The winners are:
- Parto Barkhordari, from Leesburg, Virginia, USA
- Will Bryan, from Leary, Georgia, USA
Many thanks to all the participants!
Tom Doyle contest winners!
The winners are:
- Parto Barkhordari, from Leesburg, Virginia, USA
- Will Bryan, from Leary, Georgia, USA
Many thanks to all the participants!
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can download Barbara Hambly's The Silent Tower, first volume in the Windrose Chronicles, for only 2.99$ here.
Here's the blurb:
A wizard and a computer programmer from opposite sides of an interdimensional portal must work together to save their worlds from destruction.
In a world where wizards are relegated to ghettos, it is no surprise to see one murdered in the street. But for Stonne Caris, a young warrior monk who sees the killing and gives chase to the culprit, there is nothing ordinary about seeing a murderer disappear into a black, inky portal. The Archmage sends him in search of Antryg Windrose—a half-mad mage who understands the nature of these passages between dimensions.
On the other side of the Void is Joanna, a programmer as mild as Caris is deadly. She has spent her life in cubicles, staring into computer terminals, as far from heroism as she can get. But when the power that is crossing between dimensions draws her through the Void, she finds herself battling to save a world she never even knew existed.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Barbara Hambly, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
You can also get your hands on Nalo Hopkinson's Sister Mine for only 2.99$ here.
Here's the blurb:
WINNER OF THE 2013 ANDRE NORTON NEBULA AWARD
Nalo Hopkinson--winner of the John W. Campbell Award, the Sunburst Award, and the World Fantasy award (among others), and lauded as one of our "most inventive and brilliant writers" (New York Post)--returns with a new work. With her singular voice and characteristic sharp insight, she explores the relationship between two sisters in this richly textured and deeply moving novel . . .
SISTER MINE
We'd had to be cut free of our mother's womb. She'd never have been able to push the two-headed sport that was me and Abby out the usual way. Abby and I were fused, you see. Conjoined twins. Abby's head, torso, and left arm protruded from my chest. But here's the real kicker; Abby had the magic, I didn't. Far as the Family was concerned, Abby was one of them, though cursed, as I was, with the tragic flaw of mortality.
Now adults, Makeda and Abby still share their childhood home. The surgery to separate the two girls gave Abby a permanent limp, but left Makeda with what feels like an even worse deformity: no mojo. The daughters of a celestial demigod and a human woman, Makeda and Abby were raised by their magical father, the god of growing things--a highly unusual childhood that made them extremely close. Ever since Abby's magical talent began to develop, though, in the form of an unearthly singing voice, the sisters have become increasingly distant.
Today, Makeda has decided it's high time to move out and make her own life among the other nonmagical, claypicken humans--after all, she's one of them. In Cheerful Rest, a run-down warehouse space, Makeda finds exactly what she's been looking for: an opportunity to live apart from Abby and begin building her own independent life. There's even a resident band, led by the charismatic (and attractive) building superintendent.
But when her father goes missing, Makeda will have to discover her own talent--and reconcile with Abby--if she's to have a hope of saving him . . .
Finally, Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring is available for the same price here.
Here's the blurb:
The rich and privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways-farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless of the streets. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, and the tragic mystery surrounding her mother and grandmother.
She must bargain with gods, and give birth to new legends.
A Guide For Getting Laid At Anime Conventions
This ludicrous article has been linked a whole lot on Facebook and elsewhere and this morning I finally had time to sit down and read it. Coming from Return of Kings, I wasn't expecting much in terms of eloquence and intelligence. I mean, as a blog for heterosexual, masculine men, they preach to their own choir. Still, I was taken aback by how insulting and demeaning this piece turned out to be. Here are a few bits to give you a general idea of its content:
The average convention goer is most likely the reverse of what you expect from a nerd convention. The skinny lanky nerd and his buddy the obese manchild are still going to conventions. They will be there giving presentations, but a whole new breed of people is in to anime.
This new breed is young attractive women with mental issues. Women have jumped on to the anime bandwagon. Most of them joined because they’re the second tier of attractive women. They can’t compete with the front runners because of a flaw or two (they might have the body but the nose is way too big). These women would be considered Bargain Bin to regular society. However, to anime loving nerds, these are the new 9′s and 10′s for the anime world. Women love it, because they have a ton of beta orbiters and some creepy omegas. They get to rule over and be the queens of anime conventions. I decoded the code for an alpha guy to go to these conventions and make that second string duchess bow down to your manliness.
[...]
These women are dressed up as animated characters out in public. Most of them spend hundreds of hours to get the details down right. They also have to make sure their diet is right and everything matches. This type of woman is slightly smarter than the average American bar-fly. She can talk about more complicated subjects, but it comes at a price. There is a high chance that an attractive women walking around half naked at a convention center is mentally ill. I can ascertain that a lot of the famous cosplayers have personality disorders like borderline and narcissisism. Generally this is noticeable through things like cut marks, daddy issues, eating disorders and a lot of them are in to hard drugs. These “nerd” girls have the same problems as the average American girl. They are just slightly more intelligent and have lower self-esteem.
[...]
Landwhale:
These are the main species of women at anime conventions. They’re the thirstiest women in existence. These women require no game whatsoever but doing fat chicks lowers your reputation a lot if you want to be with the skinnier hotter cosplay women. You need to not let their advances succeed. The attractive girls will think something is mentally wrong with you if you slept with a hippo. Also, note that these are the chicks who publicly complain about “sexual harassment” because only creepy ugly men would give them the time of day. Even at the anime conventions themselves.
Game Tips: If you’re enough of a degenerate to have sex with a landwhale from an anime convention, wrap it up. They are not the types to take care of their innards including the part you want access to. Vagisil and antibiotic’s aren’t a miracle cure for jumping in to the garbage dump of a vagina.
[...]
Fat Neckbeards:
These are the mostly stereotyped males who go to an anime convention. They’re fat, usually not into hygiene and have a multitude of social problems. Generally, these men will only offend through the olfactory gland. I can’t state enough how smelly the overweight neckbeards are at anime clubs. It is probably illegal under the Geneva Convention to allow these men in the same room as POWS. These men are also white knights but aren’t of the active kind. They just want to eat their fried foods and stock up on body pillows. Compared to all the types of men at anime conventions, these are the most benign.
White Knights:
They’re quite similar to the neckbeard but more virulent. The white knight is fat but not as morbidly obese as the neckbeard. The neckbeard wants to sit in the videogame or video room most of the convention. The white knight has more energy to walk around. They will beta orbit the hottie even if she publicly calls them losers in front of their face. White knights and ugly fat chicks are the ones to be on guard of. They will do anything to stop a player from scoring, even by spreading horrendous false rumors. You may have compassion for the fat neckbeard, but I would give none whatsoever for white knights who want to impede your goals. They also tend to smell but that’s the least offensive thing about them.
[...]
The convention ended and you’re on your way back. You were able to get some notches but feminists have taken notice. They are writing articles like this about “consent”. The undesirables of society (fat chicks, manchildren, ugly women) are trying to keep anime conventions in the domain of blue pillers. Anime conventions will always try to shut us redpillers out but if we start to invade, and remain stealth about it, they can’t do anything. I hope I see more members of ROK at anime conventions. Cosplay chicks are sick of betas and need some alpha’s to come to the conventions and satisfy their sexual needs.
--------------------
That last sentence leaves me speechless. . . This self-proclaimed "alpha male" seems to be one piece of work. His so-called guide to get laid offers absolutely no advice. He is just pissing on everyone, from the hot chicks he would like to bed to the "regular" anime fans. Looks like this heinous article was written by someone whose entire sexual life revolves around the free porn videos found on the internet. Not only is it done in extremely poor taste, but it is incredibly demeaning toward women in general and the female anime fans in particular.
To any of those so-called alpha males thinking of attending an anime convention any time soon, if you intend to follow this guide in order to score some nookie, I'm afraid that your nights will end up with you jerking off in the shower. . . As it should be.
Wow. . . Ignorant douchebag is too mild a phrase to characterize the author of this piece. No need to be a feminist or even a woman to be offended by this stereotypical crap. The good thing, though, is that no one basing his actions on the content of this article will likely ever get laid at a convention. So there is some poetic justice to that. . . =)
Follow this link to read the full article. . .
Extract from Sebastien de Castell's TRAITOR'S BLADE
Here's an extract from Sebastien de Castell's Traitor's Blade, courtesy of the folks at Jo Fletcher Books. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
Here's the blurb:
Falcio is the first Cantor of the Greatcoats. Trained in the fighting arts and the laws of Tristia, the Greatcoats are travelling Magisters upholding King’s Law. They are heroes. Or at least they were, until they stood aside while the Dukes took the kingdom, and impaled their King’s head on a spike.
Now Tristia is on the verge of collapse and the barbarians are sniffing at the borders. The Dukes bring chaos to the land, while the Greatcoats are scattered far and wide, reviled as traitors, their legendary coats in tatters.
All they have left are the promises they made to King Paelis, to carry out one final mission. But if they have any hope of fulfilling the King’s dream, the divided Greatcoats must reunite, or they will also have to stand aside as they watch their world burn…
Enjoy!
--------------------------
He kicked his horse and took off down the street, Brasti following behind. I looked back at the dead men on the ground and wondered how long the Greatcoats could last before we became what people said we were: Trattari.
The second worst feeling in the world happens when your body dis- covers that yet again it’s about to get into a fight for its life. Muscles start to clench, you start to sweat, you start to smell (luckily, nobody ever notices that at the time) and your stomach sinks down to your nether regions.
But the first worst feeling in the world is when your body realises the fight is over. Your muscles start to give out, your head throbs, you keep sweating and – oh yes, you notice the smell. Last but not least, you realise there’s a crossbow bolt sticking out of your thigh. It was the crossbow bolt that finally forced me to stop.
‘It’s going to have to come out,’ Brasti said sagely, looking down from the rooftop where he was scouting for the constables.
I could have killed him, but that would require asking my body to repeat the whole cycle again and, frankly, I smelled bad enough as it was. We had found ourselves a decent alleyway with two exits to hole up in for a breather. The horses didn’t like trying to race around corners on cobbled streets, and we needed to deal with my leg.
Kest looked at me. ‘Punch-pull-slap?’
I sighed. It hurt. ‘I don’t suppose we have time to find a doctor, do we?’
Brasti climbed back down from the roof of the building. ‘They’re doing a house-to-house. The men don’t look all that eager to find us, but the head guy – the senior constable, the one who shot you – is pushing them hard. It’s only going to be a matter of minutes before they get to this alley.’
Damn. ‘Punch-pull-slap,’ I said, already dreading it. ‘But make it hard this time, Brasti.’
Kest poured water on the wound, making me whistle through my teeth.
‘Just don’t scream this time,’ Brasti said. ‘We’re trying to avoid being caught.’
While I prayed to Saint Zaghev-who-sings-for-tears to come down just this one time and meet my good friend Brasti, Kest got a firm grip on the shaft and then nodded at Brasti.
The three of us invented ‘punch-pull-slap’ some time ago. One of the things you discover after you’ve been wounded enough times is that the body really only keeps track of one source of pain at a time. So, for example, if your tooth hurts and someone pokes you in the stomach, your body momentarily forgets about the tooth.
So the way this is supposed to work is like this: Brasti punches me in the face, Kest pulls the arrow out of my leg and then Brasti slaps me so hard my brain never has time to register the bolt and therefore I don’t scream at the top of my lungs.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
‘Shhh! You need to keep quiet, Falcio,’ Brasti said, leaning in and wagging a finger at me. ‘They might hear that. You need to toughen up.’
‘I told you to hit me hard!’ I said, watching the stars form in my vision.
‘I hit you as hard as I could from that angle. Kest was in the way.’
‘You hit like a girl.’
Kest stopped bandaging my leg and said, ‘Almost a third of King Paelis’ Greatcoats were women. You trained most of them. Didn’t they hit hard enough?’
It was a fair point, but I wasn’t in the mood for semantics. ‘They hit like angry bloody Saints. Brasti hits like a girl,’ I grumbled, holding onto the end of the bandage while Kest padded the wound.
‘So I suppose we’re off to Baern, then?’ Brasti asked.
I pushed myself up. The leg felt a lot better with the bandage on tight: a throbbing pain instead of a burning one. ‘It’s that or stay here and try to teach you how to not hit like a girl.’
‘Falcio, if you say that again, I’ll punch you myself,’ Kest said.
‘It’s just a phrase, “you hit like a girl.” Everyone says it. It’s funny.’
He handed me back my rapier. ‘No,’ he said, ‘it just sounds absurd.’ ‘It’s funny because it’s absurd,’ I replied.
Brasti slapped me on the back. ‘Don’t pay him any mind, Falcio. He lost his sense of humour the day he learned to swing a sword.’
Oddly, since Brasti had no way of knowing it, he was absolutely right.
This week's New York Times Bestsellers (June 30th)
Diana Gabaldon's Written in My Own Heart’s Blood is down two spots, finishing the week at number 3.
Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes is down two spots, finishing the week at number 4.
Rogues, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois debuts at number 7. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
Jim Butcher's Skin Game is down five positions, ending the week at number 13. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
In paperback:
George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones maintains its position at number 1.
George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons maintains its position at number 4.
Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane is up one position, ending the week at number 6 (trade paperback).
George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings maintains its position at number 7.
George R. R. Martin's A Feast for Crows is up five spots, finishing the week at number 8.
George R. R. Martin's A Storm of Swords maintains its position at number 9.
Stephen King's Doctor Sleep is up three positions, ending the week at number 9 (trade paperback).
Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is down four positions, ending the week at number 10.
George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones maintains its position at number 10 (trade paperback).
Stephen King's Joyland is up two spots, finishing the week at number 16.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can now download Mira Grant's Parasite for only 1.99$ here.
Here's the blurb:
A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.
We owe our good health to a humble parasite -- a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the Intestinal Bodyguard worm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system -- even secretes designer drugs. It's been successful beyond the scientists' wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them.
But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives . . . and will do anything to get them.
Extract from Ian Cameron Esslemont's ASSAIL
Here's the blurb:
Tens of thousands of years of ice is melting, and the land of Assail, long a byword for menace and inaccessibility, is at last yielding its secrets. Tales of gold discovered in the region’s north circulate in every waterfront dive and sailor’s tavern and now countless adventurers and fortune-seekers have set sail in search of riches. All these adventurers have to guide them are legends and garbled tales of the dangers that lie in wait - hostile coasts, fields of ice, impassable barriers and strange, terrifying creatures. But all accounts concur that the people of the north meet all trespassers with the sword. And beyond are rumoured to lurk Elder monsters out of history’s very beginnings.
Into this turmoil ventures the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard. Not drawn by contract, but by the promise of answers: answers that Shimmer, second in command, feels should not be sought. Also heading north, as part of an uneasy alliance of Malazan fortune-hunters and Letherii soldiery, comes the bard Fisher kel Tath. With him is a Tiste Andii who was found washed ashore and cannot remember his past and yet commands far more power than he really should. It is also rumoured that a warrior, bearer of a sword that slays gods and who once fought for the Malazans, is also journeying that way. But far to the south, a woman patiently guards the shore. She awaits both allies and enemies. She is Silverfox, newly incarnate Summoner of the undying army of the T’lan Imass, and she will do anything to stop the renewal of an ages-old crusade that could lay waste to the entire continent and beyond. Casting light on mysteries spanning the Malazan empire, and offering a glimpse of the storied and epic history that shaped it, Assail brings the epic story of the Empire of Malaz to a thrilling close.
Follow this link to read the sample chapter. . .
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can now download Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice for only 1.99$ here.
Here's the blurb:
From Nebula and Arthur C. Clarke Award nominated debut author, Ann Leckie, comes Ancillary Justice, a stunning space opera that asks what it means to be human in a universe guided by artificial intelligence.
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Breq is both more than she seems and less than she was. Years ago, she was the Justice of Toren--a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of corpse soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
An act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with only one fragile human body. And only one purpose--to revenge herself on Anaander Mianaai, many-bodied, near-immortal Lord of the Radch.
You can also download Miles Cameron's The Red Knight for only 1.99$ here.
Here's the blurb:
This is a world dominated by The Wild.
Man lives in pockets of civilisation claimed from The Wild. Within men's walls life is civilised, the peace punctuated by tournaments, politicking, courtly love and canny business. Beyond those walls men are prey - vulnerable to the exceptionally powerful and dangerous creatures which populate the land, and even more vulnerable to those creatures schemes.
So when one of those creatures breaks out of The Wild and begins preying on people in their homes, it takes a specialist to hunt it down or drive it out . . . and even then, it's a long, difficult and extremely dangerous job.
The Black Captain and his men are one such group of specialists.
They have no idea what they're about to face . . .
Forget George and the Dragon. Forget Sir Lancelot and tales of Knightly exploits. This is dirty, bloody work. This is violent, visceral action. This is a mercenary knight as you've never seen one before.
Win a copy of Kevin J. Anderson's THE DARK BETWEEN THE STARS
Thanks to the generosity of the folks at Tor Books, I have a copy of Kevin J. Anderson's The Dark Between the Stars for you to win. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
Here's the blurb:
Twenty years after the elemental conflict that nearly tore apart the cosmos in The Saga of Seven Suns, a new threat emerges from the darkness. The human race must set aside its own inner conflicts to rebuild their alliance with the Ildiran Empire for the survival of the galaxy.
In Kevin J. Anderson's The Dark Between the Stars, galactic empires clash, elemental beings devastate whole planetary systems, and factions of humanity are pitted against each other. Heroes rise and enemies make their last stands in the climax of an epic tale seven years in the making.
The rules are the same as usual. You need to send an email at reviews@(no-spam)gryphonwood.net with the header "STARS." 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!
New China Miéville short story
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Enjoy! =)
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can get your hands on Robin Hobb's Shaman's Crossing for only 3.79$ here.
Here's the blurb:
Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a second son, destined from birth to carry a sword. The wealthy young noble will follow his father—newly made a lord by the King of Gernia—into the cavalry, training in the military arts at the elite King's Cavella Academy in the capital city of Old Thares. Bright and well-educated, an excellent horseman with an advantageous engagement, Nevare's future appears golden.
But as his Academy instruction progresses, Nevare begins to realize that the road before him is far from straight. The old aristocracy looks down on him as the son of a "new noble" and, unprepared for the political and social maneuvering of the deeply competitive school and city, the young man finds himself entangled in a web of injustice, discrimination, and foul play. In addition, he is disquieted by his unconventional girl-cousin Epiny—who challenges his heretofore unwavering world view—and by the bizarre dreams that haunt his nights.
For twenty years the King's cavalry has pushed across the grasslands, subduing and settling its nomads and claiming the territory in Gernia's name. Now they have driven as far as the Barrier Mountains, home to the Speck people, a quiet, forest-dwelling folk who retain the last vestiges of magic in a world that is rapidly becoming modernized. From childhood Nevare has been taught that the Specks are a primitive people to be pitied for their backward ways—and feared for their indigenous diseases, including the deadly Speck plague, which has ravaged the frontier towns and military outposts.
The Dark Evening brings the carnival to Old Thares, and with it an unknown magic, and the first Specks Nevare has ever seen . . .
Guy Gavriel Kay awarded the Order of Canada
Here's the press release:
June 30, 2014 (Toronto) – Penguin Canada is pleased to announce that Guy Gavriel Kay has been named a Member of the Order of Canada for his outstanding contributions to the field of speculative fiction as an internationally celebrated author.
Kay is the bestselling author of twelve novels and a book of poetry. He has been called “one of the most gifted storytellers of our time” by The Globe and Mail, and his works have been translated into more than 25 languages, with sales approaching three million copies worldwide.
In the 1970s, he was retained by the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien to assist in the editorial construction of Tolkien's posthumously published The Silmarillion. In 1984, Kay's first novel, The Summer Tree, the first volume of The Fionavar Tapestry, was published to considerable acclaim in Canada, and internationally. In 1990, Penguin Canada's edition of his novel Tigana reached the national bestseller list, and his next book, A Song for Arbonne, debuted in the number-one position. Kay has been a bestseller with each novel since. The Sunday Times called his most recent novel, River of Stars, “a work to savour” and the Washington Post called it a “major accomplishment, the work of a master novelist in full command of his subject.”
Kay was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, and raised in Winnipeg. He received a law degree from the University of Toronto and was called to the bar in Ontario. Kay became principal writer and associate producer for the CBC Radio series, The Scales of Justice, which dramatized major criminal trials in Canadian history. He has written social and political commentary in Canada for the National Post and The Globe and Mail, and for The Guardian in England.
Kay has toured and read on behalf of his publishers and at literary events across Canada, the United States, and internationally. He was awarded the International Goliardos Prize for his contributions to the literature of the fantastic, is a two-time winner of the Aurora Award, won the World Fantasy Award for Ysabel in 2008, and won the Sunburst Prize for best Canadian speculative fiction novel for Under Heaven in 2011. Kay is currently at work on his next novel, due to be published in 2016.
About the Order of Canada
Established in 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Order of Canada is the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours System, and recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. The Order recognizes people in all sectors of Canadian society. Their contributions are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country.
For more information about the most recent appointments to the Order of Canada, please visit: http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15694&lan=eng
--------------------------------
What a great honor!
Ian Cameron Esslemont's ASSAIL is pushed back to mid-August
Here's the blurb:
Tens of thousands of years of ice is melting, and the land of Assail, long a byword for menace and inaccessibility, is at last yielding its secrets. Tales of gold discovered in the region’s north circulate in every waterfront dive and sailor’s tavern and now countless adventurers and fortune-seekers have set sail in search of riches. All these adventurers have to guide them are legends and garbled tales of the dangers that lie in wait - hostile coasts, fields of ice, impassable barriers and strange, terrifying creatures. But all accounts concur that the people of the north meet all trespassers with the sword. And beyond are rumoured to lurk Elder monsters out of history’s very beginnings.
Into this turmoil ventures the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard. Not drawn by contract, but by the promise of answers: answers that Shimmer, second in command, feels should not be sought. Also heading north, as part of an uneasy alliance of Malazan fortune-hunters and Letherii soldiery, comes the bard Fisher kel Tath. With him is a Tiste Andii who was found washed ashore and cannot remember his past and yet commands far more power than he really should. It is also rumoured that a warrior, bearer of a sword that slays gods and who once fought for the Malazans, is also journeying that way. But far to the south, a woman patiently guards the shore. She awaits both allies and enemies. She is Silverfox, newly incarnate Summoner of the undying army of the T’lan Imass, and she will do anything to stop the renewal of an ages-old crusade that could lay waste to the entire continent and beyond. Casting light on mysteries spanning the Malazan empire, and offering a glimpse of the storied and epic history that shaped it, Assail brings the epic story of the Empire of Malaz to a thrilling close.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can now download Paul Kearney's excellent A Different Kingdom, one of the best fantasy books I've read this year, for only 0.99$ here!
Here's the blurb:
Michael Fay is a normal boy, living with his grandparents on their family farm in rural Ireland. In the woods—once thought safe and well-explored—there are wolves; and other, stranger things. He keeps them from his family, even his Aunt Rose, his closest friend, until the day he finds himself in the Other Place. There are wild people, and terrible monsters, and a girl called Cat.
When the wolves follow him from the Other Place to his family’s doorstep, Michael must choose between locking the doors and looking away—or following Cat on an adventure that may take an entire lifetime in the Other Place. He will become a man, and a warrior, and confront the Devil himself: the terrible Dark Horseman...
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
For a limited time only, you can download Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni for only 1.99$ here!
Here's the blurb:
Helene Wecker's dazzling debut novel tells the story of two supernatural creatures who appear mysteriously in 1899 New York. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York Harbor. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.
Struggling to make their way in this strange new place, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their neighbors while masking their true natures. Surrounding them is a community of immigrants: the coffeehouse owner Maryam Faddoul, a pillar of wisdom and support for her Syrian neighbors; the solitary ice cream maker Saleh, a damaged man cursed by tragedy; the kind and caring Rabbi Meyer and his beleaguered nephew, Michael, whose Sheltering House receives newly arrived Jewish men; the adventurous young socialite Sophia Winston; and the enigmatic Joseph Schall, a dangerous man driven by ferocious ambition and esoteric wisdom.
Meeting by chance, the two creatures become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures, until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful menace will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
Marvelous and compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of folk mythology, historical fiction, and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.
You can also get your hands on Neil Gaiman's American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition for only 1.99$ here.
Here's the blurb:
First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic—an intellectual and artistic benchmark from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman. Now discover the mystery and magic of American Gods in this tenth anniversary edition. Newly updated and expanded with the author’s preferred text, this commemorative volume is a true celebration of a modern masterpiece by the one, the only, Neil Gaiman.
A storm is coming . . .
Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the magic day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life.
But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself.
Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined—it is a job that takes him on a dark and strange road trip and introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. Along the way Shadow will learn that the past never dies; that everyone, including his beloved Laura, harbors secrets; and that dreams, totems, legends, and myths are more real than we know. Ultimately, he will discover that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and that he is standing squarely in its path.
Relevant and prescient, American Gods has been lauded for its brilliant synthesis of “mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose” (Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World) and as a modern phantasmagoria that “distills the essence of America” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It is, quite simply, an outstanding work of literary imagination that will endure for generations.
This week's New York Times Bestsellers (June 23rd)
Diana Gabaldon's Written in My Own Heart’s Blood debuts at number 1.
Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes is down one spot, finishing the week at number 2.
Jim Butcher's Skin Game is down six positions, ending the week at number 8. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston's Earth Awakens debuts at number 19.
Laurell K. Hamilton's A Shiver of Light is down sixteen spots, finishing the week at number 21.
In paperback:
George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones is up one spot, finishing the week at number 1.
George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons is up four positions, ending the week at number 2.
Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is up nine positions, ending the week at number 6.
Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane is up one position, ending the week at number 7 (trade paperback).
George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings is up four spots, finishing the week at number 7.
George R. R. Martin's A Storm of Swords is up sixteen positions, ending the week at number 9.
George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones is up one spot, finishing the week at number 10 (trade paperback).
Stephen King's Doctor Sleep debuts at number 12 (trade paperback).
George R. R. Martin's A Feast for Crows returns at number 13 (trade paperback).
Stephen King's Joyland is down two spots, finishing the week at number 18.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
Until midnight tonight, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams, is on sale for only 1.99$ here.
Here's the blurb:
The game is afoot! Night Shade Books is proud to present the fantastic adventures of the world's greatest detective — mystery, fantasy, science fiction, horror, no genre can escape the esteemed detective's needle-sharp intellect and intuition.
This reprint anthology showcases the best Holmes short fiction from the last 25 years, featuring stories by such visionaries as Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Laura King, and many others.
