Here Be Dragons


David P. Macpherson - 2018
    With heroes this bad who needs villains... When Orus graduated from the Cromalot School for Heroes he was ready for a life of glory and adventure. But after being seduced by his first damsel in distress, he quickly learns the heroing life doesn't bring in the steady income required to raise a family. Twenty years later, with his son all grown up and his waistband all grown out, a favour for a friend gives Orus one last shot at the life he always wanted. But any old hero can slay a dragon, this old hero has to save one. Here Be Dragons is an action packed, comic fantasy full of unexpected heroes, dastardly villains, chases, escapes, questionable employment practises, ill-fitting trousers and an ill-tempered donkey (as if there was any other kind).

Echo in Onyx


Sharon Shinn - 2019
    Like many high nobles, Marguerite is attended by echoes, silent creatures who look exactly like her and move in perfect synchronicity. News soon comes that Marguerite has been invited to the royal city as a potential bride for the crown prince. Brianna is delighted to accompany Marguerite to the city—and perhaps get a chance to continue her own flirtation with Nico, one of the king’s inquisitors. Then, disaster strikes on the road when they come under attack. The brutal assault forces Marguerite and Brianna to concoct a desperate plan. Their subterfuge just might work—but only if Brianna can keep Nico from learning the truth. And only if Marguerite can give up her own secret, doomed romance. And all that’s at stake—is the very future of the kingdom.

The Black Prism


Brent Weeks - 2010
    He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live.When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

Tommy Black and the Staff of Light


Jake Kerr - 2014
    That is until his grandfather is captured by magical creatures and Tommy has to save him with his family's magical staff.That wouldn't be so bad, but the only magic he can do with the staff is weak--making light. What the heck can you do with light?Tommy finds out as he fights golems, shadow creatures, and djinn in a journey that features a magical river, an enchanted train, and an illusionary fortress. But the worst part of all? Tommy has to save his grandfather with the help of Naomi, a girl whose talent with magic is only rivaled by her ability to hurl insults.From Nebula, Sturgeon, and Million Writers Award nominee Jake Kerr comes the Tommy Black trilogy, an action adventure series for readers of all ages.

Rise of the Flame


K.N. Lee - 2015
    Lee comes Rise of the Flame, an epic beginning to the Eura Chronicles. Six races. Four realms. One human girl who can bring them together in peace... or war. Lilae has been hunted since the night of her birth, for she is heir to a god’s throne. But everything that her surrogate family has done to protect her may have been for nothing. After Lilae is stripped of her powers and enslaved by the emperor of the Mithrani, she finds herself desperate to survive in a strange new world. On the other side of the world, Liam leads his army across the realm to protect the Tryans and the fairies from those who would do them harm. But when their odds of survival become next to impossible, he must set out on a journey to find a dragon, a child, and the blessing of a fallen god to aid him in the inevitable realm war. The path forward for both Liam and Lilae seems clear, until their dreamscapes collide. But while they draw strength from their connection, Lilae may be falling for the emperor who should be her greatest enemy.

Rise of the Forgotten Sun (The Sun and the Raven #1)


Jon Monson - 2017
    A life of scholarly solitude and adventure was more than enough for me. I never wanted to play politics. I never wanted to get married. I most certainly never dreamed of becoming a god. Yet when I ventured into the depths of the Soulless Desert, I found... something- a power so ancient it has been forgotten by mankind. That day unleashed a chain of events that, once started, cannot be stopped. It is the Rise of the Forgotten Sun. It is the beginning of the end.

Winter's Reach


Craig Schaefer - 2014
    Conspiracies swirl like shadows around Livia, the pope's daughter, who refuses to be anyone's pawn: chasing the whispers of a deadly coup, she vows to expose the truth and save her church from disaster. Livia has secrets of her own, though, and one wrong move could cost her life and her soul. Felix is the scion of a dying merchant house, a man with just one chance to save his family and the woman he loves. His last hope lies in the snowbound hell of Winter's Reach, a former prison colony turned "free city" under a brutal tyrant's reign. Livia and Felix have never crossed paths, but they've both been snared in a far greater web than they can imagine. They -- along with a pair of veteran bounty hunters, an exiled politician, and a sadistic coven of witches -- are cogs in one man's apocalyptic plan for revenge. A plan which, if it succeeds, will leave an entire nation in flames.

Trial of Stone


Andy Peloquin - 2019
    A war for power and profit. Young heroes caught in the crossfire. Kodyn expected hardships along his journey to return a kidnapped girl to her father.  Yet harsh deserts and cutthroat bandits prove far less lethal than the foes that await him in Shalandra, the City of the Dead.In the shadows of golden spires carved from mountain stone, currents of corruption and vice run deep. Priests of the god of death rule with an iron fist, imposing a rigid caste system that elevates some to a life of privilege and condemns others to miserable squalor.Together with Aisha, a fierce warrior from the north with the mystical ability to speak to the dead, Kodyn must survive the cesspool of high society deceit and betrayal.Polite smiles hide sharp knives. Killers, criminals, and bloodthirsty cultists lurk around every corner. Can these youths overcome impossible odds to save the realm?

Court of Fives


Kate Elliott - 2015
    But away from her family, she can be whomever she wants when she sneaks out to train for the Fives, an intricate, multilevel athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom’s best competitors.Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an improbable friendship between the two Fives competitors—one of mixed race and the other a Patron boy—causes heads to turn. When Kal’s powerful, scheming uncle tears Jes’s family apart, she’ll have to test her new friend’s loyalty and risk the vengeance of a royal clan to save her mother and sisters from certain death.In this imaginative escape into an enthralling new world, World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott’s first young adult novel weaves an epic story of a girl struggling to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.

Red Season Rising


D.M. Murray - 2016
    A nation besieged by armies of man, and demon. A man seeking redemption, and peace. Kalfinar is a grieving addict. Once a decorated and respected soldier, he has been demoted and disgraced. The relative peace of his half-life is shattered by the onset of chaos and war. Tormented by visions, he is marked for possession, and hunted by demons. Amidst the all-consuming ruin of a war between Gods, Kalfinar must lead the fight to defend a faith he has abandoned, and a nation that has disowned him. Red Season Rising is the debut novel of D.M. Murray and marks the beginning of a new epic fantasy series.

Rise of Gods


Dyrk Ashton - 2016
    And not all legends are myth.When a local hospital is attacked by strange and frightening men, Fiona Patterson and Zeke Prisco save a catatonic old man named Peter—and find themselves running for their lives with creatures beyond imagination hounding their every step.With nowhere else to turn, they seek out Fi’s enigmatic Uncle Edgar. But the more their questions are answered, the more they discover that nothing is what it seems--not Peter, not Edgar, perhaps not even themselves.The gods and monsters, heroes and villains of lore—they’re real. And now they’ve come out of hiding to hunt their own. In order to survive, Fi and Zeke must join up with powerful allies against an ancient evil that’s been known by many names and feared by all. The final battle of the world’s oldest war has begun.Paternus: Rise of Gods, is Dyrk Ashton’s critically acclaimed debut novel and the first book in The Paternus Trilogy. It has been compared to works by Neil Gaiman, Scott Hawkins, Roger Zelazny, China Miéville, Joss Whedon, and Kevin Hearne.Editions note: Earlier editions list the title as simply Paternus. These are the same book as Paternus: Rise of Gods.Genre: Urban Fantasy / Contemporary Fantasy / Mythic Fiction.Market: Adult to New Adult (as opposed to Teen or YA, though savvy 16 or 17 year olds might survive without permanent damage).

The Seventh Knight


Robert Ryan - 2020
    Of old, the Kingshield Knights were founded. They were warriors and men of learning. The six of them wandered the land and dispensed wisdom, knowledge and justice. But they bore a sacred charge greater still.Their solemn trust was to guard against a primal evil. But they have fallen to its lure. Dark things stir. Beasts of nightmare stalk the land and haunt the skies. Blood-drenched sorcery casts its shadow over the realm.Ancient prophecy foretold that when the Kingshield Knights failed the Seventh Knight would rise to challenge them. But the knights know this, and they seek to kill him before he comes into his destiny.But fate will not be denied. And the Seventh Knight will stand tall to defy the powers of darkness...

Dungeon Lord


Hugo Huesca - 2017
     ...and Edward has chosen to make them regret it.   When Edward is swept into the world of Ivalis as a Dungeon Lord, the Dark's most powerful servant, he has no servitude in mind. He'll oppose the evil plans of the Dark god Murmur, whatever it takes. Through only his wits and his guts to help him survive a weakened arrival, Edward must rise to power if he is to earn the right to live another day. But in the battle between Dark and Light, what can Edward choose if both sides are cruel, uncaring monsters? Cold gods laugh in the distant world of Ivalis. Heroes chase after power and experience, while Kings send their armies to their deaths in the name of the Dark and the Light.   But no one expects the rise of the Dungeon Lord... And in the world of Ivalis, maybe a single man can forge his own path.

A Girl from Nowhere


James Maxwell - 2020
    No one knows it better than Taimin. Crippled, and with only his indomitable aunt to protect him, Taimin must learn to survive in a world scorched by two suns and frequented by raiders.But when Taimin discovers his homestead ransacked and his aunt killed, he sets off with one mission: to seek revenge against those who stole everything. With nowhere to call home, his hunt soon takes a turn when he meets a mystic, Selena, who convinces him to join her search for the fabled white city. Taimin and Selena both need refuge, and the white city is a place where Taimin may find someone to heal his childhood injury.As they avoid relentless danger, Taimin and Selena attempt to reach the one place that promises salvation. And they can only hope that the city is the haven they need it to be…

They Mostly Come Out at Night


Benedict Patrick - 2016
    Now, he will not rest until he wins back the heart of his childhood love and reclaims the life that was stolen from him. However, locked safely in his cellar at night, in his dreams Lonan finds himself looking through the eyes of a young prince…Adahy has a destiny, and it terrifies him. How can he hope to live up to the legend of the Magpie King, to become the supernatural protector of the forest and defender of his people? But when the forest is invaded by an inhuman force, Adahy must rise to this challenge or let the Wolves destroy his people.Watching these events unfold in his sleep, Lonan must do what he can to protect his village from this new threat. He is the only person who can keep his loved ones from being stolen away after dark, and to do so he will have to earn back their trust or watch the monsters kill everyone that he holds dear.They Mostly Come Out At Night is a Dark Fantasy novel from Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld series. If you like Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss then you will love this captivating, dangerous world in which ordinary people struggle to find their place in a land ruled by stories.Start reading today to discover this epic tale of dreams, fables and monsters!