other stories, including "Infinity, Ltd.:1963!" another story involving the same protagonists as "Unnatural Time" are available for free on Smashwords.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by conanfan

I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed the short story "Unnatural Time" by Julio Angel Ortiz, which is currently free on Amazon.

I enjoyed this one as well. In fact, I have a novella from him somewhere that I never seem to get around to reading.

[Dr. Drib]

I'm convinced: I picked up the Ortiz short story!



Don

[NightBird]

Free fantasy story from Subterranean Press - A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong by K.J. Parker. Winner of the 2012 World Fantasy Award for novella. Read on line or use Send to Kindle.

K. J. Parker is an author of fantasy fiction. The name is a pseudonym and the writer's true identity has never been revealed. Very little is definitely known about Parker, even his or her gender, and there has been speculation as to his or her real name.

While Parker's stories take place in alternate universes with invented geographies and histories, some of the typical features of fantasy fiction such as explicit use of magic are not present. The stories tend to have tragic themes with characters whose actions are unintentionally, ultimately self-destructive.

From Wikipedia

[conanfan]

Well, as long as we are focused on short stories, Ken Liu's Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning short story, "Paper Menagerie," is free online at io9. Read online or send to Kindle.

Ken Liu's incredible story "Paper Menagerie" just became the first work of fiction to win all three of SF's major awards: the Hugo, the Nebula and the World Fantasy Award. And we're proud to be able to reprint the whole story, right here at io9. Here's your chance to find out what all the excitement is about, and discover one of science fiction's fastest rising stars.

[ozron]

In the last 2 posts "Send to Kindle" has been mentioned. By this do you mean you manually copy & paste the text to a document and create your own file to send to your Kindle?

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by ozron

In the last 2 posts "Send to Kindle" has been mentioned. By this do you mean you manually copy & paste the text to a document and create your own file to send to your Kindle?

Browser plug-in that you can use to parse articles etc.. and send them directly to your Kindle using your various Kindle email addresses. Some of these types of plug-ins also allow you to save the file in epub and mobi etc.. for side-loading.

[ozron]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Browser plug-in that you can use to parse articles etc.. and send them directly to your Kindle using your various Kindle email addresses. Some of these types of plug-ins also allow you to save the file in epub and mobi etc.. for side-loading.

OK great idea. Will try the official Amazon plug-in for Chrome first...

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by conanfan

Well, as long as we are focused on short stories, Ken Liu's Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning short story, "Paper Menagerie," is free online at io9. Read online or send to Kindle.

Awesome - thanks!

A.A. Attanasio has another freebie for us - Octoberland (The Dominions of Irth). Originally published in hardcover in 1998 by Stoddard & Houghton.

A Manhattan coven, Octoberland, weaves ancient black magic to preserve the life of its 7,000-year-old leader, Nox. The sorcerer staves off death by leaching years from his followers’ blood. But Nox’s reckless search for eternal youth has opened the gate to — Irth.

From this alien world of wizards, witch queens, and blacker magic yet, goblins invade Earth! Warped, revolting creatures from a higher world beyond the World’s End, they inflict bloody carnage on the Dominions, using trolls and basilisks as their weapons.