Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can Read for $5 or Less

The Book of Eador commands: Suffer ye not the life of a witch. For a thousand years, the Church Knights have obeyed, burning at the stake anyone who can hear the songs of the earth. And so the novice Knight Gair—who can hear beautiful, powerful music no one else can—is sentenced to die by fire.

Even as Gair manages to flee the Holy City, the Church Knights and their witchfinder are hot on his heels. With no time to lose, Gair must learn to master the power growing inside him before it tears him apart. His only hope is the secretive Guardians of the Veil, though centuries of persecution have almost destroyed their Order, and the few Guardians left have troubles of their own.

For the Veil between worlds is weakening, and the Hidden Kingdom behind it, ever-hungry for domination, is stirring. Though he is far from ready, Gair will find himself fighting for his own life, for everyone within the Order of the Veil, and for the woman he has come to love.

Doctor Archibald Shaw and his young friend Singh arrive in England, one month behind the dangerous cult leader, Ananya. They must find her, and soon. Ananya holds a book of untold evil, brought with her from India. A book which could spell doom for all of humanity. Shaw and Singh are not alone in their search for Ananya and the book. Others want the volume for their own and will stop at nothing to get it. 

Meanwhile in London’s east end, monsters roam the shadows and people are disappearing. Is this also Ananya’s doing? Or do these monsters search for her as well? The world becomes even more nightmarish for Shaw and Singh. The elder god Cthulhu still sleeps, but for how much longer? Shaw fears what he sees in his dreams, and fears what actions he will need to take. How deep into a world of evil can one man slip? To save the world, can he do any less?

Adrian Cole’s acclaimed Star Requiem series welcomes readers to Innasmorn, a planet where the elements are worshipped as gods . . . and where mankind is considered the enemy.

As the last remnants of humankind face extinction at the hands of a ruthless alien foe, the ultimate battle is building. The terrible Csendook destroyers have gathered in the Warhive, a huge gladiatorial arena, ready to vanquish their enemy. But as the fearsome warlord Auganzar relentlessly searches the galaxy for his victims, internal and external forces conspire to bring about an end to the bloody, thousand-year crusade. It is only on the planet of Innasmorn where the last refuge of humanity lives, and it is up to the young, courageous Ussemitus to take up arms and defend their right not just to survive... but to thrive. 

A born warrior, Dethan led his army to victory so often, he believed himself unconquerable until hubris drove him to grasp for the kind of power held only by the gods. Alongside his brothers, he reached for immortality—and won it—but not without incurring the wrath of the gods, who condemned Dethan to eternal damnation. Now the fires of hell seize his body, searing his flesh, melting his bones until he is nothing more than ash. 

When Weysa, Goddess of Conflict, appears before him, he gets a shot at salvation. With war brewing between the gods, she demands Dethan gather an army and destroy those who would challenge her reign. As the immortal soldier returns to the world once more, he confronts his all-too-earthly desires when he meets Selinda, heir to the throne of Hexis. And once he seduces the innocent princess, he is ready to risk everything—even the ire of the Goddess—to claim Selinda as his own.

Prominent journalist Katarina Mironova, known around the world as Kato, is found murdered, shot to death on the banks of Russia's Techa River near the radioactive village of Metlino. She could simply fade from the public eye, one more journalist killed during Putin's war on the free press. But to Russian agent Alexei Volkovoy, Kato's murder summons too many memories, haunts him in too many ways to allow her death go unavenged.

Volk's investigation takes him from Moscow to Mayak, the site of a nuclear reprocessing plant where a massive explosion occurred in 1958, and finally to Las Vegas. All the while the life he has known with his long-time lover, Valya, and his patron, the General, slowly unravels as details about his secret ties to Kato begin to emerge. Meanwhile, American contract agent Grayson Stone and shadowy French assassin Jean-Louis have secrets about the tragic consequences of a nuclear alliance among venal Russian, American, and French politicians... secrets the Americans and the French will pay anything to protect.

From New York Times bestselling author Michael Scott and award-winning playwright Colette Freedman, The Thirteen Hallows is the beginning of a spellbinding new saga, a thrilling tale of ancient magic and modern times.

The Hallows. Ancient artifacts imbued with a primal and deadly power. But are they protectors of this world, or the keys to its destruction?

Once, it is said, gods used magic to create reality, with powers that defied explanation. But the magic—or science, if one believes those who try to master the dangers of thaumaturgy—now seems more like a dream. Industrial workers for House Technis, farmers for House Arbor, and fisher folk of House Marin eke out a living and hope for a better future. 

But the philosopher-assassin Kata plots a betrayal that will cost the lives of godlike Minotaurs; the ambitious bureaucrat Boris Autec rises through the ranks as his private life turns to ashes; and the idealistic seditionist Maximilian hatches a mad plot to unlock the vaunted secrets of the Great Library of Caeli-Enas, drowned in the fabled city at the bottom of the sea, its strangeness visible from the skies above.

Jonathan Bing, Master Cheeser, has been growing a bit bored in Twombly Town. So it’s no surprise that when Professor Wurzle suggests a trip downriver, Jonathan jumps at the chance. A visit to the Evil Dwarf Selznak’s abandoned castle leads to a treasure hunt but also to the discovery that Jonathan’s old friend the Squire has vanished, and that Selznak may be involved.

Jonathan—accompanied by his wonderpooch Ahab, the Professor, and Miles the Magician—will have to set off to darkest Balumnia, to the city of Landsend, to find the treasure and the Squire. And to make matters worse, Selznak will be there, too...