A free science fiction book for download

[Babel_17]

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Hal Spacejock
by Simon Haynes

An incompetent, accident-prone pilot is given one last chance to save his ship. An ageing robot is trusted with a midnight landing in a deserted field. And a desperate businessman is prepared to sacrifice both of them to get what he wants ...

Combining relentless action with non-stop laughs, Hal Spacejock explodes onto the science fiction scene with the subtlety of a meteor strike and the hushed reverence of a used car salesman.


"Better than Red Dwarf"

Tom Holt

"The quirkiest genre satire to hit bookstores
since Terry Pratchett's Discworld"
The West Australian


The Hal Spacejock series to date:

1. Hal Spacejock (2005)

2. Hal Spacejock: Second Course (2006)

3. Hal Spacejock: Just Desserts (2007)

4. Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch (2008)


Visit Hal Spacejock's web page:

http://www.spacejock.com.au

Wow, a free ebook! Can I help with publicity?

Yes please! Any of the following will cement your status as a gold-plated Hal Spacejock nut:

• Share the download link on social networking sites

• Tell others where they can get the free ebook.
• Consider reviewing Hal Spacejock on your blog

• Leave reviews on Amazon, LibraryThing, etc.
• Forward this page to potential Hal Spacejock fans
• There are four books in the series. Try the others!

Download Hal Spacejock here:

http://www.spacejock.com.au/Hal1Download.html
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This is from the guy who makes the wonderful freeware e-book reader, ybook.

The download is a zip file that provides the novel in a variety of formats.

Looks to be pretty good.

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Read this free novel on your PDA, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader or straight off your computer screen. You can even print the entire manuscript and read it on paper.
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Frequently Asked Questions

What's the book like?

If you enjoy TV shows like the Young Ones, Firefly, Blackadder, Red Dwarf and Dr Who, or books by Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt or Jasper Fforde, then the Hal Spacejock series is for you.


Is it a kids book?

The books were written for adults - i.e. me - but are suitable for ages 14+. According to official figures there are nearly 1000 copies of Hal Spacejock in school libraries across Australia. Frightening thought, eh?


Are the Hal Spacejock books any good?

Why not check out some of the feedback?

or the reviews?

"This book had me roaring. From the first page to the last, Hal Spacejock is a comically lovable idiot — the dubious hero with a heart of gold buried under a whole cargo load of impatience, underhandedness, laughably questionable habits and an indomitable devil-may-care attitude. His faithful sidekick robot, Clunk – with enough common sense for two and a healthy dose of good guy morality – saves Hal's foolish hide at every turn and steals the show on every glorious page." Mind Unbound


Is it self published? Who's the publisher?

The Hal Spacejock series is published by Fremantle Press, who recently celebrated thirty years in the industry. Fremantle Press books are distributed by Penguin Australia - and you'll find the Hal Spacejock series right here on the Penguin website. So no, it's not a self-published book.


What's in the download? Which file formats do I get?

You get identical copies of Hal 1 in rtf, prc, html and text format. This should cover most reading devices, and because they're open formats you can use them to generate other files (e.g. PDF, Kindle, Sony e-Reader, etc)


How big is the download file?

The download file is 988kb in size (less than one meg), and should download in under a minute. It's zipped to keep it as small as possible.


Zipped? How do I extract the contents?

On most operating systems you can double-click the downloaded file, which will display the contents in a window. Highlight the files and drag/drop them into your destination folder (ie. where you want to keep them). Otherwise, extract the contents with 7-zip, Winzip or similar.


How do I open and read the ebook?

• Just double-click the HTML file and read it in your web browser.
• Windows users might like to install yBook, my ebook reader.
• Handheld PC users will probably use the PRC, Text or HTML version.


Why is this book free?

My publisher wants to introduce more readers to the Hal Spacejock series, and nothing generates interest like free books. For more details, see the official press release


Can I email it to friends or put in on a CD to give away?

I can't stop you doing that, but I really need hard figures to show my publisher how many people have downloaded a copy. Therefore, I would ask you to please share a link to this download page instead. Not only that, but everyone will have the very latest corrected edition if they download a fresh copy from my site.


Will the first book still be on sale in the shops?

Yes - in fact, Hal Spacejock is undergoing a third printing. All four books are in stores across Australia and New Zealand, and are also available as imports in the US.


Can I download the other books in the series?

At this stage, no. However, my publisher has put together a very generous offer, giving you up to 20% off the books AND subsidising worldwide postage to the tune of 70% or more.


Can I help with publicity?

Yes please! Any of the following will prove you're a gold-plated Hal Spacejock aficionado:

• Tell others where they can get the free ebook.
• Consider reviewing Hal Spacejock on your blog.
• How about rating the book on Amazon, LibraryThing, or other review sites?
• Forward this page to anyone you think might enjoy Hal Spacejock.
• Remember there are four books in the series. Try the others!
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[aquart]

1. Is anything else attached to the download?

You know, something that might kill my computer?

[Babel_17]

2. Good question, but no.

You want to watch out for executables and Visual Basic Scripts or bat files but this download doesn't have those.

Just a jpeg, a Read Me, and a variety of formats to view the book.

If you like, just wait for some security gurus to verify this.

[juno jones]

3. Thanks, I'll check it out! n/t