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The Dividing: The Adamic Trilogy Book 1 by Devin Downing Adamic is the language of the Gods. When spoken, it has the power to create worlds, to raise the dead, to make man as God. Fortunately, no one has spoken it in thousands of years. The only remnants are the written spells. The people of Cavernum depend on these spells. Theyâre etched into the city walls, fending off the feedersâdeadly creatures with a thirst for human blood. They kill and consume any caught beyond the walls. Yet for the lower class, Cavernum isnât much safer. Children starve, and illness runs rampant. In an effort to maintain order, all children turning 18 are subject to The Dividingâa city-wide competition for the highest paying guilds. Those who arenât accepted are sent to the fields, condemned to a life of slave-labor. Princess Roselyn Malik has trained her entire life for The Dividing. Sheâs guaranteed a spot in the royal orchestra, but equalist rebels threaten her throne. To secure her crown, Rose must acquire the power and prestige associated with the guard. Only guardsmen have access to the amuletsâpowerful weapons that grant dominion over the elements. Meanwhile, in Colorado, Matt will do anything to help his terminally-ill adoptive mother. For now, that means poaching to pay the bills. Until one day, Matt is attacked by a feeder and plunged into the world of Cavernum. There too, Matt is drawn to the guard, in search of a magic strong enough to save his mother. But danger lurks beyond the walls, and Cavernum wonât be safe for long. |
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The Lantern-Lit City by Vista McDowall Ultimate evil is simple to denounce...unless that evil lives in you. Cara is a monster. Inside her dwells a creature akin to the undead prowlers that roam the kingdom. When a mysterious man kidnaps her lady, Cara ties her identity to the quest to free her. If she succeeds in the rescue, it will prove that she's not evil. But danger lurks along the way to the fabled city Riverfen. Caraâs inner beast is a benefit and a curse, saving her life and endangering her in turn. As she gives into it more and more, Cara fears what such a bonding will produce. As Cara battles her inner self, Princess Gwen hides her forbidden sorcery from the world. After being forced to flee her home by an anti-magic Inquisition, Gwen finally has the chance to pursue her enchantments. But her spellcasting provokes the very man whom Cara pursues. Each womanâs power could free her...or doom the lantern-lit city. This epic fantasy by Vista McDowall is for those who love courtly intrigue balanced by violence, complex magic systems, a lush new world, and diverse characters. |
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Red in Tooth and Claw by Ryan Howse A brutal wilderness. Hungry, plague-ridden animals. A winter so cold it snaps wood. Chemosh, a scout imprisoned by the enemy, agrees to lead the way through this wilderness for his freedom. But both his knowledge and his resilience are put to the test, not just by the wilderness, but by the chaotic, violent man he guides. A man he must rely on if they are to survive. |
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A kingdom attacked. A princess on the run. A battle for survival. In Deepwater, Princess Tempest believes her impending marriage to be the worst of her troubles; but when an attack is made on the king, starting a battle for control between the nations of Nyazere, she must flee the only home she has ever known and form new alliances if she is to survive. But beyond the walls of her city lies a dangerous road, where blades and coin matter more than legacy and titles. Downfall is the first book in the Queen of the Unworthy series, featuring an engaging sword and sorcery fantasy world, filled with battles, backstabbing and morally ambiguous characters aplenty. If you like fast-paced adventure and thrilling fantasy, then youâll love the first book in G.A. Everettâs page-turning series. Pick up Downfall to discover this thrilling new series today! |
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Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau If your mind is the enemy, where do you run? #1 Bestseller in German Literature (07/2020, 10/2020, 12/2020) Years after a harrowing war experience, ex-mercenary Jespar Dal'Varek has taken to drifting. It's a lonely existence, but barring the occasional bout of melancholia, he has found the closest thing to peace a man like him deserves. Life is "all right." Or so he believes. Hoping to turn the page, Jespar accepts a mysterious invitation into the beautiful but dangerous archipelago of Kilay-and everything changes. Plagued by boiling social tensions and terrorism, the tropical empire is edging ever closer to civil war. Kilay's merchant king is the only person able to prevent this catastrophe, but he has fallen into a preternatural coma-and it's Jespar's task to figure out what or who caused it. As the investigation takes him across the archipelago and into the king's nightmares, unexpected events not only tie Jespar's own life to the mystery but also unearth inner demons he believed to be exorcised long ago. Battling old trauma while fighting for his life, his sanity, and the fate of Kilay, the line between dream and reality blurs until only one question remains: If your mind is the enemy, where do you run? Described as "Inception in a Polynesian fantasy setting," Dreams of the Dying is a slow-burning, haunting blend of fantasy, mystery, and psychological horror, that explores mental illness, morality, and the dark corners of our minds. CW: Profanity, Violence, Sex, Death, Suicide, Rape, Substance Abuse |
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Burning Promise by Thiago d'Evecque "Those who seek the Abyss are doomed to find it." Alicia is a country girl with a simple life. Her only dreams are to spend her life besides her fiancĂ© and work the fields. Dreams that are shattered when mercenaries attack her village and leave a trail of smoke, ashes, and blood. Something awakes inside Alicia. A thirst for vengeance dominates her and demands to be quenched with death. In a path paved by hatred, Alicia will face saurians â massive lizards and birds that plague the North â advanced golems, corrupt soldiers, and a conspiracy involving angels, necromancers, and the blood magic forbidden in the kingdom. But her greatest struggle will be to keep her own humanity as she dives into the Abyss. |
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Welcome to Navaleth, a young kingdom built on a graveyard of secrets, ruled by a monarchy descended from the gods, and run by a society recovering from a bloody, ruthless war against an ancient enemy. Now meet Quiver, whose internal struggles pull him further away from his people's traditions, drawing him closer to becoming an outsider. And Sarah, a bright, beautiful young woman, travels the world for her father's business until her world takes a turn for the worse. Then there is Trevor, who has never left his home of Robins-Port, a trading village that shuns him for things beyond his control. Francis, second only to the king, herald of the church, is a charismatic visionary who has a knack for uncovering ancient secrets. And finally, Alric, a war veteran, who struggles to find a peaceful future, unable to escape his violent past. Witness the beginning of the end as an ancient prophecy begins to unwind, directing our characters toward a dark future that they will inevitably share ⊠until the very end. |
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Lamp of Light by Alex H. Singh Only the light will prove her Innocence... Pierre Lachance, King of Tibethia, has been murdered and all eyes are on his wife Esther Anna, who knows who the real culprit is. Before she can speak the truth, however, she is ordered to be executed by the Kingâs daughter Noelle, the fairest woman in all the kingdoms. Now Esther Anna is on the run, and on her trail is a wendigo named Damian who has been resurrected from the depths of the black abyss by Noelle to stop Esther at any cost. Esther Anna finds help along the way in form of a fairy Prince named Phillip, who tells her of an artifact that can prove her innocence called âThe Lamp of Light,â but it is rumored to be on an island protected by a horrifying sea creature. With time running out and Damien on her trail, will she be able to get to the Lamp of Light to prove who the real murderer is? |
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The Vanguards of Scion by Michael E. Thom Power corrupts absolutely. The Vanguards of Scion is a dark epic fantasy story about five characters who are given great powers by dark beings from another dimension. We follow the five as they move through the East Realm and soon discover their powers have unimaginably horrid costs and the stakes keep stacking against them as the world they once knew begins to change forever because of their own mistakes. THE MOST POWERFUL MAGE IN THE UNIVERSE CREATES SCION, A POCKET DIMENSION FOR HARVESTING THE MOST POWERFUL MAGIC IN THE UNIVERSE, BUT IT IS DYING. THE KING OF SCION SETS HIS SIGHTS ON A NEW WORLD TO RESIDE, BUT HE MUST FIND FOLLOWERS TO WEAKEN ITS KINGDOMS FOR HIS INVASION A failed knight, a petite foul-mouthed assassin, an outcast witch, an alchemist who seeks validation & a huntress desperate to save her dying sister. All are met with a proposition to change their lives forever but at what cost? The five begin on separate paths across the world but their fates collide as some are visited by the King of Scion and given unworldly powers in exchange for servitude as vanguards to usher in his invasion. Some soon discover that great power is not worth the price of the bloodshed it bestows, but others embrace it straight into villainy. |
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We all wear masks. Some do so to hide from their own guilt. Lady Foonauri's life of indulgence and chasing wealth has left the young noblewoman empty inside. She wears a mask of happiness while she is consumed by guilt for the two men she loved... And destroyed. One man sees her as more than a beautiful ornament. He sees a woman who can change the world. He offers her a new mask to wear and the chance to do something meaningful with her life: Steal a dangerous artifact before it falls into the wrong hands. Can she shed her mask of guilt and find purpose in her life? Will the life as a thief bring her peace? Or is she entering a world that will swallow her whole? |
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Bound and Broken (Melas Book 1) by V.A. Lewis Killed and born again to a fantasy world, Melas finds herself as the daughter of a dangerous criminal. Her mother is a spellcaster, her magic banned throughout the continents of Soli and Vitae. They will be hunted by the Church, shunned by their peers, having to fight both people and monsters to survive. When faced with inquisitors, slavers, terrorists, and more, Melas will have no choice but to overcome them to seize her own destiny, or fail and run from it all. Thus begins the tragedy of a girl from Earth, murdered unfairly and cast into an even more unfair world. For while cursed into this terrible fate, one small blessing will aid her throughout her story, and it's the wish granted to her before her rebirth: Make me the most powerful spellcaster in the entire world. |
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Stone & Shield (Fall of Emros 1) by Thomas J Devens A new vain Emperor sits on the throne. Dreaming of glory and conquest. A stirring in the west as power shifts. And a band of mercenaries known as the Stone & Shield make way to return to the imperial capital. A great gritty grimdark adventure. For thirty years Diirg has done the bloody work and the years have taken their toll. But when in the trade of death, oneâs past is never far behind. Itâs a long journey to Emros City, and enemies new and old stalk the trails. |
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When angels initiate a war, humans on Apkallu die. Deprived of human worshipping, angels resort to burning human souls to sustain themselves, when the ancient Qal of an assassinated archangel wakes up on Earth inside a human, disturbing the precarious peace. Holding the key to all three realms, the allegiance of this archangel will mean eternal dominance in a game on a global scale. Thrown into a battle of courts, tangled in a web of intrigues and palatial games, naĂŻve Ariel is surrounded by powerful factions, chasing their own agendas. There's no one she can trust; everyone stands to gain something from her death. In the "CELESTIAL CREATURES" series you will find immersive world-building, Sumerian language and religion, new and re-imagined Christian mythology, new blood-thirsty creatures, plenty of sword fighting, the final grand battle and high-octane adventure throughout. |
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Ghosts of the Nightmare Gods by Rebecca Mickley All Skye Worthington wanted was a job; a way to make ends meet, keep the lights on, and her stomach fed. The fates had other plans. A wrong turn, and a sputtering engine herald her entrance to an ancient truth⊠Little does she know it, but hidden within her mundane world lurks a world of light, magic and nightmare. An ancient evil begins to awake, and she may be one of the few that can stop it. But first⊠a few changes are in order. |
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Kings and Daemons by Marcus Lee âWhat the gods give with one hand, they take away with the other, for if you are gifted, you shall also be cursed.â ----- In the Ember Kingdom, a dying land riven by famine and disease, Daleth the evil Witch-King plots his conquest of the neighbouring Freestates. Gifted with eternal youth, his vampiric power is responsible for the decay that afflicts his realm, and now other kingdoms must fall to quench his never-ending thirst for life. However, on the cusp of the invasion, Maya, a peasant huntress, is arrested, Dalethâs soldiers kill an old farmerâs wife, and a young outcast is reluctantly enlisted into the Witch-Kingâs army. Three seemingly innocuous events that nonetheless have the potential to alter the destiny of generations to come. For Maya is gifted with the ability to heal and can influence the hearts and minds of men if she but finds the strength to do so. The young recruit carries a gift of reading thoughts and has no love for the king he serves. As for the vengeful farmer ⊠heâs an ancient warrior gifted in reaping souls who now seeks to fulfil a long-forgotten oath against unbeatable odds. The world will soon be soaked by the blood of war, but with these three individualsâ lives inescapably entwined, the faint light of hope begins to shine. Alliances will have to be forged, enemies convinced to become friends, and a flicker of love given a chance to become a flame for there to be a chance to fight the encroaching darkness of the Witch-King's evil. ----- The Gifted and the Cursed. A dark fantasy trilogy set in a dystopian land, with heroes that are at times more demonic than the evil they face. The bloody battles, quests for revenge and fights for survival are artfully balanced with a light romance, tales of redemption, and the breath-taking beauty of Mayaâs gift. |
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We Men of Ash and Shadows by HL Tinsley âWe Men of Ash and Shadowâ is the first book in the Vanguard Series and follows the journey of protagonist, John Vanguard, through the dark and corrupt city of DâOrsee. A Grimdark gas lamp novel, âWe Men of Ash and Shadowâ explores themes of redemption, loyalty, and betrayal against the backdrop of a world where survival often means compromising your values. Amidst the gas lamp shadows former soldier-turned-mercenary John Vanguard hunts criminals at the behest of his corrupt employer, Captain Felix Sanquain. Shamed by his deserter past and seeking to make amends for his many misdeeds, a chance encounter with Tarryn Leersac â a skilled young would-be-assassin fallen from the graces of high society â leads Vanguard to become an unlikely mentor. Charged with hunting down the killer of two guards left washed up on the banks of the canal, the further Vanguard delves into the underbelly of the city the more he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets and lies. A prominent aristocrat is missing. Crime lords, con men and harlots run amok and the city teeters on the brink of another revolution. With his already precarious reputation hanging by a thread, Vanguard must piece together how and why the last war came to pass, find a way to earn redemption for his mistakes and come to terms with the past in a city where few survive, and even fewer can be trusted. |
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Saint Dorian and the Witch by Michael Raship The rumors borne across the empire by pilgrims are full of wild talk about Dorian, a boy with a flute reputed to have come from somewhere beyond the world in order to combat great evil. His followers are already calling him Saint Dorian. When word of the boy with the flute spreads as far as the remote mountain monastery where the young monk Bartholomew serves in the honored position of librarian, he astonishes his fellow monks by placing his faith in vague, contradictory rumors and declaring himself a follower of Dorian. Before the winter snows cut off the monastery from the rest of the empire, he makes a clandestine departure from the only home he has ever known in order to devote himself to the child saint. Even while others around him continue to deny that Dorian is a saint, Bartholomew can sense the boy with the flute guiding his journey, summoning him to play his destined role in a vast pattern that will give a purpose to the puzzling events of his past life and of his journey: His ill-fated childhood act of charity towards the wandering heretical storyteller Valentine The warning spoken to him by one of the greatest men in the empire, the legendary hero and subtly brilliant monk Father Zero His bargain with a wild witch girl named Ruth, who agrees to keep him safe on his journey in exchange for obscure facts of natural science and philosophy that only a librarian could know The powerful new spells that Ruth is creating based on this knowledge, spells that Bartholomew believes will be of service in combating the great evil against which Dorian is said to be waging a righteous war Yet when he and Ruth arrive at their journeyâs end, and Bartholomew is about to fulfill his destined role in Dorianâs plans, it suddenly seems to him that his proper place is not among Dorianâs followers but on the other side, as an ally to the child saintâs enemies and a rebel against heaven. |
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A Game for Gods by Keith Deininger A war is brewing, the Godgame has begun... "An epic fantasy tale set in a wondrous world of corruption and war and hope and longing and dreams. No review you will read will ever do this story justice. Just buy it, read it and thank me later." ~ Nev Murray, Confessions of a Reviewer Some say the world of Meridian is in its last age of existence. The Flood is coming, an event that will wipe the planet clean of corruption. But for humanity, there are more immediate troubles. A war is brewing between the decadent and industrial City of Talos and the rural territory of Nova. When twelve-year-old Ash Alexander is recruited by the Novan militia, his lifeâand the life of each member of his familyâis thrown into chaos, into a war far deadlier than anyone could have predicted. While Ashâs sanity is tested against the horrors of war; a woman seeks to uncover the mysteries of the School of the Unseen in her lifelong quest to travel the world; a man will do anything to cure his wife of a horrible sickness; and the chief adviser to the ruler of Talos will align himself with grotesque and otherworldly beings in order to achieve his ambitions. The Godgame has begun. |
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Path of Darkness by C.M. Lackner The decree of the Gods is clear: All sorcerers must die. As a priestess in training, Aelith knows that the only way to be a sorceress is to pray to the God of Sin. Yet when she discovers she is a sorceress without having done such a thing, she must confront the fact that everything she has learnt is a lie. Forced to flee her home, Aelith encounters a mysterious cabal of sorcerers who proffer a tantalising offer to her: Join them and learn to control the powers bestowed upon her. The alternative is forever living on the run, always under threat of being hunted down and killed. However, their protection bears a heavy cost â murder, treachery and deception. Forced to choose between the cabalâs shelter and a dangerous life, forever alone, Aelith is forced to choose between atrocity and survival. |
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Heir to the Darkmage by Lisa Cassidy Ambition drives her. Danger thrills her. But magic always has a price. Twenty years have passed since the Darkmage was destroyed and the war between mages ended. For Lira Astor, the single living heir to the Darkmage, escaping her name is impossible. People still fear what is long dead, and they see in her the rise of another dangerous mage with deadly ambition. Desperate to claw her way free of her grandfatherâs shadow, to make her own name amongst the world of mages, Lira is willing to do whatever it takes. Even if that means joining the secretive rebel group looking to restore his vision. Survival is a lesson Lira learned early and often, yet when she is abducted and held prisoner in a deadly game of cat and mouse, she finds herself facing a nemesis she may be no match for. Forced to band together with unlikely allies who challenge everything she believes about what it means to be a mage, she will have to rely on every bit of ruthlessness she possesses. Because the war may only just be beginning⊠âŠand Lira Astor intends to come out on top. |
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After her parents' deaths, she turns to illegal blood magic to hunt a killer. But is it worth her freedomâor her life? Was it suicide? Two months after finding her stepmotherâs corpse, Maddy is still unconvinced. Magic users like her stepmother donât spill their blood without purpose. Blood magic is illegal for minors. But both of Maddyâs birth parents are long dead, and the truth is all she has left. She starts her investigation with a few familiar spellsâfinding lost objects, summoning dead people. Soon, she draws the attention of a man with an unexplained connection to her stepmotherâa man with power so big and so lethal that it shouldnât exist. But whoâs going to believe a grief-stricken kid when she claims impossible magic killed her stepmother? Maddy must decide what the truth is worth. Her friends? Her freedom? Or even her own life? If you like dark young adult books full of dramatic twists, you'll love this thrilling, standalone urban fantasy about a lost girl who may find a reason to live. |
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here are few things more dangerous or more destructive than a bad man who thinks that he is doing a good thing... The Aska Isles are burning. An unseasonable drought is slowly killing the land; crushing it in a patient and merciless fist of rising fire and dust. On the prosperous Northern Isle, King Taavi Fulbright, senile and raving, edges closer to death while his Viceroy, the flint-hearted Corbin Cadmael, continues with his plans for subjugating the South and bringing the contemptible, stinking peasants that farm it under his yolk. On the beautiful and brutal highlands of the Southern Isle, an outfit of desperadoes, bandits and cattle-thieves, led by the infamous Shaw siblings, is in the midst of murdering a team of the Crown's cattle drovers and nicking their stock. It's a final payday before the head of their crew, Viggo Shaw, leaves the road-life for good and settles down to fatherhood. Viggo cares little for the fate of the many, being concerned only with the lives of those closest to him; his sister and brother, Ylva and Destin, his lifelong love, Erika, and their unborn child. That is until the delightfully psychotic Cormac Latrell comes strolling back into their lives after a decade-long absence. Latrell is a monster and, like all good monsters, is a monster of Viggo's own creation. Once a polite and conscientious young nobleman, Latrell is the bastard son of Viceroy Cadmael and has been twisted by a love unrequited, the scorn of those he wished only to help, and the revulsion of a father who only ever saw him as a disappointment. Latrell is hunting Erika's sister, Fenella, who is rumoured to be endowed with powers long believed to be lost to legend. They are the powers of the Empathy, an elemental magic that could bring the Aska Isles back from the brink of the fire ââ or cast it into the flames. Now, Viggo and his band find themselves inexorably drawn into a choking world of revisited childhood sins that have sown the seeds from which fiends grow, soul-ripping jealousies, false prophesies, and blood-soaked feuds that promise little in the way of relief for any of them. Viggo Shaw must face a trifecta of hard questions and an even tougher choice; is the saving of his world, the keeping of a final promise and the defeating of a monster he helped mould worth becoming a monster himself for? Or should he just do what he aches to do, and surrender to death? Or perhaps, Viggo might learn on his journey that the human heart is a torment and a masterpiece. |
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The Rook legacy: duty at all Costs. Reginaâs family are the last living members after a long line of magical families. Their heritage is a promise to the world; they can be trusted to keep magic from corrupting power hungry witches â In doing so they keep an unearthly evil from crushing humanity. When Regina Rook's mother dies a sudden, violent death, the living coven members come from around the world to attend the funeral, and begin breathing down her neck as next in line to lead. Trying to find a balance between her own goals as a witch and her family's demands, all the while keeping her recent nightmares hidden where she becomes the very thing they fighting. But when those things become intertwined, can she do anything but watch as the world around her crumbles to ancient horrors? |
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Orphan's Rite by M. Warren Askins No matter how strong or invulnerable you believe yourself to be, this forest has ways of proving you wrong. The Lord Commander of the Royal Court has grown bored, but her curiosity is piqued when she hears of a savage killer loose in her city. An orphan ripped from her village finds herself suddenly connected to a vicious string of murders, but all she wants to do is return home so she can bury her mother. Oh, and thereâs a werewolf knight. ORPHANâS RITE is a companion novel set in the DEAD MEN ARE DYING universe. In a world where humans born with a celestial mark are instilled with powerful, game-changing abilities. And those without⊠survive as best they can. |
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The Crystal Spear by Rob Donovan The Crystal Spear is a weapon so powerful that legends tell of how any warrior that carried it could single-handedly demolish entire armies. It was a story sung by bards across Merindel but nobody truly believed itâŠuntil now. When Klayton is told by a mysterious stranger that the Crystal Spear is real and given instructions how to infiltrate the palace at Erisea to find it, he cannot resist the challenge. NaĂŻve? Sure! Foolish? Completely. But Klayton could not have possibly known that his discovery would have deadly consequences and reveal an inexplicable bond to the weapon even the myths are unclear about. Prince Horan had given up trying to impress his father. He has been considered a failure and a disappointment from the moment he could walk. But when the King and Queen are on a diplomatic visit to a neighbouring island and Erisea comes under attack, Horan sees an opportunity to alter the perception of his father by saving the city, without a thought of the long-term consequences of his actions. Finally, there is the Black Shade. The most notorious pirate of the four Isles. The mere mention of his name causes men and women to anxiously glance over their shoulders. The Black Shade has heard rumours that the Crystal Spear is very real and has set his sights on obtaining it. Merindel is about to discover that not all legends are myths, but sometimes it is better if they were. |
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We all have nightmares, but not all of us have to live them. Johnathon Clarke did. His bullies beat him. They humiliated him. They stole his life. So at the age of 17 he took it away with a bullet from a gun. In Hell John finds himself working out his existence in the mailroom, until he's given the promotion he died forâhe becomes the forger of nightmares, the giver of bad dreams. With his new position, John makes his assignments feel the fear heâs felt his entire existence. He does this until heâs assigned a young girl named Danielle. Danielleâs not much younger than John was, and the circumstances surrounding why sheâs been assigned are troubling. Theyâre troubling because he disagrees. Now John must decide between continuing this life of torture and scares, or using this dark gift for something else, something that could help this girl who needs him. |
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King of the Hollow Dark by Cat Hellisen Georgina Skyler Carey is not a necromancer. She's the daughter of one. And now she's dead. George has grown up hidden away, trying to live a normal life after her mother was executed for a ghost uprising which killed millions. Every year, the Anti-Necromantic Unit drags her in for testing, while the Empress of Life watches. And every year; nothing. Until she turns twenty, and the wards which were hiding her and binding her are finally erased, and Georgina discovers that she's still not a necromancer, just the immortal body designed to host the soul of an aeons-old goddess. Ousted from her meatsuit and trapped in the afterlife, George is determined to get her body back. It's not going to be that simple. George discovers that the afterlife is nothing like she could have imagined and the only people who might be able to help her have bigger issues to deal with. She's trapped in an afterworld that is slowly being consumed by the Hollow Dark which waits at the end of all things. There's a lot more at stake than one life - the entire realms of life and death will fall to the endless nothing of the Hollow Dark if the King of Death isn't returned to hold his throne. The worlds are crumbling all around her, and George is going to lose more than just her body if she doesn't find the King, and with him, the truth about her creation. |
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From the Darkness Comes by Joy Demers Revenge is not for the faint of heart. Cadda ni Caridos is a revenant who desires nothing more than finding the man who made her that way â the same man who killed her father and captured her mother. The glowing eyes, night vision, incredible strength and speed that came out of resurrection might seem like a boon, but when she canât control her abilities and starts bringing death to others, she realizes itâs a curse. Cadda must dodge the authorities while searching for her fatherâs murderer, a man who turns out to be a powerful duke, and the only person to know the fate of her mother. Always one step away from the king and his elite order of bodyguards, Lord Kenric Dorsile is near impossible to get close to, especially for a lowly foreigner like Cadda. While scheming a way to do just that, Cadda is finally caught by the authorities. Being conscripted into the army as punishment and sent to the far edge of the kingdom to defend against barbarians â the enemy of her enemy â proves to be a mammoth of a challenge. Cadda must find a way to return to the capital, even if that way includes personally fanning the flames of war. Otherwise, she risks losing her mother forever and forfeiting the right to avenge her father and herself. |
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Echoes of a Storm by Alan Scott Writing Style: Dialogue and Character driven Book Type: Dark Fantasy Themes: Parenthood, relationships, forbidden love, loss, power and prejudice Target audience: Open minded people who enjoy a more mature and grittier storyline in their fantasy books Welcome dear reader to a story of betrayal, heroes, monsters, and dark deeds. Welcome to Echoes of a Storm. Echoes of a Storm is the first instalment in the Storm Series and sets the scene and tone for this powerful bittersweet trilogy. This dark, gritty, fantasy novel explores many themes such as, relationships, forbidden love, loss, power, prejudice and ultimately, the monster which lurks inside us all. Follow the life of a young princess named Kathleen, from the age of 6 through to her marriage at the age of 18. As you delve further into her story, secrets will be revealed, battles will be fought, lives will be brutally cut short or changed forever, and the deviant and the Werewolf will make themselves known. Are you ready to enter the world of Talocants and discover the stories and secrets it holds? |
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War God Rising by Tim Marquitz Monty Python meets Gladiator! Sand is destined for greatness. Or so a pair of two-bit criminals would have him believe. After rescuing him from certain doom, Bess and Kaede embark on a scheme to game the War God Tournament. Itâd be easier if Sand wasnât an alcohol-soaked twit with a disturbing interest in mutton. Pitted against monsters, magic swords, and murderers galore, they soon realize winning the tourney is the least of their worries. |
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A Season of Ravens by J R Snyder Confronting werewolves, exploring haunted forests, calming angry spirits, and befriending ancient vampires. These are just a few of the tasks that Asher Norwood and his raven partner Aethon find themselves doing on any given day. Asher is a sin eater, a guild of mages that exists to combat dark magic wherever it rears its ugly head. Invoking the forces of nature to protect a society that looks down on him, Asher will stop at nothing to defeat the monsters that plague his world. Follow Asher on his journey to enchanted forests, remote mountains, monster-laden seas, and fantastic cities. A Season of Ravens is a collection of eight stories that combine to make the first novel of the Sin Eater Tales series. |
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A psychopathic wizard. An immortal mage. An epic battle of wills. Nikolai doesnât want much out of life: sex, immortality, and the power to disembowel anyone who crosses him. But with dark magic forbidden, his only option is Medeaâa mage so deadly even the Enforcers give her a wide berth. Despite dire warnings that her apprentices donât survive, Nikolai wonât stop until she agrees to train him. After all, heâs a killer himself. Barbaric and brutal, the training is a far cry from what Nikolai expects. When a mysterious illness strikes Nikolai down, he suspects heâs found the secret to Medeaâs longevity. He resolves to find out what happened to her previous apprentices. If he can locate the source of her power, he can turn it against her. Medea swore off training dark wizardsânone of them take the craft seriously and the ungrateful bastards always try to kill her. This one definitely seems the backstabbing type, but magic is dying out and she hasnât felt such magical strength in centuries. If she can control the boy, show him that magic is more than curses and necromancy, he might obtain the power he desires. If not, well . . . Whatâs one more dead apprentice? If you enjoy dark fantasy with quirky, morally grey characters and humorous banter (but no romance), this is the book for you! |
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In the remote land of Laskar the seven ruling clans have vied with each other for power for over a century. The son of the Reavesburg Clan Chief, Rothgar, has been groomed all his life for a role supporting his elder brother, Jorik, in leading their kingdom when their fatherâs time finally comes to an end. However, the rulers of their greatest rivals, the Vorund Clan, are in the grip of something older and far darker. They have been conquered by evil, a remnant from the time when the gods warred with one another and the world of Amuran collapsed into the Fallen Age. Everything is about to change ⊠The first book in The Brotherhood of the Eagle series, Hall of Bones begins a tale of epic fantasy, magic and intrigue. |
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The Nameless and the Fallen by Scott Kaelen 18+ (Contains scenes which some readers may find disturbing or offensive.) Widespread madness, rampaging monsters and the reckless choices of monarchs all stem from a pall that has descended upon Verragos. In the midst of chaos and looming war, disparate travellers confront their own nightmares as they become embroiled in the fray of nations. Their best hope is the exposure of incredible truths from an ancient facade of lies, but is civilisation ready to pay the high cost of survival? The Outcast: Wren, exiled from his home in the icy north as a scapegoat for a horrific massacre, begins to suspect that an insidious influence is behind the growing slew of psychotic events. To uncover the source of the threat, he must enlist the help of an old and distant friend â the only living entity aware of his bitter and brutal past. The Freeblade: Oriken, a beleaguered sellsword, narrowly escapes death by the intervention of a mysterious woman. In gratitude for her timely arrival, he vows to help her vanquish her demons of a lost identity and a burning urge to find the owner of the one name she remembers. Haunted by the echo of a dead friend, he ventures into foreign and hostile climes and soon comes to realise that a dangerous identity may lurk beneath the trauma of the stranger at his side. |
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Lycoris in Moonlight by Kova Killian The daughter of a god of death. The child that shouldn't exist. Ninâs mother had warned her to never go to the Flame Festival, for the gods have laws against her life. Now Nin is a grumpy, world-wary almost thirty-year-old midwife. Her mother has passed away and her best friend begs her to go to the festival. She attends, only to have her fated flame match with the last god she ever wanted to lay eyes on, Amun-Ra. Her mother's patron god, the one person her mother begged to come heal her in her time of need. Nin despises his pompous priss face and his cocky attitude until she learns the limits of his power and the demons that plague him. Nin must now survive the year. The one problem? Someone knows both of her parents. He can unravel her secret in a moment and send the justices after her, resulting in execution. Will Nin submit to the pull of the flames and make it to the Eternal Ceremonies? or will the secret of her parents be brought to light? |
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Seasons of Albadone (The Eighth Chant Book 1) by Ălan MarchĂ© and Christopher Warman Four seasons. Four stories. An aspiring enchantress searches for a way to lift a terrible curse. A drunken father makes a dangerous wish. A foreman tilts the balance between nature and progress. A mother travels with her dying child in search of a healer. Four paths merge. Four destinies intertwine. |
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Supernatural Drabbles of Dread by Victory Witherkeigh The unexplained and the unnatural. Things that go bump in the night, driving spikes of fear into our hearts that are all the sharper for being unknown. Supernatural Drabbles of Dread is a collection of bite-sized, supernatural horror stories from over thirty authors. These stories are horror and are not for the faint of heart. |
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Nephilim's Hex by Susana ImaginĂĄrio The Nephilim loom over Niflheim. Gods, Dharkan and mortals fight amongst themselves in their shadow. And Time is on no one's side. The gods are outmatched, their talents useless against the Nephilim's technology. Desperate, they turn on each other. New alliances form and fall apart, for there can be no peace when survival is at stake. Psyche, torn between a goddess's duty and a mortal's hate, sets off on her own to learn the truth behind her fate, unaware of the danger following her. Meanwhile, Chronos' own agenda involves a power so dangerous and unpredictable it's been long forsaken by both the gods and the Nephilim. Will it be worth the risk? |
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The Dharkan by Susana ImaginĂĄrio The enemy is defeated. The gods strike a truce. And the Dharkan strike against the gods. Victory has cost both gods and mortals dearly. The veil between life and death in Niflheim is thinner than ever. Try as they might, the gods are powerless against the influence of Time, and their past mistakes threaten not only their future but their very existence. Now the fate of eternity rests in the unlikely alliance between the goddess of the soul and a soulless Dharkan, as they must work together to achieve peace between the living and the dead in Aegea. And although their goals may seem similar, the motivations behind them couldnât be more at odds with each other. Meanwhile, a greater enemy approaches. Or maybe itâs already here... |
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Wyrd Gods by Susana ImaginĂĄrio The God of Time wants to destroy Eternity. A mysterious immortal seeks vengeance. And a reclusive deity does what no god should ever do: she answers a prayer. As punishment, she is stripped of her powers and trapped in a mortal's body. Now a Wyrd â a fated god â she is haunted by the memories and thoughts of her host and must hide her true identity in order to survive in Niflheim, the rival Norse Underworld. There she discovers the afterlife is not quite what it used to be. Niflheim's new ruler threatens the precarious balance of a world overrun with outcast deities and mortals alike. To save her own sanity and find her way back to the stars, she must help the other Wyrd overcome their grievances to defeat this enemy, but those who would be her allies appear to have motives as hidden as her fragmented consciousness. And yet it seems the greatest threat to her freedom comes from within, and the prize it seeks is her immortal soul... |
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Achten Tan: Land of Dust and Bone by C. Vandyke At the crossroads between Mievilleâs New Crobuzon and M.T. Andersonâs Viriconium, on the border of Dhalgren and D&D, just to the left of Terry Pratchettâs Discworld and Mad Maxâs Fury Road ⊠lies Achten TanTales from the Year Between is a biannual anthology that brings together some of the most talented writers from around the globe to invent an original world from scratch, then explore that world through their writing. After a week of intensive world-building, each author sets out to expand their new, fabulous universe through short-stories, flash fiction, poems, songs, and whatever other genres their boundless imaginations unleash ... In this inaugural volume, the world in question is Achten Tan, an at times brutal and at times humorous city located at the foot of the Godtree on the southern edge of the Bonewastes. Home to giant ants, mysterious mirror fragments, and the worldâs greatest barbecue rib joint, Achten Tan is bursting with stories of fantasy and wonder. One part Italo Calvino, one part Frank Herbert, with just a dash of George R.R. Martin and L. Frank BaumWarning. Achten Tan: Land of Dust & Bone is weird. Inside its pages are drama and humor; action and longing; violence, death, and love. Itâs strange and beautiful, a living instance of the old aphorism regarding the whole being greater than the parts. Oh, and there are also giant ants and a city obsessed with barbecued ribs.There are poems and short stories, one-act plays and flash fiction, epistles and excerpts from academic texts, erotic tales and even recipes. Itâs a wonderful, fabulous, bizarre, and exciting mix of fiction by Skullgate Media. (Contains contributions by the following authors: Gabrielle Awe, Jesse Nolan Bailey, Ian Barr, Darius Bearguard, Jonathan Beck, Kyle Beers, Dan Berison , Benjamin Blattberg, Elvira Canaveral, Gregory Coley, Darby Cupid, Chris âTerryâ Durston, Diana C Gagliardi, Erin Rae Hoffer, Sarah Houck, Debbie Iancu-Haddad, Roger Kristian Jones, Vincent LaBate, Allison Moore, Iseult Murphy, Chapel Orahamm, S.L.Parker, Sarah Remy, Rosalind Dando, CD Storiz, Imelda Taylor, Chris Vandyke, Kelly Washington, and Paul Worthington. Maps by Aaron Hockett) |
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Ethereal Secrets: Shadows of Otherside Book 3 by Whitney Hill Arden Finch's conflict with her former guardian reaches the breaking point. As Arden's power grows, Callista works to twist the alliance away from her once more. To secure her ties with Otherside, Arden must outmaneuver both enemies and allies in a race against time. Between that and complications with the upcoming Reveal, a high-pressure case is exactly what Arden doesn't need. But the goddess Artemis has a task, one that will push Arden to her limits and force her to question everything. And as the Wild Hunt draws closer, she finds herself on a collision course with her pastâand her future. |
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Lesser Known Monsters by Rory Michaelson Being the chosen one isnât always a good thing. Oscar Tundale is useless, or at least that's what he's always thought. He and his friends are about to discover that not only are monsters real, but some of them are very interested in Oscar. Now, they must find out what the monsters want, before something terrible happens to London; or worse yet, the world. Lesser Known Monsters is an own voices queer dark fantasy featuring diverse characters on a found family adventure. Perfect for fans of action and paranormal romance seeking LGBTQ+ heroes. This is the first book in the Lesser Known Monsters series. |
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Teddington Rex is living his best life, star of the daily chat show and darling of the social elite. There's just one problem, his life is the only one there is... everyone else here is dead. Augustan Blunt has been fired and humiliated in front of the whole city, but a mysterious stranger has a job for him. All Blunt has to do is find someone living in the afterlife. It's an impossible task, but he's got nothing better to do, and it isn't as if anyone else is going to employ him. The Grim Reaper isn't feeling himself. He isn't feeling anyone else either, but he's never been accused of being 'handsy'. Something is wrong in the city of Gloomwood. The dead are coming to life, toys are causing problems, and an old friend has turned up in town. Whatever happens everyone seems to have the same goal. Get Ted Dead. |
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Augustan Blunt is a washed out cop with a bad attitude, a drinking problem and a troubled past, oh, he's also dead but that's okay so is everyone else. Other than that things are just peachy. Someone has stolen the Grim Reaper's head and Blunt has been told to find it. In a new city where the rules of the living don't apply Blunt's up to his neck in the brown stuff and he's never been much of a swimmer. With the aid of a woman who keeps turning involuntarily invisible, a journalist who hasn't written an article since she died, and a bureaucrat who can't say no to anyone, Blunt's got to stop whoever is stealing the heads of the city's elite. As he begins his investigations he finds things aren't all they seem. Who are the Gloomwood Youth Order? What do you call the murder of someone already dead? Why are people having their heads chopped off? And what is in the hot dogs? With time slipping away he needs to learn what makes the city tick before there's no city left. |
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His shadow crossed her frail body like some menacing presence as he stood. He leaned over to brush her thinning hair from her face, and kissed her forehead, trying to reach her beautiful mind. âI'll be right back,â he whispered in her ear. âI'm going to the store, but it will only take me a minute, okay?â In 1982, John Armstrong walks into a convenience store. He emerges with a second chance at life. He believes he's been given a gift - but at what cost? Windfall is a dark-themed fantasy/time travel story about a man who thinks he's won it all. |
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Only the Guilty Live by Robert Mammone A MADMAN PLUNGES AN EMPIRE INTO CIVIL WAR Captain Marduk has never played by the rules, but he has sacrificed everything for his Emperor to save the realm from total collapse in a long running civil war. A SOLDIER HAUNTED BY HIS BLOOD-SOAKED PAST Suffering from PTSD, Marduk is forced to go on one last mission to save a nobleman trapped inside a besieged city. Assembling a rag-tag team of misfits and monsters, Marduk brings together a colonist mourning his slaughtered family; a freed slave eager to drink the blood of her former masters; a vain sorcerer tied body and soul to an undead child possessed by a demon and a naĂŻve young soldier who will soon learn the true costs of war. A BESIEGED CITY TEARS ITSELF APART The price of loyalty to a mad emperor will take Marduk and his team to the very edge of endurance...and beyond. Only the Guilty Live is an action-packed grimdark fantasy in the vein of Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock and David Gemmell. If you like bloody battles, foulest sorcery, and black humor, then youâll love Robert Mammone's tale of loyalty betrayed. |
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The Fair Haired Boy; Or, The Sound of a Lost Voice by Jack CJ Stark A mother. A father. A fair haired boy. A fog that turns everything bad, and a voice that can end the suffering. A Ma Shen folk tale told to and via Jack CJ Stark. |
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Last Time She Died by Niki Kamerzell A rainy night. A slick road. A car crash. âA puff of yellow dust blew from the vent, and the car filled with a strong sulfur smell. Laughter whispered through the speakers, then blared at full volume.â Everything changes for Alexia Harper the night she leaves late from her waitressing job. When voices threaten her through the radio, she wonders if sheâs gone crazy. Then lightning explodes close by, and Alexia crashes. Following the accident, every day is the same. Every night the same nightmare stalks her. Itâs like her life is on repeat, but she canât shake the fearful warning her subconscious is screaming at her. When Leland starts working at the diner, Alexia is drawn to him. Heâs kind, funny and handsome, and heâsâŠfamiliar. Itâs like theyâve spent the past eight lifetimes getting to know each other. Now, the memory-like dreams make sense. She recognizes people she doesnât knowâand they are giving her clues; answers she desperately needs to stop the thing thatâs coming for her. Coming for all of them. Again. |