Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is a "Rube Goldberg" style puzzle game called Crazy Machines - Golden Gears HD
Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Quicksilver ($1.99), the first Baroque Cycle novel by Neal Stephenson [HarperCollins], with the companion audiobook for $3.49. This is an excellent selection (one I picked up long ago, when Fictionwise was still around) and will appeal both to his fans and any fan of historical fiction, as he tells the story of the birth of the scientific revolution.Book Description
Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.
It is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of "Half-Cocked Jack" Shaftoe -- London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds -- risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.
And it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.
A gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life, Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.
And it's just the beginning ...
Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Replacement Wife ($1.99), by Eileen Goudge [Open Road].Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge comes a poignant new novel that asks the question, “What would you do if you were told you had only six months to live?” For one professional matchmaker the answer is heart-wrenching: She must find her husband’s next wife.
Camille Hart, one of Manhattan’s most sought-after matchmakers, has survived more than her fair share of hardships. Her mother died when she was a young girl, leaving her and her sister with an absentee father. Now in her forties, she has already survived cancer once, though the battle revealed just how ill-equipped her husband Edward is to be a single parent. So when doctors tell Camille that her cancer is back—and this time it’s terminal—she decides to put her matchmaking expertise to the test for one final job. Seeking stability for her children and happiness for her husband, Camille sets out to find the perfect woman to replace her when she’s gone.
But what happens when a dying wish becomes a case of “be careful what you wish for”? For Edward and Camille, the stunning conclusion arrives with one last twist of fate that no one saw coming.
At once deeply felt and witty, The Replacement Wife is an unforgettable story of love and family, and a refreshing look at the unexpected paths that lead us to our own happy endings.
Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Fade to Black ($1.99), the first novel in the Rojan Dizon series by Francis Knight [Orbit/Hachette]. The second in the series, Before the Fall, was just released last week, with Last to Rise scheduled for release in November.Book Description
From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala
It's a city built upwards, not across - where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.
Rojan Dizon doesn't mind staying in the shadows, because he's got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can't hide for ever.
Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan - this is going to hurt.
Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Dragleon ($1.99), by Guy Waddilove [Peach Publishing].Book Description
A magical creature is born, curled up inside a flower. With no parents around to name or teach her, she must work out what she is, all by herself. She soon learns that she can blend in perfectly with any plants around her.
When she huffs and puffs only the sweet scent of flowers wafts over her victims, sending them to sleep or making them think happy thoughts. Grasses spring up in her wake, or flowers, if she’s feeling really happy, while thorns tend to shoot up beside her if something makes her cross.
She soon grows very large indeed, so all the other animals fear her and her strange powers and flee at the very sight of her. But she is all alone in the world, with only mute little chameleons for company, for they think nothing of her changing colour and can’t run away from anything much.
An absolutely charming and magical story that brings sheer delight to the reader who can’t but conjure up beautiful flowers and fruits as Dragleon happily weaves her magic. Yet beneath the colour and wonder are the age-old prejudices of colour, race and disability and how the friendship between a young girl and a strange creature develops because they have focused on their similarities rather than their differences and finally overcome the adversities of life.
This book is suitable for children between the ages of 6–10.
