Twenty Kindle Unlimited books that don't suck

99c not KU - but it's my blog.

    Kindle Unlimited has been a feast and a famine to self-published as well as small press publishers throughout the internet. It provides a chance to get books out to a much larger audience than might normally be achieved and turns the Amazon algorhythm from friend to foe. At least theoretically. However, there's a certain level of caveat emptor to be found when trying to find your next monthly rental. There are many Kindle Unlimited books which stand up to the mainstream publishers in terms of writing, editing, and presentation. There are also many Kindle Unlimited books that do not. 

    As an avid reader, indie author, and semi-professional reviewer, I've read a lot of Kindle Unlimited books over the years. As such, I have decided to compile a list of twenty ones that do not suck. In fact, they're all quite good and entertaining. Why twenty? Well, that is the maximum number you can check out before having to return one. I actually dare say all of these books are worth buying directly rather than using the Kindle Unlimited feature but that's because I enjoy supporting authors directly. Even so, reading the books helps and that's all that matters. 

    For this collection of books, I've done my best to only select one example from each author as well as try to make an eclectic collection of science fiction, fantasy, grimdark, and noblebright. Really, I could fill this entire collection with nothing but cyberpunk entries. However, I already did one of those and recommend people check them out. I'm pretty sure there's something for everyone here and I hope you'll give them a look.

20. Brutal: A Sword and Sorcery Fantasy by James Alderdice

    James Alderdice is an author who enjoys writing old school Sword and Sorcery titles with antiheroes possessing mighty thews and Spaghetti Western morality. His nameless protagonist here goes to a town divided between two wizards and a scheming Duchess that is a obvious (as well as deliberate) homage to A Fistful of Dollars. I really enjoyed this one and note that he includes more than a few Conan references only actual Howard fans will get.

19. A Wizard's Forge by AM Justice

    AM Justice crafts a wonderful world where human settlers have settled down on a planet and reverted to barbarism. Only our plucky heroine's people remember the scientific truth. Unfortunately, she ends up a slave and brainwashed by a gas-lighting corrupt merchant prince. Escaping to a friendly nearby kingdom, the emotional scars remain and she must become a wizard to free herself entirely. Because, oh, magic is real. I liked this one because it dealt strongly with trauma and overcoming it even when you were a badass.

18. I'm Glad You're Dead by Hunter Blaine

    It wouldn't be a CT Phipps list without vampires on it and I'm Glad You're Dead is a fun book about a pop-cultured Irish vampire who spent centuries hunting down everyone who killed his family before realizing that didn't leave him much else of a life. I had a lot of fun with the adventures of John Cook and it is a fun series to get started on.

17. Kings of Paradise by Richard Nell

    This is arguably the best of the books on this list and really one of the few series I would think belongs up there with some of the best fantasy of the past twenty years. Basically, a deformed but wise witch's son realizes he could unite his scattered people by promising them the fantastically rich tropical paradises to the South. The people in the South live an idyllic life but are threatened by the imperial Navy the East. Everyone wants what's best for their people but that's mutually contradictory--or is it?

16. Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R. Fletcher

 
    Michael R. Fletcher is an embarrassment of riches for the indie fantasy world and I recommend checking out any of his books. Indeed, I should probably recommend one of the more famous fantasy ones. However, Ghosts of Tomorrow has a special place in my heart. The cyberpunk story of the brainscan trade. Brainscans are a billion dollar industry and the only way to make true AI but the cost is the death of the doner. So, of course, there's a trade in unwanted children.

15. Child of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin

     I like Andy Peloquin's books that tend to take place in dark wretched fantasy hives of scum and villainy or epic ecumenopoilis space operas. The Child of the Night Guild follows a young bisexual heroine sold to the titular Thieves Guild as a child and raised to be a thief. All she wants is a normal life but it seems like such a thing is beyond her. Especially since it turns out being "normal" isn't so great and the Night Guild may actually be the lesser evil. Too bad the lesser evil is still evil.

14. The Skald's Black Verse by Jordan Loyal Short

 

     I am a huge fan of the Warhammer 40K verse but, perhaps because they are trying to market to the largest market possible, it's not quite as dark in its official fiction as it could be. This isn't WH40K but is a dark fantasy space opera universe where the majority of humanity has degenerated into Medieval superstition. It is dark and well-written with lots of strong characterization that doesn't shy away from how horrible the setting is.

 13. Paternus: Rise of the Gods by Dyrk Ashton

     I will fully admit that I know Dyrk Ashton but I have to say that I met him because I read his awesome book and really enjoyed it. It weirdly reminds me of the backstory to the Eternals in that humanity has been unwittingly host to a conflict between two races of beings for the entirety of its history. This conflict being the inspiration for all of humanity's gods from Judaeo-Christianity to Ancient Greece.

12. Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike

     Orconomics is a wonderful Terry Pratchett-inspired parody of Dungeons and Dragons inspired economies. What happens when the banks get involved in dungeon crawls? What happens when the various monster races want to be workers rather than slaughtered enemies? What happens when racism and capitalism meet Gary Gygax? Well, it's a surprisingly sharp bit of social satire.

11. Starship's Mage by Glynn Stewart

     Glynn Stewart has written a huge ton of military science fiction over the years and often struggled with trying to justify the conventions of the genre. According to him, he finally just went, "Screw it, it's magic" and made an entire series about sorcerers who make starships jump. This is the story of the rise to power of one of these jump mages. I really enjoyed this series and binged the entire thing from start to finish in one month.

10. To Beat the Devil by MK Gibson

     I am a huge fan of MK Gibson's various series with Agents of MORTAL and Villain's Rule both being favorites. The Technomancer series is my favorite, though. This is the story of the apocalypse happening and God not showing up. Now Earth is ruled by demons and technology is frozen at a cyberpunk level. A courier named Salem then finds himself recruited by a mysterious figure to undermine the demon lords.

9. Of Honey and Wildfires by Sarah Chorn

    Steampunk is a somewhat underrepresented genre. Sarah Chorn does a fantastic job at creating a frontier mining town that is seeking a mystical spice-like substance called Shine that goes in everything from food to machinery. However, the corporation that controls its export is cruel and repressive while the dominating the frontier like slave owners. Very LGBT friendly.

8. The Immorality Clause by Brian Parker

    I'm a huge fan of cyberpunk if you know anything about me. I got into the genre not because of Neuromancer or Snow Crash, though I certainly read those, but because of this little series. Brian Parker's Easytown novels are noir stories set in a 2060s New Orleans where vice has been comodified with technology. Zach Forrest is a detective who discovers the line between sinners and saints is increasingly blurred when machines start to think.

7. Tropical Punch (Bubbles in Space) by SC Jensen

    Sometimes you just find a book that is perfect for you and I have to admit that may be Tropical Punch. Alcoholic ex-cop Bubbles Marlowe is in a bad way. She has been kicked off the force, her client is dead, and there's someone else walking around with her client's face. Hunted down by hidden enemies, she takes the only escape left for her in a cyberpunk future: a space going luxury liner. It is as insane as it sounds.

6. Never Die by Rob J. Hayes

    Picking which book to talk about with Rob J. Hayes is hard as he's a solid indie grimdark author. His Ties That Bind series was quite good and I absolutely loved Where Loyalties Lie. However, if I had to choose the most accessible one of his books then I'd choose this wuxia homage in Never Die. A small boy is able to give a second life to a group of swordsmen to kill the Emperor. However, some dark and sinister forces are at work. 

5. Dragon Mage by M.L. Spencer

    I really recommend M.L. Spencer's Rhenwars Saga (also on KU) but Dragon Mage is even better. It is the story of a young autistic mage who is living in a draconian regime where the latter are milked like cows to provide a ruling elite with their power. Escaping, the young mage finds himself in a culture that rides dragons. You can pretty much fill in the rest. It is a classic fun fantasy that I absolutely adored.

4. Bill the Vampire by Rick Gualtieri

    Bill the Vampire is a crass, irreverent, and thoroughly entertaining story about a nerdy jerk named Bill who is turned into a vampire. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he is the legendary Free Will who is immune to vampire dominance. Unfortunately, this doesn't prevent him from constantly getting beaten up by the more powerful vampires around him. I also love the Hybrid of High Moon series by the same author.

3. Behind Blue Eyes by Anna Mocikat

    Behind Blue Eyes combines The Matrix, 1984, Brave New World, and a pretty good Cyberpunk 2020 campaign in my opinion. It is a cyberpunk story about a beautiful stone cold killer named Nephilim who belongs to an angel-themed death squad of cyborgs. After regaining her free will due to an extent, she has to struggle to keep it even as every act of defiance could mean her end. However, is it so terrible to live in a paradise where the only thing you lack is the ability to make decisions? 

2. Into the Dark by JA Sutherland

 
    I am a huge fan of Honor Harrington by David Weber and always looking for the same kind of story without quite the level of power creep that happened toward the end. This starts with our plucky young heroine as a midshipman in the steampunk navy of Her Majesty. I had a large amount of fun with it and they're easy to read bite-sized books.

 1. Forging Hephaestus by Drew Hayes

    My number 1# draft pick is going to be no surprise to those who know me as a fan of superheroes as well as a writer of them. Drew Hayes did a fantastic job with his Superpowered series (albeit I prefer them on audio) but I feel this book blew it away. The story of a tenuous truce between superheroes and villains as well as those who keep the peace between them. Believe me, this was a hard call as I also love Fred the Vampire Accountant.

Recommendations: Poor Man's Fight by Elliot Kay, Mindfracked by MR Forbes, Caped by Darius Brasher, Faithless by Graham Austin King, and Cradle by Will Wright