[pat5150]

Alex North's The Shadows is 2.99$ on Kindle.

Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box is 1.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

[worry]

Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty is $4.00 US on Kindle -- Link -- and appears to be on sale in Canada too. It's a 2022 debut and a semi-blind buy for me, but it sounds interesting so I figured I'd pass it along.

[pat5150]

Robert Jackson Bennett's Foundryside is 2.99$ on Kindle.

The same goes for Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart, Ed McDonald's Daughter of Redwinter, R. R. Virdi's The First Binding, Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company, Kel Kade's Fate of the Fallen, Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon, Jenn Lyons' The Ruin of Kings, Scott Drakeford's Rise of the Mages, Brian Staveley's The Emperor's Blades, and James Rollins' The Starless Crown.

[pat5150]

Neal Stephenson's The Mongoliad is 0.99$ on Kindle.

[pat5150]

Michael R. Fletcher's Black Stone Heart is 4.99$ on Kindle.

The three sequels are also on sale.

[pat5150]

All 4 installments of R. Scott Bakker's The Aspect-Emperor are 2.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

[pat5150]

David J. Williams' The Mirrored Heavens is 2.99$ on Kindle.

You can get the entire trilogy for only 7.02$.

[Abyss]

pat5150, on 24 October 2022 - 02:01 PM, said:

David J. Williams' The Mirrored Heavens is 2.99$ on Kindle.

You can get the entire trilogy for only 7.02$.

....huh... you enjoyed these... your reviews prompt me to think that i may have to reassess my decision to bail after the first book.

Abyss, on 19 February 2009 - 10:24 PM, said:

David J. Williams writes a staggeringly awesome action scene. Seriously. Power-armoured soldiers fighting across mega skyscraper cities during nuclear strikes rendered in cinematically stunning text awesome. Dueling super cyber hackers frying each others brains. Buildings dropping on everyone. Innocent bystanders deaths in the thousands lovingly rendered in semi-guilt-ridden third person. Trains, plains and automobiles get wrecked. So do spaceships.

Unfortunately, his concept of 'plot' appears to be based on the video-game model, that is to say his approach is to spend maybe four pages on weak weak plot explaining what the characters next widget-quest/assassination-mission/escape-route is and then 25 pages of lasers, 'splosions and kicky stabby. Sometimes characters sheboing, but that's usually folded into the four plot pages - altho he does do one sequence where a hacker netsurfs while getting their jollies that is actually quite clever... or just stands out because someone in the story is doing something besides kill kill internet shoot internet kill fly killy kill kill. Literally it amounts to a five or six versions of Commanding Officer type stating something like 'Ok, you two have to go steal/kill/escape. Here are some weapons. Good luck.' and off they go to the shooty 'splody some more. His 'big twist' endings aren't all that twisted and his three plotlines never, ever, ever, ever crossover. At all. Ever. They all take place in the same world during the same events but that's as far as it goes.

And what kills me about this is that his action really IS that good. He even writes some fun characters and dialogue but the fun is slotted in bits and pieces in between the next set of hammering lasers, evading missiles and falling real estate. After the second or third fight/flight sequence it's like reading a really well written online report of a Gears of War mission... ok neat tech and all but really not doing much for me here.

Comparisons to William Gibson's works are laughable. Gibson's books, at least his earlier ones, are well plotted cyberpunk stories that were novel for their time and featured generally interesting characters in interesting settings. MIRRORED HEAVENS... well, not so much. I mean, the potential for interest is there but Williams spends more time explaining how its being destroyed than why it was interesting in the first place.

Anyrate, i grabbed this for free from a hotel book exchange and i was entertained enough to finish it but sort of relieved i didn't spend dollars on it. I'll keep an eye open for the forthcoming second (of a trilogy, of course) in mmpb but unless it's an airport grab or a freebie, more likely to wait on it but likely to read it eventually.

I'm intrigued by the notion of a sequel just because holy fnck, what can he possibly detonate next?!?! And hopefully he'll develop his plot and characters a bit more. Okay, a LOT more.


- Abyss, ....likes to stimulate the thinkymeatz before boiling them...

[pat5150]

Abyss, on 24 October 2022 - 02:31 PM, said:

pat5150, on 24 October 2022 - 02:01 PM, said:

David J. Williams' The Mirrored Heavens is 2.99$ on Kindle.

You can get the entire trilogy for only 7.02$.

....huh... you enjoyed these... your reviews prompt me to think that i may have to reassess my decision to bail after the first book.

Well, you have to be in the mood for some balls-to-the-wall sort of thing. But if you are, this series will definitely scratch that itch!

[pat5150]

Michelle West's The Hidden City is 2.99$ on Kindle.

The Broken Crown, by the same author, is also 2.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

[QuickTidal]

pat5150, on 25 October 2022 - 04:00 PM, said:

Michelle West's The Hidden City is 2.99$ on Kindle.

The Broken Crown, by the same author, is also 2.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

These are both EXCELLENT books, and I adore this series (it's at Erikson's level for me)....Note, chronologically this is Book 1, and Book 4 in the timeline of the Essalieyan series....even though they are both Books 1 in their respective sub-series.

Come to me people if you want an explanation on how it all fits and how to read it people but RUN, DON'T WALK AND BUY THESE BOOKS.

As an aside: I have met Michelle (she works part time as a SFF bookstore in my city) and she's wonderful and sweet and signed all my books for me.

[Abyss]

pat5150, on 25 October 2022 - 01:33 AM, said:

Abyss, on 24 October 2022 - 02:31 PM, said:

pat5150, on 24 October 2022 - 02:01 PM, said:

David J. Williams' The Mirrored Heavens is 2.99$ on Kindle.

You can get the entire trilogy for only 7.02$.

....huh... you enjoyed these... your reviews prompt me to think that i may have to reassess my decision to bail after the first book.

Well, you have to be in the mood for some balls-to-the-wall sort of thing. But if you are, this series will definitely scratch that itch!

These books will scratch my balls. Got it.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 25 October 2022 - 04:41 PM, said:

pat5150, on 25 October 2022 - 04:00 PM, said:

Michelle West's The Hidden City is 2.99$ on Kindle.

The Broken Crown, by the same author, is also 2.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

These are both EXCELLENT books, and I adore this series (it's at Erikson's level for me)....Note, chronologically this is Book 1, and Book 4 in the timeline of the Essalieyan series....even though they are both Books 1 in their respective sub-series.

Come to me people if you want an explanation on how it all fits and how to read it people but RUN, DON'T WALK AND BUY THESE BOOKS.

As an aside: I have met Michelle (she works part time as a SFF bookstore in my city) and she's wonderful and sweet and signed all my books for me.

got them all on the last big Audible sale OK QT ARE YOU HAPPY NOW CAN WE MOVE ON PLEASE OR DO I HAVE TO ACTUALLY LISTEN TO THEM OR SOMETHING???

[amphibian]

QuickTidal, on 25 October 2022 - 04:41 PM, said:

pat5150, on 25 October 2022 - 04:00 PM, said:

Michelle West's The Hidden City is 2.99$ on Kindle.

The Broken Crown, by the same author, is also 2.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

These are both EXCELLENT books, and I adore this series (it's at Erikson's level for me)....Note, chronologically this is Book 1, and Book 4 in the timeline of the Essalieyan series....even though they are both Books 1 in their respective sub-series.

Come to me people if you want an explanation on how it all fits and how to read it people but RUN, DON'T WALK AND BUY THESE BOOKS.

As an aside: I have met Michelle (she works part time as a SFF bookstore in my city) and she's wonderful and sweet and signed all my books for me.

Ok, I'll get the first book this week when I'm done with my current book.

[pat5150]

QuickTidal, on 25 October 2022 - 04:41 PM, said:

pat5150, on 25 October 2022 - 04:00 PM, said:

Michelle West's The Hidden City is 2.99$ on Kindle.

The Broken Crown, by the same author, is also 2.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

These are both EXCELLENT books, and I adore this series (it's at Erikson's level for me)....Note, chronologically this is Book 1, and Book 4 in the timeline of the Essalieyan series....even though they are both Books 1 in their respective sub-series.

Come to me people if you want an explanation on how it all fits and how to read it people but RUN, DON'T WALK AND BUY THESE BOOKS.

As an aside: I have met Michelle (she works part time as a SFF bookstore in my city) and she's wonderful and sweet and signed all my books for me.

I know I have The Broken Crown in storage somewhere. Do you think The Hidden City is a better starting point for this saga, or is The Broken Crown the best one to jump in?

[pat5150]

J. V. Jones' The Book of Words trilogy omnibus is 1.99$ on Kindle.

Steven Brust's first The Book of Jhereg omnibus is 3.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

[QuickTidal]

pat5150, on 25 October 2022 - 08:45 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 25 October 2022 - 04:41 PM, said:

pat5150, on 25 October 2022 - 04:00 PM, said:

Michelle West's The Hidden City is 2.99$ on Kindle.

The Broken Crown, by the same author, is also 2.99$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

These are both EXCELLENT books, and I adore this series (it's at Erikson's level for me)....Note, chronologically this is Book 1, and Book 4 in the timeline of the Essalieyan series....even though they are both Books 1 in their respective sub-series.

Come to me people if you want an explanation on how it all fits and how to read it people but RUN, DON'T WALK AND BUY THESE BOOKS.

As an aside: I have met Michelle (she works part time as a SFF bookstore in my city) and she's wonderful and sweet and signed all my books for me.

I know I have The Broken Crown in storage somewhere. Do you think The Hidden City is a better starting point for this saga, or is The Broken Crown the best one to jump in?

So the Broken Crown (Sun Sword series) was published first and is the middle of the overall tale. A main character from that, Jewel, is in her 30’s….later Michelle began to write the House War series which straddled Sun Sword….so books 1-3 of House War (starting in HIDDEN CITY) are about Jewels childhood and her Den of associates…then in the timeline the Sun Sword takes place (Broken crown to book 6 of that series), and then House War 4-8.

So it depends if you want to read about Jewel and her Den before the main event or not. I started with HIDDEN CITY and I think it informs a lot of what happens in Sun Sword, so I’d reccomend there, but it’s really up to you.

There is also The Sacred Hunt duology which takes place sort of concurrently with House War 1-3….but there is a LOT of overlap with House War so I’m waiting to read that later myself.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 26 October 2022 - 12:07 PM

[pat5150]

R. Scott Bakker's The Darkness That Comes Before is 2.51$ on Kindle​​​​​​​.

[QuickTidal]

This is pretty insane...for those of us who like historical fiction, C.S Foresters complete Horatio Hornblower books, plus all his short stories and all his other novels are on sale in one ebook volume for $3.

https://www.amazon.c...vapi_tkin_p1_i1

THREE FRIGGING DOLLARS.

For:

Hornblower Series in Narrative Order

Hornblower Novels
The Happy Return
A Ship of the Line
Flying Colours
The Commodore
Lord Hornblower
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Lieutenant Hornblower
Hornblower and the Atropos
Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower and the Crisis

Hornblower Short Stories

The Hand of Destiny
Hornblower and the Widow McCool
Hornblower’s Charitable Offering
Hornblower and His Majesty
The Last Encounter

Other Novels

Payment Deferred
Brown on Resolution
The Peacemaker
The African Queen
The General
The Ship
The Good Shepherd

Short Stories

Collected Short Stories

Non-Fiction

Hunting the Bismarck

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 27 October 2022 - 04:49 PM, said:

This is pretty insane...for those of us who like historical fiction, C.S Foresters complete Horatio Hornblower books, plus all his short stories and all his other novels are on sale in one ebook volume for $3.

https://www.amazon.c...vapi_tkin_p1_i1

THREE FRIGGING DOLLARS.

For:

Hornblower Series in Narrative Order

Hornblower Novels
The Happy Return
A Ship of the Line
Flying Colours
The Commodore
Lord Hornblower
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Lieutenant Hornblower
Hornblower and the Atropos
Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower and the Crisis

Hornblower Short Stories

The Hand of Destiny
Hornblower and the Widow McCool
Hornblower's Charitable Offering
Hornblower and His Majesty
The Last Encounter

Other Novels

Payment Deferred
Brown on Resolution
The Peacemaker
The African Queen
The General
The Ship
The Good Shepherd

Short Stories

Collected Short Stories

Non-Fiction

Hunting the Bismarck

i don't even particularly like hist fic and i bought that.