Did you know that Amazon has a list of the top-selling and free sci-fi and fantasy books? The list changes constantly — authors and publishers set their books to free temporarily to promote their work, and, of course, books move up and down in the rankings. Read on to find your fun free read for this weekend! And grab the books quickly because they don’t always stay free for long.
This week’s list is completely different from those of the previous weeks. So if you’re a fan of free books, there are going to be new things to read all the time. If you want to get this list in your inbox every Friday afternoon, subscribe to the MetaStellar weekly newsletter.
There are a lot of books to go through, so this week I’m being helped out by a couple of other members of our MetaStellar community. If you’d like to join me in doing these reviews — and taping our regular Free Friday videos — email me at maria@metastellar.com.
5. Renegade Refuge by Krys D. W. Wylie
This is the first of five books in the Bringing Home the Chaos paranormal romance series. The other books are $3.99 each, but are all in Kindle Unlimited. This is the author’s first time on our Free Friday list.
From E.S. Foster:
This story had a really interesting premise when I started reading, so I’m excited to write this review. It begins with Jo, a young witch who just accidentally killed someone.
She’s standing in the middle of a building that had just been destroyed by her magic. It was a complete accident, but it killed her mentor and the man who had taken her in, as she lost her family a long time ago. Because this mentor is dead, Jo doesn’t care when a group of military personnel appears and breaks down the door of the room she’s been hiding in.
Out of shock and deep regret for her mistake, Jo thinks there’s no hope for her and says she doesn’t care what the people want. One of them explains that they’re here to help. They want to recruit her for a secret branch within the military, one that deals with the supernatural. Seeing no other option, Jo agrees.
Some time later, Jo gives a lecture to the organization explaining how not all witches are evil, and that any witch present can be integrated back into society. The attendees ask her a few questions about how magic works, but one guy is skeptical. He says that he thinks all witches should be punished with death, and he admits that he’s already killed several supernatural beings.
Why he’s here when it’s implied this lecture is for people who, in fact, are themselves supernatural, I have no idea. I definitely wouldn’t admit something like that. Doesn’t he know that that entire room could likely kill him with magic?
To put the guy in his place, Jo uses magic on him to freeze him. When she unfreezes him, he jumps her — in the middle of the lecture, I might add — but Jo subdues him using magic and a little dose of sarcasm. I’m really starting to like her.
Jo is a fascinating character to me. She’s got a tough exterior and a sarcastic side, which makes her headspace engaging. I also really like the premise of this story and how it’s moving forward. I think I might continue with this one.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
4. Blue Moon by Lori Handeland
This is the first of eleven books in The Nightcreature Novels, a paranormal romance series. The other books are $3.99 each, and are not in Kindle Unlimited. The author has been on our Free Friday list before.
From Maria Korolov:
The naked chest on the cover, and the sliver of moon in the background, tells you a lot about what kind of book this is. And — disclaimer! — it’s not the kind of book I like. I’m not saying that I’m a prude and hate sexy times. I’m saying that I hate romance and love and all things good and wonderful. I’m not saying I have issues… okay, I’ve got issues. So keep that in mind. My review of this book could be a little tiny wee bit biased.
Our protagonist Jessie is a small town cop in northern Wisconsin. She bored, cranky, and hoping something interesting will happen. I like her. She’s snarky and sarcastic. I like the way she banters with the dispatcher. I like the way that the local woo-woo legends piss her off.
Besides her and the sheriff, there are six other officers in the town’s department, but they hire more in the summer to handle tourists. And it’s the third week of summer now, so stupid tourists are all over the place. Like the one who stopped a luxury SUV is in the middle of the road. Jessie stops and finds that there was damage to the vehicle, and drops of blood on the pavement. She looks around, but doesn’t see any signs of a wounded animal, or person, and opens the SUV’s door. There’s a woman behind the wheel, with a bump on her head and glassy eyes. The woman says she hit a wolf, and when she came out to check on it, thinking it was a dog, the wolf bit her.
One of the summer cops arrives at the scene and Jessie tells him to take the driver to the clinic while she tries to find the wolf. If she can find the wolf, she might be able to spare the victim from having to get rabies shots. The other cop is hesitant to leave Jessie alone to look for the wolf. But she’s lived there all her life, and is the best hunter on the force. She shuts the guy down and heads into the forest.
Again, I like her a lot. She’s confident, smart, capable. And she’s got no interest in marriage. I like that about her, but I have my doubts about how long that attitude is going to last, since there’s a naked guy’s chest on the cover. Maybe she’ll sleep with him then shoot him dead immediately afterwards. I can hope, can’t I?
Then the blood trail she’s been following disappears near a log cabin. Jessie picks up the trail again near a bush. There’s something in it. It’s a naked guy.
Darn it.
She feels the same way I do. She was looking for a wounded wolf, not a hot naked guy.
She ignores how hot the naked guy is and asks him if he’s seen a wolf running by. He tells her that she’s not going to find the wolf.
And he was right. She continues searching but can’t find the wolf, and eventually goes back to her car. The SUV has already been towed away. And the woman driver — the one who was bit — was taken to the hospital but left the hospital after refusing to get the rabies shots.
Even though she’s supposed to be off-duty by now, Jessie decides to track the woman down. Turns out, she’s not a tourist after all but one of the teachers at a local school. And when Jessie gets to the school, everyone is panicking.
Jessie pulls her gun out and goes inside, figuring that it was an active shooter situation. She doesn’t hear any gunshots, but she does her crying, and finds the woman driver holding a little boy up in the air. The woman also has pink foam coming out of her mouth. Not a good look.
And there was someone else on the floor near by, an adult man, not moving, with blood spattered all around.
Jessie tells the woman to put down the little boy. Instead, the woman makes a move like she’s going to bite the kid’s throat, so Jessie shoots her in the head.
No, wait, it wasn’t Jessie who fired the gun. It was the sheriff, who’d come up behind her.
So, I love the start of this book. I like Jessie. I like the dispatcher. I like the way she handles everything that comes at her. She reminds me a bit of Anita Blake in Laurell Hamilton’s Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. The early books, before Anita got too busy with all the boyfriend drama to actually have time to hunt any vampires.
I’m going to stick with it.
I know I said it’s not my kind of book. But I really like Jessie and I like the writing style and the pacing and the whole police procedural feel.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
3. Chosen by Samantha Britt
This is the first of three books in the Curse of the Draekon romantasy series by a USA Today bestselling author. The other books are $4.99 and $5.99, but are both in Kindle Unlimited. The author has been on our Free Friday list before.
From Maria Korolov:
This is a dragon shifter fantasy romance — at least, that’s what the subtitle says — and the only word of that I like is “dragon.” And “fantasy.” I like the word fantasy. I don’t like shifters very much because it implies a love story. The term werewolf — to me, at least — implies silver bullets to the skull.
As a result, you’ll have to take this review under advisement of the chip on my shoulder.
The book is set in a fantasy kingdom, one that has flying, fire-breathing dragons in it.
Our protagonist, Lissa, is justifiably wary of them. When the book opens, we see her trying to stay as still as possible so the dragon flying overhead doesn’t see her. It doesn’t, and she’s continues on her way — to the house of a friend whose sister has a dislocated arm. Lissa seems to have some medical skills, and is able to set the arm.
We also learn that this is the poorest region in this kingdom. Lissa’s parents moved there when she was five, then abandoned her and her two siblings to a guardian. And we also find out that Lissa is 18, and is already the best-known healer in the region. Though she is getting somewhat bored with the repetitive nature of her work.
Meanwhile, a population census is coming up. Agents would scour the kingdom and if they found someone they liked they’d take them back to the capital to serve the dragons. Her older brother deliberately gave himself a scar so that he wouldn’t be chosen and could continue to provide for the family. The dragons prefer pretty, perfect people. He suspects that Lissa hasn’t been chosen because she’s a healer and valuable where she is. But this is the first year when the youngest sibling is old enough for the census, and Lissa and her brother are both worried about her — so they’re trying hard to find her a job. If they fail, their sister could be taken away, never to return, to spend her life as a servant — or, worse, as a concubine.
However, the local lord’s son — and part dragon — seems to take a particular interest in Lissa. And when she explains about trying to save her sister from the census, he instructs her to keep her inside during the week of the census.
And there are rumors of a human rebellion against the dragon rulers of the kingdom.
The book moves slowly. I’m eight chapters in, and I’ve learned a lot about life in the village — and the kingdom — and the people in Lissa’s life. But there hasn’t been anything to show what the book’s plot is going to be, other than hints about the rebellion. Will she be taken by the census? Will her sister? Will she join the rebels?
It’s an easy read, and I can see why the writer is a bestselling author, but it’s moving too slowly for my taste.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
2. After The Flash by Colton Lively, Roger Hayden, J.S. Donovan, and Clay Wise
This is a box set of four standalone books in the 97-book EMP Survival in a Powerless World series, all of which is in Kindle Unlimited. The four books in this box set are Powerless Dawn by Colton Lively, Storm Surge by J.S Donovan, Hideaway by Roger Hayden, and Whiteout by Clay Wise. Colton Lively, J.S. Donovan, and Clay Wise have all been on our Free Friday list before, but Roger Hayden is new.
From Alex Korolov:
An EMP survival book is one where an electromagnetic pulse wipes out all electronic devices, affecting cell phones, computers, power grids, and modern vehicles. Let’s see how this story goes.
We meet 16-year-old Jenny and her older sister Becky in the first chapter. They live in an apartment in Manhattan. Becky is Jenny’s guardian because their father died recently. Jenny’s upset because Becky won’t let her go to a party with her friends. In fact, this entire chapter deals with Becky and Jenny’s backstory, which is fine, but not that exciting. Moving on.
In the next chapter, Becky, the older sister, heads over to a friend’s house and we find out that Becky is a bounty hunter and the friend lets Becky keep her guns at her place so little sister Jenny doesn’t accidentally get into them. There’s some backstory about this friendship in this chapter, and the two friends talk about Jenny. Becky asks her friend to watch Jenny while she goes and catches a bounty.
The next couple of chapters mostly deal with Becky’s bounty hunting activities. Then Becky finds out that Jenny snuck out to go to that party Becky didn’t want her going to.
EMP books either start with crazy post-apocalyptic action early in the story—which I prefer—or they take a long time to get to the point, like this one. Some people like well fleshed out characters and a lot of backstory, but when it comes to EMP books, I want more action. This one’s too slow for me, so I won’t be reading any further.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
1. Scharlette Doesn’t Matter and Goes Time Travelling by Sam Bowring
This is the first of three books in the Scharlette Day humorous science fiction series. The other two books are $4.99 each, but are both in Kindle Unlimited. The author has been on our Free Friday list before.
From Luciana Alioto:
Well, where to even start with this one? I only had the chance to read the first four chapters of this novel, and I am left wanting more! The quirky, snappy, and funny style (yes this time funny ha-ha, not funny weird) has lured me in to finish this book.
The story starts with our protagonist, Scharlette. Yes, you read that right. The pretty unusual name suits the character’s quirky personality perfectly, and the author uses it as the starting hook, to pull us in through his very interesting writing style.
We meet Scharlette on the 10th anniversary of the death of her sister, however despite her internal turmoil she has real life to deal with – or does she? Soon, very strange things start to happen.
She receives a book from a person she doesn’t know. Said book seems to be written on her, narrating her breakfast events and emotional roller coaster in real time. But of course, to Scharlette this is all just a big coincidence.
She heads off to the airport, where she works as a security clerk. Once again, everything seems to be its normal boring self, just another day. One of the people coming through security seems to set off the metal detector – what’s new? Just another day…
Except it isn’t. The man is asked to remove any metal possession on his person and to place said belongings into the tray, this includes his very curious diving-watch-looking-thingie; the man complies despite protesting at first, and for good cause as we’re about to find out. As soon as the metal band is removed, wormholes start appearing around the airport, shooting lasers. Yes. Once again, you read that right. Not Scharlette’s typical workday.
The way the plot was so seamlessly set up and delivered its mind-boggling twist was truly exceptional.
The plot, of course, ensues. Scharlette proceeds to do what most main characters do, and once things somewhat settle, decides to wear the metal band – because why not?
This will lead to the further spiralling of the plot, as she seems to start gaining consciousness of two different temporal planes.
I honestly really can’t wait to get to the end of this book, as I am sure the author has plenty of twists and turns prepared for us. I definitely cannot claim to have fully grasped the essence of his work by its first four chapters, but despite my short journey so far, it has already been a wild one!
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
See all the Free Friday posts here. Do you have other free books for us to check out? Comment below or email me at maria@metastellar.com.
Have you read any of these books? Are you planning to? Let us know in the comments!
Or watch Maria and Emma discuss all five books in the video below:
MetaStellar editor and publisher Maria Korolov is a science fiction novelist, writing stories set in a future virtual world. And, during the day, she is an award-winning freelance technology journalist who covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enterprise virtual reality. See her Amazon author page here and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and check out her latest videos on the Maria Korolov YouTube channel. Email her at maria@metastellar.com. She is also the editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business, one of the top global sites covering virtual reality.
E. S. Foster is a writer and graduate student at the University of Cambridge. Her work has been featured in a variety of literary journals and small presses. You can find out more about her and what she does on her blog, E. S. Foster and her personal website E. S. Foster - Author
MetaStellar news editor Alex Korolov is also a freelance technology writer who covers AI, cybersecurity, and enterprise virtual reality. His stories have also been published at CIO magazine, Network World, Data Center Knowledge, and Hypergrid Business. Find him on Twitter at @KorolovAlex and on LinkedIn at Alex Korolov.
Luciana Alioto is a graduate student at the University of Essex, studying translation, interpreting and subtitling. She loves reading a variety of genres, including classical retellings, fantasy, romance, feminist essays and philosophy works. After completing her law degree, she is now pursuing a career in publishing as an aspiring editor and literary translator.