Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer that one…
Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for and once you have one, you can request all kinds of book to review, some of them before they’ve even released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up.
Things are still in transition with the SFWA NetGalley management, but fortunately, I always schedule my titles out months in advance and the previous person managing the SFWA NetGalley account had already set up our titles for the year. Since October’s titles weren’t sorted out until mid-month, those two are still available through November 11th. And for November we are adding James Chambers’ Vox Astra: The Black Box, a collection of his transformative science fiction stories. You can read more about all three books below. Once you do, we hope you will click the links below to head over to NetGalley and request them.
Vox Astra: The Black Box
James Chambers
The Stars Will Sing Our Songs Long After We Are Gone…
…but who will remain to listen? Who will hear their sagas of conflict and discovery, their hymns of honor in the face of political intrigue, their ballads of tough calls made against the opposition of friends and enemies alike?
Open your ears to these unyielding revelations which sing of humanity’s place in the cosmos among distant worlds, of beings that exist outside our reality, and of shocking futures. Listen to their tales. Sometimes there are no good choices only hard calls. Though humanity may one day vanish, the stars forget nothing. We can only hope Vox Astra will be kind when they tell of us.
Even in the Grave
edited by James Chambers and Carol Gyzander
“In death – no! even in the grave all is not lost.”
–Edgar Allan Poe
Wandering souls! Restless spirits! The vengeful dead! Those who die with unfinished business haunt the living and make their presence known from the world beyond:
A scientist’s invention opens a window onto a terrible afterlife.
A New York City apartment holds the secrets of the dead.
A grandmother sends text messages from the grave.
A samurai returns to his devastated home for a final showdown with his past.
A forgotten TV game show haunts a man with a dark secret.
A tapping from behind classroom walls leads to a horrible discovery.
The specter of a prehistoric beast returns to a modern-day ranch.
And the one seeing eye knows all—including what you did.
Haunted from the other side, these stories roam from modern cities to the shadowed moors to feudal Japan to the jungles of Central America, each providing a spine-chilling glimpse into the shadows not even death can restrain.
Do you dare open these pages and peer into the darkness they reveal?
Stories by Marc L. Abbott, Meghan Arcuri, Oliver Baer, Alp Beck, Allan Burd, John P. Collins, Randee Dawn, Trevor Firetog, Caroline Flarity, Patrick Freivald, Teel James Glenn, Amy Grech, April Grey, Jonathan Lees, Gordon Linzner, Robert Masterson, Robert P. Ottone, Rick Poldark, Lou Rera, and Steven Van Patten.
Rags
by Ty Drago
Atlantic City, 1982
One cold December night, sixteen-year-old Abby Lowell and her foster sister are rescued by a mysterious and deadly figure in rags and a large hood. Abby never learns his name and never sees his face, but he’s obviously good with that black-bladed knife of his, very good.
Abby dubs him “Rags.”
But Rags isn’t done, not by a long shot. With her foster family under threat from the ruthless Bernards, who are determined to tear down their dilapidated hotel in favor of yet another casino, Abby finds herself in desperate need of a defender. A part of her is relieved when Rags returns to protect her again. And again. And again.
Now, with an army of thugs and a terrifying Voodoo witch hunting her, Abby must not only understand the dark truth behind Rags. She must accept that truth, frightening as it is, before it’s too late.
AG: Two teenagers walked up to me at the HWA booth at Comic Con and said their teacher recommended to his students to read the anthologies I produce. I thought at first someone was pulling my leg. I was deeply touched that I was helping young people become fans not just of horror movies but also short stories.
April Grey’s short stories are collected in The Fairy Cake Bakeshop and in I’ll Love You Forever. She is also the author of urban fantasy novels: Finding Perdita, Chasing the Trickster and it’s sequel, St. Nick’s Favor.
eSpec Books 