Book picks similar to
Dark Ends: A Dark Fantasy Anthology by Luke Tarzian


fantasy
anthologies
genre-fantasy-high
self-published

Night's Gift


Carol E. Leever - 2017
    So nobody's surprised when he unwittingly makes a deal with an undead alchemist. Soon Omen and his friend Templar find themselves battling bloodthirsty giants, devious Night Dwellers, and arcane magic — all while trying to survive the notorious arena fights of the city of Hex.But when Omen accidentally frees a talking cat, disaster follows.In the shadows of the city of Hex an ancient evil awaits.Can our young heroes protect the cat and the people of Hex, or will they end up as an undead nightmare's main course?

Kings and Daemons


Marcus Lee - 2020
    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, Daleth’s soldiers kill an old farmer’s wife, and a young outcast is reluctantly enlisted into the Witch-King’s 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 … he’s 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 individuals’ 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 Maya’s gift

Art of War


Petros TriantafyllouStan Nicholls - 2018
    Phipps, Rob J. Hayes, Nicholas Eames, Mazarkis Williams, Ben Galley, Michael R. Fletcher, Graham Austin-King, Ed McDonald, Anna Stephens, Anna Smith Spark, RJ Barker, Michael R. Miller, Benedict Patrick, Sue Tingey, Dyrk Ashton, Steven Kelliher, Timandra Whitecastle, Laura M Hughes, J.P. Ashman, M.L. Spencer, Steven Poore, Brandon Draga, D. Thourson Palmer, D.M. Murray, Anne Nicholls, R.B. Watkinson, Charles F Bond, Ulff Lehmann, Thomas R. Gaskin, Zachary Barnes & Nathan Boyce.Foreword by Brian D. AndersonPrint version includes forty black & white interior art pieces.

The Dragon Quintet


Marvin Kaye - 2003
    . . into an adventure of dwarfs and dragonspawn.Michael Swanwick's "King Dragon" invokes a truly sinister and repellent creature--a being with the soul of a beast and the body of a machine--part metal, part devil . . . all merciless.

The Traitor God


Cameron Johnston - 2018
    Lynas had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened to devour the entire city. He tried to warn the Arcanum, the sorcerers who rule the city. He failed. Lynas was skinned alive and Walker felt every cut. Now nothing will stop him from finding the murderer. Magi, mortals, daemons, and even the gods - Walker will burn them all if he has to. After all, it wouldn't be the first time he's killed a god...

Royal Replicas: The Complete Series


Michael Pierce - 2019
    and one of you will replace her."Seventeen-year-old Victoria Sandalwood has served the Duke and Duchess all her life. Over the years, she’s learned to make do with what she has and endure her surrogate father’s awful punishments. She dreams of escape, but never expected it to come in the form of a message from the Queen of Westeria.Victoria learns that she’s the Queen’s daughter, the younger sister to Princess Amelia, and it’s time to come home and claim her birthright. When she arrives, she discovers she’s not the only one who received the royal message.Victoria must compete with six other girls to earn the affection of both the Queen and a princely suitor… and to replace the secretly deceased Princess Amelia. If she fails to win the crown, Victoria may just have to fight for her life…If you enjoy courtly intrigue, heart-pounding adventure, and sweet romance, then you’ll love this captivating story. Perfect for fans of Kiera Cass, Bella Forrest, and Veronica Roth. Thousands of copies sold and millions of pages read. Now, for a limited time, save 50% compared to purchasing the books individually with this very special bundle deal! Buy the complete Royal Replicas series to join the race to the throne today! (Adult content advisory: Scenes of physical abuse, which some readers may find offensive)

The Lost War


Justin Lee Anderson - 2019
    The country is on its knees.In a society that fears and shuns him, Aranok is the first magically-skilled draoidh to be named King’s Envoy.Now, charged with restoring an exiled foreign queen to her throne, he leads a group of strangers across the ravaged country. But at every step, a new mystery complicates their mission.As bodies drop around them, new threats emerge and lies are revealed, can Aranok bring his companions together and uncover the conspiracy that threatens the kingdom?Strap in for this twisted fantasy road trip from award-winning author Justin Lee Anderson.

Nimbus


B.J. Keeton - 2013
    NIMBUS is steampunk for people who don't know they like steampunk, as well as being steampunk for people who already love steampunk!--Seedy corporations and airship factions, demons and rogues, zealots and thieves…Nimbus is an epic tale of power, greed, and corruption.Jude Finley is a new recruit aboard the Gangly Dirigible, an airship that extracts water from rainclouds. While working aboard the ship, Jude and his friends uncover a secret which may or may not help them against a growing uprising that could spell doom for everyone on the planet. Meanwhile, Demetrius Rucca, the wheelchair-bound son of a prominent religious leader, begins recruiting followers for his own subversive cause. As allegiances are sworn to him and his followers grow, he begins to discover the new powers that lie within him. This power could be the salvation Demetrius is looking for–or it could be the destruction of the known world.

Blackwing


Ed McDonald - 2017
    When a raven tattoo rips itself from his arm to deliver a desperate message, Galharrow and a mysterious noblewoman must investigate a long dead sorcerer's legacy. But there is a conspiracy within the citadel: traitors, flesh-eaters and the ghosts of the wastelands seek to destroy them, but if they cannot solve the ancient wizard's paradox, the Deep Kings will walk the earth again, and all will be lost.The war with the Eastern Empire ended in stalemate some eighty years ago, thanks to Nall's 'Engine', a wizard-crafted weapon so powerful even the Deep Kings feared it. The strike of the Engine created the Misery - a wasteland full of ghosts and corrupted magic that now forms a No Mans Land along the frontier. But when Galharrow investigates a frontier fortress, he discovers complacency bordering on treason: then the walls are stormed, and the Engine fails to launch. Galharrow only escapes because of the preternatural magical power of the noblewoman he was supposed to be protecting. Together, they race to the capital to unmask the traitors and restore the republic's defences. Far across the Misery a vast army is on the move, as the Empire prepares to call the republic's bluff.

Melokai


Rosalyn Kelly - 2017
    Prosperous, peaceful, and happy, her people love her. Or so she thinks.Ramya’s time is up. Bracing herself for the gruesome sentence imposed on all Melokais who have served their purpose, she hears instead a shocking prophecy.Is the abrupt appearance of a mysterious, eastern cave creature the prophesied danger? Or is it something darker, more evil? And what of the wolves? Will the ferocious war with their kind oust her from power?Suddenly Ramya must fight threats from all sides to save her mountain realm. But while her back is turned, a conspiracy within her inner circle is festering. Ramya and her female warriors must crush an epic rebellion before it can destroy her and devastate her beloved nation.She thinks it’s the end, but it’s just the beginning...

The Big Waste


C.W. Ashley - 2019
     The 'Skirmishes' have left the land in absolute ruin. The last few remains of civilization are Citadels; corrupt, oppressive and dangerous for most who inhabit them. Outside, 'The Big Waste' is a stretch of an endless damaged landscape that has been scorched, poisoned and left to decay by the horrors of constant war. The constant threat of Citadel bounty hunters, mutated animals, ghoulish, formerly-human mercenaries, and all-powerful gangs looms over everyone. Happiness is unlikely, conflict is frequent and death is certain. When an accomplished demolition derby driver decides to take a seemingly simple delivery job outside the citadel for a little adventure, he learns very quickly why the first day in the Big Waste can often become your last. Disclaimer: This book contains brutal violence, unconventional morals in a post-apocalyptic world, detailed sex with harem elements, non-human females and a little bit of dark humor.

Heroes Road: Complete Edition (Heroes Road1)


Chuck Rogers - 2016
    Coel ap Math and Snorri Yaroslav are soldiers without a cause. When a mysterious sorcerer makes them an offer they can’t afford to refuse, they set out on an adventure that will take them around the known world, and one that will determine the world's fate.

The God King's Legacy


Richard Nell - 2019
    But nothing lasts forever.Once just an illiterate tribal chief, Marsun trapped an ancient evil within his mighty soul, united scattered tribes in peace and prosperity, then retreated from the world. But his sacrifice is all but forgotten. Technology marches on; new ambitious powers rise; unhappy lords plot rebellion; and from every corner of civilization, savage enemies gather. The God King’s legacy has just begun…From the author of Kings of Paradise comes two tales in a world of knights and demons, muskets and cannon fire. Flintlock fantasy mixed with the grit of Game of Thrones.1) Rebellion of the Black MilitiaJohann Planck, bastard and scribe of the god-king’s tower, is yanked from his peaceful life of academia, and ordered to capture an immortal creature of darkness. If the knight he’s accompanying doesn’t kill him, or the demon ‘Sazeal’, fresh rebellion just might.2) Devil of the 22ndA crumbling empire. An abandoned army. Kurt Val Clause is an ordinary soldier trying to keep it all together because no one else has the balls. Now he has one chance to win a glorious future, die in agony, or lose his soul. He just might do all three.

A Feast of Sorrows


Angela Slatter - 2016
    collection—features twelve of the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award-winning Australian author’s finest, darkest fairy tales, and adds two new novellas to her marvelous cauldron of fiction. Stories peopled by women and girls—fearless, frightened, brave, bold, frail, and fantastical—who take the paths less traveled by, accept (and offer) poisoned apples, and embrace transformation in all its forms. Reminiscent of Angela Carter at her best, Slatter’s work is both timeless and fresh: fascinating new reflections from the enchanted mirrors of fairy tales and folklore.

Star Eater


Kerstin Hall - 2021
    Though she’s able to stomach her gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Sisterhood of Aytrium’s magical bloodline horrifies her. She wants out, whatever the cost.So when a shadowy cabal approaches Elfreda with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Sisterhood, and enters a glittering world of opulent parties, subtle deceptions, and unexpected bloodshed.A phantasmagorical indictment of hereditary power, Star Eater takes readers deep into a perilous and uncanny world where even the most powerful women are forced to choose what sacrifices they will make, so that they might have any choice at all.