(Not) In This Lifetime by Rebecca Ouellette

Time Travel! 1980s! Rock 'n' Roll! Charlie North doesn't want to be a rock star, that was his overbearing father's dream. It is only out of a sense of parental loyalty that Charlie drags himself into seedy clubs and dive bars night after night, when he would rather be anywhere else. For years, he does this without hesitation, until a devastating nightclub fire forces him to question everything he thought he knew about his father, and himself. In the days following the fire, Charlie begins to dream about another band, long ago, and the tragic death of a beautiful girl he’s never met. Soon, they are all he can think about. He struggles to grasp onto any kind of logical explanation as he spirals out of control, consumed by feelings and memories not his own. It isn’t until he awakens one morning, in another time, 21 years in the past, that everything finally makes sense.

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless

The first in a gripping new historical fantasy series that intertwines Irish mythology with real-life history, The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is the thrilling debut novel by Shauna Lawless. They think they've killed the last of us... 981 AD. The Viking King of Dublin is dead. His young widow, Gormflaith, has ambitions for her son – and herself – but Ireland is a dangerous place and kings tend not to stay kings for long. Gormflaith also has a secret. She is one of the Fomorians, an immortal race who can do fire-magic. She has kept her powers hidden at all costs, for there are other immortals in this world – like the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of warriors who are sworn to kill Fomorians. Fódla is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann with the gift of healing. Her kind dwell hidden in a fortress, forbidden to live amongst the mortals. Fódla agrees to help her kin by going to spy on Brian Boru, a powerful man who aims to be High King of Ireland. She finds a land on the brink of war – a war she is desperate to stop. However, preventing the loss of mortal lives is not easy with Ireland in turmoil and the Fomorians now on the rise...

A Threat of Shadows (The Keeper Chronicles Book 1) by JA Andrews

#SPBFO Semifinalist Alaric betrayed everything he believed to save Evangeline — and failed. His last chance to save the woman he loves lies in an ancient Wellstone, a repository of power, buried and lost long ago. Luck—or something more troubling—leads him to a small group searching for the same stone. A disgruntled dwarf, a bumbling wizard, and an elf with an unsettling amount of power. If he can gain their trust, they might help him find the cure. But the Wellstone holds more than he knows, and a terrible evil he’d thought defeated is stirring again, searching for the stone. Can the companions survive a traitor, a dragon, and their own pasts to reach the stone before time runs out?

The Many Shades of Midnight by C M Debell

SPFBO9

A mysterious enemy threatens the continent of Ellasia, spreading a deadly sickness that kills or transforms everything it touches. In desperation, the King of Lankara sends an envoy to his disgraced former military commander, Alyas-Raine Sera, recalling him from exile and begging his aid. But when a discovery links the contagion to the mining of Isyrium, the most precious mineral resource in Ellasia, it pits Alyas against the powerful mining syndicates in a conflict that could have catastrophic consequences. Because the syndicates will fight to defend their wealth and power, even if the cost is everything and everyone else.

Pallas Lost by Jake Morrison

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

When Ensign Vasyli Nikonov’s ship happened upon a drifting derelict, he had no idea how drastically his life was about to change. Not only had the crew been killed in an impossible manner, the Captain of the ship left a reference to the child’s tale of the lost colony of Pallas. Elsewhere in the Fifteen Systems, scholar Eliot Charter gamely starts his own fool’s quest to prove that Pallas is real. Armed with nothing but naivety and knowledge, he hires mercenary Captain Skadi Ulfsdöttir to help him on his journey. Things quickly spiral out of hand, leaving them all wondering if Pallas was truly Lost...

Reign & Ruin by J. D. Evans

SPFBO7 SPFBO Finalist SPFBO Winner

“All magic is beautiful...and terrible. Do you not see the beauty in yours, or the terror in mine? You can stop a heart, and I can stop your breath.” She is heir to a Sultanate that once ruled the world. He is an unwanted prince with the power to destroy. She is order and intellect, a woman fit to rule in a man's place. He is chaos and violence and will stop at nothing to protect his people. His magic answers hers with shadow for light. They need each other, but the cost of balance may be too high a price. Magic is dying and the only way to save it is to enlist mages who wield the forbidden power of death, mages cast out centuries ago in a brutal and bloody war. Now, a new war is coming. Science and machines to replace magic and old religion. They must find a way to save their people from annihilation and balance the sacred Wheel—but first, they will have to balance their own forbidden passion. His peace for her tempest, his restlessness for her calm… Night and day, dusk and dawn, the end, and the beginning.

Kingdom of Embers by Tricia Copeland

Her pale skin and weird diet make her a target at school. If only they knew the truth about her feeding habits… Seventeen-year-old Alena Scott is tired of pretending to be something she’s not. As an outlawed vampire-witch hybrid, she’s forced to abide by the oppressive secrecy imposed by her Vampire Chancellor mother. But she’ll have to ignore the rules when she comes face-to-face with a handsome, full-grown version of her childhood imaginary friend. Shocked that he recognizes her as his own pretend play pal, the two embark on a quest to solve the mystery of their fantasized companionship. And as they unravel their entwined destinies, Alena realizes she holds the key to a curse which could free them all—or condemn witchkind to eternal suffering. Can Alena and her impossibly familiar partner reverse an ancient spell before they’re sent to a mortal grave? Kingdom of Embers is the first book in the enthralling Kingdom Journals YA urban fantasy series. If you like intriguing characters, shadowy magic, and a fresh twist on modern vampire storylines, then you’ll love Tricia Copeland’s heart-stopping tale.

Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar

SPFBO7 Indie Recs Indie SPFBO Finalist

Follow the law and you’ll stay safe. But what if the law is wrong? Tashué’s faith in the law is beginning to crack. Three years ago, he stood by when the Authority condemned Jason to the brutality of the Rift for non-compliance. When Tashué’s son refused to register as tainted, the laws had to be upheld. He’d never doubted his job as a Regulation Officer before, but three years of watching your son wither away can break down even the strongest convictions. Then a dead girl washed up on the bank of the Brightwash, tattooed and mutilated. Where had she come from? Who would tattoo a child? Was it the same person who killed her? Why was he the only one who cared? Will Tashué be able to stand against everything he thought he believed in to get the answers he’s looking for?

Shadows of Ivory by T L Greylock and Bryce O'Connor

SPFBO7 SPFBO Finalist

I burned cities and drowned mountains. I pulled stars from the night sky and scorched the world with their flames. I am the Fisher King, and the grave does not bind me. An academic with a taste for adventure, Eska de Caraval has means and influence, wit and charm... and a knack for acquiring artifacts that may not be hers to claim. But when Eska comes into possession of a strange disc of rune-carved bronze, she finds herself abruptly hunted by all manner of adversaries: an assassin in the shadows, a monster in the deep, a bitter rival burning with vengeance. From sword and fang and flame Eska must defend herself, struggling all the while to unravel the mysteries of a dangerous artifact. An artifact so powerful, a dead tyrant will rise again to wield it.

The Hidden King (The Coming of Áed #1) by E.G. Radcliff

SPFBO6 Indie Recs Indie SFFOasis

Hidden truths. Hidden power. Hidden destiny. On the shores of a rusty sea, in the streets of a starving city, a young man named Áed scraps to build a life for himself and the makeshift family he loves. Scarred by a trauma he cannot remember, and haunted by the brutal damage it left behind, he has no idea of the courage his future will demand. When tragedy strikes, a desperate Áed risks a treacherous, life-changing journey in his last chance to save the only family he has left - but an ancient legacy smoldering within him is about to turn deadly. Neither he - nor a kingdom - will ever be the same.

Obsidian: Awakening by Sienna Frost

An epic tale of humanity that survives its ugliest and most admirable moments, one that will change your perception on love, life, and what it means to be human forever. When Hasheem, a legendary male-escort-turned-assassin finally escapes the city that enslaved him as a child, he finds himself trapped in the centuries-long war between his nomadic race of desert warriors and an empire that seeks to rule them. There, a new set of shackles awaits him in the form of a fifteen-year-old girl and her oracle brother whose agenda plunges him into the blood sport of power and politics. As warfare exacts its price and the line between good and evil gets put to the test, the men and women from both sides are forced to fight a common enemy that remains the greatest threat to mankind: humanity and all its flaws.

Kit & Basie by Tess Carletta

Immortality is a dangerous affair when it isn’t done right. Basie Yeats knows he’s doing immortality all wrong, spending endless days in the same place, but he doesn’t see a reason to leave the home he loves in Long Lily, Pennsylvania. Once the impossible death of his mother leaves him the only immortal person he knows, Basie decides that the only thing he wants to do is get out of Long Lily and start doing immortality the right way—alone. Kit Elliot has wandered the world looking for the right place to call home, so when a church-turned-cottage suddenly goes up for sale in a quaint Pennsylvania town, it feels like it was meant to be. It takes only a few days at Wellhead Cottage for Kit to decide that the man who sold it to him is frustrating, awkward, and terribly handsome. He offers to help Basie find a new home away from Long Lily—but as days turn to months, Kit finds himself wishing he could make Basie stay.

Effigest by Amy Campbell

When the sins of the past demand payment, his magic is the price. ​Blaise Hawthorne never wanted to hurt anyone, and he certainly didn’t want to become a weapon. When using his dangerous magic to free his outlaw friends destroys an enemy fortress, the young mage is imprisoned for his crimes. Abused and at the mercy of his tormenters, Blaise’s only ally is a duplicitous man he’s not sure he can trust. ​After escaping his cruel upbringing, politician Malcolm Wells had everything—or so he thought. He didn’t count on falling for Breaker Blaise Hawthorne. And it’s all his fault that Blaise has been captured as a war criminal. The Breaker is running out of time, and Malcolm’s money, power, and influence have proven useless to win his freedom. ​When a magic-slinging outlaw storms into town, Malcolm seizes the opportunity to form an uneasy alliance. The pair hatch a bold gambit to free Blaise, but their enemy is one step ahead. At the mercy of Malcolm’s dark past, everything they fought for unravels. All the magic in the world may not be enough to save any of them from the nightmare to come.

The Legend of Black Jack by A. R. Witham

SFFOasis SPFBO9

Thrilling fantasy adventure debut from Emmy-winner A. R. Witham. Jack Swift can tell you every element on the periodic table, recite Treasure Island verbatim, and would remember in perfect detail every word you’d ever say to him. He has been alone for a long time, so he has buried himself in books, using them to plan his escape. But no textbook could ever prepare him for the land of Keymark. At 3:33 a.m. on his fourteenth birthday, Jack is kidnapped by a hideous monster to another sphere of existence. Now there are two moons in the sky, and he is surrounded by grotesque creatures and magical warriors training for battle. They want the impossible: Jack must use his abilities to save a life or be trapped in this bizarre world with no chance of rescue. Jack doesn’t have secret magic, a great destiny, or any experience. So why do they all expect him to become a legend?

The Reluctant Mage by Journey Windrow

FAERIES, TROLLS, AND VAMPIRES—IS IT THE END OF THE MUNDANE REALM? I lost The Great War of the Elflands and everyone I loved. Then the Guild of Light Mages appointed me, Miranda Hunter, as Mage-in-Charge of Boston. Harpies and hornpipes! MUNDANES BREACHED THE VEIL TO THE REALMS OF MAGIC. How? Got me. I'm no quantum mechanic. Predatory preternaturals are pouring in like some joker put up a sign that says THIS WAY TO MUNDANIA . THERE ARE TROLLS IN TUNNELS. Can’t mundanes identify troll stench? Nope. They don’t believe in myth and magic. BABIES ARE MISSING. Changeling fae kids turn up, leaving mundane parents looking for their missing children. The mystery is how to get them back. A VANISHED GIRL Add one transportation spell to faery and it’s a magical abduction. WITH PRETERNATURAL PREDATORS STALKING ME WITH INTENT TO KILL, HOW DO I SAVE EVERYONE ELSE? There's only me, my hellhound, and my sidekick, Nigel-the-Absent, to protect the mundane world. I need sleep and calories to fuel my magic. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? With my sort-of-dead husband winding through my mind like a ghost, I’m drowning in self-doubt. I SHOULD PACK SOME SNACKS!

Perception Check by Astrid Knight

Her favorite tabletop roleplaying game is real, and her kidnapped childhood best friend is trapped in a far off land. Will she be able to save her? Let's roll initiative! Violet Spence wants nothing more than to have a normal life. After witnessing her childhood best friend get abducted by monsters, that’s easier said than done. At twenty-three years old, Violet cannot seem to move past that fateful night ten years ago. Her only solace is Mages of Velmyra, a tabletop roleplaying game filled with goblins, fairies, and all-powerful magicians. But of course, that’s all fantasy. Or, so she thought. As it turns out, the land of Velmyra is very real and the home of the monsters that took her best friend. With the help of her friends (and the creator of the game itself), Violet must navigate the once-fictional creatures and powerful mages of Velmyra to retrieve a set of ancient relics—all in the hopes that the journey will lead her back to her friend. But for Violet, fighting monsters and magic workers doesn’t seem nearly as terrifying as confronting her own demons. And she’ll soon realize fighting the battle within herself can be just as tough as those fought against demigods. Perception Check is the magical first installment of the Mages of Velmyra Saga, great for fans of Dungeons and Dragons, Critical Role, and The Magicians. With endearing and hilarious characters, an exploration of mental health and trauma, LGBTQ+ representation, gut-wrenching twists, and a whirlwind of an ending, you will never want to leave the world of Velmyra.

World Running Down by Al Hess

Valentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City—a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition is free, the food is plentiful, and folk are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream, until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric. Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer—an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city, and a chance at the life Valentine's always dreamed of. Finding the androids means navigating both pirate territory and Val and Osric's growing feelings for each other. And as they attempt to recover the "merchandise", they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware, and have no interest in returning to their old lives. The prize is tempting, but carrying out the job would go against everything Valentine stands for, and would threaten the fragile found family that's kept him alive so far. He'll need to decide whether to risk his own dream in order to give the AI a chance to live theirs.

Consequences: A Wilders Finale by Cass Kim

The exciting conclusion to the captivating Wilders Series. The virus is morphing and moving fast. Wilders aren't following the three rules anymore. Nobody is safe. Running low on supplies while waiting for a response from their plea for help, the camp in the Adirondak forest can't wait any longer. Emerson is selected to lead a supply run on what should be a short trip into town. With the world sliding dangerously close to a full apocalypse, his team will have to make hazardous decisions. Back in the camp, help arrives. But the form it takes is unexpected. Renna doesn't know who to trust. Or how she'll survive. Bold choices always have consequences. Now it's time to face them.

Iago’s Penumbra: A Metaphysical Novel by Rose Guildenstern

Everybody loves a good ghost story, yet poor dead Vee feels anything but “good” being stuck upstage in the heavens of her own afterlife. She can peek in on Val, who’s “downstage” with the living but haunted by ghosts. Then there’s Julie, stubbornly stage left but longing to be downstage with Val. And finally, poor Peter remains solitary in his stage-rightness with the sneaking suspicion he might be dead wrong. Trapped at center stage lurks the demon Iago, willing to bridge heaven and hell to exit this cursed performance once and for all. Just as Good Omens revamped the book of Revelation and His Dark Materials reimagined Milton’s Paradise Lost, Iago’s Penumbra is a modern love story about the darkness that redeems us, rooted in the works of William Shakespeare—with a little philosophy, physics, and cosmic horror thrown in, just for fun.

A Pale Box on the Distant Shore by P.J. Nwosu

A silent killer stalks the slum towers of Death City. In the shadow of a drowned death god, a young soldier risks his life to solve a violent crime. To catch a killer, Soldier Honnan Skyin carves a bloody trail over the behemoth bones of a dead giant and through the deepest forest of a frozen island. But some secrets should stay buried. Welcome to Death City. The Red Kingdom is a new series of dark mysteries in fantasy worlds that delve into a land of vicious crimes, strange lore and Purge House zealots.

Shadow of a Dead God (Mennik Thorn #1) by Patrick Samphire

SPFBO6 SPFBO Finalist

A dead god. A brutal murder. A second-rate mage. It was only supposed to be one little job – a simple curse-breaking for Mennik Thorn to pay back a favor to his oldest friend. But then it all blew up in his face. Now he's been framed for a murder he didn't commit. So how is a second-rate mage, broke, traumatized, and with a habit of annoying the wrong people supposed to prove his innocence when everyone believes he's guilty? Mennik has no choice if he wants to get out of this: he is going to have to throw himself into the corrupt world of the city’s high mages, a world he fled years ago. Faced by supernatural beasts, the mage-killing Ash Guard, and a ruthless, unknown adversary, it’s going to take every trick Mennik can summon just to keep him and his friend alive. But a new, dark power is rising in Agatos, and all that stands in its way is one damaged mage…

Envoy by Andr Moș

SFINCS

When two descendants of a formerly lost people suddenly reappear in Sol System, Kep, an inexperienced guide with few aspirations, is handed the task of showing them around… and figuring out their true motives. But convoluted bureaucracies, hungry corporations and corrupt guilds conspire to acquire any advantage in a technologically stagnant system. So when a secret is revealed, it’s up to Kep to make sure that it doesn’t land in the wrong hands.

The Hunt of the Pumpkin King by Rowena Andrews

Legend speaks of the Pumpkin King, a tale steeped in superstition and fear. But all legends carry a grain of truth, and autumn is coming. CW: Mild body horror, decapitation.

The Wolf and the Water by Josie Jaffrey

Some secrets are worth killing for The ancient city of Kepos sits in an isolated valley, cut off from the outside world by a towering wall. Behind it, the souls of the dead clamour for release. Or so the priesthood says. Kala has never had any reason to doubt their word - until her father dies in suspicious circumstances that implicate the city's high priest. She's determined to investigate, but she has a more immediate problem: the laws of the city require her mother to remarry straight away. Kala's new stepfather is a monster, but his son Leon is something altogether more dangerous: kind. With her family fractured and the investigation putting her life in danger, the last thing Kala needs is romance. She would rather ignore Leon entirely, however difficult he makes it. But when she learns the truth of what really clamours behind the wall at the end of the valley, she faces a choice: share what she knows and jeopardise her escape, or abandon him to his fate along with the rest of the city. If she doesn't move fast, then no one will make it out of the valley alive.

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.

Mazarin Blues by Al Hess

Indie Recs Indie SPSFC Kraken Collective

Introvert Reed Rothwell is part of a subculture of art deco era enthusiasts, pushing back against bland mainstream society and its mandated technology. Stuck with an AI assistant in his head is bad enough, but when he's inflicted with a forced upgrade to a new beta version, named Mazarin, the navigator starts to take on feelings and opinions of his own. ​ When rumors spread of beta navs turning on their pilots, Reed is determined not to become a victim. Mazarin hasn’t become violent yet—the AI is sympathetic and understanding—but with beta participants coerced into slitting their own throats, it’s only a matter of time before Reed is next. The AI megacorporation already has an unhealthy interest in Reed, and all the beta testers who have sought help for their navigators have disappeared. The swingin' cats of the deco scene have the means to illegally terminate Reed's AI. But Mazarin has never tried to harm Reed—he loves Reed. Grappling with ridding himself of intrusive technology, the morality of hurting his self-aware AI, and avoiding the attention of a company that wants to sweep Reed’s existence under the rug might be too much for one hep cat to handle.

Meshkwadoon by Alex Tilley

Meshkwadoon is a psychological, atmospheric experience, more focused on the individual perception of events rather than on the events themselves. As a perspective driven tale, it delves into the minds of a woman, a man, and a boy, as they are dragged through an experience of fear, obsession, trauma, and terror. Where the foundational spirit of the land seeks to fulfill its obligation to an exchange of life for the life of all. Discover the unspoken impact a melting pot society has on the folk lore and language of a land whose roots go deeper than 150 years. A world whose spirits carry on despite the hunger of the living. Genre: Fiction/ Thriller/ Folk Horror/ Magic Realism Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexander_tilley/

Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill

SPFBO7 SFFOasis

Born in fire. Tempered in blood. Epheria is a land divided by war and mistrust. The High Lords of the South squabble and fight, only kept in check by the Dragonguard, traitors of a time long past, who serve the empire of the North. In the remote villages of southern Epheria, still reeling from the tragic loss of his brother, Calen Bryer prepares for The Proving – a test of courage and skill that not all survive. But when three strangers arrive in the village of Milltown, with a secret they are willing to die for, Calen’s world is ripped from under him and he is thrust headfirst into a war that has been raging for centuries. There is no prophecy. His coming was not foretold. He bleeds like any man, and bleed he will.