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 [email protected].
5. Naomi by Tasha Black
This is the fourth of six books in the Alien Surrogate Agency science fiction romance series. The other books are $3.99 each, and are all in Kindle Unlimited. The author has been on our Free Friday list before.
From Maria Korolov:
I am not a fan of books about human women being forced, tricked, coerced, or otherwise motivated to enter into arranged marriages with alien men who are, for some reason, despite their advanced technology, typically very brutish and a bit less-than-civilized. Judging by the cover, I’m guessing that this is what this book’s about, with pregnancy thrown in.
It’s been a popular sub-genre the past couple of years on the sci-fi bestseller lists.
We start out with Naomi in an idyllic meadow somewhere. She’s crouched down on the ground. Oh, and she’s got a snout and ears that can perk up and she can pounce around like a cat of some kind. Maybe I was totally wrong about this book’s premise and the Naomi of the title is not, in fact, a human woman in search of an alien mate but a sentient cat?
Nope, darn it. It’s a simulation. Naomi is at a fertility center, and this is some kind of relaxation thing. She’s been having some fertility issue, and it’s caused some problems for her, since in her matriarchal society, she can’t marry until she’s conceived and borne a child. So this fertility center sets up infertile women when men looking for a surrogate to carry their babies and, in return for doing this, they get a cure for their fertility issues.
Now the guy who wants Naomi to be his surrogate is about to come and meet her.
Then, in the next chapter, we meet the guy. His name is Gage and his a rich guy on his home world, with a pension and property and the ability to start a family of his own. Which, apparently, is a rare thing. And then he gets to the center, to the place where he’s supposed to meet the woman who’s going to carry his child, and the minute he sees her he is, of course, totally smitten. He’s a retired guard, and worked with a dog at his job. His dog retired when he did and he brought the dog with him to the meeting.
Then we switch back to Naomi’s point of view and we get a sense of what Gage looks like. He has green skin and horns on his head and he’s wearing a very expensive suit. And her immediate thought is that he’s a rich snob. But she likes his dog. Also, something about Gage’s low voice makes her weak in the knees.
So this is exactly what I expected.
Okay, I’m not going to keep reading. But if this is the kind of thing you’re into — a very predictable romance with a high likelihood of sexy times — then I do have to admit that the book is extremely readable and both of the main characters are very likable. And so’s the dog. To be honest, if I were to continue with this, it would be because of the dog. At least, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
4. Katy Kramer Cozy Mysteries by A.A. Albright
This is a box set of the first three books in the six-book Katy Kramer Cozy Mysteries magical cozy series. The other books are $2.99 each, but are all in Kindle Unlimited. A box set of the last three books in the series is on sale today for $0.99. The author has been on our Free Friday list before.
From Maria Korolov:
I’m a sucker for cozy magical mysteries and I’ve liked this author’s other books, so I’m on board for this one.
The book starts with Katy collecting her Uncle Faster from the hospital. Her mother volunteered her for the job because Katy’s currently unemployed and has nothing better to do.
On the way to the hospital, there’s a traffic snarl. There’s been an accident, and Katy rolls down her window so she can see. A young man has driven his car into a lamppost, and Katy overhears him tell the paramedics that if he doesn’t die on the way to the hospital he’ll be killed there, because he knows he’s going to be murdered.
We also learn that Uncle Faster is a private investigator and broke two legs while on the job. He hired a home aide to help him with most of what he needs. Katy is just going to help out by running some errands for him.
Yes, the premise is fun, the characters are fun, we’re already getting a hint of the supernatural and the private investigator thing is cool.
I love the banter between Katy and her mom. It reminds me of… it’s very familiar, tip of my tongue… of the Stephanie Plum books! Okay, I’m going to stop reading this right now because I’m going to finish the rest of this Free Friday post so that I can get right back and read this book.
Get the Kindle ebook box set free from Amazon here.
3. Witch for Hire by Molly Fitz
This is the first of three books in the Paranormal Temp Agency magical cozy mystery series. The other books are $0.99 to $4.99 each, but are both in Kindle Unlimited. This is the author’s first time on our Free Friday list.
From E.S. Foster:
In this witchy tale, we’re introduced to Tawny, a happily single woman living in an apartment. Well, maybe not completely happy. She’s a little bitter that her ex-husband ran off with another woman, but she tries not to let that faze her.
She also realizes that she has much bigger issues than her ex when she accidentally stumbles on her landlady’s dead body one day. A police officer just happens to be on the scene. And between fumbling with her explanation and questioning why the officer won’t perform a proper investigation, Tawny finds herself heading to police headquarters.
Except the officer, Parker Barnes, takes Tawny to a mysterious set of buildings instead. Against her will, Tawny enters one of the unmarked buildings and learns just who her landlady was. It turns out that her landlady was a witch and not just any witch. She was the Town Witch, overseeing all the goings-on in Tawny’s hometown. With her gone, this mysterious organization needs a replacement.
Tawny meets the head of the witches, the black cat Mr. Fluffikins. To compensate for her landlady’s death, she’ll be granted her very own witchy powers to take over as Beech Grove Town Witch. Now, she needs to figure out how to use them.
Right off the bat, I loved Tawny as a character. Her voice was unique and funny, and she instantly brought me into the story when explaining all her problems. The story itself moved quickly, with short, snappy chapters that make it the perfect weekend read. I’m definitely adding this series to my list.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
2. Circuit Break by Colton Lively
This is a standalone book of apocalyptic survival. But if you like it, the author has quite a few similar books on Amazon. The author has been on our Free Friday list before, and quite a lot, too.
From Alex Korolov:
This is an EMP story, which is where an electromagnetic pulse wipes out all electronic devices and throws society into chaos. Fans of post-apocalyptic fiction might enjoy reading this one.
We meet Bailey in chapter one. She’s working at a bar and grill in Detroit, where she’s been a waitress for the past six years. She’s recently learned that a friend had passed away and left her twenty acres of property in West Virginia, and she’s thinking of moving there.
As Bailey and a coworker are closing down the bar for the night, her deceased friend’s son comes in and offers to buy his father’s land from her for fifty thousand dollars. She declines his offer and he threatens to make her life a living hell.
Nothing too exciting happens in the next couple of chapters. Bailey goes home, chats with the neighbor, and has another run in with the creepy son, where he threatens her again, but she’s fine.
The fun stuff really starts at the end of the fourth chapter, where a news report announces that US pilots bombed Russia, and Russia retaliated by setting off five bombs across the US. Now, EMP waves are moving thousands of miles across the country. One of the EMP waves hits Detroit in the following chapter, and the chaos really starts.
That’s as far as I got with this one. As EMP stories go, this one takes a few chapters to really get going. The chapters are short, however, and it’s good to learn a little about Bailey’s life and backstory. There’s nothing especially unique about this book, but if you enjoy EMP fiction, this one’s fine.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
1. Silent Order by Jonathan Moeller
This is the first three books — plus a short story — in the 14-book Silent Order space opera series. The other books are $0.99 to $4.99 each, and are not in Kindle Unlimited. This is the author’s first time on our Free Friday list.
From Maria Korolov:
Space operas are my number one favorite genre. I’m pretty stocked for this one. I love books with spaceships on their covers.
Jack March, our protagonist, has been to a hundred different worlds, spoken to a dozen different alien races, fought on two different sides in a vast war, and has a nagging pain in his shoulder because of his cybernetic arm. I sympathize. Not with the cybernetic arm, but with having annoying aches and pains.
He’s the captain of a ship piloted by an AI and as the book opens, he’s approaching the end of a hyperspace tunnel. He puts a coat on over his flight suit, slings his gun around his hips, and puts a black glove over the metal fingers of his cybernetic arm. He notices that the air on his ship smells dusty. Once he gets to his destination, he’ll do a maintenance check.
His ship, a light freighter favored by independent traders and privateers, is designed for a crew of six, but Jack flies it alone, with just the AI as copilot, so maintenance sometimes falls by the wayside.
They leave the hyperspace tunnel and approach a space station, where Jack decides to dock manually to keep in practice, and orders maintenance for the life support systems.
Then he leaves the ship and finds three tough, dangerous-looking men waiting for him. One of them pulls a gun and tells Jack to come with hem. Jack grabs the gun with his cybernetic arm and crushes it. And, thanks to that arm, and to the nanotech in his blood, and a few skills he’s picked up, he beats up the three guys. He decides not to kill them. That would draw too many attention. He takes their IDs and wallets and lets them go. He decides to use the money in their wallets to get some lunch.
We also get a little backstory along the way. Seems that Jack is a secret operative of the Silent Order, and he’s got a new assignment.
His job is to collect a pair of siblings, twins, who are trying to escape from enemy forces. They’ve figured out a way to get smuggled out to and Jack’s job is to intercept them, pretend that he was hired to take them to their next destination, but to deliver them to the navy, instead.
But, given that Jack has just been attacked, the mission might have already been compromised.
This is exactly my kind of book. And I love the fact that there are 14 books in the series. I’m sticking with it.
Get the Kindle ebook box set 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 [email protected].
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 [email protected]. She is also the editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business, one of the top global sites covering virtual reality.
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.
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 at her blog, E. S. Foster.