Book picks similar to
The Bandalore by Danielle K. Girl
fantasy
historical
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Strange Fortune
Josh Lanyon - 2009
Happily, the wealthy Holy Orders of Harappu are desperate to retrieve the diadem of the Goddess Purya from an ancient temple deep in the mountainous jungle—an area Strange knows well from his days quelling rebellions. The pay is too good and the job seems too easy for Strange to refuse. But when Master Aleister Grimshaw, a dangerous witch from a traitorous lineage, joins the expedition, Strange begins to suspect that more is at stake than the retrieval of a mere relic.Grimshaw knows an ancient evil surrounds the diadem— the same evil once hunted him and still haunts his mind. However, experience has taught him to keep his suspicions to himself or risk being denounced as a madman. Again.Harried by curses, bandits and unnatural creatures, Strange and Grimshaw plunge onward. But when a demonic power wakes and the civilized world descends into revolution, their tenuous friendship is threatened as each man must face the destruction of the life he has known.
Champions of the Dragon / Beyond the Wide Wall / The Legend of Drak'Noir
Michael James Ploof - 2017
Champions of the Dragon is now a USA Today Bestseller & 2017 Readers' Favorite Bronze Medal Winner in the Fiction - Fantasy - General genre!
Murland Kadabra has always dreamed of becoming a great wizard. However, at age 19, the young apprentice has yet to successfully cast a single spell. He has been reduced to grounds keeper of Abra Tower, and has become the laughing stock of the wizarding school. But when the Most High Wizard Kazimir chooses him to be one of the five Champions of the Dragon, Murland’s life changes forever.He soon finds himself traveling through the wilds with four unlikely companions, including an alcoholic knight, a gay elf prince, a dwarf with humanism, and an obese ogre. Prophecy dictates that these champions must march west to the shadowy peak of Bad Mountain, where they are destined to do battle with the dreaded dragon of legend, Drak’Noir.But what few people know, is that the prophecy is not altogether true. For it is not five champions who Kazimir chooses, but five fools. They are not meant to defeat the dragon, but to feed her. To change their fate, the Champions of the Dragon must not only overcome their enemies, but also themselves. Epic Fallacy is a satirical high-adventure romp through the Fantasy genre in the tradition of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Included in this bundle are books 1-3: Champions of the Dragon, Beyond the Wide Wall, and The Legend of Drak’Noir. This collection is 899 pages and 380,000 words.
Strangers in the Night
E.M. Jeanmougin - 2019
“That you’re a… good werespider?” The werespider was midway to taking another shot of tequila but drew it away from his lips at the last second, sparing himself the minor tragedy of coughing it up in the sudden burst of laughter that erupted from him. He had the sort of laugh that could fill a whole room, loud and pleasant, and a great deal less nasal than his heavy accent might have entailed. “Good? Nah, man. Nah.” He composed himself long enough to throw back the shot and clap the empty glass down on the counter. “I’mma great werespider. Best in Brooklyn. New York. Whole state, even.” *****Where there’s demons, there’s bound to be demon hunters and in Brooklyn there’s no shortage of either. Jasper Craig is a hunter at New York’s secret St. James Academy, and he’s one of the best. With superior strength, agility, and a handy ability to sense demonic energy, it’s like he was born for the job. Since he was orphaned at a young age, his parents took the secret of what, exactly, he is to their graves. And if his adoptive father knows, he’s not telling. Loyal to the cause of keeping the mortal world safe from the evils of demons, there isn’t anything Jasper wouldn’t do. So when his father and superior officer tells him to go undercover to trick a rare and dangerous werespider, Jasper agrees. Crimson Apocalypse is one of New York’s oldest residents and the only known werespider in the north eastern United States. He’s the sort of guy who lives as fast as he talks and talks as fast as he drives, and if Jasper wants to get closer to the werespider he’s going to have to keep up. But getting closer might be dangerous in more ways than one and what Jasper learns may not be what he expects. Strangers in the Night is a tense, action-filled urban fantasy. A story of self-discovery in a world where things are not always what they seem and the lines between good and evil are hard to draw.
The Gravedigger's Brawl
Abigail Roux - 2012
Wyatt Case is never happier than when he’s walking the halls of his history museum. Playing wingman for his best friend at Gravedigger’s Tavern throws him way out of his comfort zone, but not as much as the eccentric man behind the bar, Ash Lucroix.Ash is everything Wyatt doesn’t understand: exuberant, quirky, and elbow deep in a Gaslight lifestyle that weaves history into everyday life. He coordinates his suspenders with his tongue rings. Within hours, Wyatt and Ash are hooked.But strange things are afoot at Gravedigger’s, and after a knock to the head, Ash starts seeing things that can’t be explained by old appliances or faulty wiring. Soon everyone at Gravedigger’s is wondering if they’re seeing ghosts, or just going crazy. The answer to that question could end more than just Wyatt and Ash’s fragile relationship—it might also end their lives.
A Book of Tongues
Gemma Files - 2010
Morrow's task: get close enough to map the extent of Rook's power, then bring that knowledge back to help Professor Joachim Asbury unlock the secrets of magic itself.Magicians, cursed by their gift to a solitary and painful existence, have never been more than a footnote in history. But Rook, driven by desperation, has a plan to shatter the natural law that prevents hexes from cooperation, and change the face of the world-a plan sealed by an unholy marriage-oath with the goddess Ixchel, mother of all hanged men. To accomplish this, he must raise her bloodthirsty pantheon from its collective grave through sacrifice, destruction, and apotheosis.Caught between a passel of dead gods and monsters, hexes galore, Rook's witchery, and the ruthless calculations of his own masters, Morrow's only real hope of survival lies with the man without whom Rook cannot succeed: Chess Pargeter himself. But Morrow and Chess will have to literally ride through Hell before the truth of Chess's fate comes clear-the doom written for him, and the entire world.
The Necromancer's Light
Tavia Lark - 2021
Always cold, always touch-starved, the only thing that helps is human contact. But that’s hard to come by when those same dark powers scare everyone away from him. Nobody likes a necromancer.Especially a paladin of the Radiant Order.Arthur’s still bitter and broken after his last lover stabbed him in the back, and the last thing he needs is another brush with evil. When he agrees to escort the wandering necromancer north, he’s just doing a public service.But he never expected Shae to be so clingy. Or distractingly attractive.Shae has never felt an aura as warm and safe as Arthur’s. He craves the man’s touch—and more. But everyone he’s ever known has left him, and it’s just a matter of time before Arthur leaves him too.Assuming the soul-stealing monsters don’t kill them first.The Necromancer’s Light is a gay fantasy romance, with magic, hurt/comfort, and bed sharing for Reasons. First in a series but can be read alone. 56,000 words, HEA guaranteed.
The Medium
C.J. Archer - 2012
Actually, she has several. As if seeing dead people isn't a big enough social disadvantage, she also has to contend with an escaped demon and a handsome ghost with a secret past. And then there's the question of her parentage. Being born an entire year after her father's death (yes, a year) and without the pale skin of other respectable English ladies, Emily is as much a mystery as the dead boy assigned to her.Jacob Beaufort's spirit has been unable to crossover since his death. It might have something to do with the fact he was murdered. Or it might not. All he knows is, he has been assigned by the Otherworld's administrators to a girl named Emily. A girl who can see and touch him. A girl who released a shape-shifting demon into the mortal realm. Together they must send the demon back before it wreaks havoc on London. It should be a simple assignment, but they soon learn there's nothing simple when a live girl and a dead boy fall in love.
Dark Rise
C.S. Pacat - 2021
Its heroes are dead, its halls are ruins, and its great battles between Light and Dark are forgotten. Only the Stewards remember, and they keep their centuries-long vigil, sworn to protect humanity if the Dark King ever returns.Sixteen-year-old dock boy Will is on the run, pursued by the men who killed his mother. When an old servant tells him of his destiny to fight beside the Stewards, Will is ushered into a world of magic, where he must train to play a vital role in the oncoming battle against the Dark.As London is threatened by the Dark King’s return, the reborn heroes and villains of a long-forgotten war begin to draw battle lines. But as the young descendants of Light and Dark step into their destined roles, old allegiances, old enmities and old flames are awakened. Will must stand with the last heroes of the Light to prevent the fate that destroyed their world from returning to destroy his own.
Black Magic
Megan Derr - 2012
But to find the answer to that question, he must cooperate with one of the highly despised necromancers, men who practice black magic, sleep in graveyards and feed upon souls …The necromancer Koray, however, is far from what he expected. He is beautiful, stubborn, and possessed of a tongue sharp enough to cut down even the High Paladin himself. Koray is also possessed of a strength like nothing Sorin has ever encountered, and the power of the Goddess herself.It does not take them long to realize that solving a murder is the easiest challenge they must face, and in order to save a kingdom they must first unravel centuries of lies and misunderstandings.
NoX
Adrienne Wilder - 2019
He can't even tell Luca his name.He remembers nothing until the moment he sees Luca.The only hint Luca has to the stranger's identity is a tattoo on his wrist: N o XNox doesn't know who he is, but he's sure of three things, his memory loss is temporary, the monsters chasing Luca are called Anubis, and his Alpha, Koda, sent Nox to protect him.There's just one problem… Koda is Luca's brother who was murdered five years ago.With each passing hour, Nox fills in the pieces painting an impossible truth. And with each passing hour, both men find themselves unexplainably attracted to each other.Something Luca is willing to embrace because he has nothing left to lose.And one Nox can't let happen because it could get Luca killed.Nox is an HEA/HFN M/M paranormal, science-fiction romance.But be warned, these are NOT the shifters you are used to reading about.
The Devil Lancer
Astrid Amara - 2014
Facing a harrowing winter campaign, Elliott must rally disheartened men through sickness, battle and starvation.But when he is assigned the additional task of spying on a fellow officer, the inscrutable Cornet Ilyas Kovakin, he finds himself disconcerted and fascinated by both the work and the man.The half-Russian officer reports to none in his division. Rumors of demonic power and black magic surround him, but the truth turns out to be worse than the suspicions.For Ilyas, his return to the Crimea is marred by the terrible mistake that cursed him with a horrifying power nearly beyond his control. His grip on his humanity is slipping away daily. Torn between a master he cannot trust and the family he must not return to, his only hope for salvation lies hidden in the long-forgotten symbols of centuries-old relics. But their meanings remain a mystery until the cheerful Captain Parrish offers assistance.Although Ilyas fears trusting the young captain, Elliott’s company is almost irresistible.Surrounded by deprivation, cruelty and war, both men know the closer they are drawn together, the greater the stakes. But with the balance of European power on the line, retreat is not an option.
The Man in the Long Black Coat
J.L. Aarne - 2014
Until James died and left Dale all alone on a self-destructive path through alcoholism to an early grave. Then a killer begins ritualistically murdering young women in the small town of Solagrove, Louisiana and the deaths may or may not be paranormal, but Dale gets drawn into it anyway. There is something very familiar about the murders and someone has to stop them. Witnesses describe seeing a man in a long black coat who sounds a lot like James, and it doesn’t matter that it’s impossible. Dale knows it’s impossible because James is dead. There is absolutely no question about it. But in Dale’s world, corpses sometimes get up and walk away from their graves.
The White Devil
Justin Evans - 2011
When seventeen-year-old Andrew Taylor is transplanted from his American high school to a British boarding school—a high-profile academy for the sons of England’s finest—his father hopes that the boy’s dark past will not follow him from across the Atlantic. But blood, suspense, and intrigue quickly surround Andrew once again as he finds himself struggling with a deadly mystery left unsolved by a student from Harrow School’s past—the enigmatic poet Lord Byron.
The Engineer
C.S. Poe - 2020
He’s sent to Shallow Grave, Arizona, to arrest a madman engineer known as Tinkerer, who’s responsible for blowing up half of Baltimore. Gillian has handled some of the worst criminals in the Bureau’s history, so this assignment shouldn’t be a problem. But even he’s taken aback by a run-in with the country’s most infamous outlaw, Gunner the Deadly.Gunner is also stalking Shallow Grave in search of Tinkerer, who will stop at nothing to take control of the town’s silver mines. Neither Gillian nor Gunner are willing to let Tinkerer hurt more innocent people, so they agree to a very temporary partnership.If facing illegal magic, Gatling gun contraptions, and a wild engineer in America’s frontier wasn’t enough trouble for a city boy, Gillian must also come to terms with the reality that he’s rather fond of his partner. But even if they live through this adventure, Gillian fears there’s no chance for love between a special agent and outlaw.Based on the short story, "Gunner the Deadly." Entirely revised, newly expanded, and Book One in the exciting new steampunk series, Magic & Steam.