Back to Normal (?) – Giving Away Books
Giving Away Books is normal for me. But am I ever normal? Check my bio here or my free short story on how I got my pet phoenix if you have any thought I’m your average comic paranormal animal author.
So what’s the deal on free books? I gave away three books to three people at Penned Con. I’ve given away forty books to eager fans since I first published Zombie Turkeys on October 31st, 2016.
What do you have to do? Just subscribe to my newsletter by clicking right here. Now. I’ll hold my monthly drawing for an ebook or paperback and an audiobook tomorrow, October 4th.
What Does Andy Do When He’s NOT Giving Away Books?
Write! I’m working on a novel about four disabled children who acquire super powers–but remain disabled. This should be fun. Look for Advanced Reader Copies from this site Real Soon Now!
Post! I put fun links on Facebook and Twitter every day. Check these out.
Moving on from science fiction, this next one is pure fantasy.
Do you want more? Here’s one more:
Andy Zach Reviews Books Too
You can find my reviews on my Goodreads profile page.
Here’s one of my recent reviews:
The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists’ Club by Bertrand R. Brinley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A wonderful example of historic young adult fiction set in the 50s of small-town US. Author Bertrand Brinley wrote these stories for Boys Life magazine and then compiled them in this book.
He depicts the adventures of a teen boy club, ‘The Mad Scientists Club’ and its rivalry with another group of boys as they engage in adventures, pranks, and exploration. One adventure involves bidding on and buying a scrap Japanese midget submarine and then rebuilding it.
A prank they pull is making a flying saucer-shaped airship, remotely controlled, which causes a townwide sensation.
The closing story involves battles with their rival club, as each seeks to outsmart the other.
I read the first volume as a Scholastic paperback in about fifth or sixth grade in the 60s. The second volume is more of the same. I wonder how much of today’s YA fiction will still be read in fifty years?
Now let’s go from YA fiction to Space Opera
In Fire Forged by David Weber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Generally, I don’t like shorter fiction (short stories, novellas) as much as longer, but this anthology may be the best I’ve read since ‘The Best of Science Fiction’ series in the 70s. The stories are longer than short stories, novellas or longer and of universally good quality.
All the stories are associated with the ‘Honorverse’, the story world created by David Weber for his beloved spaceship captain, Honor Harrington. The authors are Jane Lindskold, writing ‘Ruthless’; Timothy Zahn writing ‘An Act of War’, and David Weber writing ‘Let’s Dance’. Ms. Lindskold and Mr. Zahn have co-authored books with David Weber previously.
Finishing up the collection is an interesting and technical examination of military technology by Andy Presby.
Any fan of David Weber will enjoy reading all the stories in this book. They’re all very creative and add interesting wrinkles and details about events referred to in the Honorverse, but not explored in depth.
That’s it for today! See you soon!
Andy Zach reviewing 2017