Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Your biweekly dose of free and cheap ebooks, now with more than just Kindle books! Yay!

[NOOK | Sony | Amazon | iBook | Kobo]

Freebies

Fiction
Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble (YA historical fiction/romance). [NOOK | Sony | Amazon (UK) | iBook | Kobo]

What really happened to Anastasia Romanov?

Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn’t. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead.

In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn’t know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college—until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams…

Note: This offer will expire on Feb. 7th, so get it quick if you want it!

Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick (historical fiction). [NOOK | Sony | Amazon | iBook | Kobo]

Royal protector. Loyal servant. Forgotten hero.

A penniless young knight with few prospects, William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when he saves the life of Henry II’s formidable queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude, she appoints him tutor to the heir to the throne, the volatile and fickle Prince Henry. But being a royal favorite brings its share of danger and jealousy as well as fame and reward.

A writer of uncommon historical integrity and accuracy, Elizabeth Chadwick resurrects the true story of one of England’s greatest forgotten heroes in a captivating blend of fact and fiction. The Greatest Knight restores William Marshal to his rightful place at the pinnacle of the Middle Ages, reflecting through him the triumphs, scandals, and power struggles that haven’t changed in eight hundred years.

The Best of Edmund Hamilton edited by Leigh Brackett (sci-fi anthology). [here with code 9992371]

Here is a collection of some of the finest short fiction penned by one of “fathers” of modern science fiction.

These stories were selected (and edited) by his wife Leigh Brackett, an author and a screenwriter. Her screen-writing credits include works on such films as The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, The Long Goodbye and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

This collection spans nearly half a century of Edmond Hamilton’s work and was selected from a repository of hundreds of stories that he had written over that period.

The Last Ring-Bearer by Kirill Yeskov (translated with permission by ymarkov). [PDF | Text]

More than 15 years ago Russian scientist Kirill Yeskov tried to settle certain geographical problems in Tolkien’s fantasy world. One thing led to another, and he tackled a bigger project – what if we assumed that it’s no less real than our world? His conclusion was that in such a case, the story of the Ring of Power is most likely a much-altered heroic retelling of a major war – but what was that war really about?

The result of this re-appraisal was the publication in 1999 of “The Last Ring-bearer” – a re-thinking of Tolkien’s story in real-world terms. Dr. Yeskov, a professional paleontologist whose job is reconstructing long-extinct organisms and their way of life from fossil remnants, performs essentially the same feat in “The Last Ring-bearer”, reconstructing the real world of Tolkien’s Arda from The Lord of the Rings – the heroic tales of the Free Men of the West written in that world. We have a pretty good idea how well heroic tales map to reality from our own world…

Original Russian version can be found here.

Tomb of the Tagosa Kings by A. S. Warwick (fantasy short story). [Smashwords]

In the depths of arid country, the adventurer and historian Professor Halir and his escorts, men of the Queen’s Own Iskaeri Light Infantry, find themselves under attack by fierce Nacatori raiders as he seeks to unlock the secrets of a long lost tomb. What lies within the tomb may be of a much bigger threat than that posed by the raiders

Also: Erie’s Last Day by Steve Hockensmith (mystery short story). [PDF or online]

Cheapies

Fiction
Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen (paranormal romance). $2.99. [Sony | Amazon | iBook | Kobo]

A heartwarming tale of terror in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

Meet Sarah and David.

Once upon a time they met and fell in love. But now they’re on the verge of divorce and going to couples’ counseling. On a routine trip to their counselor, they notice a few odd things – the lack of cars on the highway, the missing security guard, and the fact that their counselor, Dr. Kelly, is ripping out her previous client’s throat.

Meet the Zombies.

Now, Sarah and David are fighting for survival in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. But, just because there are zombies, doesn’t mean your other problems go away. If the zombies don’t eat their brains, they might just kill each other.

Technically I should have posted these LAST Saturday, I know! And I’m sorry for the lateness, but that Saturday was when I was fixing up my new computer, so…I didn’t have time to post?

Is anyone even going to be reading this? It IS Christmas, after all. Hm.

Well, merry Christmas! And have fun reading.

Legend [format, DRM/no DRM, location restricted to]

Freebies

Fiction
Heidegger’s Glasses by Thaisa Frank (historical fiction). [Kindle, DRM'd?, US only?]

Heidegger’s Glasses opens during the end of World War II in a failing Germany coming apart at its seams. The Third Reich’s strong reliance on the occult and its obsession with the astral plane has led to the formation of an underground compound of scribes –translators responsible for answering letters written to those eventually killed in the concentration camps.

Into this covert compound comes a letter written by eminent philosopher Martin Heidegger to his optometrist, a man now lost in the dying thralls of Auschwitz. How will the scribes answer this letter? The presence of Heidegger’s words–one simple letter in a place filled with letters–sparks a series of events that will ultimately threaten the safety and well-being of the entire compound.

Part love story, part thriller, part meditation on how the dead are remembered and history is presented, with threads of Heidegger’s philosophy woven throughout, the novel evocatively illustrates the Holocaust through an almost dreamlike state. Thaisa Frank deftly reconstructs the landscape of Nazi Germany from an entirely original vantage point.

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There were a whole bunch of freebie books made available since the last time I posted, but they seem to have mostly disappeared now. A shame, but I hope these ones will tide you over! If you’d like to keep up daily with freebies, you may want to check out Randomize Me, where daily freebies and deals for the Kindle, Nook and otherwise are diligently posted.

Legend

[format, DRM/no DRM, location restricted to]
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