Hans G. Schanz has been putting these books sales together for a while. Most of the books are $.99; some are free. I tend to grab a couple of books if I can find something that piques my interest that I haven’t already read. Unfortunately, I’ve read most of the authors I like in this group. I will highlight a few of those in a minute because you might not have. First, I’ll put up some links: Book Sale; About BasedCon.
Most of the authors in the sale are modern and currently publishing; there are a handful of classics on the list. I like most sci fi classics, such as H.G. Wells, but I’m writing this post to promote the authors trying to make a living at this gig today.
My favorite current author to read off the list, then, is Robert Kroese. I appreciate Kroese because he manages to be cerebral, absurdist and/or funny, and adventurous all at the same time. It’s my favorite tone for books, albeit I’ll go for weird in that middle slot instead of funny. And I’ll be honest, if the first two descriptors are present, adventuresome isn’t mandatory. But an author that can manage all three gets two thumbs up from me! I don’t have three thumbs….
Fenton Wood is not bad, either. He manages to be cerebral and weird and adventurous in his first book, Pirates of the Electromagnetic Waves. That book also has the heady thrill of childlike wonder, as the characters start off as children. By the next book, they are no longer children, and the plot isn’t as solid. I actually like the second book in the series simply because it’s so technical; there is wonder in that, too. But not everyone enjoys the feel of nonfiction in their fiction. Nonfiction just happens to be what I read most of the time — well, not exactly. I read it constantly, though, in between my fiction. A chapter here, a chapter there — and then I see an enticing work of fiction and will buy it and read it all at once. This entire series is worth giving a try. Fenton Wood has a unique voice, and I’m grateful for the ease of indie publishing because traditional publishing rarely chooses good weird these days.
One of my favorite author personalities on the list is Jon Del Arroz. His books are good, too, especially the series that starts with Justified (the book he has for sale at BasedCon). I’ve at the very least started most of his series of books. His latest release is The Stars Rejoined from the Aryshan War series. I purchased this book but haven’t yet read it. I admire Jon because he doesn’t just produce good books; he’s also hardworking and constantly producing content: new series, comics, and videos. He’s one of those people who would be kind and magnanimous to all people [or most, probably] … if they would allow him to. The world is full of haters, though, and can’t cope with people who are both open and conservative. Openness is a trait in the Big 5 cluster of personality traits. When I examine the world around me, I realize that the only people I really get along with well possess this trait. But it’s both sad and strange that openness, which used to cluster around oddball conservatives and people who call themselves “liberals”, is difficult to find in a world hunkering down in their black and white spaces. Have they become checker or chess pieces? I don’t know. I hate hunkering, though.
I didn’t mean to get philosophical. I apologize. Go check out the list of books for sale. There are many more authors I appreciate there, and others I won’t read due to their 17+ rating. I’m sorry. I don’t read books with explicit sexual content. I don’t find it healthy, as reading goes directly into the cerebral brain, where lust might worm its way in under the demons of intellectualism. For the record, when scrolling through, I saw only a couple that fit into 17+.
Jill Domschot 