DRM-free ebooks from the publishers listed below will become available in August.
via infoDOCKET:
"German trade publishing houses owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group, including Rowohlt, S. Fischer, Droemer Knaur, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, will soon be selling DRM-free ebooks."
Help us select the book that the MobileRead Book Club will read for August, 2015.
The nominations will run through midnight EST July 26 or until 10 books have made the list. The poll will then be posted and will remain open for five days.
Book selection category for August is: Science Fiction
In order for a book to be included in the poll it needs THREE NOMINATIONS (original nomination, a second and a third).
How Does This Work?
The Mobile Read Book Club (MRBC) is an informal club that requires nothing of you. Each month a book is selected by polling. On the last week of that month a discussion thread is started for the book. If you want to participate feel free. There is no need to "join" or sign up. All are welcome.
How Does a Book Get Selected?
Each book that is nominated will be listed in a poll at the end of the nomination period. The book that polls the most votes will be the official selection.
How Many Nominations Can I Make?
Each participant has 3 nominations. You can nominate a new book for consideration or nominate (second, third) one that has already been nominated by another person.
How Do I Nominate a Book?
Please just post a message with your nomination. If you are the FIRST to nominate a book, please try to provide an abstract to the book so others may consider their level of interest.
How Do I Know What Has Been Nominated?
Just follow the thread. This message will be updated with the status of the nominations as often as I can. If one is missed, please just post a message with a multi-quote of the 3 nominations and it will be added to the list ASAP.
When is the Poll?
The poll thread will open at the end of the nomination period, or once there have been 10 books with 3 nominations each. At that time a link to the initial poll thread will be posted here and this thread will be closed.
The floor is open to nominations. Please comment if you discover a nomination is not available as an ebook in your area.
Once a brilliant First-in Scout, Val Con yos'Phelium was "recruited" by the mysterious Liaden Department of Interior and brainwashed into an Agent of Change—a ruthless covert operative who kills without remorse.
Fleeing the scene of his latest murderous mission, he finds himself saving the life of ex-mercenary Miri Robertson, a tough Terran on the run from a team of interplanetary assassins. Thrown together by circumstances, Val Con and Miri struggle to elude their enemies and stay alive without slaying each other—or surrendering to the unexpected passion that flares between them.
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.
Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.
Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.
Everything is going to change.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.
If you ask, she must answer. A steerswoman's knowledge is shared with any who request it; no steerswoman may refuse a question, and no steerswoman may answer with anything but the truth.
And if she asks, you must answer. It is the other side of tradition's contract -- and if you refuse the question, or lie, no steerswoman will ever again answer even your most casual question.
And so, the steerswomen — always seeking, always investigating — have gathered more and more knowledge about the world they traveled, and they share that knowledge freely.
Until the day that the steerswoman Rowan begins asking innocent questions about one small, lovely, inexplicable object…
Her discoveries grow stranger and deeper, and more dangerous, until suddenly she finds she must flee or fight for her life. Or worse -- lie.
Because one kind of knowledge has always been denied the the steerswomen:
Magic.
“If you haven’t read Kirstein’s Steerswoman books I envy you the chance to read them now for the first time.... I think they have a very good claim to be my favorite thing still being written. […] If you like science, and if you like watching someone work out mysteries, and if you like detailed weird alien worlds and human cultures, if really good prose appeals... you’re really in luck.” — Jo Walton, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner, author of Among Others and Farthing.
"[Kirstein] walks the tightrope between fantasy and science fiction with precision and grace... [her] compassion for even minor characters is evident on every page, and her prose is measured and alluring without being overworked." -- Damien Broderick & Paul Di Filippo, in Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010
In Dhalgren, perhaps one of the most profound and bestselling science fiction novels of all time, Samuel R. Delany has produced a novel "to stand with the best American fiction of the 1970s" (Jonathan Lethem).
Bellona is a city at the dead center of the United States. Something has happened there…. The population has fled. Madmen and criminals wander the streets. Strange portents appear in the cloud-covered sky. And into this disaster zone comes a young man–poet, lover, and adventurer–known only as the Kid. Tackling questions of race, gender, and sexuality, Dhalgren is a literary marvel and groundbreaking work of American magical realism.
Rendezvous with Rama is a hard science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a 50-kilometre (31 mi) cylindrical alien starship that enters Earth's solar system. The story is told from the point of view of a group of human explorers who intercept the ship in an attempt to unlock its mysteries. This novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards upon its release, and is regarded as one of the cornerstones in Clarke's bibliography.
(6) The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything by John D MacDonald Amazon US
Spoiler:
From John D. MacDonald, one of the enduring American novelists of the twentieth century, comes a science fiction classic with a timeless premise. An aimless young man discovers a way to stop the world in its tracks—and that’s when his life truly begins.
From John D. MacDonald, one of the enduring American novelists of the twentieth century, comes a science fiction classic with a timeless premise. An aimless young man discovers a way to stop the world in its tracks—and that’s when his life truly begins.
Introduction by Dean Koontz
Once an ordinary math teacher, Omar Krepps developed a knack for gambling, amassed a fabulous fortune, and spent the rest of his life traveling the world and giving away his millions. Upon his death, however, Krepps bequeaths nothing to his nephew and only living blood relative, Kirby Winter—nothing, that is, except an antique watch and a sealed letter to be opened after one year.
But Kirby has much more in his possession than he realizes. The watch has the power to manipulate time. Not only does this revelation shed light on the mystery of his uncle’s life, it puts Kirby on the path to unimaginable wealth and a new lease on love . . . as well as a whole host of deadly troubles. Even in a universe where time is no issue, Kirby must tread carefully to stay one step ahead of danger.
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
(8) Way Station by Clifford D. Simak No links provided.
Spoiler:
From Amazon:
"Enoch Wallace survived the carnage of Gettysburg and lived through the rest of the Civil War to make it home to his parents' farm in south-west Wisconsin. But his mother was already dead and his father soon joined her in the tiny family cemetery.
"It was then that Enoch met the being he called Ulysses and the farm became a way station for space travellers. Now, nearly a hundred years later, the US government is taking an interest in the seemingly immortal Enoch, and the Galactic Council, which set up the way station is threatening to tear itself apart.
Lead by Authors United spokesperson David Streitfeld, multiple groups in the book industry have simultaneously decided today to send letters to the US Department of Justice, asking that the Doj investigate Amazon for being a big meanie.
Just about every group is involved. Streitfeld has posted a piece in the NYTimes on behalf of Authors United. The American Bookseller Association has sent a letter, and so has Authors United (you can find both letters on the ABA website).
Yes, Authors United has finally followed through on the promise they made last November to pursue their vengeance against Amazon to the ends of the earth. According to the ABA, Authors United is joined in their effort by the Association of Authors’ Representatives, which has sent a letter. And finally The Authors Guild has added their voice to the chorus (PDF).
Where is the Association of American Publishers? Its biggest members hate Amazon as much as anyone, and yet I don't have any news of the AAP sending a letter to the DoJ (I'm waiting for a response to my query). Why hasn't the AAP joined the party?
Update: My contact at the AAP was unable to respond to my query. She did not have a prepared statement because the AAP isn't part of this circus (weird, but true).
Add everything together and it makes me wonder what is really going on here.
A couple of Authors Guild news items that may be of interest to some folks...
Fearing Piracy, Authors Guild Pushes Change to Copyright Law
Citing a major uptick in Internet piracy, the Authors Guild has urged Congress to require that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor and filter their networks for pirated works. Among the proposed changes to copyright law suggested in a letter addressed to the House Judiciary Committee, Guild officials want to replace the current "Notice and Takedown" regime authorized by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) with a "Notice and Stay Down" provision.
Under the Guild’s proposal, ISP’s who do not take "reasonable measures" to keep "all infringing copies” from their networks would lose their "safe harbor" immunity from claims of infringement.
The Authors Guild released its first “detailed analysis” in its Fair Contract Initiative, an outreach effort aimed at improving the standard contract for authors. The piece, released to the Guild's membership Thursday morning, examines what the organization calls “inadequate e-book royalties” and argues that the digital royalty favors publishers far too heavily.
As part of its analysis, the Guild said that it hopes “established authors and, particularly, bestselling authors" will begin to "push back" on the reigning e-book royalty rate of 25%. The Guild is hoping this small, but powerful, group can take a stand "on behalf of all authors, as well as themselves.”