Book picks similar to
Y'keta (The Sky Road Trilogy #1) by Sandra Hurst
because-writers
genre-fantasy
indigenous
mythology
East
Edith Pattou - 2003
Since the day she was born, it was clear she had a special fate. Her superstitious mother keeps the unusual circumstances of Rose's birth a secret, hoping to prevent her adventurous daughter from leaving home... but she can't suppress Rose's true nature forever. So when an enormous white bear shows up one cold autumn evening and asks teenage Rose to come away with it--in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family--she readily agrees. Rose travels on the bear's broad back to a distant and empty castle, where she is nightly joined by a mysterious stranger. In discovering his identity, she loses her heart-- and finds her purpose--and realizes her journey has only just begun.
Kingdom of Shadows and Dust
Sherry D. Ficklin - 2021
As the king’s only daughter, Ava has suffered the solitary isolation of a noble woman as long as she can remember. While she dreams of fighting alongside the armies of Ankara, she’s forced to hide her identity behind a veil.It seems her prayers are answered when fate intervenes, allowing Ava to sneak away and join the battle. Yet the tides of war turn on her, leaving the young beauty defeated... her hopes shattered. Her only chance at salvation is Callan, a mysterious black wolf willing to risk everything by hiding her away among his kind. But there are some dangers far more ominous than the snapping jaws of a wolf. Ripped away from the brave Turnskins, Ava is imprisoned by the beguiling Shadow King who fills her head with promises of peace and a haze of passion. Forced to choose between family, the bond she shares with Callan, and the handsome king, Ava finds herself torn between duty and desire. When sacrifice is required to save all she holds dear, will Ava accept the crushing demands of taking the crown? Or follow her heart to the forbidden touch she desperately craves?
Robbergirl
S.T. Gibson - 2019
When her men ambush a girl on the road with hair pale as death and a raven perched on her shoulder, Helvig cannot resist bringing home a truly unique prize: a genuine witch. Drawn irresistibly into the other woman’s web, Helvig soon learns of Gerda’s reason for walking the icy border roads alone: to find the Queen who lives at the top of the world and kill her. Anyone else would be smart enough not to believe a children’s story, but Helvig is plagued by enchantments of her own, and she struggles to guard the sins of her past while growing closer to Gerda.As Christmastide gives way to the thin-veiled days when ghosts are at their most vengeful, the two women find themselves on a journey to a final confrontation that will either redeem them or destroy them entirely.It's DEATHLESS meets OF FIRE AND STARS in this coming of age fable.
The Fate of Stars
S.D. Simper - 2020
A disgraced princess. A feud as ancient as the godsWorlds collide when Tallora is kidnapped from her ocean home and forced to be a pet to a tyrannical foreign empire. Her only hope for rescue lies with a sworn enemy--Princess Dauriel, infamous for her stone heart and conflicted past. But when Dauriel's kingdom comes to the cusp of war, could their uneasy alliance be the key to defeating a common foe? Or will their growing feelings for each other lead them to ruin?From the world of FALLEN GODS comes a tale of ancient magic and cutthroat politics--and finding redemption through love.
Corbenic
Catherine Fisher - 2002
He's stranded. Following a muddy path leads him to a castle that appears to be deserted. But inside is Corbenic, a magnificent hotel filled with rich people preparing for a banquet and Cal is their guest of honor. During the meal, he experiences a disturbing vision, but when he is asked to talk about what he has seen, he denies it. What if he's becoming crazy, like his mother? When Cal wakes the next morning, the elegant castle turns out to be nothing more than an abandoned ruin. But something inside him has changed he now knows he needs to right the wrongs in his life. It will be a difficult journey, and if Cal achieves his goal, it will not be without cost. The first step he must return to Corbenic.
Innocence
Lee Savino - 2015
A virgin.I’m ruthless. A beast.She found me for a reason.She’ll be my queen.I’ll give her everything that her heart desires.Except for one thing.Her freedom.She’s mine to keep, and I’m never letting her go.Note: This is a dark mafia romance with dark and intense sensual scenes. It is the first in a trilogy.
A Wolf for a Spell
Karah Sutton - 2020
With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all.“Karah Sutton has crafted a vivid and rollicking adventure that proves a wolf doesn’t have to be big or bad to win the day!" —Rosanne Parry, New York Times bestselling author of A Wolf Called Wander
Beneath Cruel Fathoms
Anela Deen - 2019
Adrift and alone, her plans to start over lost, it’s a tragic conclusion after the disastrous end of her marriage—until she’s saved by Leonel, one of the merfolk, a creature long believed extinct. In repayment for her life, Leonel enlists her help to investigate the Failock’s mysterious and deadly plague of squalls. But when Isaura discovers Eisland’s ruthless new Lord commands the storms, her life will be in more danger on land than it ever was at sea.As guardian of the Fathoms, Leonel must find the cause of unnatural storms ravaging the tidal currents and destroying the sea life. There are rumors of dark magic stirring in the Orom Abyss, the resting place of old, vanquished gods who tried to submerge the land millennia ago. Yet without proof, no one in King Ægir’s court will listen to him. And if it’s discovered he broke the Blue Laws to save a shipwrecked landweller, he might not survive the consequences.As storms spread, Leonel and Isaura uncover secrets as forbidden as the bond that grows between them. Betrayal lurks in the restless sea, and when ancient powers lay siege to Eisland’s coast, the truth may be drowned along with everything else.
The Second Draeken War
Ben Hale - 2012
On the brink of total victory, the black horde mysteriously vanished, leaving terrified survivors . . . and rumors. As the centuries passed, the holocaust faded into legend, and finally myth. But death is stalking heroes once more, and the ultimate army has already been unleashed.The only hope lies in destroying the source—before all life is extinguished. Fate has chosen Elseerian for the impossible feat, but as he embarks on the harrowing journey the invasion must be delayed. With time as their only weapon against extinction, the elves issue a desperate call . . . for every race to ally. Facing annihilation, many will realize that survival lies in unity, courage sleeps in ordinary citizens, and average people can turn the tide of war.But even if the world can gather in the name of survival, the best they can last is Seven Days . . .The Second Draeken War is a combined edition of Elseerian, The Gathering, and Seven Days, and marks the first trilogy in The Chronicles of Lumineia.
Burning Girls and Other Stories
Veronica Schanoes - 2021
We also brought our demons.
In Burning Girls and Other Stories, Veronica Schanoes crosses borders and genres with stories of fierce women at the margins of society burning their way toward the center. This debut collection introduces readers to a fantasist in the vein of Karen Russell and Kelly Link, with a voice all her own.Emma Goldman--yes, that Emma Goldman--takes tea with the Baba Yaga and truths unfold inside of exquisitely crafted lies. In Among the Thorns, a young woman in seventeenth century Germany is intent on avenging the brutal murder of her peddler father, but discovers that vengeance may consume all that it touches. In the showstopping, awards finalist title story, Burning Girls, Schanoes invests the immigrant narrative with a fearsome fairytale quality that tells a story about America we may not want--but need--to hear.Dreamy, dangerous, and precise, with the weight of the very oldest tales we tell, Burning Girls and Other Stories introduces a writer pushing the boundaries of both fantasy and contemporary fiction.With a foreword by Jane Yolen
The Hand, the Eye and the Heart
Zoë Marriott - 2019
But when civil war sets the country aflame, Zhilan is the only one who can save their disabled Father from death on the battlefield. By taking his place.Surviving brutal army training as a male recruit – Zhi – is only the first challenge. Soon Zhi’s unique talents draw them into an even more perilous fight, in the glittering court of the Land of Dragons, where love and betrayal are two sides of the same smile. The fate of an Empire rests on Zhi’s shoulders. But to win, they must first decide where their loyalty, and their heart, truly belongs.
Bloodleaf
Crystal Smith - 2019
Surrounded by spirits and burdened with forbidden magic, she lives in constant fear of discovery by the witch-hunting Tribunal and their bloodthirsty mobs. When a devastating assassination attempt reveals her magical abilities, Aurelia is forced to flee her country with nothing but her life. Alone and adrift in an enemy kingdom, Aurelia plans her revenge against the Tribunal, desperate to bring down the dark organization that has wrought terror upon her people for hundreds of years. But there’s something deeply amiss in her new home, too, and soon she finds herself swept into a deadly new mystery with a secretive prince, the ghost of an ancient queen, and a poison vine called Bloodleaf. Aurelia is entangled in a centuries-long game of love, power, and war, and if she can’t break free before the Tribunal makes its last move, she may lose far more than her crown.
The Dark Wife
Sarah Diemer - 2011
Now, only a goddess can tell the truth. Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want--except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice. Zeus calls Hades "lord" of the dead as a joke. In truth, Hades is the goddess of the underworld, and no friend of Zeus. She offers Persephone sanctuary in her land of the dead, so the young goddess may escape her Olympian destiny. But Persephone finds more than freedom in the underworld. She finds love, and herself.
Heart of Thorns
Bree Barton - 2018
The same women who killed her mother without a single scratch.But when Mia's father announces an alliance with the royal family, she is forced to trade in her knives and trousers for a sumptuous silk gown. Determined to forge her own path forward, Mia plots a daring escape, but could never predict the greatest betrayal of all: her own body. Mia possesses the very magic she has sworn to destroy.Now, as she untangles the secrets of her past, Mia must learn to trust her heart…even if it kills her.Fans of Leigh Bardugo and Laini Taylor won’t want to miss this gorgeously written, bold novel, the first in the Heart of Thorns trilogy.
The Motion of Puppets
Keith Donohue - 2016
She is spending her summer working as an acrobat with the cirque while her husband, Theo, is translating a biography of the pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Late one night, Kay fears someone is following her home. Surprised to see that the lights of the toy shop are on and the door is open, she takes shelter inside.The next morning Theo wakes up to discover his wife is missing. Under police suspicion and frantic at her disappearance, he obsessively searches the streets of the Old City. Meanwhile, Kay has been transformed into a puppet, and is now a prisoner of the back room of the Quatre Mains, trapped with an odd assemblage of puppets from all over the world who can only come alive between the hours of midnight and dawn. The only way she can return to the human world is if Theo can find her and recognize her in her new form. So begins a dual odyssey: of a husband determined to find his wife, and of a woman trapped in a magical world where her life is not her own.