More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Alastair Reynolds' Pushing Ice 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:

Pushing Ice is the brilliant tale of extraordinary aliens, glittering technologies, and sweeping space opera from award-winning science fiction author Alastair Reynolds. 2057. Humanity has raised exploiting the solar system to an art form. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. And they're good at it. The Rockhopper is nearing the end of its current mission cycle, and everyone is desperate for some much-needed R and R, when startling news arrives from Saturn: Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, has inexplicably left its natural orbit and is now heading out of the solar system at high speed. As layers of camouflage fall away, it becomes clear that Janus was never a moon in the first place. It's some kind of machine -- and it is now headed toward a fuzzily glimpsed artifact 260 light-years away. The Rockhopper is the only ship anywhere near Janus, and Bella Lind is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach. In accepting this mission, she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny -- for Janus has more surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (January 4th)

In hardcover:

SenLinYu's Alchemised is down one position, ending the week at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Callie Hart's Brimstone is down one position, ending the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl is up four spots, finishing the week at number 8. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Callie Hart's Quicksilver returns at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary 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 returns at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Pierce Brown's Red Rising debuts at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is up two 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 T. Kingfisher's A Sorceress Comes to Call 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:

Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him.

But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t evil sorcerers.

When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family.

You can now also download Raymond E. Feist's Jimmy and the Crawler for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

In this fantastic tale, legendary author Raymond E. Feist returns to the city of Krondor and one of his most loved characters from the Riftwar Cycle, Jimmy the Hand.

The Crawler: a name whispered in fear. . .

In the crime-ridden back alleys of Krondor a rival gang has sprung up to threaten the Upright Man’s Mockers. Does the Crawler control the rival gang? Where does his power come from? And does it threaten the peace of the Kingdom?

James, personal squire to Prince Arutha of Krondor, but in the underworld known as the thief and trickster Jimmy the Hand, must travel to Kesh in disguise. There, working with William, lieutenant of the prince’s household guard and son of the magician Pug, and Jazhara, niece to the Keshian lord Hazara-Khan, he must attempt to unmask the mysterious Crawler and rid Krondor of his influence.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

I've always believed that LitRPG books were not for me. Still believe this, to be honest. But given the rising popularity of Matt Dinniman's series, something had to give and I knew I'd ultimately give at least the first installment a shot. When the last week of my trip to El Salvador and Guatemala went down the crapper due to a variety of reasons, and especially the last day which saw me spend two hours waiting and then being questioned by a US immigration officer and missing my connecting flight back home and get stranded in Miami for the night, God knows I needed something light and funny to take my mind off all that shit. Dungeon Crawler Carl appeared to be just what the doctor ordered.

And it turned out to be the perfect remedy to get me out of that funk! The most fun I've had reading in a mighty long time! If you need a palate cleanser, or are just looking for pure comedy gold featuring a talking cat and a man with no pants, this novel's for you!

Here's the blurb:

The apocalypse will be televised!

You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

To put it simply, LitRPG is a literary genre blending science-fiction and fantasy with video game and computer RPGs mechanics and conventions. Think character stats, experience points gained by battling creatures and completing quests, numerical rules, and a structure focusing on progression and character advancement. Expect character sheets, levels, and loot earned by killing enemies and bosses. It's all progression-oriented, with the plotlines heavily emphasizing on leveling up in order for the story to progress. As such, everything about this is unappealing to me. I feel that it's an inordinate amount of gimmicks getting in the way of the storytelling.

And yet, though it features all of these gimmicks, somehow Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl, through its humor and originality, manages to sidestep numerous pitfalls and keep everything fresh and entertaining. Whether or not the author can sustain this level of interest for seven volumes, with the next one coming up soon, remains to be seen. But I found the first installment to be an often laugh-out-loud wild ride that made me go through the whole thing in just a few sittings. Even so, those RPGs elements were already getting a bit repetitive. Not enough to truly get on my nerves this time around, but I can already see this becoming a bit of a problem as I continue to read the series. Let's hope that Dinniman can keep the plot fun and interesting enough for me to overlook the gimmicks that would normally force me to DNF a novel.

The worldbuilding is absurd from the beginning. And yet, this first volume also appears to contain a lot of foreshadowing for what will follow. So there could be a lot more than meets the eye here. Time will tell if that's the case or not. In any event, forget about conventional SFF worldbuilding. As other reviews claimed, in order to enjoy Dungeon Crawler Carl, you must be willing to embrace the ridiculous. Everything is unpredictable and over-the-top. In many ways, it's the absurdity of it all that makes everything so engaging. You never know what to expect and that's what makes this one such a fun read.

Chances are that your sense of humor might be what will make you love or hate this book. Dungeon Crawler Carl is filled to the brim with quirky, dark, and often juvenile humor that won't appeal to everyone. Lowbrow? Absolutely! Don't expect the sophisticated wit of a Terry Pratchett or the gallows humor of a Joe Abercrombie. Nowadays, publishers have manuscripts go through sensitivity readings to make sure they don't offend anyone, or at least as little as humanly possible. These novels were originally self-published and they obviously didn't go through such a process. Which means that there is an amount of snark throughout that I really loved and found refreshing. The obnoxious AI that announces the Achievements Unlocked and provides details to Carl and Princess Donut almost always made me chuckle.

First-person narratives are always tricky because there's only a single perspective and no way to fall back on anyone else's POV. Carl is flawed enough to be the perfect point of view in a world that has totally gone to shit. Being forced to go through this ordeal with his ex-girlfriend's cat is hilarious in so many ways that you need to read this book to truly understand. Indeed, this unlikely duo is what gives Dungeon Crawler Carl its unique flavor. The supporting cast doesn't shine that much in this first installment. But again, there seems to be a lot of foreshadowing that hints at a lot more to come for the protagonists and all those men/women/beasts they've met along the way.

Dark, bizarre, humorous, insanely imaginative; that's Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl in a nutshell. Here's to hoping that Carl and Princess Donut's journey through the lower levels of the dungeon will be as fun and entertaining as this first volume turned out to be.

The final verdict: 8/10

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

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

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

Here's the blurb:

In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.

“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.

In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.

According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?

To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Iain M. Banks' The Player of Games for only 4.99$ 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 Culture--a humanoid/machine symbiotic society--has thrown up many great Game Players. One of the best is Jernau Morat Gurgeh, Player of Games, master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game, a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game and with it the challenge of his life, and very possibly his death.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (December 28th)

In hardcover:

SenLinYu's Alchemised is up one position, ending the week at number 4. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Callie Hart's Brimstone is down two positions, ending the week at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Brandon Sanderson's Tailored Realities debuts at number 10. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl is up two spots, finishing the week at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary is up one position, ending the week at number 2. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

K.M. Moronova's My Blade, Your Back debuts at number 9. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing maintains its position at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shroud 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:

On a planet shrouded in darkness, a stranded crew must fight for survival. But, the darkness may have plans of its own in this wildly original story from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author of Children of Time.

They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . .

New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists – and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.

Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud’s inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . .

You can also get your hands on the digital edition of George R. R. Martin's Tuf Voyaging for 1.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

Long before A Game of Thrones became an international phenomenon, #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin had taken his loyal readers across the cosmos. Now back in print after almost ten years, Tuf Voyaging is the story of quirky and endearing Haviland Tuf, an unlikely hero just trying to do right by the galaxy, one planet at a time.

Haviland Tuf is an honest space-trader who likes cats. So how is it that, in competition with the worst villains the universe has to offer, he’s become the proud owner of a seedship, the last remnant of Earth’s legendary Ecological Engineering Corps? Never mind; just be thankful that the most powerful weapon in human space is in good hands—hands which now have the godlike ability to control the genetic material of thousands of outlandish creatures.

Armed with this unique equipment, Tuf is set to tackle the problems that human settlers have created in colonizing far-flung worlds: hosts of hostile monsters, a population hooked on procreation, a dictator who unleashes plagues to get his own way . . . and in every case, the only thing that stands between the colonists and disaster is Tuf’s ingenuity—and his reputation as a man of integrity in a universe of rogues.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Matt Dinniman's The Inevitable Ruin for only 5.99$ 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:

They call it Faction Wars.

The ninth floor.

Nine armies, each led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. Each team has one objective: to capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield. Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, and, of course, betrayal... It all makes for great fun and even greater television.

After all, none of these powerful aliens really die when they’re playing war.

Except this time. This time, winner takes all. Those who fall, stay in the ground.

As the AI continues its rapid decline, Carl and company take advantage of the chaos. For the first time ever, the crawlers are fighting back. They are now one of the nine teams. And this season, there’s a tenth army on the playing field. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and formed a team of their own.

For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. Only one of them will be allowed to leave this level.

If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help from a veteran or two.

This is it.
This is what they’ve been fighting toward.
This is war.

This inevitable ruin.

You can also download Mark Lawrence's The Book That Broke the World 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:

Two people living in a world connected by an immense and mysterious library must fight for those they love in the second book in a new trilogy from the international bestselling author of The Book That Wouldn’t Burn.

The Library spans worlds and times. It touches and joins distant places. It is memory and future. And amid its vastness Evar Eventari both found, and lost, Livira Page.

Evar has been forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover the book she wrote—one which is the only true threat to the library’s existence—if she’s to return to her life.

While Evar’s journey leads him outside into a world he’s never seen, Livira’s path will taker her deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.

The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Michael J. Sullivan's Theft of Swords 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:

Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles-until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.

Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires?

And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

You can also get your hands on the digital edition of RJ Barker's The Bone Ships 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 brilliantly imagined saga of honor, glory, and warfare, The Bone Ships is the epic launch of a new series from British Fantasy Award winner, RJ Barker.

Two nations at war. One prize beyond compare.

For generations, the Hundred Isles have built their ships from the bones of ancient dragons to fight an endless war. The dragons disappeared, but the battles for supremacy persisted.

Now, the first dragon in centuries has been spotted in far-off waters, and both sides see a chance to shift the balance of power in their favor. Because whoever catches it will win not only glory but the war.

You can now download the digital edition of the first Shannara 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.

Here's the blurb:

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Terry Brooks's The Measure of the Magic.

Twenty-five years ago, New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks wrote a novel that brought to life a dazzling world that would become one of the most popular fantasy epics of all time, beloved by millions of fans around the world. Ten more Shannara books would follow. Now, for the first time in one elegant collector’s edition hardcover, and featuring an introduction by the author, here are the first three novels of that classic series: The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, and The Wishsong of Shannara—the beginning of a phenomenal epic of good and evil.

The Sword of Shannara

Long ago, the wars of the ancient Evil ruined the world. In peaceful Shady Vale, half-elfin Shea Ohmsford knows little of such troubles. But the supposedly dead Warlock Lord is plotting to destroy everything in his wake. The sole weapon against this Power of Darkness is the Sword of Shannara, which can be used only by a true heir of Shannara. On Shea, last of the bloodline, rests the hope of all the races.

The Elfstones of Shannara

The magical Ellcrys tree is dying, loosening the spell that bars the Demons from enacting vengeance upon the land. Now Wil Ohmsford must guard the Elven girl Amberle on a perilous quest as she carries one of the Ellcrys’ seeds to a mysterious place where it can be quickened into a powerful new force. But dark on their trail comes the Reaper, most fearsome of all Demons, aiming to crush their mission at any cost.

The Wishsong of Shannara

An ancient Evil is stirring to new life, sending its ghastly Mord Wraiths to destroy Mankind. To win through the vile growth that protects this dark force, the Druid Allanon needs Brin Ohmsford—for she alone holds the magic power of the wishsong. Reluctantly Brin joins the Druid on his dangerous journey. But a prophecy foretells doom, as Evil nurses its plans to trap the unsuspecting Brin into a fate far more horrible than death.

Thus begins Terry Brooks’s thrilling Shannara epic, an unforgettable tale of adventure, magic, and myth.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (December 21st)

In hardcover:

Callie Hart's Brimstone is down two positions, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

SenLinYu's Alchemised is down two positions, ending the week at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Chloe C. Peñaranda's The Dark Is Descending debuts at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rachel Van Dyken's Fallen Gods debuts at number 13. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl returns at number 14. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary maintains its position at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing returns at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes

I noticed that without ever realizing I was doing so, I was almost always bringing a Stephen King book with me on my long trips abroad. Hence, I figured I needed to follow that trend for my latest Central American adventure. But I didn't want to bring a novel because it's often difficult to stay focused on a particular plot when you're moving around a lot. This collection of short stories appeared to be the perfect option and I'm glad to report that it didn't disappoint!

Anthologies and collections are often mixed bags filled with a few gems and the inevitable filler material. Not so with Nightmares and Dreamscapes, however. Sure, some pieces are better than the others, but they are all quality short fiction tales. Other than the non-fiction baseball essay written for The New Yorker, which is decidedly out of place in this collection but still an interesting read in its own right. This book kept me company in various coffee shops and bars, and never once did I feel bored.

Here's the blurb:

A wrong turn on a lonely road lands a wayward couple in Rock and Roll Heaven, Oregon, where there’s no escaping the free nightly concert….A novelty toy becomes an unexpected and terrifying instrument of self-defense….An ex-con pieces together a map to unearth a stolen million dollars—but at what price?...A private investigator in Depression-era Los Angeles is finding his life unraveling as he discovers the shocking truth of who he really is….A third-grade teacher is willing to dig deep in order to exact revenge for his murdered wife.... These are just some of the haunting scenarios to be found in this classic collection—spellbinding tales from the darkest places and the unparalleled imagination of fiction’s master storyteller.

In the introdution, King explains that it has become harder and harder for him to write short fiction. Which is why he's so proud of the compiled material for Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Be that as it may, I wouldn't have been able to say this was so while reading this collection. The more limited format forces the author to write in a tighter fashion, which often seems to bring the best out of him. As a matter of course, there are a few oddball pieces that are extremely weird. Yet for the most part, the rest are the sort of horror and dark fantasy tales the author has accustomed us to.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes starts with a bang with "Dolan's Cadillac." A great tale of revenge, it sets the tone for what follows. In terms of styles and themes, this collection is all over the place. The various pieces showcase the length and breadth of Stephen King's imagination. While some are old school horror stories, others are more sophisticated tales that show a more mature author, one that wishes to explore and broaden his horizons.

Other standouts include "The Night Flier" which features a vampire with a pilot's license; "Popsy" which features a dumb kidnapper about to get his comeuppance; "Chattery Teeth" and "The Moving Finger" and "Sneakers" which are all 80s-style horror pieces akin to the ones that made Stephen King famous; "Dedication" is a story that stays with you for a while afterward; "My Pretty Pony" is a nice story about a boy and his grandfather trying to explain the nature of time; "The Ten O'Clock People" shows that trying to quit smoking can have unexpected repercussions; "The House on Maple Street" features kids trying to get rid of their new stepfather.

The rest of the stories all have something that makes them worth reading, even if they don't shine like the ones mentioned above. Nightmares and Dreamscapes truly is good from start to finish. Baseball fans will find something to like about the article "Head Down," while readers who don't care for the sport can just skip it. Still, it's an uplifting read about kids that shows everything that's great about sports before money, sponsorships, and fame get in the way.

The final verdict: 8/10

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

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Christopher Buehlman's Between Two Fires 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:

And Lucifer said: “Let us rise against Him now in all our numbers, and pull the walls of heaven down…”

The year is 1348.

Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm—that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict. Is it delirium or is it faith?

She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon.

There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission: to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.

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.

You can also download Rachel Gillig's The Knight and the Moth for only 2.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil's visions. But when Sybil's fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she'd rather avoid Rodrick's dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Simon R. Green's Something from the Nightside 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:

Taylor is the name, John Taylor. My card says I’m a detective, but what I really am is an expert on finding lost things. It’s part of the gift I was born with as a child of the Nightside.

I left there a long time ago, with my skin and sanity barely intact. Now I make my living in the sunlit streets of London. But business has been slow lately, so when Joanna Barrett showed up at my door, reeking of wealth, asking me to find her runaway teenage daughter, I didn’t say no.

Then I found out exactly where the girl had gone.

The Nightside. That square mile of Hell in the middle of the city, where it’s always three A.M. Where you can walk beside myths and drink with monsters. Where nothing is what it seems and everything is possible.

I swore I’d never return. But there’s a kid in danger and a woman depending on me. So I have no choice—I’m going home.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (December 14th)

In hardcover:

Callie Hart's Brimstone maintains its position at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

SenLinYu's Alchemised is up seven positions, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Amber V. Nicole's The Book of Azrael debuts at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Callie Hart's Quicksilver is down five spots, finishing the week at number 8. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Onyx Storm returns at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary maintains its position at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Gregory Maguire's Wicked returns at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

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

Callie Hart's Quicksilver is down five spots, finishing the week at number 13. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Joe Abercrombie'S The Blade Itself, for only 4.99$ 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 subsequent volumes in the series are also on sale for 5.99$ each.

Here's the blurb:

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, Captain Jezal dan Luthar has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glotka a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood. Unpredictable, compelling, wickedly funny, and packed with unforgettable characters, The Blade Itself is noir fantasy with a real cutting edge.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Evan Winter The Fires of Vengeance for 4.99$ 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:

Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the Queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the 'true' Queen of the Omehi.

If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne, and if she can reunite her people then the Omehi have a chance to survive the onslaught.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

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

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.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Brian McClellan's Sins of Empire 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 new epic fantasy series from highly acclaimed fantasy author, Brian McClellan, set in the same world as The Powder Mage trilogy.

A world on the cusp of a new age...
The young nation of Fatrasta is a turbulent place -- a frontier destination for criminals, fortune-hunters, brave settlers, and sorcerers seeking relics of the past. Only the iron will of the lady chancellor and her secret police holds the capital city of Landfall together against the unrest of an oppressed population and the machinations of powerful empires.

Sedition is a dangerous word...
The insurrection that threatens Landfall must be purged with guile and force, a task which falls on the shoulders of a spy named Michel Bravis, convicted war hero Mad Ben Styke, and Lady Vlora Flint, a mercenary general with a past as turbulent as Landfall's present.

The past haunts us all...
As loyalties are tested, revealed, and destroyed, a grim specter as old as time has been unearthed in this wild land, and the people of Landfall will soon discover that rebellion is the least of their worries.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (December 7th)

In hardcover:

Callie Hart's Brimstone debuts at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Callie Hart's Quicksilver is up eight spots, finishing the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Briar Boleyn's The Bond That Burns debuts at number 8. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

SenLinYu's Alchemised is down five positions, ending the week at number 10. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary is up five positions, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Callie Hart's Quicksilver returns at number 8. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Penn Cole's Heat of the Everflame debuts at number 9. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Ali Hazelwood's Mate is down one position, ending the week at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can get your hands on Robin Hobb's Shaman's Crossing 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:

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 . . .

Taken

When you're talking about long urban fantasy series, comparisons with Jim Butcher's Dresden Files are inevitable. It's unfair, no doubt about it, but for better or worse Butcher's series has become this sub-genre's benchmark in all the ways that matter. Interestingly enough, Benedict Jacka's Fated shared many of the qualities and just about the same shortcomings as Storm Front. It turned out to be a nice introduction that made you want to discover what happened next. Which is what you want from a first volume.

My hope was that, like Jim Butcher, Jacka would find a way to up his game with each new title and that each new addition would allow this series to reach new heights. The author did just that with Cursed and I'm pleased to report that he raised the bar a little higher with the third installment, Taken.

Here's the blurb:

This time last year, I could go weeks without seeing another mage. In mage society I was an unknown and, all in all, that was how I liked it. It’s hard to say what changed. Whatever it was, I got involved in the magical world again and started getting myself a reputation.

Alex Verus’s insights into the future used to be the best-kept secret in London. Now, with the aid of his apprentice, Luna, his unique investigative talents are all the rage. He just has to be careful about picking his employers, because everyone—even the beautiful woman who practically begs him to run security for a prestigious tournament—has motives that can be hard to predict. And Alex doesn’t do unpredictable.

But his latest gig just might be impossible. Apprentices have been vanishing without a trace—and someone on the Council could be involved. Alex has no evidence, no witnesses, and no suspects. All he knows is that someone is keeping tabs on him. And after assassins target Luna’s classmate, Alex sees that he doesn’t know the half of it—and that he could be the next to disappear.

This one takes place a few months following the events chronicled in Taken. Alex Verus, a little known diviner until he was thrust into a Council matter of great import, has now gained quite a reputation. Moreover, although supposedly a weak diviner, powerful Mages who have crossed him have somehow gone missing. Trying to keep everything low key hasn't worked all that well for him lately. A do-gooder at heart, the poor guy just can't help getting involved in matters that will put him into the line of fire. But with apprentices disappearing without a trace, the Council has grown quite concerned and Verus is enlisted to investigate. A special tournament is about to get underway, one in which most of the country's apprentices will participate, so the Council isn't taking any chances. But when a girl goes missing before the first trials are held, it's up Verus and the few people he trusts to discover the truth behind these disappearances.

Alex Verus continues to grow on me with each new book. He was a more quiet and inconspicuous protagonist early on, but he is also growing as a character and coming into his own with each new novel. Being virtually powerless in terms of brute strength against other mages, Alex must rely on his wits to come out on top. That more than anything is what keeps this series fresh and interesting. As mentioned in my previous reviews, his first-person narrative isn't as witty and entertaining as that of his counterpart from the Dresden Files. Alex doesn't have the charisma and the repartee that make Harry such a likeable character. And yet, Verus is a more thoughtful and humane person, one that makes an impression on you the more the story progresses. The supporting cast is stronger in this third volume. Once again, it was nice to see Jacka build on the relationships Alex has with Luna, now officially his apprentice, and Sonder, whose importance grows with each new installment. The addition of Anna and Variam, wards of the creature Jagadev, was something that provided new layers to the plot. The unexpected presence of Onyx and his master also showed that the Dark Mages have a stake in what is going on. Revelations about Anne and Crystal's powers shone some light on the many ways magic could be used. Though another self-contained tale, Taken is the book that divulged the most about magic and the Mages themselves thus far.

Weighing in at 224 pages, Taken is another very short work. Still, like its predecessor, I felt that it fired on all cylinders. Somehow, Benedict Jacka is able to cram a lot more in terms of plot than most writers could with such a limited pagecount. Like the early Dresden Files books, this one is also episodic in format, but it continues to build on past storylines that hint at bigger and better things to come.

Taken featured another exciting endgame and cool finale to close the show. With more characters and plotlines added with each new installment, Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus series is growing in both quality and scope. Time will tell how good it will ultimately be.

The final verdict: 8/10

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

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Guy Gavriel Kay's River of Stars for only 4.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

In his critically acclaimed novel Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay told a vivid and powerful story inspired by China’s Tang Dynasty. Now, the international bestselling and multiple award-winning author revisits that invented setting four centuries later with an epic of prideful emperors, battling courtiers, bandits and soldiers, nomadic invasions, and a woman battling in her own way, to find a new place for women in the world – a world inspired this time by the glittering, decadent Song Dynasty.

Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life—in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later—and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches Kitai from the north.

Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated by him in ways young women never are, gifted as a songwriter and calligrapher, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. Her intelligence captivates an emperor—and alienates women at the court. But when her father’s life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has.

In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold, under the river of stars.