Based Book Sale Reviews Summer 2025
Books I like for 99 cents or free
Today, the
begins. All books are 99 cents or free. I plan to read and review a number of them, but before I do that and come back in a month when the sale is all done, let me drop some reviews of the ones I’ve already read for your low-cost reading pleasure!
Note that I have four books in the sale, including one which is free today. I’ll put some reviews others have done of them at the end. My books in the sale are:
Murder on the Stellar Schooner: Illustrated Detective Scifi (99 cents)
God Emperor Trump (Trump Imperium Book 1) (*FREE* today, otherwise 99 cents)
The Return of Woke-Masmoke (Trump Imperium Book 2) (99 cents)
Without further ado, order chosen by random number generator…
The Complete Father Brown Mysteries ($.99 Mystery Classics) by G.K. Chesterton
A collection of mysteries, murders and all, from one of the greatest British Catholic writers of a century ago. Witty, fun, Catholic, and satisfying, these stories are an enjoyable romp and a fresh take on the great tradition of British detective fiction from Sherlock Holmes onward.
Pirates of the Electromagnetic Waves
(Yankee Republic Book 1) (*FREE!*) by Fenton Wood
An enjoyable boy’s adventure story set in a mysterious alternate history, centering around the creation of a pirate radio station in an isolated mountain valley. Mischief, electronics nerdiness, and low-stakes small town adventure abound. The characters are fun, the premise is great, and mysterious details about the setting are sprinkled throughout to keep the reading thinking and guessing.
All Men Dream of Earthwomen and Other Aeons by
An excellent collection of short stories, by grandmaster John C. Wright. The titular story, All Men Dream of Earthwomen, is by turns action-packed, deeply philosophical, excellent in premise, deeply romantic, and satisfying. I enjoyed all of this book.
Iron Chamber of Memory by
Mysterious, dark, both modern and Arthurian, dreamy, supernatural, romantic, and just plain good. It’s as if one took everything Neil Gaiman was purported to be good at it, and had an actually good writer make a better version with a better premise. Traditionalist Catholics like me may be warned that there’s some naughty unmarried stuff in it, but I still get to recommend the book because it’s made pretty clear by the end it’s a terrible idea.
If you want a longer review, here’s one from Upstream Reviews by my fellow reviewer and all-around excellent writer,
:
The Santara Commentaries, Book 1: The Padri by
Imagine the tactical military sci-fi of Jerry Pournelle, e.g. in Janissaries. Take that tactical mindset, put it in the mind of an amnesiac protagonist, and have him direct a motley crew of 17th-century soldiers including swordsmen, musketeers, cannon, wyvern cavalry, elemental magic blasters riding pegasi, and more, against an evil empire. Set this all in an alternate history version of the many islands of Indonesia.
Epic? Yes. Awesome? Yes. Wargame-nerd well-thought out strategies, tactics, and battles? Definitely in this book.
I wrote a longer form review for
here: https://upstreamreviews.substack.com/p/santara-commentariesOne Bright Star to Guide Them by
A brilliant novella whose characters are adults who were previously children who went on a Narnia-like portal fantasy. By turns dark, brilliant, and soaring, this story is the greatest torchbearer of C.S. Lewis’s legacy in decades.
Inquisitor's Promise by
Mechas, Wyvern Knights, Dragonball Fighters, Catgirl Ninjas, and Catholics take on Nanotech Borg
An intensely Catholic military tour-de-force set after the year 7000, this book details a series of battles to unite Christendom, then bring its full force against the world-ending peril of a nanotech Grey Globe that suborns all it touches.
This is not just a battle-laden piece of military sci-fi, but also a deep homage to the history of genre fiction, taking inspirations from such greats as Virgil, C.S. Lewis, and Miguel de Cervantes. Beyond the sheer spectacle of catgirl ninjas fighting against and alongside mecha robots, we also have deeply religious character development within the frame of a traditional pulp fiction/fairytale prince-and-space-princess tale, with not one, not two, but five different princesses, not to mention a number of princes.
A whole lot of fun combined with deep underlying meaning and philosophy.
The Kings of the Corona Justin M. Tarquin
A glorious Arthurian story set in a remote village, the Corona forces all the villagers to obey the increasingly-ridiculous dictates of the present authority due to fear of mysterious and painful cursed penalties. Written before the outbreak of a particular Coronavirus in Wuhan, the subsequent world events turn this already fun story into a hilarious satire.
My books, reviewed by others
The Lives of Velnin: The Black Citadel: A fast-paced epic fantasy of swords, love, magic, and battles.
From a review by neetcrayon, author of Recurrence Break:
Fastest fiction around
Everything I have to say about this story has to be relative to the speed it was delivered. This is by far the fastest thing I've ever read. It is so fast, delivered in bite sized chunks that I was at chapter 10 before I knew it. There is not a single word that is wasted here.
As the consequences of being this fast, I reasonably expected some other major trade off but this had no such fault that stood out in any way. It knows what it is, it isn't trying to be anything else. Its a smooth ride from chapter 1, nothing gets in the way of the flow. This is polished, to the point and very lean. It can be enjoyed to its fullest with very little time investment.
Murder on the Stellar Schooner: Illustrated Detective Scifi
From a review by Tim Craire, author of High Iron:
A film-noir-style private eye tries to solve a murder on a spaceship, surrounded by dames and wiseguys, etc. etc. The prose style is appropriately over the top.
God Emperor Trump (Trump Imperium Book 1)
From an Amazon review:
This reads like a clever pastiche of several Sherlock Holmes tropes.
The Trumpian Empire is an interesting way to replace Victorian Empire.
I thought the idea people go to the evil Wokium Den to smoke Wokium is pretty funny.
It's a good solid read. A bit hard to follow sometimes, but enjoyable.
I recommend it.
The Return of Woke-Masmoke (Trump Imperium Book 2)
From an Amazon review:
It continues the story of James Trump and Dr. Petrie in their efforts to thwart Dr. Woke-Masmoke and wraps things up with a happy conclusion.
Nice!