FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[maddz]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

Huh. I enjoyed the original trilogy when I read it a few months ago (well, 2/3 of the original trilogy...the first book was such a blatant LOTR ripoff that I found more enjoyment out of pointing out the analogues than the actual narrative), but I don't know if I want spin-offs and George Lucas-esque prequels?

This bundle isn't available in the UK. However, I read at least the first 2 or 3 but they got disposed of years ago and I have no desire to replace them...

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The only Brooks books I read were the first few Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold! I enjoyed those. Never felt like branching out though.

I enjoyed those far more than Shanara. Gave up on Shannara and related titles after too many...

[Apache]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The only Brooks books I read were the first few Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold! I enjoyed those. Never felt like branching out though.

Originally Posted by Quoth

I enjoyed those far more than Shanara. Gave up on Shannara and related titles after too many...

I was never interested in Shanara either. I too enjoyed the first three Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold.
Apache

[batpuppy]

I looked at the The Sword of Shannara bundle.
One thing I noticed is that it contains some books like the Heritage of Shannara which contains 4 books and then later the bundle contains these same 4 books as singles. So 5 of the books are sort of the same.
This is really not that good of a deal because of stuff like this even if you are a fan.

[salty-horse]

Alien Emergencies, the second Sector General Omnibus by James White is $3 on Amazon.com

Deep Roots (The Innsmouth Legacy #2) by Ruthanna Emrys is £3 on Amazon UK

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Alien Emergencies, the second Sector General Omnibus by James White is $3 on Amazon.com

No DRM (unless you get direct KFX) and I think a Belfast author contemporary with C.S. Lewis, who was also from Belfast.
Sadly we were looking at paper bookshelves last week and someone remarked that my James White books are now unobtainable. This is geolimited. Not available for Irish address Kindle on Amazon USA. I can't find any James White (SF Author) on Amazon UK.

I'm not from Belfast, but I think James White is brilliant.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Quoth

No DRM (unless you get direct KFX) and I think a Belfast author contemporary with C.S. Lewis, who was also from Belfast.
Sadly we were looking at paper bookshelves last week and someone remarked that my James White books are now unobtainable. This is geolimited. Not available for Irish address Kindle on Amazon USA. I can't find any James White (SF Author) on Amazon UK.

I'm not from Belfast, but I think James White is brilliant.

I still have The Secret Visitors [Ace Books], but I've never read it. I picked it up at a used bookstore decades ago.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Quoth

No DRM (unless you get direct KFX) and I think a Belfast author contemporary with C.S. Lewis, who was also from Belfast.
Sadly we were looking at paper bookshelves last week and someone remarked that my James White books are now unobtainable. This is geolimited. Not available for Irish address Kindle on Amazon USA. I can't find any James White (SF Author) on Amazon UK.

I'm not from Belfast, but I think James White is brilliant.

I enjoyed his books and still have them in paper.
Apache

[JSWolf]

I've read a number of the Shannara books and I find them quite good. If you actually reading them in order, the first series is nothing at all like LotR and is quite different to what you'd expect (if you started with Sword of Shannara).

The first series is actually the Word and the Void series.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've read a number of the Shannara books and I find them quite good. If you actually reading them in order, the first series is nothing at all like LotR and is quite different to what you'd expect (if you started with Sword of Shannara).

The first series is actually the Word and the Void series.

While chronologically correct in universe, Brooks started writing Word & Void some 20 years after The Sword of Shannara was written. That is, for 14 year old me? Those books didn't exist. Thus The Sword of Shannara trillogy is the original series. And 14 year old me did note the striking similarities with The Lord of the Rings. Not that they thought the books were bad, just very derivative.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The first series is actually the Word and the Void series.

No, it's a written much later "prequel" series. He quite changed the tone of Shannara from the original series and kind of reconned in later Shannara books.

I think the Void series would be better if separate and Shannara better if some of the later ones hadn't been written. I really enjoyed the first few, but later ones and especially the couple I read from the Void series kind of spoiled Shannara.

I felt I bought too many and wouldn't buy more. I did buy the entire Magic Kingdom series and don't regret it.

However the Fantasy books I most regret continuing with were The Wheel of Time (bought all but IMO go off after maybe #5 and I never finished the series) and the Third Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (I have all and stopped part way through 2nd).

All on paper. My last paper series I regret finishing was Garth Nix's The House series (named after days of the week), which unlike WoT and 3rd CoTC I did complete. I though the last one was very disappointing and one other poor. I have those in a box of books in the hall for Charity shop or whatever.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Quoth

However the Fantasy books I most regret continuing with were The Wheel of Time (bought all but IMO go off after maybe #5 and I never finished the series) and the Third Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (I have all and stopped part way through 2nd).

Ah, yes, The Waste of Time. Derivative of both The Lord of the Rings and Dune. Except that after 2000 pages of almost nothing happening across books 3 and 4 (or was it 4 and 5? 2 and 3? I forgor) we get the "there's no way he could have survived that!" ending. Not that I have anything against this kind of ending. It's very pulp adventure and I like pulp adventure. But The Waste of Time isn't trying to be pulp adventure. It's pretending to be epic fantasy. Except that epic fantasy has, well, epic endings and not, "there's no way they could have survived that!"

[Tarana]

Loved Shannara series but I have them already. Brooks wrote in series sets of 3 or 4 and this looks to have the first book of most of the series.

[salty-horse]

The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire & The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells is $3 in the US (Kobo, Amazon)
This is an omnibus of two standalone novels, in updated and revised editions.

The Element of Fire

The kingdom of Ile-Rien lies in peril, menaced by sorcerous threats and devious intrigue, when Kade, bastard sister of King Roland, appears unexpectedly at court. The illegitimate daughter of the old king and the Queen of Air and Darkness herself, Kade's true desires are cloaked in mystery.

It falls to Thomas Boniface, Captain of the Queen's Guard, to keep the kingdom from harm. But is one man's steel enough to counter all the magic of fayre?

The Death of the Necromancer

Nicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman and the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien. On the gaslit streets of the city, Nicholas assumes the guise of a master criminal, stealing jewels from wealthy nobles to finance his quest for a long-pursued vengeance.

But Nicholas's murderous mission is being interrupted by a series of eerie, unexplainable, and fatal events. A dark magic opposes him, and traces of a necromantic power that hasn't been used for centuries abound. Nicholas and his compatriots find themselves battling an ancient evil.

And if they lose? Death would be preferable to the fate that awaits them....

[Aleron Ives]

Revised and updated editions always make me nervous. The description says these are the author's preferred editions, but it doesn't say what was changed.