Whispersync Deal Roundup: Night Shade Books, the Baen Free Library, and The Shambling Guide to New York City

Whispersync Deal Roundup: Night Shade Books, the Baen Free Library, and The Shambling Guide to New York City

Posted on 2014-02-27 at 19:01 by Sam

Thursday, February 27, 2014: I didn’t see a particular Kindle Daily Deal title to feature today, so I’ll take the time to write up a few more “general” cases. First up, because I understand this to be a limited time offer (though my inquiries as to how long have not yet made it through the aether and spam filter and inbox queue yet, or, most likely, didn’t look to be worth answering) is from Night Shade Books, which has put a pretty sizable crop of its titles on sale. (BUT WHERE IS MY JM McDERMOTT? MY KAMERON HURLEY? MY ELI MONPRESS?! NIGHT SHADE BOOKS I ASK YOU. Er. Sorry. I now return you to our regularly scheduled program.)

I mentioned Teresa Frohock’s Miserere: An Autumn Tale in my last big roundup of Whispersync deals, and it’s still on sale for $2.99, plus a $3.99 upgrade to the Eileen Stevens-narrated Audible edition.

The Constantine Affliction (Pimm and Skye) by T. Aaron Payton, read by John Lee for Audible. Lee is a masterful narrator, with some favorites of mine including China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station. “Payton” is otherwise known as Tim Pratt. (And T.A. Pratt. And “that bastard who is both more good looking and prolific and hard-working than me. Poop on him. Esquire.“)

A few more that caught my eye: Hitchers by Will McIntosh, read by Andy Paris for Recorded Books; Zendegi by Greg Egan, read by Parisa Johnston for Audible; and Yarn by Jon Armstrong, read by Mark Boyett for Audible Frontiers. They’re all in the $4 Kindle plus $4 Whispersync upgrade to Audible range.

Next general category: The Baen Free Library includes a lot of titles, but once Baen signed a distribution deal with Amazon for Kindle ebook sales, the ebooks juggernaut’s price matching meant a pretty good decimation was in order. Still, plenty of titles somehow remain free in both places, and some of them even have Whispersync upgrade prices.

While book one (free in Kindle) doesn’t (yet?) have a Whispersync upgrade option, book two of David Weber’s Honor Harrington series, The Honor of the Queen (Honor Harrington), does — free plus $1.99 is pretty darned cheap. This is also apparently the book which forms the bulk of the basis for the current script work on the first film based on the series. Another Weber title, the fantasy Oath of Swords (War God), is also “free plus $1.99” in audio.

Also priced at “free” plus $1.99 Whispersync upgrade is the first book in David Drake’s “Lt. Leary” series, With the Lightnings (Lt. Leary). I’ve listened to and enjoyed this one, narrated by sf narrator of legend Victor Bevine.

And, while not “free plus” I have to mention Mark Van Name’s “Jon and Lobo” series, starting with 2007’s One Jump Ahead (Jon and Lobo), continuing with Slanted Jack (Jon and Lobo), Overthrowing Heaven (Jon and Lobo), and Children No More (Jon and Lobo) all available for $6.83 on Kindle and (with the exception of Children No More) with a $1.99 Whispersync upgrade to the Audible edition, ready superbly by Tom Stechschulte. The most recent book in the series, 2012’s No Going Back (Jon and Lobo), is $9.99 in Kindle and is Whispersync for Voice enabled to the tune of $1.99. I’m hoping for the next book in this series later this year. Both Children No More and No Going Back were solidly 5-star listens for me — this is a space action/adventure sf series you should be reading. Er. Listening to.

Since I’m already talking about $6.83 plus $1.99, how about Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Spirit Ring, Beguilement (The Sharing Knife, Book 1), and Paladin of Souls? How about them.

Lastly, from Orbit’s “Orbital Drop” ebook feature: The Shambling Guide to New York City (The Shambling Guides) by Mur Lafferty is still on sale for $1.99 in Kindle, with a $10.99 Whispersync upgrade to the Audible edition, read by the author for Hachette Audio. Certainly on the higher range, but still well under most people’s per-credit cost. Still time to catch up on this series ahead of the release of book two, Ghost Train to New Orleans (The Shambling Guides), in just a few days.

OK, so it wasn’t “lastly” after all. Since it’s still seriously on sale, another mention for Three (Legends of the Duskwalker) by Jay Posey, narrated by Luke Daniels, available for $1.99 Kindle plus $3.49 Whispersync for Voice upgrade to the Audible edition. And Six Heirs (The Secret of Ji, Volume One) by Pierre Grimbert, read by Michael Page. And Slam by Lewis Shiner, read by Stefan Rudnicki. And Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence) by Max Gladstone, read by Claudia Alick for Blackstone Audio. And…

Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged angry robot on brilliance audio, baen, david drake, david weber, honor harrington, jay posey, john lee, luke daniels, mark van name, mur lafferty, night shade books, the shambling guide to new york city, three, tom stechschulte