This is a little late, but the deals are still good for the next eight hours or so in the US.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000677541
Does anyone want to recommend any of these fantasy series?
I was considering Dawn by Octavia Butler or Winterlong by Elizabeth Hand.
I’ll probably also get “When Gravity Fails” even though I know it has a mixed reputation on this board.
Winterlong was a strange little book, but had an interesting premise/setting which I enjoyed greatly (I don’t remember anything about the sequels, apparently they weren’t very… memorable). Somewhat on the border between fantasy and speculative SF.
It looks like the only other book on this list I’ve read is The Infinity Concerto by Greg Bear. Another odd one. Interesting take on Fae – they are all nasty, annoying, and very dangerous creatures. People who wander into the Sidhe lands (most are transported by music) just want to GTFO because Sidhe lands are boring and foul, and the company is terrible. At times unpleasant, but compelling.
Anything by Octavia Butler is worth it. I might buy that one even though I’ve already read it, several times.
I’ve read two books on that list. One is the first in Fritz Leiber’s classic Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser series, which I read many, many years ago and thought at the time was worth reading but not an absolute favorite. The other is Sorcery and Cecilia, which is worth reading if the fact that it’s a Jane Austen-flavored epistolary novel intrigues you rather than scaring you away.
Definitely consider Dawn. The good thing about it (in addition to the fact that Octavia Butler was one of SF’s best writers) is that it’s self contained: the other books in the trilogy, while part of the same overarching story, also stand on their own.
Tales of Neveryon (pronounced “nuh-VER-ee-on”) is not one of Chip’s best, but it’s still better than most SF novels, with rich characterization and setting.
I liked When Gravity Fails. This also is self-contained; I never read the others in the series simply because I didn’t see them when they came out.
I haven’t read it, but Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Saint-Germain novels are a well regarded vampire series.
I’d also recommend R. A. Macavoy: I haven’t read Lens of the World but her first novel, Tea with the Black Dragon was terrific and the Damiano Trilogy was also very good.
I’d also recommend Pam Sargent.
The Windrose Chronicles by Barbara Hambly are good, but don’t read them super close together or the author’s idiosyncrasies will make you insane. (I don’t think she does the same thing in her other series, but in this one, talk of a character’s “mad eyes” made me want to poke mine out.)
I’ve read some Kate Elliott but have yet to finish a series by her. Lots of other series that I’ve heard of but have little to say about.
The Gor books are the BEST smut fantasy ever.*
The first book (Tarnsman of Gor) is actually not that bad. The sex slave theme is a minor thread at this point in the series.
Does it? I hadn’t realized. Give me the names of people who font like it, and I’ll have them banned immediately.
Hmm, maybe not. I remember a recent thread where it was dissed, but that was probably just an outlier. I’ve been hearing good things about it from this board for years.
Anyway, about two and half hours left on the deal, if anyone else wants to get in on it. Thank you, everyone, for your advice. I knew this board would have tons of people who had read these series. I ended up getting the Effinger and Hand books and putting the Octavia Butler and R.A. Macavoy on my library list (since the local library actually has those). I’ve been reading synopses and reviews all evening; who knew being a cheapskate was so much work?