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August #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence, Alex Bledsoe's Wisp of a Thing, Marko Kloos, Alan Cumming, Tim Powers, and much more
Posted on 2016-08-30 at 16:07 by Sam
August is almost over, which means it's #WhispersyncDeal roundup time! Before I get to the regular Monthly Deals in Kindle Books and 50 Kindle Book Deals for $2 Each listings, and the huge list of titles in Audible's "3 years of daily deals" sale, though, a completely separate deal headlines my picks this month:
Per Tor and Tor.com editor Marco Palmieri, Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence is moving from Tor Books to Tor.com Publishing, and the series-wide $4.99 sale continues through August. The bad news is that only books 1 and 2 (Three Parts Dead, actually just $3.99 in Kindle during the deal, and Two Serpents Rise, both fantastic) are in audio -- yes, you've seen the other books in my "most missing" roundups ever since -- but the good news is that both are Whispersync-enabled, with a $4.49 Audible add-on price tag. "A god has died, and it's up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart. Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis's steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot. Tara's job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who's having an understandable crisis of faith. When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb's courts--and their quest for the truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb's slim hope of survival. Set in a phenomenally built world in which justice is a collective force bestowed on a few, craftsmen fly on lightning bolts, and gargoyles can rule cities, Three Parts Dead introduces readers to an ethical landscape in which the line between right and wrong blurs." Claudia Alick reads Three Parts Dead, and Chris Andrew Ciulla reads Two Serpents Rise.
Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged alan cumming, alan moore, alex bledsoe, jasper fforde, john malkovich, john scalzi, kevin j anderson, kurt vonnegut, luke daniels, marko kloos, max gladstone, oliver wyman, rachel aaron, richard armitage, robin miles, simon vance, stefan rudnicki, tananarive due, tim gerard reynolds, victor bevine, vikas adam, wil wheaton
Wednesday's #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Connie Willis, Diana Gabaldon, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Matthew Reilly
Posted on 2016-08-10 at 20:20 by Sam
Bit too big of a day to link them all one at a time, so here’s four great deals today to check out:
Blackout (All Clear Book 1) by Connie Willis, read by Katherine Kellgren for $1.99+$4.49 is the first half of the Hugo Award winning time-travel duology Blackout/All Clear: “Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place, with scores of time-traveling historians being sent into the past. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser into letting her go to VE-Day. Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments and switching around everyone’s schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, and dive-bombing Stukas—to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.”
Outlander: A Novel by Diana Gabaldon, read by Davina Porter for $1.99+$3.99 — Now a television series on Starz: “Unrivaled storytelling. Unforgettable characters. Rich historical detail. These are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldon’s work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured the hearts of millions of fans. Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion and history that combines exhilarating adventure with a love story for the ages. Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord … 1743.”
Sailing to Sarantium: Book One of the Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay, read by Bernie Clark for $3.99+$4.49 — First published in 1998, a richly layered fantasy (what else?) from Kay: “Crispin is a master mosaicist, creating beautiful art with colored stones and glass. Summoned to Sarantium by imperial request, he bears a Queen’s secret mission, and a talisman from an alchemist. Once in the fabled city, with its taverns and gilded sanctuaries, chariot races and palaces, intrigues and violence, Crispin must find his own source of power in order to survive-and unexpectedly discovers it high on the scaffolding of his own greatest creation.”
Not a Whispersync deal but rather Audible.com’s Daily Deal today is The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly, read by Rich Orlow for $3.95 — “In the blockbuster and best-selling tradition of Jurassic Park comes the breakneck new adventure from New York Times and number-one internationally best-selling author Matthew Reilly, whose imaginative, cinematic thrillers “make you feel like a kid again; [they’re] a blast” (Booklist). It is a secret the Chinese government has been keeping for 40 years. They have proven the existence of dragons - a landmark discovery no one could ever believe is real and a scientific revelation that will amaze the world. Now the Chinese are ready to unveil their astonishing findings within the greatest zoo ever constructed. A small group of VIPs and journalists has been brought to the zoo deep within China to see these fabulous creatures for the first time. Among them is Dr. Cassandra Jane “CJ” Cameron, a writer for National Geographic, and an expert on reptiles. The visitors are assured by their Chinese hosts that they will be struck with wonder at these beasts, that the dragons are perfectly safe, and that nothing can go wrong. Of course it can’t…”
Posted in Whispersync Deals
July #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Ken Liu, Kat Howard, Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Matheson, Walter Mosley, Field of Dreams, Scott Westerfeld's Zeroes, and much more
Posted on 2016-07-29 at 22:59 by Sam
July brought a refreshed list of Summer Reading Deals and 50 Kindle Books for $2 Each to the Kindle store, and there's over 700 titles in there, 387 of which are Whispersync for Voice enabled in the "Summer Reading Deals" alone. (There's another 46 in the $2 Kindle listings.) What's most worth checking out? There's a lot, even there, including a few titles from 2016 from Saga Press and Simon & Schuster Audio, classics, and more. Here you go, starting with those Saga/S&S titles that I can hardly believe can be had for this price so soon:
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu, read by for $1.99+$3.99 -- Even with all of the other audiobooks in this roundup, I absolutely have to lead off right here. Liu is one of the great young writers of science fiction and fantasy today, and this collection includes some absolutely fantastic stories: "Best-selling author Ken Liu selects his award-winning science fiction and fantasy tales for a groundbreaking collection - including a brand-new piece exclusive to this volume. With his debut novel, The Grace of Kings, taking the literary world by storm, Ken Liu now shares his finest short fiction in The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. This mesmerizing collection features all of Ken's award-winning and award-finalist stories, including: "The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary" (finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Theodore Sturgeon Awards); "Mono No Aware" (Hugo Award winner); "The Waves" (Nebula Award finalist); "The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species" (Nebula and Sturgeon Award finalist); "All the Flavors" (Nebula award finalist); "The Litigation Master and the Monkey King" (Nebula Award finalist); and the most awarded story in the genre's history, "The Paper Menagerie" (the only story to win the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards). A must-have for every science fiction and fantasy fan, this beautiful book is an anthology to savor."
Read more...Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged brandon mull, kat howard, ken liu, octavia butler, scott westerfeld
Downpour's 100-title science fiction $5.95 audiobook sale: Ian McDonald's Luna: New Moon, Molly Tanzer's Vermilion, Cory Doctorow, Jeff VanderMeer, Ray Bradbury, and more:
Posted on 2016-07-25 at 02:39 by Sam
In Downpour’s 100-book $5.95 Sci-Fi sale there are dozens of highly-rated and recommended titles. Here’s what most caught my eye, from a quartet of great titles from 2015, to Cory Doctorow, Jeff VanderMeer, Catherine Asaro, Walter Mosley, Jane Rogers, and Brenda Cooper, to classics from Ray Bradbury and Walter M. Miller. (If you really love classic sf there’s plenty of Heinlein and Bova to peruse as well.)
Happy $5.95 deal-hunting! But don’t wait too long, this sale ends July 31.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged downpour
June #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Umberto Eco, T. Kingfisher, Scott Meyer, Rysa Walker, Gwenda Bond, Steve McHugh, Dennis Lehane, Ian Fleming, and more
Posted on 2016-06-25 at 20:01 by Sam
Between this month's Summer Reading Deals in Kindle Books and 50 Kindle Book Deals for $2 Each listings there's quite a few (over 300!) Whispersync for Voice titles to check out. From comedic fantasy to YA time travel, Umberto Eco to new fiction in translation, there's something for everybody to check out:
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco for $2.99+$3.99 is the legendary Eco's award-winning first novel, read by the marvelous Sean Barrett along with Nicholas Rowe and Neville Jason: "The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon—all sharpened to a glistening edge by wry humor and a ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey, where “the most interesting things happen at night.”"
The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher, read by Kaylin Heath for $1.99+$1.99 -- T. Kingfisher is the Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominated author Ursula Vernon's pseudonym for writing for grownups. Here: "Young Rhea is a miller's daughter of low birth, so she is understandably surprised when a mysterious nobleman, Lord Crevan, shows up on her doorstep and proposes marriage. Since commoners don't turn down lords - no matter how sinister they may seem - Rhea is forced to agree to the engagement. Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat "Come back before dawn, or else I'll marry you." With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever."
Spell or High Water and An Unwelcome Quest by Scott Meyer, read by Luke Daniels for $1.99+$1.99 each, are Books 2 and 3 of the Magic 2.0 series: "Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard. What could possibly go wrong? An American hacker in King Arthur’s court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin…and not, y’know, die or anything." While Book 1 of the series, Off to Be the Wizard, isn't in this month's sale listings, it is however one of those "evergreen" Whispersync deals at $3.99+$1.99, so if you haven't jumped aboard this series, it's still crazy cheap to get started.
Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged amy mcfadden, amy rubinate, aric davis, ayse kulin, dennis lehane, gwenda bond, ian fleming, james bond, jeff strand, kate rudd, luke daniels, mary robinette kowal, rysa walker, scott meyer, sean barrett, simon vance, t kingfisher, the name of the rose, umberto eco
Audible's $4.95 "Editors' Picks" sale ends today: Octavia E. Butler, Ursula K. Le guin, Cixin Liu, Lev Grossman, Patrick Rothfuss, Susanna Clarke, Junot Diaz, Justin Cronin, and more
Posted on 2016-06-13 at 14:29 by Sam
And there are a ton of science fiction and fantasy books to choose from. Here's my absolute favorite audiobooks from the sale:
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged audible
A toxic need for closure -- James reviews The Girl on the Train
Posted on 2016-06-11 at 19:33 by Sam
The Girl on the Train By Paula Hawkins Read by
-- Review by James Alexander --
The hype surrounding The Girl on the Train, especially given the upcoming film adaptation, may want you to believe it is the next Gone Girl. It’s not. It’s nowhere near as sensational or propulsive as that. This is a drama set at a much lower key, which makes up for its melodrama by taking things in a darker, more personal direction.
Read more...Posted in reviews | Tagged james alexander, the girl on the train
May #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Ink Mage, The Oddfits, Neal Pollack, Wayward Pines, Evermen, Ania Ahlborn, and more
Posted on 2016-05-31 at 01:22 by Sam
Of the about 300 titles in the Monthly Deals listings, 142 are listed as "eBooks with Audible Narration" which, I gather, is how the Kindle store has been listing what used to be called "Whispersync for Voice" titles these days. I'm going to continue calling these "Whipsersync Deals" and this month we get Clive Barker, Neal Pollack, Blake Crouch, James Maxwell, Ania Ahlborn, Susan Ee, Robert Dugoni, Stuart Neville, Michael Wallace, and tons more, and though again as last month there's not a whole lot of "absolute must buys" at the very top, Victor Gischler's Ink Mage series and Tiffany Tsao's The Oddfits come awfully close; and, again as last month, this is coming out riiiiiight at the very end of the month again, so don't wait too long as these deals end at midnight or thereabouts on May 31/June 1:
Ink Mage, The Tattooed Duchess, and A Painted Goddess by Victor Gischler, read by Fiona Hardingham for $1.99+$1.99 each are the complete A Fire Beneath the Skin trilogy: "In the first installment of the A Fire Beneath the Skin trilogy, the city of Klaar has never fallen. No enemy has ever made it across the Long Bridge or penetrated the city’s mighty walls. Even when a powerful invading army shows up at the gates, the duke and his daughter, Rina Veraiin, are certain that it poses little threat. But they are cruelly betrayed from within and, in a horrific spasm of violence, the city is brought to its knees. With the help of her bodyguard, Kork, the battle-trained young Rina narrowly escapes the slaughter and makes her way to the lair of an ancient sorcerer—the Ink Mage—who gifts her with a strange, beautiful set of magical tattoos. Now a duchess in exile, Rina sets out on a quest to reclaim what is rightfully hers, aided by a motley assortment of followers who will help her in her cause—some for noble reasons and others for their own dark purposes. With the enemy’s agents nipping at her heels, Rina must learn to harness her new and startling magical powers if she is to assert her rightful place as ruler of Klaar."
The Oddfits by Tiffany Tsao, read by Nico Evers-Swindell for $1.99+$1.99 was just published by AmazonCrossing and Brilliance Audio in February this year; shelved as "literary speculative fiction" it's right in my wheelhouse and, perhaps, oddly enough in yours: "Eight-year-old Murgatroyd Floyd doesn’t fit in—not as a blue-eyed blonde living in Singapore, not in school, and certainly not with his aloof expatriate parents, who seem determined to make his life even harder. Unbeknownst to him, there’s a reason why he’s always the odd boy out: he is an Oddfit, a rare type of human with access to the More Known World, a land invisible to most people. Yet unfortunate circumstances keep Murgatroyd stranded in the Known World, bumbling through life with the feeling that an extraordinary something is waiting for him just beyond reach. Seventeen years later, that something finally arrives when a secret organization dedicated to exploring the More Known World invites Murgatroyd on a mission. But as the consummate loser begins to grow into the Oddfit he was meant to be, the Known World becomes bent on exterminating him. For once in his underachieving life, will Murgatroyd Floyd exceed expectations and outsmart those trying to thwart his stupendous destiny?"
Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged ania ahlborn, blake crouch, neal pollack, simon vance, tiffany tsao, victor gischler
April #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Christopher Moore's The Serpent of Venice and Jonathan Coe's Expo 58, Christie Golden, Wiley Cash, The Twenty-Sided Sorceress, and more
Posted on 2016-04-30 at 01:06 by Sam
There are 165 Whispersync-for-Voice-enabled titles on sale in this month's Monthly Deals in Kindle Books, but... there aren't too many that really catch my eye, and only a few really, really top shelf titles. But! Those are quite good ones indeed, so, as this is coming out riiiiiight at the end of the month (sorry folks!) take a quick look; and once I get through the monthly titles, I do have a few indie picks this month, including a countdown deal, as well as a new audiobook adaptation of Jane Eyre which is newly Whispersync-enabled as well. So read on to the end!
The Serpent of Venice: A Novel by Christopher Moore, read by Euan Morton for $1.99+$3.99 -- "New York Times best-selling author Christopher Moore channels William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe in this satiric Venetian gothic featuring the irresistibly mischievous Pocket, the eponymous hero of Fool. Venice, a really long time ago: Three prominent Venetians await their most loathsome and foul dinner guest, the erstwhile envoy from Britain who also happens to be a favorite of the Doge: The rascal-Fool Pocket. This trio of cunning plotters have lured Pocket to a dark dungeon, promising a spirited evening. Their invitation is, of course, bogus. These scoundrels have something far less amusing planned for the man who has consistently foiled their quest for power and wealth. But this Fool is no fool.... Once again, Christopher Moore delivers a rousing literary satire: A dramedy mash-up rich with delights, including (but not limited to): Foul plots; counterplots; true love; jealousy; murder; betrayal; revenge; codpieces; a pound of flesh; occasional debauchery; and water (lots of water). Not to mention a cast Shakespeare himself would be proud of: Shylock; Iago; Othello; a bunch of other guys whose names end in o; a trio of comely wenches; the brilliant Fool; his large sidekick, Drool; Jeff, the pet monkey; a lovesick sea serpent; and a ghost (yes, there's always a bloody ghost). Wickedly witty and outrageously inventive, The Serpent of Venice pays cheeky homage to the Bard and illuminates the absurdity of the human."
Read more...Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged annie bellet, christopher moore, jonathan coe, wiley cash
March WhispersyncDeal roundup: A Head Full of Ghosts, A Dirty Job, Three, Anno Dracula, Kurt Vonnegut, Tibetan Peach Pie, Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, and more
Posted on 2016-03-21 at 17:37 by Sam
This one's coming later in the month than I'd like, but I've been dumping my free time into Tom Clancy's The Division and listening with rapt attention to Simon Vance's narration of We, the Drowned. Of the 164 Whispersync-enabled
A Head Full of Ghosts: A Novel by Paul Tremblay, read by Joy Osmanski for $1.99+$3.99 -- One of the best books of 2015, nominated for the Bram Stoker Award: "A chilling thriller that brilliantly blends domestic drama, psychological suspense, and a touch of modern horror, reminiscent of Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves, John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Let the Right One In, and Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents’ despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie’s descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts’ plight.
Read more...Posted in Uncategorized, Whispersync Deals | Tagged anno dracula, bronson pinchot, christopher moore, grady hendrix, jay posey, jay snyder, john joseph adams, john malkovich, kate rudd, kim newman, kurt vonnegut, luke daniels, michael page, oliver wyman, pat frank, paul tremblay, scott lynch
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