FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[salty-horse]

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov is $5 on Arc Manor's website (link to deal)
It's usually $8 on their website, and $10 on Amazon.
The novel has been nominated for the Nebula. The author's previous novella was also nominated.

Refusing the queen’s order to gas a crowd of protesters, Minister Shea Ashcroft is banished to the border to oversee the construction of the biggest defensive tower in history. However, the use of advanced technology taken from refugees makes the tower volatile and dangerous, becoming a threat to local interests. Shea has no choice but to fight the local hierarchy to ensure the construction succeeds—and to reclaim his own life.

Surviving an assassination attempt, Shea confronts his inner demons, encounters an ancient legend, and discovers a portal to a dead world—all while struggling to stay true to his own principles and maintain his sanity. Fighting memories and hallucinations, he starts to question everything...

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is a thought-provoking meditation on the fragility of the human condition, our beliefs, the manipulation of propaganda for political gains, and our ability to distinguish the real from the unreal and our willingness to accept convenient "truths." The novel is a compelling exploration of memory, its fragile nature, and its profound impact on our perception of identity, relationships, and facts themselves.

[batpuppy]

Yeah that is why I seldom post in this thread.
Its hard to find stuff with the search so I just assume everything has been posted.

Originally Posted by Hollow Man

You did. Reply #9153.

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by batpuppy

Yeah that is why I seldom post in this thread.
Its hard to find stuff with the search so I just assume everything has been posted.

If it's a new sale, it's usually enough to scan a few pages back.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by batpuppy

I didn't see it listed here but maybe I missed it.
Robert Jordan's Wheel of Times series is on at the Humble Bundle.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/r...ime_bookbundle

This is a US only bundle. So a VPN would really help if you are outside the US.

[salty-horse]

Peter Beagle is turning 86, and to celebrate, Tachyon is offering 20% off the two volumes of his short stories The Essential Peter S. Beagle.
That's $12, with a discount of $3
Volume 1, Volume 2.

[salty-horse]

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One 1929-1964 edited by Robert Silverberg is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Contents:
https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?426596

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One 1929-1964 edited by Robert Silverberg is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Contents:
https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?426596

Was coming to post the same.

[salty-horse]

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Marketed as Romantasy.

High heat. Low stakes. Sharp steel.

Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. Sword-challenge at the ceremony could destroy all hope of restoring his family's wealth, something that Matti has been trying—and failing—to do for the past ten years.

What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere.

Luca, for his part, is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. All he wants to do is make some easy money and try to forget the crime he committed in his hometown. He didn't plan on being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to a chronically responsible—and inconveniently handsome—wool merchant like Matti.

However, neither Matti's business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what they seem. As the days count down to Matti's wedding, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti's house to the brink of ruin. And when Luca's secrets threaten to drive a blade through their growing alliance, both Matti and Luca will have to answer the question: how many lies are you prepared to strip away, when the truth could mean losing everything you want?

[salty-horse]

State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg is $4 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Closer to literary fiction on the spectrum. Review by Ian Mond

It’s another summer in a small Florida town. After an illness that vanishes as mysteriously as it arrived, everything appears to be getting back to normal: soul-crushing heat, torrential downpours, sinkholes swallowing the earth, ominous cats, a world-bending virtual reality device being handed out by a company called ELECTRA, and an increasing number of posters dotting the streets with the faces of missing citizens. Living in her mother’s home, a ghostwriter for a famous thriller author tracks the eerie changes. On top of everything else, she’s contending with family secrets, spotty memories of her troubled youth, a burgeoning cult in the living room, and the alarming expansion of her own belly button.

Then, during a violent rainstorm, her sister goes missing. She returns a few days later, sprawled on their mother’s lawn and speaking of another dimension. Now the ghostwriter must investigate not only what happened to her sister and the other missing people but also the uncanny connections between ELECTRA, the famous author she works for, and reality itself.

A sticky, rain-soaked reckoning with the elusive nature of selfhood and storytelling, Laura van den Berg’s State of Paradise is an intricate and page-turning whirlwind. With inimitable control and thrilling style, van den Berg reaches deep into the void and returns with a story far stranger than either reality or fiction.

[Cactus Chef]

Repeat sale on The Valis Trilogy by Philip K. Dick

The Valis Trilogy (Valis Trilogy) by Philip K. Dick is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

This e-book only edition brings together the three novels of Philip K. Dick's VALIS trilogy. VALIS What is VALIS? This question is at the heart of Philip K. Dick’s groundbreaking novel, the first book in his defining trilogy. When a beam of pink light begins giving a schizophrenic man named Horselover Fat (who just might also be known as Philip K. Dick) visions of an alternate Earth where the Roman Empire still reigns, he must decide whether he is crazy, or whether a godlike entity is showing him the true nature of the world. The Divine Invasion God is not dead, he has merely been exiled to an extraterrestrial planet. And it is on this planet that God meets Herb Asher and convinces him to help retake Earth from the demonic Belial. As the middlie novel of Dick's VALIS trilogy, The Divine Invasion plays a pivotal role in answering the questions raised by the first novel, expanding that world while exploring just how much anyone can really know -- even God himself. The Transmigration of Timothy Archer The final book in the VALIS trilogy, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer brings the author’s search for the identity and nature of God to a close. The novel follows Bishop Timothy Archer as he travels to Israel, ostensibly to examine ancient scrolls bearing the words of Christ. But, more importantly, this leads him to examine the decisions he made during his life and how they may have contributed to the suicide of his mistress and son.

Had mixed feelings on VALIS--it felt more like self-therapy at times, with all the weaving of autobiographical elements. But I quite liked The Transmigration of Timothy Archer.

[salty-horse]

Motheater by Linda H. Codega is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
Video review by Bar Cart Bookshelf

In this nuanced queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a clash between industry and nature.

After her best friend dies in a coal mine, Benethea “Bennie” Mattox sacrifices her job, her relationship, and her reputation to uncover what’s killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in a dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it’s right—but also because she hopes this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs.

Instead, she brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can’t remember her true name, or how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she’s a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire Mountain, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her a century and half into the future. And now, the choices Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of the town itself.

[salty-horse]

Sheine Lende (An Elatsoe Book #2) by Darcie Little Badger is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon) (and similarly priced in the UK)
Was on my wishlist

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can’t afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood – and the loss of Shane’s father and her grandparents. They don’t think they’ll ever get their home back.

Then Shane’s mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent – who isn’t to be trusted – set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world – or this place in time.

Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.

Darcie Little Badger’s Elatsoe launched her career and in the years since has become a beloved favorite. This prequel to Elatsoe, centered on Ellie’s grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie’s one-of-a-kind world and introduces us to another cast of characters that will wend their way around readers’ hearts.

Space Oddity by Catherynne M. Valente is £3 in the UK (Kobo, Amazon)
The sequel to Space Opera.

The Metagalactic Grand Prix - part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past - returns, and the fate of the Earth is once again threatened.

After finishing in tenth place in the 100th Metagalactic Grand Prix, Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros are on their mandatory eleven-and-three-quarters-month tour. As they prepare for the 101st edition of the contest, civilizations opposed to peace have been plotting and want to take down the upstarts. But always remember, at the Metagalactic Grand Prix, everyone cheats.

Can humanity rise again in this sequel to the beloved Hugo Award-nominated national bestselling Space Opera?

Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang is $2 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy from the author of The Sword of Kaigen.

For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry.

When Sciona finally passes the qualifying exam and becomes a highmage, she finds her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome—and, instead of a qualified lab assistant, they give her a janitor.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago, he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power.

At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together, they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first.

[pdurrant]

A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett, his collected short fiction, is just £1.99 at Amazon UK today as part of Amazon's daily deal. It's £3.99 at Kobo, but it should be possible to price match it, in which case it'll be £1.79 (1.99*0.9).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blink-Scree...dp/B008K4JKJK/
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/a-b...c-70113eaf0da4

[salty-horse]

The Mercy of Gods (The Captive's War #1) by James S. A. Corey is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

A spectacular new space opera that sees humanity fighting for its survival in a war as old as the universe itself.

How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end.

The Carryx – part empire, part hive – have waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy. Now, they are facing a great and deathless enemy. The key to their survival may rest with the humans of Anjiin.

Caught up in academic intrigue and affairs of the heart, Dafyd Alkhor is pleased just to be an assistant to a brilliant scientist and his celebrated research team. Then the Carryx ships descend, decimating the human population and taking the best and brightest of Anjiin society away to serve on the Carryx homeworld, and Dafyd is swept along with them.

They are dropped in the middle of a struggle they barely understand, set in a competition against the other captive species with extinction as the price of failure. Only Dafyd and a handful of his companions see past the Darwinian contest to the deeper game that they must play to survive: learning to understand – and manipulate – the Carryx themselves.

With a noble but suicidal human rebellion on one hand and strange and murderous enemies on the other, the team pays a terrible price to become the trusted servants of their new rulers.

Dafyd Alkhor is a simple man swept up in events that are beyond his control and more vast than his imagination. He will become the champion of humanity and its betrayer, the most hated man in history and the guardian of his people.

This is where his story begins.

[Cactus Chef]

The Silo Series Collection (Silo) by Hugh Howey is $4 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)

SEASON 2 OF THE ACCLAIMED SILO SERIES — BASED ON BOOK 1, WOOL — NOW ON APPLE TV+

For the first time ever, The Silo Saga Omnibus brings together all of the work in Hugh Howey's ground-breaking, best-selling, acclaimed series, including the individual novels Wool, Shift, and Dust, as well as original essays by the author, and a bonus chapbook of short fiction, Silo Stories

The remnants of humanity live underground in a vast silo. In this subterranean world, rules matter. Rules keep people alive. And no rule is more strictly enforced than to never speak of going outside. The punishment is exile and death.

When the sheriff of the silo commits the ultimate sin, the most unlikely of heroes takes his place. Juliette, a mechanic from the down deep, who never met a machine she couldn’t fix nor a rule she wouldn’t break.

What happens when a world built on rules is handed over to someone who sees no need for them? And what happens when a world broken to its core comes up against someone who won’t stop until things are set to right?

Their world is about to fall. What—and who—will rise?