Cello’s Gate (The Sky Pirates of Imperia 1) by Maurice Africh

“The most fun I've had reading this year.” - Smitty (Smitty1423) “Cello’s Gate truly was the wickedly wild and uniquely imaginative adventure I didn’t know I needed in my life. It’s epic yet intimate, dark yet light-hearted, playful yet emotional, and it’s got a fun factor that just soars higher than the sky. Ghandammit frens, this is how you write one hell of a debut!” - Esmay Rosalyne (Grimdark Magazine) "My absolute favorite book of the year. Africh is a lyrical wordsmith, a poet who can turn a phrase into a strand of gold." - Phoenix McDonald (Author of The Talent Continuum) “The pacing is brisk, like being chased through a collapsing cathedral… (Africh) clearly understands the balance between character development, creative bloodshed, and pitch-black humor… The world-building is dense and rich, a fusion of tech and magic; cities ruled by immortal tyrants, knights who fight like the wind, and monsters. The magic system is sparse, just enough to salt the story. The prose is witty. Occasionally poetic. Frequently unhinged. It feels like (Africh) dared you to laugh at tragedy, and then made you cry in the next paragraph.” - Florian Armas (Author of Chronicle of the Seer) "From the start, this book gripped me." - Jonathan Neves Mayers (Author of Vevin Song) "I swear I've been WAITING for someone to write this book." - Ash (Readers Quadrant Art) --- Captain Grey and his crew of sky pirates have a reputation for doing the impossible. From breaking into high-security military research facilities to conning the iCity elite—there isn’t a lock they can’t pick, a safe they can’t break, or a hidden treasure they can’t find. Until now. Returning from a harrowing heist involving a neon battery and a trash chute, Grey and his crew are approached by Dalia, the immortal daughter of the infamous ArchGovernor—and she has an offer. The job? Locate and steal the Stones of Indigo—seven fabled rocks invested with godlike power. The search for the first stone is a bona fide treasure hunt, guided by an ancient map to a deadly, uncharted island that’s protected by a mysterious guardian. The score? One million credits per crew member, per stone. The catch? Well, that’s where things get a little complicated. The stones don’t exist. They’re a myth. A bedtime story told to little pirates to make them believe that power and wealth are attainable if you just work hard enough. And to make matters infinitely worse, Grey’s never trusted immortals, and Dalia’s definitely hiding something. Something bad. And if they don’t figure out what it is, it might cost them their lives. ONE CREW OF SKY PIRATES SEVEN MYTHOLOGICAL STONES A RACE TO FIND THEM ALL

The Headsman by Christina Mîrzoi

Take a glimpse into the world of a headsman, a gloomy village in which each dweller has a secret: an evil witch, a shrewd florist, a naive young man, a foreign merchant, a dreadful husband, a mischievous maid, and a lustful duke. These stories are intertwined, weaving a dark narrative of love, trickery, brutality, and loss. Under the bleak aesthetic, raw human emotions unravel themselves in a gripping story about moral decay. In a world that belongs to the wicked, how far can one walk this path while keeping a clean conscience? The Headsman is a collection of short stories that focus on interconnected characters, sometimes looking at the same event from a different perspective. As a genre, it falls somewhere under dark fiction territory.

Fyskar: Book 1 of Legend of the Bai by Chapel Orahamm

1692 The Isle of Skye Eoin has returned as a plague doctor after ten years of banishment for revenge and a birthright. Fearchar and Seonaid have allowed the man to set up shop in their croft at the request of an old friend. The Plague Doctor is keeping secrets, though, and killing an entire clan is only the beginning. The void is waiting.

Cthulhu Armageddon by C.T. Phipps

“Under an alien sky where gods of eldritch matter rule, the only truth is revenge.” CTHULHU ARMAGEDDON is the story of a world 100 years past the rise of the Old Ones which has been reduced to a giant monster-filled desert and pockets of human survivors (along with Deep Ones, ghouls, and other “talking” monsters). John Henry Booth is a ranger of one of the largest remaining city-states when he’s exiled for his group’s massacre and suspicion he’s “tainted.” Escaping with a doctor who killed her husband, John travels across the Earth’s blasted alien ruins to seek the life of the man who killed his friends. It’s the one thing he has left.

The Long Lost War by Jeff Walker

SFINCS

Far from Earth, in a distant solar system, clone soldiers are stuck in an on-going battle against colonial separatists. John 999801 must battle against an enemy that refuses to give up, and dreams of a woman he feels he's seen before. The life of this low ranking clone soldier is about to take a turn for the worst. Or is it going to open his eyes to the truth? Can one clone soldier make a difference? And who is the woman in his dream? Answers and horrors await him as he joins his fellow replicas to the surface of a planet called... Hell.

Prince of Dawn (Book 1 of the Celestia Trilogy) by Nicola Zhang

An exiled prince searching for the truth. A curious squire desperate to prove himself. An epic romance that will change the world. Sixteen-year-old Prince Anden has spent eight years in the shadows – banished, forgotten, blamed for the death of a king. When he returns to his tense and divided kingdom, he meets an eager squire with a talent for trouble and a smile that disarms Anden’s guarded heart. As their friendship grows into something deeper, Anden begins to believe he might deserve more than vengeance. He might even deserve love. But treason runs deeper than either of them imagined. As assassins close in and war brews across the continent, Anden must rally allies, confront buried truths, and risk everything – not just for the crown or his family, but for the boy who believes in him. Prince of Dawn is the spellbinding first volume in a queer fantasy trilogy about loyalty, legacy, and the courage to choose your own future.

Never Die (Mortal Techniques #1) by Rob J. Hayes

SPFBO Finalist

Samurai, shinigami, vengeful spirits, and an impossible quest. Itami Cho has earned the name Whispering Blade. She is a Shintei warrior, sworn to the path of oaths and honour. But keeping her oaths has always been more difficult than taking them. When Flaming Fist and his bandits attack the city of Kaishi, Itami swears one last oath: she will protect the city and its people at any cost. Ein has spent his life dreaming of being a hero, and now the God of Death has given him a chance. The Reaper has set him an impossible quest: an eight-year-old boy sent to stop an immortal Emperor. Never Die is a stand alone set in the world of Mortal Techniques. It’s a wuxia adventure filled with samurai, shinigami, heroes, and vengeful spirits.

The Ghosts of Thorwald Place by Helen Power

A Mystery Scene Magazine 2021 Editor's Pick Trust No One. Especially Your Neighbors. Rachel Drake is on the run from the man who killed her husband. She never leaves her safe haven in an anonymous doorman building, until one night a phone call sends her running. On her way to the garage, she is murdered in the elevator. But her story doesn’t end there. She finds herself in the afterlife, tethered to her death spot, her reach tied to the adjacent apartments. As she rides the elevator up and down, the lives of the residents intertwine. Every one of them has a dark secret. An aging trophy wife whose husband strays. A surgeon guarding a locked room. A TV medium who may be a fraud. An ordinary man with a mysterious hobby. Compelled to spend eternity observing her neighbors, she realizes that any one of them could be her killer.

The Century Blade by Rob J. Hayes

Orochi, the king of the dragons, has ordered his brothers and sisters to destroy humanity. It falls to a young hero to assemble a team and stop the dragons' rampage. It falls to the Century Blade. This is a short story set in the world of the award-winning Mortal Techniques. It is designed to be read as a standalone story, completely independent from the full length novels set in the same world.

Three Meant To Be by M N Bennet

Telepathic high school teacher Dorian prepares teen witches for professional casting because going in unprepared is what killed one of his partners. But new state mandates on magical proficiency make it nearly impossible, and Dorian worries he can’t give his students the education they really need. Seeking a distraction from work, Dorian kisses his still-living on-again off-again clairvoyant boyfriend, Milo. Instead of a distraction, Dorian glimpses Milo’s vague vision involving the murder of Caleb—one of Dorian’s new students. Already devastated by the loss of his partner, Dorian refuses to stand aside and let Caleb die. He searches for clues by delving into Caleb’s mind. Rooting through Caleb’s memories alongside teaching classes leads Dorian to two more students: Caleb’s ex-best friend turned rival and the prodigy with connections to dangerous warlocks. However, each step further into his students’ minds forces Dorian to confront his deteriorating relationship with Milo. After discovering a link involving illegal casting, Dorian resolves to work with Milo to prevent the impending vision. To succeed, Dorian will have to explore the potential of a future with Milo and find closure on their third partner, whose loss looms between them. But meddling with fate to save Caleb inadvertently draws the warlocks near, putting all his students in danger. Dorian will have to risk his life and gamble his second chance with Milo to keep his students alive.