David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. He’s a Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, and is now a major author in the military science fiction genre. David’s plots draw on his extensive knowledge of history, literature, and mythology, and his plots frequently involve a contest of political systems.
David tops today’s Buffet with The Sea Hag, published in paperback by Baen Fantasy in 1988. It was one of his attempts to write a “commercially successful book,” according to a post on David’s website. He continues: “The closest analog to my plan was “The Dying Earth” series by Jack Vance: a world in which magic works but the vestiges of ancient super-science remain also. (I hadn’t read it at the time, but Vance’s novelet The Miracle Workers is even closer to what I was trying to do than his “Dying Earth” stories.) Though Vance gave me a model, I fashioned the action of The Sea Hag from fairy tales. Among the first books I read by myself were the Color Fairy Books edited by Alexander Lang.”
Although he’s 68 years old, David shows no sign of slowing down. He’s currently about halfway through writing The Sea without a Shore, the 10th book in his RCN (Leary/Mundy) space opera series.
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The Sea Hag
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author: David Drake
Dennis fled the crystal walls of Emath when he learned the truth behind the city his father rules. In the jungle, his sword arm is tested with monsters and his courage with nightmares. Sword and spirit can win Dennis a princess–but he can overcome the final evil only by risking all he has become.
FROM PALACE . . . Dennis flees the crystal walls of Emath when he learns the truth behind the city his father rules.
TO WILDERNESS . . . The jungle enfolds him, tests his sword arm with monsters and his courage with nightmares more terrible than any monster.
FROM LOVE . . . Sword and spirit can win Dennis a princess–
TO BLACKEST WIZARDRY . . . But he can overcome the final evil only at the risk of all he has become–and his soul besides.
Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn
Family Relationships > Motherhood
Author: Melanie Shankle
A heartwarming and hilarious look at motherhood from someone who is still trying to figure it all out. Filled with personal stories—from the decision to become a mother to the heartbreak of miscarriage and ultimately, to the joy of raising a baby and living to tell about it—Sparkly Green Earrings will make you feel like you’re sitting across the table from your best friend. A must-read for anyone who’s ever had a child or even thought about it.
Fools Rush In
Romance > Contemporary
Author: Janice Thompson
Bella Rossi may be nearing thirty, but her life is just starting to get interesting. When her Italian-turned-Texan parents hand over the family wedding planning business, Bella is determined not to let them down. She quickly books a “Boot Scoot’n” wedding that would make any Texan proud. There’s only one catch–she’s a country music numbskull because her family only listens to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Where will she find a DJ on such short notice who knows his Alan Jackson from his Keith Urban?
Rescue the Captors
True Accounts > True Crime
Author: Russell Stendal
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American bush pilot Russell Stendal, on routine business, landed his plane in a remote Colombian village. Gunfire exploded throughout the town and within minutes Russell’s 142 day ordeal had begun. The Colombian cartel explained that this was a kidnapping for ransom and that he would be held until payment was made.
Held at gunpoint deep in the jungle and with little else to occupy his time, Russell got ahold of some paper and began to write. He told the story of his life and kept a record of his experience in the guerrilla camp. His “book” became a bridge to the men who held him hostage and now serves as the basis for this incredible true story of how God’s love penetrated a physical and ideological jungle.
Murder On The Ghost Walk
Mystery > Women Sleuths
Author: Ellen Elizabeth Hunter
In the historic port city of Wilmington NC, every old house has a ghost. The mansion Ashley Wilkes, historic preservationist, is restoring, with its crescendo-thumping spectral organist, is no exception. When Ashley makes a grisly discovery, the residents of quiet, quaint Orange Street are horrified. Halloween weekend finds Ashley and Melanie dressed to kill at the Cape Fear Crime Festival’s costume party where an evil trickster treats them to murder.
The Butterfly Forest
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals
Author: Tom Lowe
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College graduate student Molly Monroe is about to release rare butterflies not far from where the FBI used 4,000 bullets in a shootout to kill Ma Barker and one of her gangster sons in 1935. Molly snaps a picture that will frame something she never sees coming.
Sean O’Brien does see something — a predator. Between the sea of cars in a Walmart parking lot. Walking quickly. Stalking two women.
As O’Brien tries to prevent the abduction, he opens the door to a new relationship. And he opens a dark door to a horror that is secluded within the forest. He follows veiled tracks that lead him farther into the woods where an evil from the past intersects with a frightening presence to form a volatile trap with only one way out.
FranklinCovey Style Guide: For Business and Technical Communication
Words, Language & Grammar
Author: Stephen R. Covey
Helps any writer produce documents that achieve outstanding results. Created by FranklinCovey, the world-renowned leader in helping organizations enhance individual effectiveness, this edition fully reflects today’s online media and global business challenges. The only style guide used in FranklinCovey’s own renowned Writing AdvantageTM and Technical Writing AdvantageTMprograms, it covers everything from document design and graphics to sentence style and word choice.
Run
Genre Fiction > Action & Adventure
Author: Blake Crouch
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They’re reading the names of those to be killed on the Emergency Broadcast System. You are listening over the battery-powered radio on your kitchen table, and they’ve just read yours.
Your name is Jack Colclough. You have a wife, a daughter, and a young son. You live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People are coming to your house to kill you and your family. You don’t know why, but you don’t have time to think about that any more.
You only have time to…. Run.
Disrupt: Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation in Your Business
Management & Leadership > Systems & Planning
Author: Luke Williams
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In a business world of nonstop change, there’s only one way to win the game: Transform it entirely. This requires a revolution in thinking–a steady stream of disruptive strategies and unexpected solutions. Williams shows exactly how to generate those strategies and deliver those solutions.
This book reflects Williams’ immense experience creating breakthrough solutions at frog design, one of the world’s leading innovation firms. Williams shows how to combine fluid creativity with analytical rigor in a simple, complete, five-stage process for successfully disrupting any market.
Simply Fleece
Needlecrafts & Textile Crafts > Sewing
Author: Bonnie Scott
Over 30 quick fleece projects and crafts to make. With both no sewing and sewing fleece patterns, you’ll find apparel and accessory ideas for everyone in the family in Simply Fleece.
From outerwear for all ages, clothing and home fashions to comfortable accessories for your pets and gifts for all occasions, this book of easy patterns is perfect for everyone from novice sewer to professional seamstress.
Cold Fear
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals
Author: Rick Mofina
In the remote, rugged corner of Montana’s Glacier National Park known as the Devil’s Grasp, little Paige Baker of San Francisco disappears with her dog, Kobee, while on a camping trip with her family; or so her mother and father have told authorities.
A multi-agency task force launches a massive search as Paige fights to survive in the wilderness. Time hammers against her and soon the nation is gripped by the life-and-death drama.
Secretly, behind the scenes, the FBI grows suspicious of Paige’s parents. Their recent history and disturbing evidence links them to a horrible secret from the past.
Heavenly
World Literature > Mythology
Author: Jennifer Laurens
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I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister’s guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him. Zoe’s sister darts in front of cars. Her brother’s a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don’t see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying.
The Happiest Season
Christian Fiction > Romance
Author: Rosemarie Naramore
Christmas time may be the happiest season of all, but Maggie Dulane and her small son Rickey equate it with loss. Maggie’s husband was killed during the holidays two years before, leaving her to raise her little boy on her own.
Losing his father during the Christmas season has caused five-year-old Rickey to lose faith in Santa Claus—but the bright little boy has managed to retain his faith in God. He prays to Him each night to send him a daddy.
The Rancher
Historical Romance
Author: Kelli Ann Morgan
The deal was to share the ranch, not her heart…
ABBY MCCALLISTER can ride and shoot better than any man she’s ever met, but when the threat of losing her ranch forces her to find a husband, she is unprepared for the mysterious stranger who takes her hand and evokes in her a sudden desire to be a lady fit for his arm.
He’d sworn to protect her. He couldn’t do that if she married someone else…
Cedardale Court (The First Road)
Thrillers > Suspense
Author: Nathan Lee Christensen
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Full of daring fools, haunting old flames, and brimming with panicked villainy, the Oregon countryside was meant to solve Canner Connelly’s problems, not make them worse. But, after their well-intentioned move to Cedardale Court, the safety and peace of mind he’s longed for since the passing of his wife, for him and his daughter, Chloe, might be farther away than ever.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks and the Kindle Daily Deal here on page 2
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