Newly published On The Train ($0.99), a short story collection by Rachel Turtledove, Harry Turtledove and Mike Resnick (Editor), is on sale as an intro special (but only for one more day).Book Description
Is travelling on The Train a means to an end…a way to complete one’s journey…or is The Train the destination itself, rolling endlessly through realms both magical and mechanical?
And what of Javan, the lad from Pingaspor, whose third-class ticket entitles him to a spot on a hard bench? He has given up everything he had for that cherished spot. But where, exactly, is he headed?
Javan’s story is followed by the tale of nanny Eli, hired by Baroness Vasri to take care of her son and daughter as they travel on The Train in first class. But the Baroness’ agenda may run contrary to that of those running The Train...and what will become of the children?
Cold Vengeance ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), the eleventh and newest in the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, is marked downBook Description
Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple. As he stalks his wife's betrayers-a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York City and the darkest bayous of Louisiana-he is also forced to dig further into Helen's past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder.
Peeling back the layers of deception, Pendergast realizes that the conspiracy is deeper, goes back generations, and is more monstrous than he could have ever imagined-and everything he's believed, everything he's trusted, everything he's understood . . . may be a horrific lie.
COLD VENGEANCE
Nothing is what it seems.
Two Graves ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), the twelfth in the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, is now available to pre-order. This is either a very short time promo price or a pricing error, I suspect, as there is also a free "sample" edition at Amazon and a short story in the series, Extraction, which is priced at $1.99.Book Description
After his wife, Helen, is brazenly abducted before his eyes, Special Agent Pendergast furiously pursues the kidnappers, chasing them across the country and into Mexico. But then, things go terribly, tragically wrong; the kidnappers escape; and a shattered Pendergast retreats to his New York apartment and shuts out the world.
But when a string of bizarre murders erupts across several Manhattan hotels--perpetrated by a boy who seems to have an almost psychic ability to elude capture--NYPD Lieutenant D'Agosta asks his friend Pendergast for help. Reluctant at first, Pendergast soon discovers that the killings are a message from his wife's kidnappers. But why a message? And what does it mean?
When the kidnappers strike again at those closest to Pendergast, the FBI agent, filled anew with vengeful fury, sets out to track down and destroy those responsible. His journey takes him deep into the trackless forests of South America, where he ultimately finds himself face to face with an old evil that-rather than having been eradicated-is stirring anew... and with potentially world-altering consequences.
Confucius once said: "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, first dig two graves." Pendergast is about to learn the hard way just how true those words still ring.
Trunk Music ($2.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), the fifth Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly, who also has a new short story collection, Mulholland Dive, out for the series.Book Description
Back on the job after an involuntary leave of absence, LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch is ready for a challenge. But his first case is a little more than he bargained for.
It starts with the body of a Hollywood producer in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce, shot twice in the head at close range - what looks like "trunk music," a Mafia hit. But the LAPD's organized crime unit is curiously uninterested, and when Harry follows a trail of gambling debts to Las Vegas, the case suddenly becomes more complex - and much more personal.
A rekindled romance with an old girlfriend opens new perspectives on the murder, and he begins to glimpse a shocking triangle of corruption and collusion. Yanked off the case, Harry himself is soon the one being investigated. But only a bullet can stop Harry when he's searching for the truth . . .
I read Feed ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), the first title in the Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant, as part of the Hugo nominees for 2011; I immediately had to go buy Deadline (sure, I could have waited a year - it made the Hugo nominee list for 2012) and put Blackout on my "watch for" list ... and now I see it is available!Book Description
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.
NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.
Sheri S. Tepper's Six Moon Dance ($0.99) and The Companions ($0.99) are stand-alone Science Fiction novels, published by HarperCollins.Six Moon Dance
It was many years ago that humans came and settled the world of Newholme-cruelly bending the planet to their will; setting down roots and raising up cities and farms and a grand temple to their goddess.But now the ground itself is shaking with ever-increasing violence. And the Great Questioner, official arbiter of the Council of Worlds, has come to this isolated orb to investigate rumors of a terrible secret that lies buried deep within Newholme's past—a past that is not dead, not completely. And it will fall to Mouche, a beautiful youth of uncommon cleverness and spirit, to save his imperiled home by dicovering and embracing that which makes him unique among humans. For every living thing on newholme is doomed, unless Mouche can appease something dark and terrible that is coiled within...and surrender to the mysterious ecstatic revelry taht results when the six moons join.The Companions
Three planets have been recently discovered in deep space, and prosaically named to reflect their respective environments. Jungle, lush and foreboding, swallowed up an eleven-member exploratory team more than a decade earlier, while hot, harsh, and dusty Stone turned out to be phenomenally rich in rare ore, the most profitable new world to be found in a century. But it is the third, Moss, that could well prove to be the most enigmatic . . . and dangerous.
Enlisted by the Planetary Protection Institute -- an organization founded to assess new worlds for potential development and profit -- famed linguist Paul Delis has come to Moss to determine whether the strange multicolored shapes of dancing light observed on the planet's surface are evidence of intelligent life. With Delis is his half sister, Jewel, the wife of one of the explorers lost on Jungle. Working together, they are to determine the true nature of the “Mossen” and decipher the strange "language" that accompanies the phenomenon.
Yet the great mysteries of this bucolic world -- three-quarters covered in wind-sculpted, ever-shifting moss -- don't end with the inexplicable illuminations; there is the puzzle of the rusting remains of a lost fleet of Earth ships, moldering on a distant plateau. Perhaps the biggest question mark is Jewel Delis herself and her mission here at the far reaches of the galaxy. Leaving an overpopulated homeworld that is rapidly becoming depleted of the raw materials needed for human survival, Jewel is a member of a radical underground group opposing a recent government edict that will eliminate all of the planet's “nonessential” living inhabitants. And it is here, at the universe's unexplored edge, where the fate of endangered creatures may ultimately be decided -- though it will mean defying ruthless and unforgiving ruling powers to repair humankind's disintegrating relationship with the beasts of the Earth.
Leviathan Wakes ($1.99), by James S.A. Corey, has been on sale a couple of times in the last couple of years, but never at this low a price. I checked the sample and it appears this edition is the one that also includes the full text of Daniel Abraham's The Dragon's Path, which is $9.99 on it's own.Book Description
Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.
Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, The Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.
Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to The Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.
Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.
I bought Stan Nicholls' Orcs ($2.99) at Fictionwise, back before the Agency agreements pretty much killed it for larger publisher selections. I checked the sample of the Kindle edition and it also appears to be the omnibus edition of the Orcs: First Blood trilogy that I bought, containing all three novels in the series: Bodyguard of Lightning (1999), The Legion of Thunder (1999) and Warriors of the Tempest (2000).Book Description
"Look at me. Look at the Orc."
"There is fear and hatred in your eyes. To you I am a monster, a skulker in the shadows, a fiend to scare your children with. A creature to be hunted down and slaughtered like a beast in the fields.
It is time you pay heed to the beast. And see the beast in yourself. I have your fear. But I have earned your respect.
Hear my story. Feel the flow of blood and be thankful. Thankful that it was me, not you, who bore the sword. Thankful to the orcs; born to fight, destined to win peace for all."
This book will change the way you feel about Orcs forever.
The Dwarves ($2.99), by Markus Heitz, gives us another viewpoint on the fantasy pantheon, also published by Orbit. This is the first novel of the series and it's 700+ pages should keep you reading for several days.Book Description
For countless millennia, the dwarves of the Fifthling Kingdom have defended the stone gateway into Girdlegard. Many and varied foes have hurled themselves against the portal and died attempting to breach it. No man or beast has ever succeeded. Until now. . .
Abandoned as a child, Tungdil the blacksmith labors contentedly in the land of Ionandar, the only dwarf in a kingdom of men. Although he does not want for friends, Tungdil is very much aware that he is alone - indeed, he has not so much as set eyes on another dwarf. But all that is about to change.
Sent out into the world to deliver a message and reacquaint himself with his people, the young foundling finds himself thrust into a battle for which he has not been trained. Not only his own safety, but the life of every man, woman and child in Girdlegard depends upon his ability to embrace his heritage. Although he has many unanswered questions, Tungdil is certain of one thing: no matter where he was raised, he is a true dwarf.
And no one has ever questioned the courage of the Dwarves.
