Free/Bargain Science Fiction & Fantasy in May 2014

[Manabi]

A thread for May.

We point out free and bargain SF/Fantasy titles to each other. Please don't post any self-published books*, and please do a search before posting to avoid duplicates.

Be aware that many freebies are only free for a day, so grab them fast!

*Unless you have read them yourself, think they are excellent, and you're not connected to the author in any way.

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Creating the thread since one's not up yet for May, copied the info above from last month's.

I'll start us off with this month's free Phoenix Pick from their newsletter, "The Warlock in Spite of Himself"

A Beloved Favorite Comes Back to Print

Book One of the Warlock of Gramarye series.

Rod Gallowglass is a man of science who does not believe in magic.

Gramarye is a world of witches and warlocks. Of strange abilities and phenomena. A world where society mirrors Earth's own Middle Ages, and a world headed for doom.

Rod Gallowglass must become a part of the local fabric to save the world from both itself and external forces that threaten its existence. But to do so, he must put aside his own convictions and beliefs, and become a warlock, in spite of himself.

A grand adventure mixing science fiction with elements of fantasy, this is the book that launched a whole series (fourteen books and counting).

You can also get that book along with the next two books in the series, "King Kobold Revived" & "The Warlock Unlocked" for $4.99, deal is on the same page as the free book.

[ucfgrad93]

May the fourth be with you...

In celebration of Star Wars day on May 4th the Google Play store has several Star Wars items on sale.

https://play.google.com/store/books/...may_the_fourth

On Amazon, the book Heir to the Empire, the first book of the Thrawn Triology is on sale for $1.99.

[brudigia]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

May the fourth be with you...

In celebration of Star Wars day on May 4th the Google Play store has several Star Wars items on sale.

https://play.google.com/store/books/...may_the_fourth

On Amazon, the book Heir to the Empire, the first book of the Thrawn Triology is on sale for $1.99.

Sigh, only in the US ? Not in Europe ?

[odo]

All the ebooks of the Modern Masters of Science Fiction published by the University of Illinois Press are currently discounted (only $3.08 each) at Amazon, at least when Buying from Spain:

Greg Egan, by Karen Burham (this was published today, by the way)
William Gibson, by Gary Westfahl
John Brunner, by Jad Smith
Gregory Benford, by George Slusser

These are, strictly speaking, non-fiction but since I think that they will especially appeal to SF readers I decided to publish it on this thread (if it is incorrect, please move it to the non-fiction thread).

Update: Kobo seems to have matched the price (and they are couponable there), at least as seen from Spain

Greg Egan: http://store.kobobooks.com/es-ES/ebook/greg-egan-1
William Gibson: http://store.kobobooks.com/es-ES/ebook/william-gibson
John Brunner: http://store.kobobooks.com/es-ES/ebook/john-brunner
Gregory Benford: http://store.kobobooks.com/es-ES/ebo...gory-benford-1

[odo]

And another one from the University of Illinois Press (they're having a sale)

Becoming Ray Bradbury, by Jonathan R. Eller (Kobo, Amazon)

[Dr. Drib]

Here's some great old pulp Sci-Fi freebies from the 30s and 40s, from Amazon:

1) Rog Philips

http://www.amazon.com/Unthinkable-In...pd_cp_kstore_0


2) Sam Merwin, Jr.

http://www.amazon.com/The-House-Many...pd_cp_kstore_1


3) Raymond Z. Gallun

http://www.amazon.com/First-Glimpse-...pd_cp_kstore_2


4) Arthur K. Barnes

http://www.amazon.com/Interplanetary...pd_cp_kstore_3


Here's a list of a few more:

http://www.amazon.com/Nemesis-Magazi...p_kstore_sexpl

[odo]

Blue Remembered Earth, by Alastair Reynolds, €2.99 at Amazon and Kobo (at least, as seen from Spain).

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Remembere.../dp/B006X8GFBQ
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/es-ES/ebo...membered-earth

[kg3]

On Sale for $0.99 for a week (starting on May 3rd):

Voice of the Whirlwind - Walter Jon Williams ----Amazon US---Amazon UK (0.77GBP)---Kobo US---Smashwords---B&N
-Tor, 1987 & Night Shade, 2007

Steward is a Beta— a clone. In his memories, he’s an elite commando for an orbital policorp— but because his Alpha never did a brain-scan update, Steward’s memories are fifteen years out of date . . . and in those fifteen years, everything has changed.

An interstellar war destroyed the company that held his allegiance. His wife has divorced him, along with the second wife that he can’t even remember. Most of his comrades died in a useless battle on a world called Sheol, and those who survived are irrevocably scarred. An alien race has arrived and become the center of a complex and deadly intrigue.

And someone has murdered him.

From Publishers Weekly:

Williams's novel Hardwired was a well-written but standard entry in the cyberpunk sweepstakes launched by William Gibson's Neuromancer. This followup, however, is much more interesting and successful. Etienne Steward is the clone ("Steward Beta") of a hero of the Artifact Wars, in which multinational corporations fielded armies to plunder alien ruins. He's been given Steward Alpha's memories minus the last years of the hero's life: the war and its aftermath. Now Steward Beta begins an investigation, tracking down Alpha's wife, friends, enemies and fellow vets to fill in the picture and learn why Alpha was murdered. In particular, Beta probes the war, its horrors, its betrayals and The Powers, the aliens who ended it. Resonances of Vietnam-era moral concerns make this deft updating of the postWorld War II genre of psychological thrillers about amnesiacs one of the best of its kind. --Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

“Fast-moving, hard-driving, with a robust well-handled plot . . . a stirring and heartening performance.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Walter Jon Williams proves that he is a master of action, character and galaxy-spanning plots.” — Fantasy Review

“A combination of fast action, gritty realism, and high-tech polytechnics that is certain to be popular with Williams’ growing audience.” –Booklist.

“(Williams) is a master of the intricate yet fast-paced plot— the essence of thrillers and novels of political intrigue.” –Locus

''Slick and intelligent entertainment. The tension remains high throughout. A taut, satisfying tale of space-age skulduggery.'' --San Francisco Chronicle

[Joykins]

Kindle Daily Deal (US) for SF - No Return: A Novel of Jeroun by Zachary Jernigan - $1.99

http://www.amazon.com/No-Return-Jero...dp/B00B0SBF1O/

On Jeroun, there is no question as to whether God exists--only what his intentions are.

Under the looming judgment of Adrash and his ultimate weapon--a string of spinning spheres beside the moon known as The Needle--warring factions of white and black suits prove their opposition to the orbiting god with the great fighting tournament of Tchootoo, on the far side of Jeroun's only inhabitable continent.

From the Thirteenth Order of Black Suits comes Vedas, a young master of martial arts, laden with guilt over the death of one of his students. Traveling with him are Churls, a warrior woman and mercenary haunted by the ghost of her daughter, and Manshep, a constructed man made of modular spheres possessed by the foul spirit of his creator. Together they must brave their own demons, as well as thieves, mages, beasts, dearth, and hardship on the perilous road to Tchootoo, and the bloody sectarian battle that is sure to follow.

On the other side of the world, unbeknownst to the travelers, Ebn and Pol of the Royal Outbound Mages (astronauts using Alchemical magic to achieve space flight) have formed a plan to appease Adrash and bring peace to the planet. But Ebn and Pol each have their own clandestine agendas--which may call down the wrath of the very god they hope to woo.

Who may know the mind of God? And who in their right mind would seek to defy him? Gritty, erotic, and fast-paced, author Zachary Jernigan takes you on a sensuous ride through a world at the knife-edge of salvation and destruction, in one of the year's most exciting fantasy epics.

[Manabi]

Dark Horse Digital has some free Star Wars comic bundles available, seem to be a combo Free Comic Book Day (5/3/2014) & Star Wars Day (5/4/2014) promo.

• Star Wars Legacy Starter Bundle (Books #1 - #4)
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Starter Bundle (Books #1 - #4)
• Star Wars Empire Starter Bundle (Books #1 - #4)

They also have some other free comics under the "free" menu item, but they're mostly teasers or special intro volumes. Scratch that, I didn't look closely enough at first. The first page is rather barren, but has some free comic book day freebies, the second page has a bunch of Falling Skies free issues and more free comic book day freebies. So check the list out. Annoyingly you have to click on "Read Now" and load the book to "buy" the individual free issues. There's some Star Wars free comic book day freebies on page two.

In the not-free front, they have a huge Star Wars May the 4th Megabundle with 151 Star Wars comics for $100. List price is $467.50, so this is a huge savings.

[hwlester]

BookBale is at it again. A new pay what you want bundle for May:

For $2.50-$6.99, you can pick up the Basic Bundle which includes:

• Dark Universe by Daniel Galouye
• Centuries by A. A. Attanasio
• Code of the Lifemaker by James P. Hogan
• The Soul Eater by Mike Resnick

For $7 or more, you can pick up the Bonus Bundle which includes the Basic Bundle plus:

• A Song For Lya by George R. R. Martin
• The Return of Santiago by Mike Resnick

The sale ends May 31, 2014.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by hwlester

BookBale is at it again. A new pay what you want bundle for for May:

For $2.50-$6.99, you can pick up the Basic Bundle which includes:

• Dark Universe by Daniel Galouye
• Centuries by A. A. Attanasio
• Code of the Lifemaker by James P. Hogan
• The Soul Eater by Mike Resnick

For $7 or more, you can pick up the Bonus Bundle which includes the Basic Bundle plus:

• A Song For Lya by George R. R. Martin
• The Return of Santiago by Mike Resnick

The sale ends May 31, 2014.

Having read both Santiago and Return of Santiago, I can tell you that it's worth the $7 price tag alone. Resnick's Far Future universe novels are all a blast. Don't think I"ve read The Soul Eater yet, looking forward to it.

[JohnMorris]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but it's different:

http://vodo.net/otherworlds

It's like the Humble Bundles, in that you pay what you want for the basic package, with extras unlocked if you exceed some amount, but unlike in that they's offering a heterogeneous mix of SF ebooks, games, music, video, comics...

[owly]

Originally Posted by odo

Blue Remembered Earth, by Alastair Reynolds, €2.99 at Amazon and Kobo (at least, as seen from Spain).

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Remembere.../dp/B006X8GFBQ
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/es-ES/ebo...membered-earth

Thanks for this one, it was cheap on Google play as well.

[owly]

Google play has "The Wise Man's Fear" by
Patrick Rothfuss for 15 Kr. about $2.30 https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=qUW5js7ZD7UC

Really good Fantasy.