Free Ebook: Beekeeper's Apprentice

An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee, and named One of the Century's Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, The Beekeeper's Apprentice: Or On the Segregation of the Queen/A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King is available as a free download (PDF only) today (April 1st) only and that's no Fool's Joke. Visit the author's site for the PDF download (the link was updated from earlier and should now work). You'll have to convert the PDF to read it on your Kindle -- it isn't available yet in the Kindle Store.

Update: I have my copy of the book. Since it's the printer's markup version of a PDF, it will be nearly impossible to convert for reading on the Kindle. There are four PDF's in total and you'd have to cut/paste every page into a document (word would work) and then convert that into a mobi formatted book (or email to your Kindle). Way too much effort, in my opinion. So, either read it on your computer (even on a Sony Reader, which supports PDF, it's going to look just as bad) or wait until they get proper ebooks released for this series. It's a shame that they didn't take the tiny bit of effort that would have been needed to at least produce a PDF ebook for their giveaway, as this would have brought them thousands of readers to get hooked on a new series, which would have increased their sales (as has happened with nearly every author that has done this in the last year at Amazon and even on their own web sites). Instead, everyone gets a hard to read (and bloated in size) series of PDF's and will probably give up before getting thru the book.

The most fun you've had in an airport, in years!

These days, going to the airport in person isn't a lot of fun, even if you are a kid - no more going all the way to the windows overlooking the runway and watching the planes take off and if you are flying, it's an all day ordeal even if it's a short, direct flight (although at least you can take your Kindle with you, to fight off boredom, especially in terminals that lack bookstores).

Amazon, however, is bringing the fun back to airports, if only virtually. Today (and today only), you can download Airport Mania: First Flight for 98 cents. There are eight airports and 84 levels to play thru -- enough to fight off boredom, even if you're stuck in a real airport at the time.

Pack your bags for a trip through the skies in Airport Mania! Travel through 8 amusing airports while you land a variety of planes, purchase upgrades, and avoid delays. Stay on your toes as some planes carry precious cargo and will need to land in a hurry, while others might need a trip to the repair shop. But, with good planning, you'll make it to the gate on time! With unique challenges, whimsical characters, and fun that will put a smile on your face, Airport Mania is one flight you can't miss!

It should provide you will hours of fun and stress relief, while working on your strategy skills. This download is for the PC, but should run on a Windows netbook or any laptop, in case you really are in an airport.

Free Ebook Coming Soon: Beekeeper's Apprentice

An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee, and named One of the Century's Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, The Beekeeper's Apprentice: Or On the Segregation of the Queen/A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King will be available as a free download (PDF only) on April 1st and that's no joke. Visit the author's site on April 1st (don't worry, I'll remind you on Wednesday) for the full book or check now for a free sample. You'll have to convert the PDF to read it on your Kindle -- it isn't available yet in the Kindle Store.

Synopsis

Sherlock Holmes meets his match in a formidable new enemy -- and his surprising new partner.

In 1915, long since retired from his crime-fighting days, Sherlock Holmes is engaged in a reclusive study of honeybees on the Sussex Downs. Never did the Victorian detective think to meet an intellect matching his own -- until his acquaintance with Miss Mary Russell, a young twentieth-century lady whose mental acuity is equaled only by her penchant for deduction, disguises, and danger. Under Holmes's reluctant tutelage,

Russell embarks on a case involving a landowner's mysterious fever and the kidnapping of an American senator's daughter in the wilds of Wales. Then a near-fatal bomb on her doorstep -- and another on Holmes's -- sends the two sleuths on the trail of a murderer who scatters bizarre clues and seems utterly without motive. The villain's objective, however, is quite unequivocal: to end Russell and Holmes's partnership -- and then their lives.

Kindle Batteries in Stock

If you have the original Kindle and your battery is starting to give you a little less time between charges, you'll need to start thinking about getting a Replacement Battery soon. Even if your battery is fine, there are many reasons for wanting a second battery on hand, not the least of which is that last time they went out of stock, they stayed that way for several months. People who ordered last November as just now seeing shipments. But, for now, the Kindle battery is back in stock and can be ordered and shipped right away. Best of all, they only cost $20 (w/ free shipping if your total order is over $25), not the $50+ that some other devices' batteries cost (including the Kindle 2, which also has to be shipped to Amazon for battery replacement).

Kindle Books Under A Dollar

When searching Kindlespace for a good read at under a dollar, you end up finding mostly independent authors. Sure, there are thousands of classics (many of them free) and the few big name authors whose publishing houses have temporarily set their prices to free or $1.00. But independent, self-published authors can't set their books are zero cost (unless they do so on their own web sites). Instead, they have a minimum price of 99 cents required by Amazon (one exception is if they are also published at Mobipocket.com, where they can list the book for a penny, then have Amazon pick up the title that way, as happened with Soul Identity, below). The biggest problem, though, is in finding those independent authors amidst the thousands of public domain titles (many of which have no indication of such in their listings). That price, $0.99, is so popular with those who care more about getting readers than making millions (at least for now), that all the books on today's list are currently available at that price, unless otherwise stated. Below are a few that I've run across, mostly from postings by the authors themselves. Unlike those big name writers at the major publishing houses, the independents have to do all their own publicity, so you'll find them haunting many forums where books are being discussed, especially those discussing Kindle books, since Amazon makes it so much easier for them to find an audience (vanity presses and print on demand are there for hard copies, but the cost per book often means that only a few read them outside of libraries).

The Complete User's Guide To the Amazing Amazon Kindle 2: A Kindle Owners Toolkit Of Over 500 Tips, Tricks, & Links (For Amazons Revolutionary e-Book Reader & Free Wireless Web Browser) by Stephen Windwalker has been marked down to 99 cents (from $2.39). For those who haven't done much with their Kindle 2 other than read books purchased from Amazon, this is a must have purchase. What if you still have the Kindle 1 (or have both)? This older version ($3.99) is still available, but has been updated for the Kindle 2 (and no longer seems to be the recommended edition). The only copy of the original Kindle 1 Guide I could find is this Complete User's Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle 1 & Complete Step-by-Step Guide To Publishing for the Kindle combo edition ($9.99). Frankly, many of the tips in this guide will work on the Kindle 1, in any case. Sure, the buttons are bit different, but most of the information on using the web and finding free books will apply to both. Some of the techniques will be different (deleting content from the Home page, for example, or the use of the Content Manager), but the information on using GMAIL or publishing your own content to your Kindle will be useful to all Kindle owners. What if you are using the iPhone, though, you ask? He's got that covered too, with No Kindle Required. Many of the added features in the Kindle are not needed in the iPhone/iPod Touch, what with Safari and more built in, so this title concentrates on using the reading app, shopping in the store and syncing your devices, if you have more than one. Also included are excerpts from the Kindle 2 title, so you may only need this latter volume if you have both.

Sandy Nathan's Numenon (Bloodsong Series) has received good reviews in paperback (18.95) and has now been marked down to $0.99. There are no reviews on the Kindle Edition, which seems to be a common problem amongst some independent, self-published authors, as they are very much dependent on Amazon linking their different editions together. I couldn't pass up what a reviewer called an adult Harry Potter of epic proportions similar to Clan of the Cave Bear (neither of which is available for the Kindle). Set in modern times, an RV caravan of modern Native Americans are driving towards a religious retreat when "all hell breaks loose."

A couple of other authors have figured out how to link in their hard copy reviews (or been lucky) and they have also ventured into the 99 cent territory this week. Bobby's Trace by Edward Patterson and The Feathery by Bill Flynn have solid 4 to 5 star reviews. I'll admit the first isn't a genre I normally read, but horror/ghost stories are very popular and how often does a computer programmer get a starring role? The lead character has lost his life partner to AIDS, but the story revolves more around his relationship (much like Brokeback Mountain) and grief, rather than being in the gay erotica genre. The Feathery is a more mainstream title, with good old-fashioned intrigue and murder over the possession of sports memorabilia (in this case, an original golf ball from when the game was invented). You get a little history, a little PGA golf tour and British Opens and what is looking to be a great read, all for under a buck!

Keith Knapp has updated Moonlight for the Kindle, something that isn't possible with traditional publishing. Readers found some formatting issues, he fixed them and all you have to do is redownload the book to get the new version. Moonlight is an apocalyptic horror tale and, as he says, "not for little children". If storms tend to take down the electricity in your area, I'd recommend that you read it during the day (or somewhere with a generator), since everything begins when the power fails and the lights go out...

Bryan Belrad's Rage of Night also looks to be an intriguing horror/fantasy tale, even if two of the reviews read like aid advertisements or as if they were written by the author or his mother. But an honest, but good, third review holds out promise that it's an 80 cents that won't be wasted (and let's face it - that isn't enough to get you something from the bargain menu at McDonald's, anymore).

One I just started reading is Boyd Morrison's The Adamas Blueprint. When I reached the end of the sample, I not only bought this book, but both of the others for the Kindle: The Ark and The Palmyra Impact ($1.59 each). This a a pure action/thriller, not fantasy, and I definitely recommend it.

A Death at the North Pole by Joel Andre is another self-published mystery and has received mostly positive reviews (although one said he could stand to do a little more proofreading). A prominent figure (guess who?) is killed at the North Pole and a cynical detective sets off to solve the murder. As you can probably guess, not one you will want to use as a bedtime story for the little ones.

Shadow of the Ghost: Book 1: Lord of Chaos Trilogy by Tanner Artesz is $0.99 thru the end of the month. The second book in the trilogy is planned for a May release and will also debut at that price when released. I'll admit I haven't gotten more than a couple of chapters into this one and I'm not sure when I'll get back to it, as it is a fairly complicated fantasy, but the reviews and reader comments on other forums are a solid four stars.

Another fantasy that I may start on, instead, is The Gateway (Harbinger of Doom) by Glenn Thater. Dennis Batchelder, author of Soul Identity had this to say: "set in a world of men, gnomes, elves, and wizards, [The Gateway] asks a tough question: what if we've got it all wrong? What if the God we follow turned bad, and the one we call the Devil is really a maligned angel on a quest to rid the world of evil? So goes Thater's tale, and he tells it in a voice as pretentious as Tolkein's." Tolkien may have been pretentious, but that isn't always a bad thing, at least in his case. In any event, it's in my TBR queue.

If you prefer a female heroine, be sure to pick up Catherine M. Wilson's When Women Were Warriors Book I. The first in a trilogy, with Warriors Book II and Book III both available for the Kindle (but $7.99 each), When Women Were Warriors is set in a world where women are nurturing and warriors, rather than attempting to set a female heroine in a man's world. Relationships and personal growth are as much, if not more, a part of this series as strength of arms and war. Warning: This series does include some scenes of F-F sex.

Another female heroine, albeit a dead one, is central to Charlie Martin's Shadowslayers (Blackwood) ($0.80). A sorceress who has fallen in battle, she works from the afterlife while her husband, another powerful wizard, stands the empires last chance against the evil dragon-god Derrezen. One reviewer was even motivated to buy her own paperback copy, after reading a friend's copy, a sure sign of a great re-readable book.

And of course, there are some I've mentioned earlier this month: Soul Identity ($.01), Mighty Hammer Down ($.99), Legends of WitchBane ($0.99), Empress ($1), Pleasure Unbound ($1). These (and some others above) are all time-limited reductions in price and at the last two are scheduled to go up in April.

So, there you have it - twelve good picks at 99 cents, two at 80 cents, one for a penny and the last two at a dollar each. Seventeen titles you can pick up for less than the cost of a single hardback at your local bookstore, a total of $15.49, and without even leaving your house (or the beach).