More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Sisterhood of Dune for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

The inspiration for the HBO original series DUNE: PROPHECY, coming Fall 2024!

It is 83 years after the last thinking machines were destroyed in the Battle of Corrin, after Faykan Butler took the name of Corrino and established himself as the first Emperor of a new Imperium.

The war hero Vorian Atreides has turned his back on politics and Salusa Secundus. The descendants of the disgraced Abulurd Harkonnen have sworn vengeance against Vor, blaming him for the downfall of their noble family.

Raquella Berto-Anirul has formed the Bene Gesserit School and, through a terrible ordeal, has become the first Reverend Mother.

The descendants of Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva use mutated, spice-saturated Navigators who fly precursors of Heighliners.

And Gilbertus Albans, ward of the hated thinking machine Erasmus, is teaching humans to become Mentats…while hiding an unbelievable secret.

Led by the fanatic Manford Torondo, the Butlerian movement, fiercely opposed to all forms of "dangerous technology," sweeps across the known universe in mobs, millions strong, destroying everything in its path.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (June 1st)

In hardcover:

Danielle L. Jensen's A Curse Carved in Bone debuts at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Devney Perry's Shield of Sparrows is down three spots, finishing the week at number 4. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Joe Abercrombie's The Devils debuts at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Onyx Storm is down two positions, ending the week at number 9. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Dani Francis' Silver Elite is down seven positions, ending the week at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses is up one position, ending the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is up three positions, ending the week at number 10. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury returns at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download George R. R. Martin's Fire and Blood for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

With all the fire and fury fans have come to expect from internationally bestselling author George R. R. Martin, this is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens in Westeros.

Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire and Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.

What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why did it become so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What is the origin of Daenerys’s three dragon eggs? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty all-new black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice and Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.

With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire and Blood is the ultimate game of thrones, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Neal Stephenson's bestselling Reamde for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Plenty of other Stephenson titles like Anathem, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O, and all three installments of the Baroque Cycle are also on sale.

Here's the blurb:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anathem, Neal Stephenson is continually rocking the literary world with his brazen and brilliant fictional creations—whether he’s reimagining the past (The Baroque Cycle), inventing the future (Snow Crash), or both (Cryptonomicon). With Reamde, this visionary author whose mind-stretching fiction has been enthusiastically compared to the work of Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, and David Foster Wallace—not to mention William Gibson and Michael Crichton—once again blazes new ground with a high-stakes thriller that will enthrall his loyal audience, science and science fiction, and espionage fiction fans equally. The breathtaking tale of a wealthy tech entrepreneur caught in the very real crossfire of his own online fantasy war game, Reamde is a new high—and a new world—for the remarkable Neal Stephenson.

From the extraordinary Neal Stephenson comes an epic adventure that spans entire worlds, both real and virtual.

The black sheep of an Iowa farming clan, former draft dodger and successful marijuana smuggler Richard Forthrast amassed a small fortune over the years—and then increased it a thousandfold when he created T'Rain. A massive, multibillion-dollar, multiplayer online role-playing game, T'Rain now has millions of obsessed fans from the U.S. to China. But a small group of ingenious Asian hackers has just unleashed Reamde—a virus that encrypts all of a player's electronic files and holds them for ransom—which has unwittingly triggered a war that's creating chaos not only in the virtual universe but in the real one as well. Its repercussions will be felt all around the globe—setting in motion a devastating series of events involving Russian mobsters, computer geeks, secret agents, and Islamic terrorists—with Forthrast standing at ground zero and his loved ones caught in the crossfire.

Dan Simmons' Ilium and Olympos are also on sale for only 1.99$ each through this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

The Trojan War rages at the foot of Olympos Mons on Mars -- observed and influenced from on high by Zeus and his immortal family -- and twenty-first-century professor Thomas Hockenberry is there to play a role in the insidious private wars of vengeful gods and goddesses. On Earth, a small band of the few remaining humans pursues a lost past and devastating truth -- as four sentient machines depart from Jovian space to investigate, perhaps terminate, the potentially catastrophic emissions emanating from a mountaintop miles above the terraformed surface of the Red Planet.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of the Baroque Cycle omnibus by Neal Stephenson, comprised of Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World, for only 3.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. That's 3505 pages for less than 4$!!! This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

Get all three novels in Neal Stephenson's New York Times bestselling "Baroque Cycle" in one e-book, including: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World. This three-volume historical epic delivers intrigue, adventure, and excitement set against the political upheaval of the early 18th century.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Naomi Novik's Uprooted for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Sean Russell's The One Kingdom for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

The cataclysm began more than a century earlier, when the King of Ayr died before naming an heir to the throne. The cold-blooded conspiracies of the Renne and the Wills—each family desirous of the prize of rule—would sunder the one kingdom, and spawn generations of hatred and discord.

Now Toren Renne, leader of his great and troubled house, dreams of peace. In the opposing domain, Elise Wills's desire for freedom is to be crushed, as an unwanted marriage to an ambitious and sinister lord looms large. As always, these machinations are feeding a bonfire of animosity that has now trapped an unsuspecting young Valeman Tam and two fortune-hunting friends from the North in its high, killing flames.

But the closer Toren comes to achieving his great goal of uniting two enemy houses, the more treachery flowers. Nobles and mystics alike conspire to keep the realm divided, knowing that only in times of strife can their power grow.

And perhaps the source of an unending misery lies before an old king's passing, beyond the scope of history, somewhere lost in a fog of myth and magic roiling about an ancient enchanter named Wyrr—who bequeathed to his children terrible gifts that would poison their lives . . . and their deaths. It is a cursed past and malevolent sorcery that truly hold the land, its people, and its would-be rulers bound. And before the already savaged kingdom can become one again, all Ayr will drown in a sea of blood.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (May 25th)

In hardcover:

Devney Perry's Shield of Sparrows debuts at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Dani Francis' Silver Elite debuts at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Onyx Storm is down one position, ending the week at number 7. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame is down one position, ending this week at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Jaysea Lynn's For Whom the Belle Tolls debuts at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses is down four positions, ending the week at number 7. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is down three positions, ending the week at number 13. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Jay Kristoff's Empire of the Damned for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Nevernight Chronicle, Jay Kristoff, comes the much-anticipated sequel to the international bestselling sensation EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE.

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

Gabriel de León has saved the Holy Grail from death, but his chance to end the endless night is lost. Drawn into an uneasy alliance with the mysterious vampire Liathe, Gabriel must now deliver the Grail to ancients of the Blood Esani, and learn the truth of how Daysdeath might be finally undone.

But the Last Silversaint faces peril, within and without. Pursued by terrors of the Blood Voss, drawn into warfare between the Blood Dyvok and duskdancers of the frozen Highlands, and ravaged by his own rising bloodlust, Gabriel may not survive to see the Grail learn her truth.

And that truth may be too awful for any to imagine.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Jim Butcher's Small Favor for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

Harry Dresden's life finally seems to be calming down -- until a shadow from the past returns. Mab, monarch of the Sidhe Winter Court, calls in an old favor from Harry -- one small favor that will trap him between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, and that will strain his skills -- and loyalties -- to their very limits.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Elizabeth Moon's Oath of Fealty for only 3.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

For the first time in nearly twenty years, Elizabeth Moon returns to the thrilling realm of her superb Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy.

Thanks to Paks’s courage, the long-vanished heir to the half-elven kingdom of Lyonya has been revealed as Kieri Phelan, a formidable mercenary who earned a title—and enemies—in the neighboring kingdom of Tsaia, where Prince Mikeli suddenly faces the threat of a coup. Acting swiftly, Mikeli strikes at the powerful family behind the attack: the Verrakaien, magelords steeped in death and evil. Mikeli’s survival—and that of Tsaia—depend on the only Verrakai whose magery is not tainted with innocent blood. Two kings stand at a pivotal point in the history of their worlds. For dark forces are gathering against them, knit in a secret conspiracy more sinister and far more ancient than they can imagine.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (May 18th)

In hardcover:

RyNyx's Enigma debuts at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Onyx Storm is down one position, ending the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame is down five positions, ending this week at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses is up seven positions, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury returns at number 4. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Wings and Ruin returns at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Silver Flames returns at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Frost and Starlight returns at number 7. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is down three positions, ending the week at number 10. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Oath of Gold

As you know, I recently decided to give Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion a shot and I was surprised by how well the series has aged over the years. Many SFF fans consider this the ultimate paladin tale and I was curious to see how it would end.

Divided Allegiance was as compelling, if much darker, than Sheepfarmer's Daughter, and its ending made it impossible to wait long for the conclusion. Oath of Gold comes full circle for Pakse, though one of the major plotlines is so predictable that it does rob the finale of the impact the author meant to convey. Still, it caps off the trilogy with aplomb and definitely makes me want to read the sequels.

Here's the blurb:

Paksenarrion—Paks for short—was somebody special. Never could she have followed her father's orders and married the pig farmer down the road. Better a soldier's life than a pig farmer's wife, and so, though she knew that she could never go home again, Paks ran away to be a soldier. And so began an adventure destined to transform a simple Sheepfarmer's Daughter into a hero fit to be chosen by the gods.

Oath of Gold is the climactic final volume of the epic that Judith Tarr calls "the first work of high heroic fantasy I've seen that has taken the work of Tolkien, assimilated it totally and deeply and absolutely, and produced something altogether new and yet incontestably based on the master... [Moon's] military knowledge is impressive, her picture of life in a mercenary company most convincing. I'm deeply impressed."

As mentioned in my past reviews, Elizabeth Moon, a former member of the US Marine Corps, imbues her military fantasy stories with a realism that civilian authors probably seldom get right. Through Pakse's evolution from new recruit to a more seasoned trooper, and then as she studied and trained as a paladin-candidate, the author's firsthand knowledge was palpable and it added layers to the plot and its characters. This was even more evident in Moon's depiction of Pakse's post-traumatic stress disorder in Divided Allegiance. À la Robin Hobb and Jacqueline Carey, Moon made her protagonist go through the wringer and things got extremely bleak for the poor girl. Oath of Gold picks up right where the second installment ended, with Pakse experiencing such hopelessness after being such a gifted warrior. Those chapters focusing on Master Oakhallow helping her heal her mind and body were by far the best part of this final volume. Not only because it demonstrates that you cannot cure someone physically, mentally, and emotionally overnight, but because Moon shows a deft human touch in those scenes which packs a powerful punch.

Moon's worldbuilding continues to improve, this time focusing more on the North. Once again, we see more of the author's universe, mostly the kingdoms of Lyonya and Tsaia. We finally see more involvement on the part of the elves, which I really liked. As I said, only the lost king storyline is problematic for you see it coming from a mile away. Moreover, it doesn't help that Moon has been telegraphing it for a while. That being said, though it is predictable, its resolution is still interesting and sets the stage for the second series.

Some claim that Paksenarrion is somewhat of a Mary Sue character and that the plot can be a bit formulaic and linear, yet I disagree. Although at times it sure looks as though Pakse can do no wrong, her capture and torture during the quest to find Luap's stronghold, which left her a shell of her former self, put paid to that perception. From then on, it's obvious that Moon decided that Pake's character growth would be through physical, psychological, and emotional struggles. The same happens again in Oath of Gold when she willingly surrenders so that her companions might escape with their lives. As was the case with those gruesome scenes from Divided Allegiance, this is as grimdark as it gets. Hence, even if at times Paksenarrion might come off as Mary Sue-ish, there is a lot more depth to her than that. To be honest, given her plight and the odds stacked against her, it's well nigh impossible not to root for her. The supporting cast is made up of a disparate bunch of men and women who will all leave their mark on Pakse and help shape the woman she's destined to become.

Given its slow beginning, like its predecessor Oath of Gold suffers from pacing issues. Paksenarrion's healing takes time and it also takes a while for the lost king of Lyonya storyline to get going. Wolrdbuilding must needs take precedence over more exciting action sequences and battles, and about a third of the novel is necessary for the author to put all her pieces on the board. It wasn't a problem for me, as all the threads come together for an absorbing endgame. Once again, Elizabeth Moon's prose creates a vivid imagery, one that makes the story leap right off the page.

As I said before, anyone looking for a strong female lead and no romance will probably find a lot to like about this trilogy. Looking forward to reading the Paladin's Legacy series, even though Paksenarrion isn't the main character in that one.

The final verdict: 7.75/10

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Ian Tregillis' Bitter Seeds, the opening volume in one of my favorite speculative fiction series of the new millennium, for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

It's 1939. The Nazis have supermen, the British have demons, and one perfectly normal man gets caught in between.

Raybould Marsh is a British secret agent in the early days of the Second World War, haunted by something strange he saw on a mission during the Spanish Civil War: a German woman with wires going into her head who looked at him as if she knew him.

When the Nazis start running missions with people who have unnatural abilities―a woman who can turn invisible, a man who can walk through walls, and the woman Marsh saw in Spain who can use her knowledge of the future to twist the present―Marsh is the man who has to face them. He rallies the secret warlocks of Britain to hold the impending invasion at bay. But magic always exacts a price. Eventually, the sacrifice necessary to defeat the enemy will be as terrible as outright loss would be.

Alan Furst meets Alan Moore in the opening of an epic of supernatural alternate history, Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis is a tale of a twentieth century like ours and also profoundly different.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

In his most ambitious project to date, award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson utilizes years of research and cutting-edge science in the first of three novels that will chronicle the colonization of Mars.

For eons, sandstorms have swept the barren desolate landscape of the red planet. For centuries, Mars has beckoned to mankind to come and conquer its hostile climate. Now, in the year 2026, a group of one hundred colonists is about to fulfill that destiny.

John Boone, Maya Toitavna, Frank Chalmers, and Arkady Bogdanov lead a mission whose ultimate goal is the terraforming of Mars. For some, Mars will become a passion driving them to daring acts of courage and madness; for others it offers and opportunity to strip the planet of its riches. And for the genetic "alchemists, " Mars presents a chance to create a biomedical miracle, a breakthrough that could change all we know about life...and death.

The colonists place giant satellite mirrors in Martian orbit to reflect light to the planets surface. Black dust sprinkled on the polar caps will capture warmth and melt the ice. And massive tunnels, kilometers in depth, will be drilled into the Martian mantle to create stupendous vents of hot gases. Against this backdrop of epic upheaval, rivalries, loves, and friendships will form and fall to pieces--for there are those who will fight to the death to prevent Mars from ever being changed.

Brilliantly imagined, breathtaking in scope and ingenuity, Red Mars is an epic scientific saga, chronicling the next step in human evolution and creating a world in its entirety. Red Mars shows us a future, with both glory and tarnish, that awes with complexity and inspires with vision.

Quote of the Day

If you ask me, one of the reasons this siege has dragged out for almost a decade is all this time off from the fighting; the Greeks and Trojans have as many religious celebrations as our Twenty-first Century Hindus had and as many secular holidays as an American postal worker. One wonders how they ever manage to kill each other amidst all this feasting and sacrificing to the gods and ten-day funeral celebrations.

- DAN SIMMONS, Ilium

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Suicide Kings

As mentioned in my previous reviews of the first few installments in Stephen Blackmoore's Eric Carter series, by and large they read like Jim Butcher's early Dresden Files books. Indeed, they're all short and episodic in format. It looked as though we'd reached the end of the first story arc by the end of the third volume, and there was real potential for bigger and better things to come. Then came Fire Season, which hinted that the author was ready to up his game. Followed by Ghost Money, which was Blackmoore's best novel yet.

The resolution of the Djinn's storyline in Bottle Demon left something to be desired. The rushed ending definitely didn't help, that's for sure. And since Darius' threat seemed to be the underlying arc of the entire series, I was wondering if the sixth volume would act as some sort of transition novel that would bridge what has gone before and what will come after. Impossible to tell after reading Suicide Kings, for Blackmoore's latest is only the first half of a two-book arc. And even though it was another entertaining read, it's obvious that the author isn't about to level up. If anything, Suicide Kings is kind of a step backward. This series isn't growing in scope quite as fast as other popular urban fantasy sequences and it's beginning to hurt it in myriad ways.

Here's the blurb:

The seventh book of this dark urban fantasy series follows necromancer Eric Carter through a world of vengeful gods and goddesses, mysterious murders, and restless ghosts.

Family is murder.

When Eric Carter helps a friend with a deadly ritual that could determine the fate of the most powerful mage family in Los Angeles he steps into the middle of centuries-long feuds with people who make the Borgias look like the Brady Bunch.

Eric's just fine with the murder, soul eaters, and death magic. He's just having trouble adjusting to being brought back from the grave.

If he's not careful, somebody's going to put him right back.

With Darius gone, I was expecting Stephen Blackmoore to elevate his game and take the Eric Carter series to another level, with more ambitious story arcs that would add layers to the plot. I was expecting this series to really open up and build on everything that has transpired so far. Hence, to see the author take the micro approach instead of a more macro perspective and have the main character become Amanda Werther's bodyguard during the family's conclave, while another fun and action-packed novel, wasn't exactly what the series needed to finally take off.

Thankfully, there is unanticipated character development in Suicide Kings. Eric's link to Mictlan and Mictlantecuhtli continues to be an important facet of this tale, and Eric will have to make a decision in that regard. One that could have crucial repercussions down the line. Still coping with his unexpected resurrection, Eric must also deal with his convoluted feelings for Gabriela, who's responsible for bringing him back to life and robbing him of the peaceful afterlife that was his. Amanda takes on a new role in the relationship between the two, one which will likely shape the way things are going to go in the future.

What truly hurts this seventh volume is the fact that it's essentially the first half of what should have been a single novel. Weighing in at barely 200 pages, there is no reason why Suicide Kings and Hate Machine couldn't have been published as one work. There is no endgame and finale to speak of, as the book ends with another major cliffhanger. When I said that this series needs to level up, I meant that like the Dresden Files, at some point it needs to start pushing the envelope and echo with more depth. To keep the Eric Carter books so short and episodic at this juncture prevents them from really taking off, methinks. Had Suicide Kings recounted the entire story, chances are it would have been the best of the bunch. But by telling only the first part of the tale, even if it turned out to be a fun and engaging read, something's definitely missing.

I'm aware that Daw Books will no longer publish new Eric Carter material. Which means that, for now at least, the ninth volume is the last one in the series. It will be interesting to discover where Hate Machine takes us in terms of plotlines. I know we're going to Las Vegas for that one. Hopefully Cult Classic will offer some sort of closure. It would be sad if this ends the same way it did for Harry Connolly and his Twenty Palaces series.

The final verdict: 7.5/10

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can get your hands on the digital edition of Scott Hawkins' The Library at Mount Char for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.

Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.

After all, she was a normal American herself once.

That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.

In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.

Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own.

But Carolyn has accounted for this.

And Carolyn has a plan.

The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.

You can also download Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight, first volume in the classic The Dragonriders of Pern series, for 3.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

Volume I of The Dragonriders of Pern®, the groundbreaking series by master storyteller Anne McCaffrey.

On a beautiful world called Pern, an ancient way of life is about to come under attack from a myth that is all too real. Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat to Pern reemerges, Lessa will rise—upon the back of a great dragon with whom she shares a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Together, dragon and rider will fly . . . and Pern will be changed forever.