The After-Action Report

The Top 25 Based Books!

Beneath the autumn sky, we join the barbarian campfire where fur-clad warriors sat in a ring of flame and shadow, their axes resting idle; yet the true feast was not of flesh or drink, but of books: weathered chronicles and fresh-bound volumes laid upon a low table, each treated as a prize of conquest, and as the fire roared they spoke in grave tones of the wisdom and treasures they had won, as though the turning of pages were itself a saga to be sung.

It’s time for the BasedCon V Based Book Sale After-Action Report!

Our latest sale has referred 90 Kindle Free E-books and 1022 Kindle Paid E-Books - 1102 in all. This brings the 2025 Based Book total to 1824 Kindle Free E-books and 7236 Kindle Paid E-Books or a total of 9060 books. What books are Based Book readers buying? What popular offerings might you have missed?

Let’s begin with the BasedCon V Based Book Sale Top Ten.

The Top Ten

Richard Paolinelli claims the top spot with his new release, Of All The Gin Joints In The Universe. One detective. Two suspects. A conspiracy big enough to kill them all. “It is a mystery, wrapped in a conspiracy, with a love story at the heart.” “Fedoras. Trenchcoats. Space cigarettes. Space dames. A hard-boiled detective. Fistfights. Spaceships. Honestly, you could’ve just said ‘space dames’ and I would’ve coughed up my money.”

Closely following in second place is John C. Wright with Nowhither: The Drowned World (Unwithering Realm Book 2), continuation of the Dragon-award-winning Somewhither. Ilya Muromets, nonhuman immortal and would-be hero, and his friends and companions, make a hair’s breadth escape from the endless immensities of the Dark Tower, that unconquerable stronghold and throne of a monstrous, dimension-spanning empire ruled by cruel tyrants and omniscient magicians, only to find themselves trapped in circumstances even worse: they escape a citadel of blood-drinking abominations only to find themselves trapped in a chamber at the sunless bottom of the sea. drinking abominations only to find themselves trapped in a chamber at the sunless bottom of the sea.

In third place, we have sale newcomer Sarah Hoyt with her space-opera mystery-adventure, Other Rhodes (Rhodes Mysteries Book 1). Lilly Gilden will risk everything to plunge into the interstellar underworld to find the love of her life. Her only ally? A half-crazed cyborg who thinks he’s Nick Rhodes, a fictional 20th Century detective.

Robert E. Howard shows up in fourth place with Conan: The Thief, The Conqueror, The King: The Collected Adventures of the World's Greatest Barbarian (Illustrated Edition). Join Conan the Barbarian on his many adventures from mercenary and thief to conqueror and king as he smites demons, fights wizards, slays monsters, unearths forgotten treasures, battles against all odds, journeys to exotic lands, loves and lusts, uncovers hidden mysteries, and always refuses to yield!

Rounding out the Top Five is Chrome Oxide with 28 Minutes Into The Future. Was there ever a time when the world needed to laugh more than it does right now? Thankfully, the cavalry has arrived. Nine rib-tickling, irreverent short stories take aim at political correctness and blow it to smithereens—in a hail of hilarity. “It’s terribly hard to write political commentary with such a strong sense of irony.” — The late, great Jerry Pournelle, John W. Campbell Award, Prometheus Award, Seiun Award, Heinlein Society Award, National Space Society’s Heinlein.

Tied for sixth place we have R. Stone’s Softbone: Down and Out in New Kowloon (Jake Long). It's Cyberpunk; high tech and low life. A warning about the present if trends continue. R. A. Stone ended up predicting current trends, as some things came true before the books release.

Also tied in sixth place is Ryan M. Patrick with The Europan Deception: A Science Fiction Thriller (Dark Galaxy Book 1). The year is 2204. The galaxy is on the edge of conflict. The U.S. intelligence community is at war with itself. And an ancient conspiracy is about to explode. Can two operatives and a Lunar freedom fighter stop a dastardly plot millennia in the making? Find out in The Europan Deception!\

In eighth place? A mysterious alien artifact. A secret CIA project. A world on the brink of transformation. Laz A. Mataz’s Dimensions of Essence is a rapid-fire, high-stakes political and sci-fi thriller where trust is dangerous, power is corruptible, and first contact may be humanity’s last chance to get it right.

In ninth place, a fake marriage to save the galaxy... what could possibly go wrong? Find out in Nikki Roots’ Captain's Vow: Starship Pegasus Adventures Book One. Perfect for fans of found family, starship drama, telepathic tension, and slow-burn sci-fi romance with emotional depth, no spice, and plenty of banter.

Rocket scientist Karl K. Gallagher writes stories stretching the imagination to new frontiers of wonder. His Ultimate Conclusions (Short Story Collections) touches down tied in tenth place.

Also in tenth place, The Lazarus Men: A science fiction noir thriller by Christian Warren Freed. “A gripping blend of sci-fi noir and pulse-pounding adventure, The Lazarus Men hurls an ordinary man into an extraordinary galactic chase where alien secrets, ruthless operatives, and a forgotten treasure collide—perfect for fans of Total Recall and The Maltese Falcon.”

The Rest of the Top Twenty Five

Our twelfth place Based Book takes us to England, 1066. The final clash of Saxons and Vikings is about to begin, in M.S. Olney’s Blood of Kings.

In thirteenth, we have a five-way tie. G. K. Chesterton’s The Complete Father Brown Mysteries contains twenty-four short stories and novellas featuring G. K. Chesterton’s legendary detective, Father Brown. If you like explosive action, alien invaders and ancient mysteries, then M.S. Olney’s Terran Defenders: Genesis is for you.

The world is a frozen wasteland. And the key to the future is a book from the past in Kate Kelly’s Permafrost. WriteStuffRey is also in thirteenth place. Dive into the dark, hilarious, and grotesque world of Eggs of Extinction, a daring sci-fi horror novella that pushes boundaries and defies expectations. Our final thirteenth place contender is J.M. Russell with The New World. “If you liked ”Heart of Darkness” and “Apocalypse Now”, you will love “The New World”, a Southern Gothic retelling of the original story, in an alternate history setting.”

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 33+ Classic Collection of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Novels. Stories. Illustrated: Tarzan of the Apes, A Princess of Mars, The Mucker, The Land that Time Forgot, The Lost Continent and others. takes the eighteenth place honors.

In nineteenth: Christian Warren Freed’s Dreams of Winter: A Military Space Opera, “…a gripping military space opera that blends the brutal intrigue of Game of Thrones with the cosmic scale of Warhammer 40K, as Inquisitor Tolde Breed battles the ghosts of his past and an ancient evil that threatens to consume the universe.”

Finally, join young Ph.D. candidate, Anthony, as he contends with five alien spacefaring races in Mike Mollman Proxima Station. “Anthony, our protagonists, has great voice with plenty of funny one liners and references. Going on this first contact adventure with the new PhD was a fun ride!” Mike Mollman closes out the top twenty.

We have another tie for twenty-first place. Buried beneath the streets in the holy city of Jerusalem, American tourist Siobhan McLane discovers an ancient inscription hidden for a thousand years. But the past will not give up its secrets easily in Bowen Greenwood’s The Prophet Conspiracy.

Also in twenty-first place is Richard Harvie’s Quartermaster and the Murdered Principal: Or a Satire of Modern Miseducation, a modern-day tale in the spirit of Wodehouse, or maybe George MacDonald Fraser on a bad day.

Tied for twenty-third place… his gruff exterior hides a man who wants to do the right thing. But running from trouble won’t work when the planets need a hero, in Michael F. Kane’s After Moses. And story-teller Milo James Fowler collects some of his best tales of swashbuckling action and intrigue among the stars in Live by the Ten, Die by the Gun and Other Stories.

Finally, a tie for twenty-fifth place. When fairies give Princess Jane’s magical birth gifts to the family cat by mistake, the royal family is horrified. Now Lady Caterina can sing a perfect middle C, and has read every book in the royal library, but Jane remains an ordinary little girl. There’s no turning back this magical mistake, and if news of the mix-up gets out, Jane and her family will lose their kingdom forever in Jennifer Milne’s Plain Princess Jane.

In Joe Salem’s Dark Straits: A Naval War Techno-thriller, two NATO destroyers are sailing into the Black Sea on a Freedom of the Seas mission. Their commanders don't know that they are sailing into the jaws of a trap laid by a nefarious plot between a long time enemy and a supposed ally.

The Top Fifty!

Here are the detailed sales stats for the top fifty. This does not include free books or books purchased outside the sale - only books successfully logged through the Based Book Sale’s Amazon Affiliate links (from which we collect a 4% commission).

What’s Next?

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday Based Book Sale will run: Wednesday, November 26, 2025, 12:00 AM PST through Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 12:00 AM PST. We’ll send out a Call for Authors a couple of weeks in advance.

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To every shield-brother and sister who joined the Based Book Sale, our gratitude. You proved that readers and creators, marching as one, can storm the walls of the old gatekeepers.

Let the saga continue with new triumphs and more Based Books, by Crom, as the year wanes!

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