This week's New York Times Bestsellers (November 10th)

In hardcover:

Cecy Robson's Bloodguard debuts at number 2. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

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

Jeff VanderMeer's Absolution debuts at number 7. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Chloe C. Peñaranda's The Stars Are Dying is down six spots, finishing the week at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing returns at number 14. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is down one position, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

John Gwynne's The Fury of the Gods debuts at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

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

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury is down three positions, ending the week at number 14. 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 James S. A. Corey's The Mercy of Gods 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:

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.


Wind and Truth has started to ship!


If you're a Brandon Sanderson fan, you may have seen that some lucky readers have already received their copy of Wind and Truth. Maybe you'll be one of them! For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive—the iconic epic fantasy masterpiece that has sold more than 10 million copies, from acclaimed bestselling author Brandon Sanderson.

Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare—and the sudden ascension of the crafty and ruthless Taravangian to take Odium’s place has thrown everything into disarray.

Desperate fighting continues simultaneously worldwide—Adolin in Azir, Sigzil and Venli at the Shattered Plains, and Jasnah in Thaylenah. The former assassin, Szeth, must cleanse his homeland of Shinovar from the dark influence of the Unmade. He is accompanied by Kaladin, who faces a new battle helping Szeth fight his own demons . . . and who must do the same for the insane Herald of the Almighty, Ishar.

At the same time, Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain work to unravel the mystery behind the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram and her involvement in the enslavement of the singer race and in the ancient Knights Radiant killing their spren. And Dalinar and Navani seek an edge against Odium’s champion that can be found only in the Spiritual Realm, where memory and possibility combine in chaos. The fate of the entire Cosmere hangs in the balance.


More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Anna Smith Spark's The Court of Broken Knives 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:

Perfect for fans of Mark Lawrence and R Scott Bakker, The Court of Broken Knives is the explosive debut by one of grimdark fantasy's most exciting new voices.

It is the richest empire the world has ever known, and it is also doomed -- but only one man can see it.

Haunted by prophetic dreams, Orhan has hired a company of soldiers to cross the desert to reach the capital city. Once they enter the palace, they have one mission: kill the emperor, then all those who remain. Only from the ashes can a new empire be built.

The company is a group of good, ordinary soldiers for whom this is a mission like any other. But the strange boy Marith who walks among them is no ordinary soldier. Though he is young, ambitious, and impossibly charming, something dark hides in Marith's past -- and in his blood.


Quote of the Day

There are a lot of things that could go wrong. Fortunately, I don’t know enough about what the hell I’m doing to know what those things are. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Though sometimes ignorance will just make you very surprised when it kills you.

- STEPHEN BLACKMOORE, Ghost Money

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

Fire Season


As mentioned in my review of Hungry Ghosts, the first three installments in Stephen Blackmoore's Eric Carter series mostly read like Jim Butcher's episodic early Dresden Files books. But it looked as though we'd reached the end of the first story arc of this paranormal and gritty noir murder mystery series. There was potential for bigger and better things to come, and the ending of Hungry Ghosts certainly left the door open for much more.

As I said before, it remains to be seen whether or not Blackmoore can up his game and elevate this series to another level. Fire Season is definitely a step in the right direction, yet this series is not growing in scope quite as rapidly as the Dresden Files did. Though this fourth volume takes Eric beyond what was meant to be the first act in this story, I can't say that the plot is progressing at a good clip. Every novel thus far has been quite short, which limits the amount of progress the author can come up with with each new title. Still, Fire Season has been the best one yet.

Here's the blurb:

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

Los Angeles is burning.

During one of the hottest summers the city has ever seen, someone is murdering mages with fires that burn when they shouldn't, that don't stop when they should. Necromancer Eric Carter is being framed for the killings and hunted by his own people.

To Carter, everything points to the god Quetzalcoatl coming after him, after he defied the mad wind god in the Aztec land of the dead. But too many things aren't adding up, and Carter knows there's more going on.

If he doesn't figure out what it is and put a stop to it fast, Quetzalcoatl won't just kill him, he'll burn the whole damn city down with him.


My main gripe with urban fantasy works is that the market demands that they be short and relatively fast-paced works. Exactly why, I've never been able to say. But until an author achieves a certain level of commercial success, it feels as though editors won't allow them a larger page count. Hence the 300 pages or so that Stephen Blackmoore gets to work with. Understandably, the first few books were parsimonious on the worldbuilding front. However, in Hungry Ghosts the author finally unveiled many secrets pertaining to magic in general and Aztec/Mexican mythology. Having such Mayan and Mexican cultural influences gives the Eric Carter books a somewhat unique flavor and that's what I like the most about them. Fire Season mostly deals with the aftermath of what took place in Mictlan, the Aztec land of the dead. It now looks like Eric has a vengeful Aztec god coming after him for not upholding his part of their bargain and he's burning down Los Angeles in retribution. Trouble is, four volumes into this series and I still have no idea where the story is going. Whether he likes it or not, Eric has become the King of the Dead, and it's now evident that Darius and how he's planning to escape from his prison have become an integral part of the tale. And yet, even though each new installment adds layers to the plot, we still don't have a clear idea as to what this series really is about. It would be a major problem if the books were not entertaining, no doubt about it. But I feel that by now readers should have a better understanding of the overall plot and what Blackmoore is actually planning.

Basically everything Eric Carter touches turns to shit, which makes him an easy protagonist to root for. As always, he's a foul-mouthed smartass who gets beaten to a pulp way too many times in the span of such a short novel, but there is still something about him that makes you care for the poor fool. Again, he acts like an idiot for the most part because he's trying to protect those he loves without realizing that he's alienating them in the process. He has been running from his past for a long time and now it's finally caught up with him. As mentioned in my review of Hungry Ghosts, as entertaining as he is, I was hoping for some character growth to help him become a more balanced individual. Well, with LA burning down around him and mages trying to kill him for murders he hasn't committed, there is very little room for growth. I was glad to see Gabriella return in this fourth volume. Vivian and Letitia, a mage who went to school with Eric and who's now a police officer and a secret member of the Cleanup Crew, made for a nice addition to the supporting cast. Although there is only one POV, it's nice to have other people sharing the spotlight with Eric.

With Fire Season being such a short work, there are no pacing issues from start to finish. With a vindictive god and a ruthless sicaria wielding a god-created weapon coming after him, this latest Eric Carter book reads more like a thriller than an urban fantasy novel. And since I'm almost done with the fifth volume, Ghost Money, it's also obvious that Fire Season sets the stage for yet more troubling times for the necromancer. Given that his plate is already quite full, it will be interesting to see what Blackmoore has in store for him. Especially since Santa Muerte, his wife and patron saint of death, who is and isn't who she used to be since the events that occurred in Mictlan, is also seeking attention.

If you are looking for a gritty urban fantasy series featuring a deeply flawed male lead, the Eric Carter books are definitely for you. How this series has flown under the radar for all these years, I'll never know. But fans of Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, and Richard Kadrey will definitely find a lot to like about these novels.

The final verdict: 7.75/10

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

More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download TJ Klune's In the Lives of Puppets 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:

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labeled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.



You can also get your hands on the digital edition of S.A. Chakraborty's The City of Brass 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:

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, and a mysterious gift for healing—are all tricks, both the means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive.

But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to reconsider her beliefs. For Dara tells Nahri an extraordinary tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire and rivers where the mythical marid sleep, past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises and mountains where the circling birds of prey are more than what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass—a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In Daevabad, within gilded brass walls laced with enchantments and behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments run deep. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, her arrival threatens to ignite a war that has been simmering for centuries.

Spurning Dara’s warning of the treachery surrounding her, she embarks on a hesitant friendship with Alizayd, an idealistic prince who dreams of revolutionizing his father’s corrupt regime. All too soon, Nahri learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say to be careful what you wish for . . .

More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now get your hands on the digital edition of T. Kingfisher's A House With Good Bones 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:

A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.




You can also download Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree for only 4.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction--but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles 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:

“Mary Renault lives again!” declares Emma Donoghue, author of Room, referring to The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller’s thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War. A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer’s enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Miller’s monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction’s brightest lights—and fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.


You can also download James Islington's The Shadow of What Was Lost, first volume in the Licanius trilogy, 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. It's supposed to be a must for fans of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time.

Here's the blurb:

It has been twenty years since the god-like Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them - the Gifted - are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion's Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.

As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he sets into motion a chain of events that will change everything.

To the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian's wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is...

And in the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (November 3rd)

In hardcover:

Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame is up one position, ending the week at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Chloe C. Peñaranda's The Stars Are Dying is down four spots, finishing the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Ruby Dixon's Bull Moon Rising debuts at number 7. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is up one position, ending the week at number 2. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses maintains its position at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury is up two positions, ending the week at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can download Susanna Clarke's Piranesi 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 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality.

Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

For readers of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and fans of Madeline Miller's Circe, Piranesi introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth, full of startling images and surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds.


More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Travis Baldree's bestseller Legends and Lattes 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 much-beloved BookTok sensation, Travis Baldree's novel of high fantasy and low stakes.

*This new edition includes a very special, never-before-seen bonus story, 'Pages to Fill.'*

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.


More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Octavia E. Butler's Dawn 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.

The two sequels, Adulthood Rites and Imago, are also on sale for the same price. Or you can download the entire trilogy for 4.32$.

Here's the blurb:

One woman is called upon to rebuild the future of humankind after a nuclear war, in this revelatory post-apocalyptic tale from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower.

When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali—a seemingly benevolent alien race—intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth—but salvation comes at a price.

Hopeful and thought-provoking, this post-apocalyptic narrative deftly explores gender and race through the eyes of characters struggling to adapt during a pivotal time of crisis and change.


Sex, Drugs, Ratt & Roll: My Life in Rock


I wanted to take a break from works focusing on the Middle East in between SFF reads, so I went looking for books similar to Mötley Crüe and Neil Strauss' The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band. That one turned out to be my favorite reads of all time, so I decided to download a bunch of rock and roll biographies. Hard rock, glam rock, heavy metal, whatever label you want to put on these records, hair bands were the thing during my teenage and young adult years and they have shaped my life in various ways. Hell, I still listen to most of that music today and it's no guilty pleasure. The 70s and 80s produced the very best music the world has ever seen and I'm just glad I was around to experience it!

Surprisingly, Stephen Pearcy's memoir is the book that came up the most when I was looking for suggestions for similar works to The Dirt. I was never a big fan of Ratt back in the day. Not a Ratt and Roller by any stretch of the imagination. They were okay and part of all hard rock compilations that were released every year or so, and I did get a few of their albums from the Columbia House promo thingie where so many of us got cassettes and CDs in the 80s and the 90s. So I knew of them and enjoyed a few of their songs, chief among those being Round and Round, which played on the radio and around the clock on MTV and Much Music during the mid-80s. But though Ratt got big and scored four platinum albums in a row, they never made it to superstardom the way Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, and Guns N' Roses ultimately did. Hence my surprise that Sex, Drugs, Ratt and Roll: My Life in Rock would be pimped like it was when I was looking for my nex rock and roll book.

I mean, it's 2024 and I can still name a couple of Ratt tunes, yet I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the band's lead singer. But what the heck? I told myself that if it's only half as good as The Dirt, I was in for a treat!

Here's the blurb:

The jaw-dropping tell-all from the lead singer of 1980s supergroup Ratt—and the dirty details of the riotous era when big-haired bands ruled the world.

Women. Spandex. Drugs. Hair spray. . . . Welcome to heavy metal rock ’n’ roll, circa 1980, when all you needed was the right look, burning ambition, and a chance. Cranking out metal just as metal got hot, Ratt was the perfect band at the perfect time, and their hit single “Round and Round” became a top-selling anthem. The bigger Ratt got, the more excessive lead singer Stephen Pearcy and his “pussy pirates” became. There was nothing these guys wouldn’t snort, drink, bed, or break. But as Ratt scrambled up a wall of fame and wealth, so they experienced a gut-wrenching free fall. Pearcy’s stunningly honest rock ’n’ roll confessional, by turns incredible, hilarious, and lyrical, is more than a story of survival—it’s a search for the things that matter most.


Let me begin by saying that Sex, Drugs, Ratt and Roll: My Life in Rock is nothing like The Dirt. It's still a fun and interesting read, but there's very little in terms of content. Sure, it's a tale of neverending excess and debauchery. There's a lot of name-dropping and Pearcy and his boys did a lot of crazy shit with other famous people. But there's only so much sex and drugs one can take and maintain interest.

The most fasinating stuff has to do with everything that went on during the time Ratt was created and tried to make it. It's fascinating because basically all the musicians that formed bands that came out of the Sunset Strip and its infamous venues pretty much all knew each other and played with one another before making it big or not. I had no idea that the guys from Ratt were so close to the Crüe, even before the band was signed. Or that Pearcy was close enough with Eddie Van Halen that the legendary guitarist would hide booze at Pearcy's place so he could come and drink without his wife finding out. There are a lot of anecdotes like that and they make the book a worthwhile read. I couldn't help laughing when Pearcy, for whom Duran Duran was a big fashion influence for Ratt's wardrobe, tried to get his picture taken with Simon Le Bon at one of Hollywood's most exclusive clubs, only to have the other refuse. Or Pearcy's awkward meeting with Michael Jackson at a similar club. In addition, I wasn't aware that Ratt was one of the first big bands to give Bon Jovi a shot to open for them and they were the first to take Poison on tour with them.

What I would have liked was a bit more information about the creative process for each album and the tour that followed. Alas, we get a paragraph or three and that's it. Like many of those popular rock bands, Ratt self-destructed on its own, mostly due to big egos and various conflicts between members. But it was interesting to see that the principal factor that led to Ratt's demise was that Atlantic Records kept them on the road constantly, with only short breaks to record a new album and then send the band back on tour. Say what you want of these guys, they were machines. 222 shows in 15 months to promote their first album, Out of the Cellar. Nearly 250 shows in a year to promote their recond record, Invasion of Your Privacy. And remember that this was in the days of tour buses with bunk beds, not private jets flying you to the next city. No wonder the guys were stoned out of their minds the whole time.

Stephen Pearcy doesn't deserve any pity or sympathy. Like most of his contemporaries, he was an arrogant asshole. Given the amount of booze, drugs, and pills that went through his body, and the heroin addiction that followed later on, it's a wonder the man survived to this day. Not to mention AIDS. How he dodged that bullet given all the nookie he indulged in, I'll never know. There is a poignant moment when he describes his heroin problem, which makes you feel for the poor sod. But though it's extremely difficult to show any empathy for a tattoed millionaire who owned a collection of black Porsche cars and lived it up like a king for a while, it's still sad to think that that permanent drug haze seems to imply that he doesn't quite recall headlining mythical venues like the LA's Forum and NYC's Madison Square Garden, or playing in front of enormous crowds as part of the Monsters of Rock festival in Europe. After four platinum albums and two gold records and ten million copies sold worldwide, over a thousand shows played around the globe, it's too bad that so little of that success appears to be left down the line. Pearcy's relationship with guitarist Robbin Crosby is another highlight of the book. Too bad it ended the way it did, with Crosby becoming addicted to heroin, coming down with AIDS, and dying of an overdose.

Like so many rock and roll stories, Ratt's own rise and fall comes with its own unhappy ending. The good thing is that Pearcy now has a daughter he loves and seems to have cleaned up his act. Good on him if that's true. In the end, Sex, Drugs, Ratt and Roll: My Life in Rock is worth a read if you were a Ratt and Roller or if you were into hair bands during the 80s. Nothing groundbreaking per se, but an entertaining read nonetheless.

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

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragons of Autumn Twilight 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:

Once merely creatures of legend, the dragons have returned to Krynn. But with their arrival comes the departure of the old gods—and all healing magic. As war threatens to engulf the land, a group of lifelong friends reunite for an adventure that will change their lives and shape their world forever . . .

When Tanis, Sturm, Caramon, Raistlin, Flint, and Tasslehoff see a woman use a blue crystal staff to heal a villager, they wonder if it's a sign the gods have not abandoned them after all. Fueled by this glimmer of hope, the Companions ban together to uncover the truth behind the gods' absence—though they aren't the only ones with an interest in the staff. The Seekers, a new religious order, wants the artifact for their own ends, believing it will help them replace the gods and overtake the continent of Ansalon. Now, the Companions must assume the unlikely roles of heroes if they hope to prevent the staff from falling into the hands of darkness.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragon Wing, first volume in the Death Gate Cycle, the authors' very best series, 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.

The second volume, Elven Star, is also on sale.

Here's the blurb:

Preeminent storytellers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have redefined epic fantasy. Since the publication of their Dragonlance series, millions of readers have enjoyed their imaginative world-building, rich characterization, and intricate storylines. Now these best-selling authors bring their talents to one of the most innovative fantasy creations ever in Dragon Wing, the first volume in The Death Gate Cycle.

Ages ago, sorcerers of unmatched power sundered a world into four realms—sky, stone, fire, and water—then vanished. Over time, magicians learned to work spells only in their own realms and forgot the others. Now only the few who have survived the Labyrinth and crossed the Death Gate know of the presence of all four realms—and even they have yet to unravel the mysteries of their severed world. . . .

In Arianus, Realm of Sky, humans, elves, and dwarves battle for control of precious water—traversing a world of airborne islands on currents of elven magic and the backs of mammoth dragons. But soon great magical forces will begin to rend the fabric of this delicate land. An assassin will be hired to kill a royal prince—by the king himself. A dwarf will challenge the beliefs of his people—and lead them in rebellion. And a sinister wizard will enact his plan to rule Arianus—a plan that may be felt far beyond the Realm of Sky and into the Death Gate itself.


More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Connie Willis' Doomsday Book 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:

For Kivrin, preparing to travel back in time to study one of the deadliest eras in humanity’s history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.

But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin—barely of age herself—finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history’s darkest hours.



You can also download Dr. Chris Kempshall's Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire for only 1.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

"So this is how liberty dies—with thunderous applause." —Senator Padmé Amidala

When Sheev Palpatine declared the birth of his new Empire, he expected it would stand for thousands of years. Instead, it lasted only 24. This is the story of how a tyrannical regime rose from the ashes of democracy, ruled the galaxy with an iron fist, and then collapsed into dust.

It is a story of war and heroes. It is a story of propaganda and the power of fascism. But most of all, it is a story of normal people trying to live their lives in the face of brutal dictatorship.

From the barbarity of Darth Vader's campaigns to the horrors of the Tarkin Initiative, this book offers new insights into the dark entity at the core of the Star Wars saga, with chapters covering economic strategy and political organisation, propaganda, crime and punishment, military tactics, and warfare, giving even the most expert Star Wars fans a fresh perspective on the Galactic Empire.


More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Elizabeth Moon's Remnant Population 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:

Finalist for the Hugo Award • “Ofelia—tough, kind, wise and unwise, fond of food, tired of foolish people—is one of the most probable heroines science fiction has ever known.”—Ursula K. Le Guin

For forty years, Colony 3245.12 has been Ofelia’s home. On this planet far away in space and time from the world of her youth, she has lived and loved, weathered the death of her husband, raised her one surviving child, lovingly tended her garden, and grown placidly old. And it is here that she fully expects to finish out her days—until the shifting corporate fortunes of the Sims Bancorp Company dictates that Colony 3245.12 is to be disbanded, its residents shipped off, deep in cryo-sleep, to somewhere new and strange and not of their choosing. But while her fellow colonists grudgingly anticipate a difficult readjustment on some distant world, Ofelia savors the promise of a golden opportunity. Not starting over in the hurly-burly of a new community . . . but closing out her life in blissful solitude, in the place she has no intention of leaving. A population of one.

With everything she needs to sustain her, and her independent spirit to buoy her, Ofelia actually does start life over–for the first time on her own terms: free of the demands, the judgments, and the petty tyrannies of others. But when a reconnaissance ship returns to her idyllic domain, and its crew is mysteriously slaughtered, Ofelia realizes she is not the sole inhabitant of her paradise after all. And, when the inevitable time of first contact finally arrives, she will find her life changed yet again—in ways she could never have imagined. . .


This week's New York Times Bestsellers (October 27th)

In hardcover:

Chloe C. Peñaranda's The Stars Are Dying debuts at number 2. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame is up four positions, ending the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing returns at number 9. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Penn Cole's Spark of the Everflame debuts at number 13. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Stephen King's You Like It Darker returns at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is down one position, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses maintains its position at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury is down five 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 Octavia E. Butler's Wild Seed 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:

Doro knows no higher authority than himself. An ancient spirit with boundless powers, he possesses humans, killing without remorse as he jumps from body to body to sustain his own life. With a lonely eternity ahead of him, Doro breeds supernaturally gifted humans into empires that obey his every desire. He fears no one -- until he meets Anyanwu.

Anyanwu is an entity like Doro and yet different. She can heal with a bite and transform her own body, mending injuries and reversing aging. She uses her powers to cure her neighbors and birth entire tribes, surrounding herself with kindred who both fear and respect her. No one poses a true threat to Anyanwu -- until she meets Doro.

The moment Doro meets Anyanwu, he covets her; and from the villages of 17th-century Nigeria to 19th-century United States, their courtship becomes a power struggle that echoes through generations, irrevocably changing what it means to be human.



You can also get your hands on the digital edition of Megan E. O'Keefe's Steal the Sky for only 1.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

Murder and mayhem derail a con-man’s carefully laid schemes in this swashbuckling debut that blends elements of Firefly and steampunk.

Detan Honding, a wanted conman of noble birth and ignoble tongue, has found himself in the oasis city of Aransa. He and his trusted companion, Tibs, may have pulled off one too many cons against the city’s elite and need to make a quick escape. They set their sights on their biggest heist yet—the gorgeous airship of the exiled commodore Thratia.

But in the middle of his scheme, a face changer known as a doppel starts murdering key members of Aransa’s government. The sudden paranoia makes Detan’s plans of stealing Thratia’s ship that much harder. And with this sudden power vacuum, Thratia can solidify her power and wreak havoc against the Empire. But the doppel isn’t working for Thratia and has her own intentions. Did Detan accidentally walk into a revolution and a crusade? He has to be careful—there’s a reason most people think he’s dead. And if his dangerous secret gets revealed, he has a lot more to worry about than a stolen airship.



Finally, several volumes of the History of Middle-Earth by J. R. R. Tolkien are also on sale for 1.99$ each here. Thse include The Peoples of Middle-Earth, The Shaping of Middle-Earth, The War of the Jewels, The Lays of Beleriand, and The Lost Road.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download Brandon Sanderson's Rhythm of War 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.

Even better, its three predecessors, The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer, are also on sale for 2.99$ each.

Here's the blurb:

The Stormlight Archive saga continues in Rhythm of War, the eagerly awaited sequel to Brandon Sanderson's #1 New York Times bestselling Oathbringer, from an epic fantasy writer at the top of his game.

After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar’s crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move.

Now, as new technological discoveries by Navani Kholin’s scholars begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.

At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition’s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.


More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can now download the first part of James Clavell's international bestseller, Shogun, 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:

By the #1 New York Times bestselling author and unparalleled master of historical fiction, James Clavell’s Shogun is soon to be a major FX/Hulu TV series!

Shogun, the classic epic novel of feudal Japan that captured the heart of a culture and the imagination of the world, is now available for the first time in serial format. Part One contains the first half of the complete novel.

After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen—Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne’s loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed.

Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shogun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shogun is, as the New York Times put it, ‘'not only something you read—you live it.’‘


More inexpensive ebook goodies!


You can download Adrian Tchaikovsky's City of Last Chances 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:

WINNER OF THE 2022 BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

'Endlessly creative... so much invention peeking around every corner' Patrick Ness

Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution.

There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.

What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?

Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.

Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.

Ilmar, City of Long Shadows.

City of Bad Decisions.

City of Last Chances.