Free Read: Northanger Abbey and Angels and Dragons by Vera Nazarian

If you've been enjoying the recent spate of book mashups then this one is for you:

From the author of Mansfield Park and Mummies...

NORTHANGER ABBEY AND ANGELS AND DRAGONS

Dragons in the skies of Regency England!

Gothic horrors collide with high satire in this elegant, hilarious, witty, insane, and unexpectedly romantic supernatural parody of Jane Austen's classic novel.

Young and naive Catherine Morland is constantly surrounded by angels only she alone can see. Leaving her country home for the first time, to embark on a grand adventure that begins in fashionable Bath, our romantic heroine must not only decrypt the mystery of the Udolpho Code but win her true love Henry Tilney.

Meanwhile she is beset by all the Gothic horrors known to Impressionable Young Ladies -- odious demons, Regency balls, elusive ghosts, pleasure excursions, temperature-changing nephilim, secret clues, ogre suitors, and a terrifying ancient Dragon who has very likely hidden a secret treasure hoard somewhere in the depths of Northanger Abbey.

This ebook is currently available for free on Amazon.

Free Read: Philip K. Dick stories

If you enjoy the writings of Philip K. Dick or you just want to give him a try, take a look at this list, compiled by Open Culture, of free stories and audio books by Dick, available on the web.

• “Beyond the Door” – Multiple formats – iTunes
  • First published in 1954, the text is not usually found in collections of Dick’s writings.
• “Beyond Lies the Wub” – Multiple formats – iTunes
  • Dick’s first published story. Originally appeared in Planet Stories in July, 1952.
• “Mr. Spaceship” – Multiple Formats
  • Appeared first in Imagination in 1953, and later in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick.
• “Piper in the Woods” – Multiple Formats
  • First published in 1953 in the fantasy and science fiction magazine, Imagination.
• “Second Variety” – Multiple Formats
  • Influential short story first published in Space Science Fiction Magazine in May 1953.
• “The Crystal Crypt” – Multiple Formats
  • Sci-fi story published in the January 1952 edition of Planet Stories

See the full list here

Free Read: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Follow this link to read the first 78 pages of Maureen Johnson's soon-to-be released YA Urban Fantasy book, The Name of the Star.

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

I haven't read any of Johnson's other books, which are all contemporary YA, but this one sounds like it could be really good. 

Free eBook: The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan

I've been wanting to read Michael Sullivan's The Crown Conspiracy for ages and so I was really excited when I discovered the audiobook today on Podibooks (it's not new to the site though, I just haven't been to Podibooks in a long time). I am already on chapter Four and I'm enjoying it immensely. In addition to being a very captivating story, the narrator, Nathan Lowell, does an excellent job of reading it. 

They killed the king. They pinned it on two men. They chose poorly.

There's no ancient evil to defeat, no orphan destined for greatness, just two guys in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they become the unwitting scapegoats in a plot to kill the king. Sentenced to death, they have only one way out…and so begins this tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

The Crown Conspiracy is book one of the six-book saga: The Riyria Revelations. Eschewing recent trends toward the lengthy, gritty, and dark, the Riyria Revelations is a return to traditional fantasy combining great characters, humor, and drama in appropriate measures. The series is told through six novels each a separate episode in a single epic tale . Across the entire chronicle, mysteries build, characters evolve, and plots thicken, but each is a self-contained story that can be enjoyed in its own right.

To listen to The Crown Conspiracy audio book just click on this link.

And if you enjoy the book you have the option to donate a little something (or not so little- up to you) to Podibooks, the majority of which will go to the author.

I'm now trying to think up some more chores that I can do so that I'll have an excuse to keep listening to this book...

Free eBook: The Multiplex Man by James P. Hogan

For the month of August Phoenix Pick is offering free download's of James P. Hogan's award winning scifi novel, The Multiplex Man.

Richard Jarrow was a mild and unassuming teacher who was sure that the government knew best, with its strong environmental controls on industry and its equally stringent control of education and the media. He knew that the countries of the former Eastern Block, who now claimed to have more freedom than the United States, as well as booming economies fueled by their exploitation of the resources of space, were only spreading ridiculous propaganda, and they either would soon collapse, starved by their diminishing natural resources and choked in their own pollution—or else they would attempt to steal the resources of the rest of the world, and have to be destroyed. Didn't the government say that was so?


And then his world went to hell...

Follow this link to download the book.

You need a coupon code to download the book, which you can get by signing up for Phoenix Pick's newsletter, or can use the one supplied by Free eBooks Blog in their post about this book, which is 99922991.

Free e-Book: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

To help promote Kill the Dead, the recently released sequel to Sandman Slim, Eos is offering free downloads of the Sandman Slim ebook. Downloads are available for the Sony e-reader, Kindle and Nook, though anyone can download the free software for these readers to read the book on their PC.

Book Description: Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero

Life sucks, and then you die. Or, if you're James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.

Now Stark's back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But when his first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you'd expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future.

Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.

Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author.

This offer is available for two weeks only. Visit Eos for more information.