Book picks similar to
Facing the Sun by Carol Beth Anderson
fantasy
fiction
magic
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The Traveller's Stone (The Haven Series, #1)
S.J. Howland - 2019
Howland has created a wondrous fantasy world, inhabited by the creatures of myth and fairytale. Any fan of J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis or Philip Pullman will immediately feel at home in this fantastical place." - LoveReading
Xander King does not believe in fairytales. He prefers rational explanations, keeping his head down and trying to avoid the inevitable comparisons with his genius mother. The last thing he expects is to have his life turned upside down by terrifying shadows and an encounter with a mysterious stone tablet, challenging his entire view of reality and catapulting him into the parallel world of Haven.Faced with extraordinary creatures, ancient secrets and a heritage he does not understand, Xander is drawn into the struggle to protect the border between his own reality and Haven, and prevent disaster overcoming them both. But, as darkness spreads, he must confront new questions. Where does he belong, and is anything in Haven really as it seems?
Discover the mesmerising world of Haven and the truths long-hidden in the ancient stories in this gripping fantasy adventure.
The Survivors (Life After War Book 1)
L.A. White - 2020
They’re running out of food and water; infighting is rampant, and they have too many enemies to reclaim their countries alone. They have to bring the rest of the descendants to their side. The easiest way to accomplish that has always been to threaten the kids.Adrian has a rare gift that lets him draw in other magic users and charm them. He is a master at digging into the soul to repair the damage. After the apocalypse, Adrian forms Safe Haven Refugee Camp and creates a dream that even his secrets can’t crush.Angela blazes a path across the broken country to find her son after the war, using her gifts. The witch attracts traumatic threats that threaten everyone and trigger evolutions to levels of power that haven’t existed in centuries.Samantha escapes captivity and makes her way to the only place left in America where she’ll be protected. By the time she learns Adrian’s secret, Safe Haven has become her home. The storm tracker will do anything to protect her new place in the post-apocalyptic world.Marc is a tall, dark, handsome Marine who only cares about honor and his broken heart. Finding out he made a baby brings the military loner to Safe Haven in hopes of a second chance with his past. Sparks fly when he discovers Adrian’s secret, causing a battle for the love of a woman and leadership of the powerful camp.Nature is a dangerous foe that tries to push humanity over the brink of extinction with eruptions, earthquakes, disease, animal attacks, and harsh weather. Mother Nature fears the descendants will serve their true purpose and save the world that she is trying to bury under the ashes. Nature wants the plague of humans gone, and she’ll go to any lengths to accomplish that goal.She’ll even challenge the Creator for it.Life After War is a dark fantasy series that chronicles the survival of humanity when a global nuclear war splits the remaining populations and pits them against each other in an epic battle for control of everything. Book One brings the survivors together and starts a chain reaction that will either save the world or finish destroying it.*Not suitable for those under 18.
A Throne for Sisters
Morgan Rice - 2017
Orphans, unwanted and unloved, they nonetheless dream of coming of age elsewhere, of finding a better life, even if that means living on the streets of the brutal city of Ashton. Sophia and Kate, also best friends, have each other’s backs—and yet they want different things from life. Sophia, a romantic, more elegant, dreams of entering court and finding a noble to fall in love with. Kate, a fighter, dreams of mastering the sword, of battling dragons, and becoming a warrior. They are both united, though, by their secret, paranormal power to read other’s minds, their only saving grace in a world that seems bent to destroy them. As they each embark on a quest and adventure their own ways, they struggle to survive. Faced with choices neither can imagine, their choices may propel them to the highest power—or plunge them to the lowest depths.
The Lord of Stariel
A.J. Lancaster - 2018
Long live the Lord of Stariel. Whoever that is. Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler. Or do they? Will it be the lord’s eldest son, who he despised? His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense? His scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion? Hetta knows it won’t be her, and she’s glad of it. Returning home for her father’s funeral, all Hetta has to do is survive the family drama and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive local men until the Choosing. Then she can leave. But whoever Stariel chooses will have bigger problems than eccentric relatives to deal with. Winged, beautifully deadly problems. For the first time in centuries, the fae are returning to the Mortal Realm, and only the Lord of Stariel can keep the estate safe. In theory. The Lord of Stariel is the first book in the Stariel quartet.
The Star-Touched Queen
Roshani Chokshi - 2016
Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen?Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most…including herself.Listening Length: 9 hours and 22 minutes
Shadowland
C.M. Gray - 2008
but where did he come from? Who was Merlin? What part did the Druids play in bringing Arthur to his round table? This is the story that came before, when Britain was just a Shadowland. On the night of Midwinter's Eve, a storyteller takes his listeners back to the Dark Ages and a tale from his youth. `I have lived more years than I can remember, probably more than the sum of all your years combined. Kings have called me friend and brigands have sworn to burn the flesh from my bones, even if they have to search all seven halls of the shadowland to find me.' Deserted by its Roman masters, Britain has been invaded by the Saxons at the invitation of Vortigern, traitorous leader of the Britons. Now, as the tribes unite to reclaim their land, one man must rise to lead them and become their only true king. Shadowland is a young adult story of historical fantasy set in the Dark Ages of Britain; however, it is gathering fans of all ages. .................. Magical and moving, I couldn't put it down - Jacqueline Rodriguez "Shadowland" is a tensely written story about the dark days before the rise of King Arthur. Flawlessly weaving history, legend and imagination - Vered E for Readers' Favorite. Gray has a real gem starting with his subject and carries it through with an excellent delivery - Tom Clementson, Kindle Book Review
The Paladin Prophecy
Mark Frost - 2012
At his parents' insistence, he's made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and is being followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he's capable of--physical and mental feats that should be impossible--and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia.Co-creator of the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, Mark Frost brings his unique vision to this sophisticated adventure, which combines mystery, heart-pounding action, and the supernatural.
There's No Such Thing As Monsters
Ren Ryder - 2019
A thriving metropolis at the forefront of technological advancement and a shining gem of civilization.Faeries. Whether they come off cute and cuddly or downright predatory, they all bring misfortune or are heralds of it.Experience is a harsh taskmistress, but her lessons sink the deepest. Having been taught the lesson at great cost, Kal's rules for dealing with faeries are simple: don't talk to them, don't look at them, don't give them the time of day.So when the Other Side comes knocking one fateful, stormy day, Kal, at first, pretends not to notice. Was forgetting this rule his folly?His way of life is in great danger. His little sister, Sammie, a natural mage, is taken by Ouroboros, a criminal organization made up of raving lunatics that profit off the misery and suffering of others, and have everything to do with all the crimes of magic in New London.Kal will go to any lengths to save his sister, even to his death. Accompanied by his sylph companion, a mischievous pest, Kal dives deep into the dark underbelly of the city, but are his hands enough to dig his sister out from the muck?
The Circle
Cindy Cipriano - 2013
No one until Laurel shows up at his mother’s bookstore wearing a dark clan’s mark.When Calum learns the details surrounding the disappearance of Laurel’s brother, he suspects the evil Hobayeth clan. Calum and Laurel work together in the Realm of Man and the Otherworld to rescue her brother – revealing a connection between Calum and Laurel that may cost Finley his life.
Dragon Feared
Kit Bladegrave - 2018
Not Everest. She wants answers. She wants to know more about Slade, her mother, her father, not to mention being a First Descendant.Why is being a teenager so complicated when you’re a witch that dragons fear?
The Island
S. Usher Evans - 2016
When his father urges him to join the military to help reclaim their colony, Galian is forced to put aside his oath to Do No Harm and fight a war he does not believe in.Across the great Madion Sea, Captain Theo Kallistrate dreams of a day when she is no longer bound by conscription to fight for her country's independence. But when the Kylaens threaten, honor and duty call her to the front lines to fight off the oppressors.When an air skirmish goes wrong, both Theo and Galian crash on a remote island hundreds of miles from either nation. Grievously injured, Theo must rely on Galian's medical expertise, and Galian must rely on Theo's survival skills, to live another day in a harsh and unforgiving terrain.Can they put aside their differences long enough to survive? Or will the war that brought them to the island tear them apart?The Island is the first in a new romance trilogy by S. Usher Evans, author of the Razia series and Empath.
The Alchemyst
Michael Scott - 2007
Nearly seven hundred years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life. The records show that he died in 1418. But his tomb is empty and Nicholas Flamel lives. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. And that's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it. Sometimes legends are true. And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.
A Conspiracy of Alchemists
Liesel Schwarz - 2013
It is 1903, and the world is divided between light and shadow. On the side of light is a wondrous science that has transformed everyday life by harnessing magical energies to ingenious new technologies. But each advance of science has come at the expense of shadow—the traditional realm of the supernatural. Now two ancient powers are preparing to strike back. Blood-sucking immortal Nightwalkers and their spellcasting Alchemist allies have a plan to cover the whole world in shadow. All they require is the sacrifice of a certain young woman whose past conceals a dangerous secret. But when they come after Elle, they get more than they bargained for. This enterprising young woman, the daughter of a scientific genius, has reserves of bravery and determination that even she scarcely suspects. Now she is about to meet her match in more ways than one: a handsome yet infuriating Warlock named Hugh Marsh, whose agenda is as suspect as his charms are annoyingly irresistible.
Curse of the Ice Dragon
Tara West - 2012
But despite his skill and strength, Markus is unable to confront his tyrannical father. Shamed by his cowardice, he distracts himself by needlessly shooting the forest creatures.When Markus takes no heed of the village prophet's warning that his actions will attract The Hunter's Curse-for every animal Markus kills, his loved ones will suffer the same fate-the Sky Goddess unleashes her ice dragon. Now, Markus must flee the dragon without killing it ... or his beloved brother will be the next to die.
Sword and Verse
Kathy MacMillan - 2016
Forced to serve in the palace of the King, she’s endured hunger, abuse, and the harrowing fear of discovery. Everyone knows that Raisa is Arnath, but not that she is a Learned One, a part of an Arnath group educated in higher order symbols. In Qilara, this language is so fiercely protected that only the King, the Prince, and Tutors are allowed to know it. So when the current Tutor-in-training is executed for sharing the guarded language with slaves and Raisa is chosen to replace her, Raisa knows that, although she may have a privileged position among slaves, any slipup could mean death.That would be challenging enough, but training alongside Prince Mati could be her real undoing. And when a romance blossoms between them, she’s suddenly filled with a dangerous hope for something she never before thought possible: more. Then she’s approached by the Resistance—an underground army of slaves—to help liberate the Arnath people. Joining the Resistance could mean freeing her people…but she’d also be aiding in the war against her beloved, an honorable man she knows wants to help the slaves.Working against the one she loves—and a palace full of deadly political renegades—has some heady consequences. As Raisa struggles with what’s right, she unwittingly uncovers a secret that the Qilarites have long since buried…one that, unlocked, could bring the current world order to its knees.And Raisa is the one holding the key.