Spontaneous Derivation

Photography: tvol

Hopefully you’ve already gone and filled your Kindle with free Mobis from Tor Books’ promotion (expires July 27th, 2008).

Here are some Fun Facts about the writers of 9 of the 24 books available:

Mistborn - Fantasy - Book 1 in a Series
by Brandon Sanderson

In preparation for writing the final book in The Wheel of Time, he re-read the entire series and blogged about the experience.

Old Man’s War - Science Fiction - Book 1 in a Series
by John Scalzi

John Scalzi, besides running the Whatever hangout, is generally hailed as the new Heinlein. I can tell you he’s a less preachy version of Heinlein, if that’s so. His most famous article, across national newspapers and the web alike, is Being Poor.

Spin - Science Fiction - Standalone - Thriller
by Robert Charles Wilson

A fun read from his website: Human Contingency and Finding What You Want at the Bookstore.

Farthing - Alternative History - Book 1 in a Series
by Jo Walton

She currently blogs not just on her LJ, but also on Tor.com, starting off with the kick-ass and hive-kicking entry The Singularity Problem and Non-Problem.

The Outstretched Shadow - Fantasy - Book 1 of the Obsidian Trilogy
by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Look, even more eBooks of her works from Baen! And he wrote the novel adaptation of the Merlin miniseries; first chapter samples here.

Crystal Rain - Science Fiction - Book 1 of a Series
by Tobias S. Buckell

Dude blogs a lot, by which I mean he’s one of those writers who know-know about blogging.

Lord of the Isles - Fantasy - Book 1 of a Series
by David Drake

You know, I honestly think this is the only heroic fantasy series out there that draws inspiration from Sumerian mythology. He talks about that, and writing the book, here.

Through Wolf’s Eyes - Fantasy - Book 1 of a Series
by Jane Lindskold

Unlike quite a few folks in the fantasy magic wolves business, Jane Lindskold knows about wolves.

The Disunited States of America - Alternate History/Science Fiction - In a Series
by Harry Turtledove

Many know his alternative history work, but his YA Crosstime Traffic series has more than a touch of science fiction. And here’s an audio interview with the master of alternative history himself.

More fun facts for books 10 - 17 and books 18 - 24 tomorrow and Saturday.

Update: The offer is over—but you can still read the various fun facts and links about the authors, starting with Part 1. In Part 2 and Part 3, a couple of the authors have more free material on hand to download, including entire novels on Mobipocket.

To celebrate the launch of http://www.tor.com/, Tor Books has not one, not two, but 23 free eBooks instantly usable on the Kindle—there are other formats as well, like ePub and pdf for the Sony eReader. The 24th book is sequential art, and while it’s good and you should definitely download and read the PDF on your computer, it’s almost entirely all images—not something the Kindle or the eReader can handle yet.

There are also 40 gorgeous backgrounds from SF/F’s top cover artists for your computer (including widescreen) and your mobile phone.

This offer expires on July 27th, 2008. So hop on over and load up your Kindle and pretty up your desktop!