Book picks similar to
First Chosen by M. Todd Gallowglas
fantasy
fiction
ebook
adventure
Riddle in Stone
Robert Evert - 2013
The only thing preventing utter annihilation is Edmund—a stuttering librarian who knows a secret, a secret that every thief, assassin, and king would kill to have. Fleeing from relentless peril, Edmund wages a solitary battle against an ancient evil. But how can one man succeed when so many before him have failed? (Dark Fantasy)
King's Property
Morgan Howell - 2007
When her family betrays her, Dar is conscripted into King Kregant’s army and its brutal campaign to conquer a neighboring country. Now she is bound as a slave to a dreaded regiment of orcs, creatures legendary for their savagery and battle prowess. Rather than cower, Dar rises to the challenge. She learns the unique culture and language of the orcs, survives treachery from both allies and enemies, and struggles to understand a mystical gift that brings her dark, prophetic visions. As the war escalates–amid nightmarish combat and shattering loss–Dar must seize a single chance at freedom.
The Journeyman
Michael Alan Peck - 2014
The day of his death, he told a lie—and for the rest of his life, he wondered if that was what killed him." And so begins the battle for the afterlife, known as The Commons. It's been taken over by a corporate raider who uses the energy of its souls to maintain his brutal control. The result is an imaginary landscape of a broken America—stuck in time and overrun by the heroes, monsters, dreams, and nightmares of the imprisoned dead. Three people board a bus to nowhere: a New York street kid, an Iraq War veteran, and her five-year-old special-needs son. After a horrific accident, they are the last, best hope for The Commons to free itself. Along for the ride are a shotgun-toting goth girl, a six-foot-six mummy, a mute Shaolin monk with anger-management issues, and the only guide left to lead them.Three Journeys: separate but joined. One mission: to save forever. But first they have to save themselves.
Dangerous Women
George R.R. MartinSharon Kay Penman - 2013
Lansdale - “Neighbors” by Megan Lindholm - “I Know How to Pick ’Em” by Lawrence Block - “Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell” by Brandon Sanderson - A Cosmere story - “A Queen in Exile” by Sharon Kay Penman - “The Girl in the Mirror” by Lev Grossman - A Magicians story - “Second Arabesque, Very Slowly” by Nancy Kress - “City Lazarus” by Diana Rowland - “Virgins” by Diana Gabaldon - An Outlander story - “Hell Hath No Fury” by Sherilynn Kenyon - “Pronouncing Doom” by S.M. Stirling - An Emberverse story - “Name the Beast” by Sam Sykes - “Caretakers” by Pat Cadigan - “Lies My Mother Told Me” by Caroline Spector - A Wild Cards story - “The Princess and the Queen” by George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire story
Falling
J. Bennett - 2000
The stranger’s glowing hands were a big tipoff.When the stranger murders Maya’s boyfriend with a single touch and injects the college sophomore with a DNA-altering serum, Maya prays for a savior. Instead, she gets a double helping of knight-in-not-so-shining-armor when two young men claiming to be her half-brothers pull off a belated rescue. Now Maya is swiftly transforming into an “angel”, one of the scientifically enhanced, energy-sucking creatures her brothers have spent their whole lives trying to destroy. Maya’s senses sharpen, her body becomes strong and agile, and she develops the ability to visually see the emotions of those around her as colorful auras…beautiful auras…tempting auras. Struggling to control the murderous appetite that fuels her new abilities, this reluctant protagonist must find a way to accept her new condition and learn to trust her angel-hunting brothers as she joins them in their fight against the powerful and destructive creatures. On the up side, at least Maya’s eldest brother has stopped trying to kill her!FALLING takes all the foul-mouthed, attitude-driven humor of the BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD series and combines it with the action-packed, love/hate family dynamics of the CW show SUPERNATURAL. Get ready to fall hard for FALLING, the first novel in J Bennett’s new adult paranormal series, GIRL WITH BROKEN WINGS. Warning: This book contains violence, sexual content, and strong language.
Golden Blood
Melissa Pearl - 2011
Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place. While “across the line,” her training and skills are put to the test as she completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has selected. Gemma's parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her family’s safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be "used and abused", as her mother always says. Afraid she might accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life askew... Harrison Granger.Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl, but after a brief encounter he can't stop thinking about her. He begins a campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences. As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him fighting to keep his newfound love and his life.
Brolach
Marata Eros - 2013
Running from a father who is a murderer, she takes to the sea where she lives the quiet and lonely existence of the unseen.One night when her abusive boss lays more than a finger on her, the crowd gets out of hand and an unlikely savior moves to end her misery.Little does Ruby know that there are those who've been searching for exactly what she is.Brolach is a demon warrior with a purpose: to find females with enough demon blood who could be valuable breeders in Hades. Their inclusion would tip the scales in favor of the age old war between heaven and hell, to those who live below.What Brolach doesn't realize is they share a blood tie that neither suspect, one that might make them pay in blood ....App, 21,800 words/ 60 pages*Please note this book is dark erotica and deals with serious themes including dubious consent, violence and murder.* Note: Though this is the first installment in The Demon Series, reading both The Druid and Siren Series first, might deepen the reading experience.Alternative cover edition ASIN B00GG0OV58
Illumine
Alivia Anders - 2012
Haunted by vivid nightmares and hallucinations of the event she does anything she can to pretend she's like every other normal girl in High School. Only Essallie is far from normal. Able to conjure blue fire and a shimmering silhouette of wings from her body, she seeks the only known solace left to her name; her first home in Belfast, Maine.But she soon realizes that her return home is only the beginning of a long and twisted road taking her as far from her humanity as possible, with Kayden, the demon originally summoned to slaughter her, leading the way. Unable to touch her but oddly curious, he joins Essallie in her search to find out just what she is. But neither of them were prepared for the secrets they've begun to unravel, secrets that will change Essallie and everyone around her forever.
Renhala
Amy Joy Lutchen - 2012
A chance discovery leads Kailey to a meeting with elderly Gunthreon, actual master of persuasion. Gunthreon, who seems to know too much of Kailey's history for her liking, opens Kailey's eyes to a coexisting realm she never knew existed: Renhala, while entrusting her with the knowledge of her newfound power as karmelean, serving as a beacon to the Higher Ones. Kailey slowly starts revealing new talents, and Gunthreon is fascinated with what she starts achieving. She soon discovers that Renhala is in danger, and this danger has been leaking into her own realm. As she uncovers secrets within herself, and attempts to toughen up, she fuses with an unlikely band of fellow travelers (including a dragon, woodsprite, six-hundred-pound greble, her faithful female canine companion, and a "giver"), falls into an unexpected love triangle, deals with her sexy and flirtatious best friend's "issues," and finds the courage to master a new deadly weapon. On her mission to save Renhala, Kailey will find herself running from life-threatening disasters, such as greble Tartarin, who likes to remind Kailey that when he catches her, he plans on eating her brains with ice cream; she'll run from the deadly meeples: small cute bunnies with talons and an undeniable thirst for imposing self-destruction on others. Kailey will also run into the possibility that a centuries-old Renhalan rumor is true, that advanced technology existing in Kailey's realm shortens all life spans. As blood is shed and puzzles near completion, Kailey pulls from deep within herself, conjuring up mystical qualities that enable her to astonish as once predicted at her birth, but despite the newfound strength, Kailey will discover that monsters not only come in ugly packages, but can be easily disguised as those she has come to love and trust.
The Better Part of Darkness
Kelly Gay - 2009
Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil....Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She's recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.'s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim -- but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?
Stitch
Samantha Durante - 2012
but yet she's powerless to move.Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence. In between grappling with exams and sorority soirees - and disturbing recurring dreams of being captive in a futuristic prison hell - Alessa is determined to unravel the mystery of the apparition who leaves her breathless. But the terrifying secret she uncovers will find her groping desperately through her nightmares for answers.Because what Alessa hasn't figured out yet is that she's not really a student, the object of her obsession is no ghost, and her sneaking suspicions that something sinister is lurking behind the walls of her university's idyllic campus are only just scratching the surface...The opening installment in a twist-laden trilogy, Stitch spans the genres of paranormal romance and dystopian sci-fi to explore the challenges of a society in transition, where morality, vision, and pragmatism collide leaving the average citizen to suffer the results.
Undermountain
Eric Kent Edstrom - 2011
. .Danny Michaelson, sixteen, just wants a little time away from his troubled home in Nashville. So when he joins a group of teens in the Canadian Rocky Mountains for a ten day hiking excursion, he's primed for adventure.Breyona Lewis, sixteen, is a beautiful rich girl from Chicago. Outwardly cheerful, she conceals a dark secret. One she denies even to herself.. . . the encounter of a lifetime . . .Danny and Breyona come face to face with a creature of legend--an eight foot tall beast they tag as "bigfoot." But it's no missing link, no mere animal. And it does not want humans knowing its secrets. Because there are thousands of them here on Earth, living in a hidden city deep beneath the mountains, waiting for the day humans are "ready.". . . friendship, love, and loyalty . . .Separated from each other and told they may never return home, Danny, Breyona, and the others race to escape. To survive.One is made more than human, one is made less.One must fight, one must surrender.Both must face the truth of who they are.
Bloody Little Secrets
Karly Kirkpatrick - 2011
She's dead. Or not quite. After discovering she's been turned into a vampire, she tries to settle into a quiet suburb of Chicago and return to a normal life. If only she could stop wanting to bite her boyfriend. Not to mention she is dying to find out who turned her, and why. She doesn't have to wait long before they come to her.
When the Sea Is Rising Red
Cat Hellisen - 2012
She fakes her own death and leaves her sheltered life as one of Pelimburg’s magical elite behind. Living in the slums, scrubbing dishes for a living, she falls for charismatic Dash while also becoming fascinated with vampire Jannik. Then something shocking washes up on the beach: Ilven's death has called out of the sea a dangerous, wild magic. Felicita must decide whether her loyalties lie with the family she abandoned . . . or with those who would twist this dark power to destroy Pelimburg's caste system, and the whole city along with it.