When today’s top science-fiction and fantasy authors look for inspiration, they turn to the classics. We continue reading those same books (year after year) because they stand the test of time. For a limited time, you can download these beloved science fiction and fantasy books for free!
Planet of the Damned
Brion Brandd has just triumphed in the planetary contest called the “Twenties, ”a series of physical and mental trials meant to push contestants to their limits. But before he can fully recover from these tests, he’s recruited by former Twenties champion Ihjel for a mission of utmost importance.
Brandd and Ihjel travel to the hellish desert planet of Dis, where the ruling class, known as the magter, have suddenly begun acting wildly aggressive and unpredictable, threatening the peace in the region. With a nuclear blockade surrounding Dis, Brandd and Ihjel are sent planetside to investigate.
Their pursuit will not be easy, for while the magter have seemingly lost their senses, the local population lives in total harmony with the brutal surroundings. What is it that separates the classes, yet also connects them? In this suspenseful novel by the author of Deathworld, Brandd will have to call on all of his formidable skills and gifts to uncover the truth—before both sides are annihilated.
Armageddon 2419 A.D.
In 1927, World War I veteran Anthony Rogers is working for the American Radioactive Gas Corporation investigating strange phenomena in an abandoned coal mine when suddenly there’s a cave-in. Trapped in the mine and surrounded by radioactive gas, Rogers falls into a state of suspended animation . . . for nearly five hundred years.
Waking in the year 2419, he first saves the beautiful Wilma Deering from attack and then discovers what has befallen his country: The United States has descended into chaos after Asian powers conquered the world with advanced weaponry centuries before. All that’s left are ragtag gangs battling for survival against their brutal overlords.
But when Rogers shows them how to band together and fight for more than mere survival, he sparks a revolution that will decide the fate of the future world.
Tales of Troy and Greece
Orlando begins their story as a melancholy sixteen-year-old nobleman and poet who spends their days in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who takes a shine to them. Love, passion, and heartbreak guide Orlando’s life through two more kings. In their thirties, Orlando becomes an ambassador to Turkey and there undergoes an astonishing gender transformation.
Eventually returning to their native England, Orlando embarks on a journey of learning, love, and fulfillment. They cross paths with great literary minds from English history and eventually settles down after three centuries. The story comes to a close in the year 1928 with Orlando now a thirty-six-year-old married woman and published poet.
Cited as an “exuberant romp through history,” Orlando was first originally in 1928. This humorous fictional biography was inspired by the family history of poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West. Sackville-West’s son referred to the novel as “the longest and most charming love letter in literature.”
The Yellow God
Since a bout of blackwater fever robbed Maj. Alan Vernon of his military post, he has cast about for a new vocation. A business scheme in the Sahara seems like the perfect fit for his engineering skills, until revelations about his partners give him pause. To save his family estate, Vernon decides to undertake his African venture on his own.
Years ago, Vernon’s uncle brought a small golden idol back from Western Africa. The idol itself is worth little, but its strange powers will lead Vernon on a perilous journey to a world of riches. And there he will meet a beautiful but fearsome tribal ruler who is determined to make him her next husband.
