More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Jim Butcher's Side Jobs for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

With tales ranging from the deadly serious to the absurdly hilarious—including an original story for this volume—Side Jobs is a must-have collection for every devoted Harry Dresden fan.

As Chicago’s only professional wizard, Harry Dresden has had cases that have pitted him against insane necromancers, power-hungry faerie queens, enigmatic dark wizards, fallen angels—pretty much a “who’s who” of hell and beyond—with the stakes in each case ranging from a lone human soul to the entire human race. But not every adventure Harry Dresden undertakes is an epic tale of life and death in a world on the edge of annihilation.

Here, together for the first time in paperback, are the shorter works of #1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher—a compendium of cases that Harry and his cadre of allies managed to close in record time.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Joe Abercrombie's The Trouble With Peace for only £0.99 by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way.

For heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. But grievances must be nursed, power seized and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye . . . before it kills her.

The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply.

The old ways are swept aside, and the old leaders with them, but those who would seize the reins of power will find no alliance, no friendship, and no peace, lasts forever.

You can also get your hands on the digital edition of Kate Elliott's Unconquerable Sun for only 2.99$ here. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

GENDER-SPUN ALEXANDER THE GREAT ON AN INTERSTELLAR SCALE

Princess Sun has finally come of age.

Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected—and feared.

But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniving noble houses have never ceased to scheme—and they have plans that need Sun to be removed as heir, or better yet, dead.

To survive, the princess must rely on her wits and companions: her biggest rival, her secret lover, and a dangerous prisoner of war.

Take the brilliance and cunning courage of Princess Leia—add in a dazzling futuristic setting where pop culture and propaganda are one and the same—and hold on tight:

This is the space opera you’ve been waiting for.

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

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (March 22nd)

In hardcover:

Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun is down one spot, finishing the week at number 4.

V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is up two positions, ending the week at number 10.

Sarah J. Mass' A Court of Silver Flames is down three spots, finishing the week at number 13.

In paperback:

Stephen King's Later maintains its position at number 1 (trade paperback).

It's a sad day. . .

Hey guys,

I haven't been very active these last few weeks. The long and the short of it is that my mom was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. In the span of a few short weeks, she went from being an hyperactive woman to basically an invalid.

My parents got the results of the biopsy today and it turns out that even with treatments, my mom only has a couple of weeks to live. Two or three months at the most.

So I want you all to do me a favor. Call you mother and tell her that you love her and that you appreciate everything she did/does for you. If she lives close by, stop by after work and do it in person. We only have one mom and she's the most precious thing in the world.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can get your hands on one of science fiction's most beloved classics, William Gibson's Neuromancer, for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

The Matrix is a world within the world, a global consensus-hallucination, the representation of every byte of data in cyberspace . . .

Case had been the sharpest data-thief in the business, until vengeful former employees crippled his nervous system. But now a new and very mysterious employer recruits him for a last-chance run. The target: an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence orbiting Earth in service of the sinister Tessier-Ashpool business clan. With a dead man riding shotgun and Molly, mirror-eyed street-samurai, to watch his back, Case embarks on an adventure that ups the ante on an entire genre of fiction.

Hotwired to the leading edges of art and technology, Neuromancer ranks with 1984 and Brave New World as one of the century’s most potent visions of the future.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (March 8th)

In hardcover:

Sarah J. Mass' A Court of Silver Flames is down one spot, finishing the week at number 2.

V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue maintains its position at number 6.

Karen Marie Moning's Kingdom of Shadow and Light debuts at number 12.

In paperback:

Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower returns at number 14 (trade paperback).

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Janny Wurts' The Cycle of Fire: The Complete Series, an omnibus comprised of Stormwarden, Keeper of the Keys, and Shadowfane, for only 3.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

Now in one volume: three novels in the “epic tale mixing fantasy and SF . . . full of action, splendid scenes of magic and engaging secondary characters” (Publishers Weekly).

Stormwarden

A young girl, her brother, and a Firelord’s descendant are caught up in the rescue of the Stormwarden Anskiere—and the unbinding of the demons that could destroy all of humanity.

Keeper of the Keys

As Jaric struggles to accept his father’s heritage, Taen’s brother is possessed by the demons who use him as a pawn to hunt down and slay the Firelord’s heir.

Shadowfane

Jaric faces the Cycle of Fire that drove his father to madness, while Taen Dreamweaver is targeted by her brother and his demon overlords, psionically endowed aliens who have been revealed as mankind’s ancient conquerors.

The Future Is Yours

When the folks at Del Rey contacted me last January to ask me if I'd be interested in reading and reviewing Dan Frey's new Silicon Valley scifi techno thriller, my curiosity was piqued. The press release announced that HBO Max will produce a show titled The Future based on Frey’s novel following two best friends as they invent Silicon Valley’s Pandora’s Box: a computer that can connect to the Internet one year from now.

I discovered that The Future Is Yours interrogates how big tech algorithms quietly and insidiously shape our beliefs, opinions, and—as we saw in the Capitol a few weeks back—ultimately, our actions. In 2018, Dan found himself transfixed watching Mark Zuckerberg testify in front of Congress about the rampant misinformation circulating, unregulated, on Facebook. The biggest takeaway Dan had from those hearings was not the hubris of a Silicon Valley wunderkind, but instead the frightening ignorance of those interrogating him. So he wondered: what would it look like if a truly revolutionary sci-fi technology were dropped into the world we live in today?

Based on all that and the advance praise garnered by the book, how could I not want to at least give it a shot and see if it was as good as it sounded? And I'm sure glad I did, because I went through this novel in just two sittings!

Here's the blurb:

If you had the chance to look one year into the future, would you?

For Ben Boyce and Adhi Chaudry, the answer is unequivocally yes. And they’re betting everything that you’ll say yes, too. Welcome to The Future: a computer that connects to the internet one year from now, so you can see who you’ll be dating, where you’ll be working, even whether or not you’ll be alive in the year to come. By forming a startup to deliver this revolutionary technology to the world, Ben and Adhi have made their wildest, most impossible dream a reality. Once Silicon Valley outsiders, they’re now its hottest commodity.

The device can predict everything perfectly—from stock market spikes and sports scores to political scandals and corporate takeovers—allowing them to chase down success and fame while staying one step ahead of the competition. But the future their device foretells is not the bright one they imagined.

Ambition. Greed. Jealousy. And, perhaps, an apocalypse. The question is . . . can they stop it?

Told through emails, texts, transcripts, and blog posts, this bleeding-edge tech thriller chronicles the costs of innovation and asks how far you’d go to protect the ones you love—even from themselves.

As per the blurb, The Future Is Yours is an epistolary novel. Which means that it is written as a series of documents such as emails, text messages, various transcripts, newspaper articles, letters, Tweets, blog posts, etc. Given the premise, I was a bit worried about such an unusual structure. But in the end, it worked superbly and made for quick and compulsive reading. Frey's modern take on the epistolary novel shows that you can write thought-provoking science fiction that's big on concepts and ideas with this sort of unorthodox narrative structure. In many ways, it's this framework that makes the book so page-turning.

I also enjoyed how Dan Frey "dumbed down" the technology and the science at the heart of this story with Ben Boyce's presentations to potential investors. Instead of info-dumps, you get a more dymamic approach that works perfectly well with Ben's character. And although The Future Is Yours remains a techno thriller that plays with your mind, deep down it's more of an exploration of friendship and ambition between two very disparate friends.

Indeed, it's the dysfunctional relationship between these two college buddies that drives the story behind The Future Is Yours. Ben Boyce is a selfish glory hound, seeking fame and fortune, and realizing that his friend's discovery could change the world as we know it and make them richer than they can imagine. He's the face behind the product and the driving force behind the enterprise. Making him black brought absolutely nothing to the tale, however, and I wonder why the author decided to do so. Making Adhi Chaudry Indian truly added layers to the second protagonist, however. This depressive introvert genius has a hard time coping with their sudden success. And the more he glimpses into the future ahead, the more he realizes that perhaps this new technology shouldn't hit the market. There is a supporting cast and these people do have an impact on the plot, chief among them Ben's wife Leila, but these two take center stage and run the show for the better part of the novel.

Some readers may find the open ending somewhat off-putting, but I felt that it brought this story to a satisfying end. And it makes you want to reread the whole thing all over again!

The Future Is Yours is a thoughtful, compelling, and entertaining read!

The final verdict: 8.5/10

For more info about this title, follow these Amazon Associate links: Canada, USA, Europe

Follow this link to read an extract from the book.

Cover reveal and extract for Peter V. Brett's THE DESERT PRINCE

The folks at io9.com have unveiled the cover art for Peter V. Brett's forthcoming The Desert Prince. They also posted an excerpt from the novel.

Here's the blurb:

Fifteen years have passed since the end of the war with demons, creatures of darkness who have hunted the night and plagued humanity since time out of mind. The heroes of mankind’s hour of need have become legend, and those who remain struggle to escape their shadows.

Olive Paper and Darin Bales have grown up in this new peaceful world. Demons have been all but destroyed, but dangers still lurk for the children of heroes.

Olive, Princess of Hollow, has her entire life planned out by her mother, Duchess Leesha Paper: a steady march on a checklist to prepare her for succession. The more her mother writes the script, the more Olive rails against playing the parts she is assigned.

Darin faces challenges of a different kind. Though free to choose his own path, the weight of legacy hangs heavy around his shoulders. It isn’t easy being the son of the man people say saved the world. Everyone expects greatness from Darin, but the only thing he’s ever been great at is hiding.

But when Olive and Darin step across the wards one night, they learn the demons are not all gone, and those that remain hunger for revenge. Events are set in motion that only prophecy can foresee as Olive and Darin seek to find their own places in the world in time to save it again.

Follow this link to read the extract.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can download The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow for only 3.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.

Here's the blurb:

In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut.

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

Lush and richly imagined, a tale of impossible journeys, unforgettable love, and the enduring power of stories awaits in Alix E. Harrow's spellbinding debut--step inside and discover its magic.

Cover art and blurb for Steven Erikson's THE GOD IS NOT WILLING

The folks at Bantam Press have unveiled the new cover art for Steven Erikson's upcoming The God Is Not Willing. Can't wait to sink my teeth into this one! You can pre-order it by following these Amazon Associate links: Canada, Europe.

Here's the blurb:

Many years have passed since three Teblor warriors brought carnage and chaos to the small lakeside settlement of Silver Lake. While the town has recovered, the legacy of that past horror remains, even if the Teblor tribes of the north no longer venture into the southlands. One of those three, Karsa Orlong, is now deemed to be a god, albeit an indifferent one. In truth, many new cults and religions have emerged across the Malazan world, including those who worship Coltaine, the Black-Winged God, and - popular among the Empire's soldiery - followers of the cult of Iskar Jarak, Guardian of the Dead.

A legion of Malazan marines is on the march towards Silver Lake. responding to intelligence that indicates the tribes beyond the border are stirring. The marines aren't quite sure what they're going to be facing but, while the Malazan military has evolved and these are not the marines of old, one thing hasn't changed: they'll handle whatever comes at them. Or die trying.

Meanwhile, in the high mountains, where dwell the tribes of the Teblor, a new warleader has risen. Scarred by the deeds of Karsa Orlong, he intends to confront his god, even if he has to cut a bloody path through the Malazan Empire to do it. Higher in the mountains, a new threat has emerged, and now the Teblor are running out of time.

The long feared invasion is about to begin. And this time it won't be three simple warriors. This time thousands are poised to flood the lands of the south. And in their way, a single legion of Malazan marines . . .

It seems the past is about to revisit Silver Lake, and that is never a good thing . . .

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

In hardcover:

Sarah J. Mass' A Court of Silver Flames debuts at number 1.

V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue maintains its position at number 6.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

Wow! Blast from the past! You can now download Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Forging the Darksword, first volume in the Darksword trilogy, for only 3.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

From the bestselling authors of The Rose of the Prophet and The Death Gate Cycle, the first in a majestic saga of magic, fantasy, and adventure.

In the enchanted realm of Merilon, magic is life.

Born without magical abilities and denied his birthright, Joram is left for dead. Yet he grows to manhood in a remote country village, hiding his lack of powers only through constant vigilance and ever more skillful sleight-of-hand.

Forced to kill a man in self-defense, Joram can keep his secret from the townspeople no longer: he has no magic, no life. Fleeing to the Outlands, Joram joins the outlawed Technologists, who practice the long forbidden arts of science. Here he meets the scholarly catalyst Saryon, who has been sent on a special mission to hunt down a mysterious “dead man” and instead finds himself in a battle of wits and power with a renegade warlock of the dark Duuk-tsarith caste.

Together, Joram and Saryon begin their quest toward a greater destiny—a destiny that begins with the discovery of the secret books that will enable them to overthrow the evil usurper Blachloch . . . and forge the powerful magic-absorbing Darksword.

Win a copy of C. S. Friedman's THIS VIRTUAL NIGHT

Thanks to the generosity of the author, I have a copy of C. S. Friedman's This Virtual Night up for grabs!

Here's the blurb:

Returning to the universe of New York Times Notable book This Alien Shore comes a new space opera from an acknowledged master of science fiction.

When deep-space travel altered the genes of the first interstellar colonists, Earth abandoned them. But some of the colonies survived, and a new civilization of mental and physical “Variants” has been established, centered around clusters of space stations known as the outworlds.

Now the unthinkable has happened: a suicide assault has destroyed the life support system of a major waystation. All that is known about the young men responsible is that in their last living moments they were receiving messages from an uninhabited sector of space, and were playing a virtual reality game.

Two unlikely allies have joined forces to investigate the incident: Ru Gaya, a mercenary explorer with a taste for high risk ventures, and game designer Micah Bello, who must find the parties responsible for the attack in order to clear his name. From the corridors of a derelict station lost to madness to an outlaw stronghold in the depths of uncharted space, the two now follow the trail of an enemy who can twist human minds to his purpose, and whose plans could bring about the collapse of outworld civilization.

The rules are the same as usual. You need to send an email at reviews@(no-spam)gryphonwood.net with the header "VIRTUAL." Remember to remove the "no spam" thingy.

Second, your email must contain your full mailing address (that's snail mail!), otherwise your message will be deleted.

Lastly, multiple entries will disqualify whoever sends them. And please include your screen name and the message boards that you frequent using it, if you do hang out on a particular MB.

Good luck to all the participants!

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Tad Williams' excellent Otherland: City of Golden Shadow for only 3.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

Otherland. Surrounded by secrecy, it is home to the wildest dreams and darkest nightmares. Incredible amounts of money have been lavished on it. The best minds of two generations have labored to build it. And somehow, bit by bit, it is claiming the Earth’s most valuable resource—its children.

Only a few have become aware of the danger. Fewer still are willing or able to take up the challenge of this perilous and seductive realm. But every age has its heroes, and unusual times call for unusual champions:

Renie Sulaweyo, a teacher and the backbone of her family, proud of her African heritage, has fought all her life simply to get by. She has never wanted to be a hero. But when her young brother is struck down by a bizarre and mysterious illness, Renie swears to save him. When people around her begin to die, she realizes she has stumbled onto something she is not meant to know, a terrifying secret from which there is no turning back.

!Xabbu is a Bushman, come to the city to learn skills which may save the spirit of his tribe. With the heart of a poet and the soul of a shaman, he will journey with Renie on this quest into the very heart of darkness.

Paul Jonas is lost, seemingly adrift in space and time. As he flees from the bloody battlefields of World War I to a castle in the sky, and onward to lands beyond imagining, he must not only evade his terrifying pursuers, but solve the terrible riddle of his own identity.

Fourteen-year-old Orlando is also the invincible barbarian Thargorm, but only in his imagination. However, youth and frailty are not enough to get you excused from saving the world.

And Mister Sellars, a strange old man on a military base, a prisoner of both the government and his own body, may be the greatest mystery of all. Is he part of The Grail Brotherhood? Does he oppose them? Or, as he sits like a spider at the center of a vast web, does he have ambitions of his own?

The answers will only be found in Otherland.

Otherland…