Today Only: Bargain Ebook: Jack and the Giants by Piers Anthony & J.R. Rain for $1.99

Jack and the Giants by Piers Anthony (Author), J.R. Rain (Author) is on sale TODAY ONLY for $1.99 in ebook format.

Book description:

In a unique retelling to the classic fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Piers Anthony and J.R. Rain take you back to the magical land beyond the clouds. Back to the land of the Giants. Back to adventure and sorcery and awe-inspiring wonder.

In the real world, Jack works for a jerk. Luckily, the pretty receptionist makes his days bearable. But when Jack discovers he’s been fired, his simple life crumbles around him; that is, until he comes across the magic beans.

Now with a giant beanstalk growing outside his downtown New York apartment, Jack has a choice to make: follow the beanstalk up or pretend it’s not there. After all, he does seem to be the only one who can see it. Moreover, the beanstalk almost beckons him...

Putting aside his fears, Jack climbs out from his apartment window and onto the beanstalk, where climbs up and up and up...finally emerging through the clouds and into a land of dreams. Literally.

Almost immediately, he’s confronted by a hungry giant...and someone else. Someone he never expected. Someone he had long admired from afar. Now a team, Jack and Harriet seek answers to their dilemma, and find themselves in the middle of an age-old war for the land beyond the clouds. Battling evil kings, gods and giants, Jack is about to discover that he's much more than he ever dreamed...and that he may never return home again. And that’s just fine by him.

After all, the land beyond the clouds isn't that bad. Of course, he just has to survive first...

Today Only: Bargain Ebook: Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Maggie Stiefvater & Jackson Pearce for $2.99

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Maggie Stiefvater & Jackson Pearce is on sale today only for $2.99 in ebook format.

Book description:

From bestselling authors Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pearce comes an exciting new series full of magical creatures, whimsical adventures, and quirky illustrations.

Here’s a list of things Pip Bartlett can talk to:

Unicorns
Miniature Silky Griffins
Bitterflunks
Basically, all magical creatures

Here’s a list of things she can’t talk to (at least, not very well):

Parents
Teachers
Basically, all people

Because of a Unicorn Incident at her school (it was an accident!), Pip is spending the summer with her Aunt Emma at the Cloverton Clinic for Magical Creatures. At first, it’s all fun, games, and chatting with Hobgrackles, but when Fuzzles appear and start bursting into flame at the worst possible places, Pip and her new friend Tomas must take action. Because if the mystery of the Fuzzles isn’t solved soon, both magical and unmagical creatures are going to be in a lot of trouble.

Bargain Ebook: Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold edited by Datlow and Windling for $2.99

Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Editor) is on sale for $2.99 in ebook format, the lowest price it has reached to my knowledge. It's usually in the $7.99 price range.

It's a great book--I own it in hardcover and ebook and it has some lovely stories by some favorite authors. But I will admit, it has a special place in my heart for an additional reason:

Book description:

Just as fairy-tale magic can transform a loved one into a swan, the contributors to this book have transformed traditional fairy tales and legends into stories that are completely original, yet still tantalizingly familiar

In the follow-up to A Wolf at the Door, thirteen renowned authors come together with a selection of new and surprising adaptations of the fairy tales we think we know so well. These fresh takes on classic tales will show you sides of each story you never dreamed of.

Bargain Ebook: Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire for $1.99

Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire is on sale for $1.99 in ebook format. This may be the first time the book has been priced that low because I didn't previously own it in ebook format--at that price I now do.

Book description:

Is this new land a place where magics really happen?

From Gregory Maguire, the acclaimed author of Wicked, comes his much-anticipated second novel, a brilliant and provocative retelling of the timeless Cinderella tale.

In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings.... When we grow up, we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats....

We all have heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave among the ashes. But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty . . . and what curses accompanied Cinderella's exquisite looks?

Extreme beauty is an affliction

Set against the rich backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Iris, an unlikely heroine who finds herself swept from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealth, artifice, and ambition. Iris's path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister.

Clara was the prettiest child, but was her life the prettiest tale?

While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearth, burning all memories of her past, Iris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household--and the treacherous truth of her former life.

God and Satan snarling at each other like dogs.... Imps and fairy godmotbers trying to undo each other's work. How we try to pin the world between opposite extremes!

Far more than a mere fairy-tale, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is a novel of beauty and betrayal, illusion and understanding, reminding us that deception can be unearthed--and love unveiled--in the most unexpected of places.

New Book: From a High Tower (Elemental Masters) by Mercedes Lackey with Full Series List

From a High Tower (Elemental Masters) by Mercedes Lackey was released in June and I just realized I never posted about it!

Book description:

From a High Tower is newest adventure in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series, featuring a retelling of Rapunzel’s not-so-happily-ever-after ending.

How's that for an in-depth description? In other words, surprisingly enough, there hasn't been a Rapunzel retelling in this series yet. Now there is. And reading the reader reviews, this isn't where to begin the series if you are interested. I am behind on these, but enjoyed some of the earlier ones well enough. According to most lists, this is book 11 in the series, but that is always crazy because this series changed publishers so there are more than that I think. It would technically be book 13 I believe. Here is my list. The Fire Rose is my favorite since it is a Beauty and the Beast tale. And behind that would be The Serpent's Shadow--those are the two books that come to mind rather vividly when I think of the series. And two of the books are anthologies, but that still counts for me!

Elemental Masters Series by Mercedes Lackey:

1. The Fire Rose (1995)

2. The Serpent's Shadow (Elemental Masters, Book 1) (2001)

3. The Gates of Sleep (Elemental Masters, Book 2) (2002)

4. Phoenix and Ashes (Elemental Masters, Book 3) (2004)

5. The Wizard of London (Elemental Masters, Book 4) (2005)

6. Reserved for the Cat (Elemental Masters, Book 5) (2007)

7. Unnatural Issue: An Elemental Masters Novel (Elemental Masters, Book 6) (2011)

8. Home From the Sea: An Elemental Masters Novel (2012)

9. Elemental Magic: All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters (Daw Book Collectors) (2012)

10. Steadfast: (Elemental Masters #8) (2013)

11. Elementary (All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters) (2013)

12. Blood Red: (Elemental Masters #9) (2014)

13. From a High Tower (Elemental Masters) (2015)