Book picks similar to
Initiate by Jon Auerbach


fantasy
urban-fantasy
litrpg
tbrind

The System Apocalypse Short Story Anthology, Volume 1


Tao Wong - 2019
    A Galactic dark elf. A woman who has given up her humanity to become something more. These stories and more are available in the first short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, covering year one on Earth. When the world ends, humanity steps up, finding new ways to survive in a world with Classes, magic and monsters. The anthology features exciting, new stories by five new writers and a new, never publicly released short story by Tao Wong. The System Apocalypse world was first introduced in 'Life in the North' and is a LitRPG science fiction and fantasy post-apocalyptic work that features monsters, science fiction technology, character sheets, supernatural races and ancient myths in one heady, LitRPG brew. Stories and writers featured in this anthology include: Craig Hamilton - "Hunting Monsters" has our protagonist doing what he does best. Finding those who would exploit the System and the people within. Except this time, there are even more complications than normal. Alexis Keane - "Tooth and Claw" is a heart-warming tale of friendship that knows no bounds of race or distance. Ix Phoen - "Rebel Within" tells a tale of hardship in South America, where the monsters are not always the ones outside the walls. Tao Wong – “Debts & Dances” covers the arrival of the System from the perspective of our favorite Truinnar Lord. R.K. Billiau – “Phoenix Rising” covers an unconventional hero, one whose mind is slipping from him before the apocalypse. Will the apocalypse be his salvation? Or doom? L.A. Batt - “Overture to Obliteration” brings us to far-off New Zealand to glimpse the wreckage the System has wrought.

Oliver's Wishes


Cory Gaffner - 2018
     Last week I had an IQ so low that I sometimes forgot how to get home, and could barely stumble through sentences. This week I am the owner of the most advanced space station in the known universe and I wield powers that can alter reality itself. If I have the energy that my power is dependent upon... You see I get more energy every day, it's a set amount. I can stockpile it or burn it all up on one giant "upgrade" as I like to call it. This power comes from one of the wishes I made, yes, on a magical genie's lamp. I know that sounds crazy. So what do a Viking woman from 800AD, a U.S. Army combat veteran, and a fat gaming nerd have in common? Well, they're my team, and if I can save up enough energy I can use my new power to give them superpowers of their own. That's the plan at least. The problem with my plan is that I have some shadow organization looking for me. They'll kill me, my family, my friends, and everyone I have ever loved to get the lamp. What do they want? As far as I can tell they want to rewrite our universe into some kind of communist paradise where freewill comes second to safety and the government. I have to find some way to keep the lamp from the organization going after it that involves more than just hiding up in my space station. I refuse to be a hermit coward. I also have an ingrained need to help people, and now I have the power to do that. I have more resources at my disposal than any law enforcement agency on earth, and a team of people willing to help me. I want to be a hero, but I have no idea what I'm doing. Did I mention I was a barely functioning idiot last week? Content Warning: This book contains foul language, mild gore, and fictional politics.

Pointy Hats and Witchy Cats


Addison Creek - 2018
    Her only consolation is that once the wedding was over, Bailey will be someone else’s problem. The wedding itself promises to be incredibly dull. On the actual day, though, something incredible happens. An old woman disrupts the ceremony. Then she tells Jade that she’s her long lost grandmother and asks Jade to go away with her to an unspecified destination. Now Jade has a choice to make. As it turns out, there really isn’t much time for choosing, and off Jade goes to the magical town of Twinkleford, where witches mix with vampires and chameleons are as common as they are . . . anywhere. But not everything is as it seems, and as Jade learns more about who she truly is, what that means, and who she has already lost, she realizes that keeping her newfound family might be far more difficult than she could possibly have imagined.

The Complete Chronicles of William Wilde


Davis Ashura - 2020
    Dead things stalk him, and he has no idea why. He thought he was simply another high school student, but it turns out he’s much more. And the powers percolating through the world know it. They’ve already killed his family, and if tested, they’ll murder him as well.It’s only the beginning of William’s troubles, especially when he’s drafted into a war stretching back thousands of years—one involving monsters, evil gods, and resurrected heroes.His magic might be the key to victory for both sides. William is the most powerful mage born in generations, and while some might aid him, can he trust their motives? There is Serena Paradiso who holds secrets about his heritage. And the warriors, Rukh and Jessira Shektan, whose faces shine with ancient knowledge. Who are they really?William doesn’t know. His only certainty is that if he doesn’t master his powers, he’ll only live long enough to see his world enslaved.This is the complete five-volume omnibus of The Chronicles of William Wilde, a series full of epic adventure and pulse-pounding excitement mixed with a dash of romance.

Hexed Detective


M.V. Stott - 2018
    But when she triggers a magical hex that renders her invisible and traps her in her hometown, escape seems impossible.Rita soon finds that Blackpool has some hidden secrets: magical artifacts, fashioned in Heaven, a fallen Angel, buried beneath the sea in a glass prison, and living nightmares in fine suits and animal masks that can turn your mind to soup.Thrust into a world she doesn’t understand, Rita finds herself trying to solve a case that by any sane measure is unsolvable.Worse still, the only person she can turn to for help is a self-confessed liar, cheat, and--according to him--the future king of Great Britain.

EverRealm


Jake Bible - 2017
    They have created the Domains and there they plan to reside forever. Except, the nightmares of reality have followed them into their new quantum dimension and those nightmares threaten to destroy it all! Now it is up to one of them to help navigate the quantum platform known as EverRealm, a fantasy MMORPG of epic proportions, in order to complete a quest he neither wants to complete nor knows how. With the help of his friends, and a lot of luck, he will have to face trials and tribulations like he's never faced as a player! Because now it is no longer a matter of Game Over, but of life or death! Can he survive it all and come out a winner? The only way he'll know is if he plays the game to the bitter end!

Dragontiarna: Knights


Jonathan Moeller - 2019
     But Ridmark's oldest enemy, the Warden of Urd Morlemoch, has not forgotten him. And the Warden knows a dangerous secret. For the dragons are returning...

Consular Times (The Primogenitor Saga Book 3)


Robert M. Kerns - 2021
    

Vampin' Ain't Easy


Kimbra Swain - 2019
    A shift in the balance of power. And one reject.Malik Demonbreun, the rejected heir of the Southern Vampire Realm, is thrown in the center of a deadly controversy, which may cost him his life. Again.Malik sleeps during daylight and drives a wrecker at night. When his father forces him to return home, he becomes the focus of a deadly bid for a change of leadership within the realms. With no idea who is friend or foe, Malik searches for a way back to his disavowed life. But each step he takes moves him closer to his father's throne. A throne that Malik has never wanted.He had no claim to riches in the reject life. But at least he wasn't living in a sick game of fifty ways to kill a vampire. He never thought he'd miss licking the blood from the seats of wrecked vehicles. One thing was for sure, rich or reject, Vampin' Ain't Easy.Start this gritty and humorous series, Legend of the Vampire Reject, with Vampin' Ain't Easy by Kimbra Swain, author of the Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen series. This is book one of four in the series plus a prequel which can be found in the Urban Magic Anthology.

Quick Study


Katherine Kim - 2019
    When she woke up that morning, Caroline's biggest concern was passing her AP English test and dodging the mean girls who seemed to delight in picking on her. The one day she decided that enough was enough and skipped class, the usually deserted local history museum was invaded by a group of mercenary thieves who kidnap the only witness. Now, Caroline's locked in a basement prison cell with a guy who looks like he got on the wrong side of a biker gang and says he's a government agent and claims that Caroline is actually the only human in the entire building. Elves and mages Caroline knew about, but Darien Webb says he's not an elf, either, but something potentially much more dangerous. He's badly injured and she's just a senior in high school, but they're each other's best hope for getting out in one piece.

Witch Myth: A Yew Hollow Christmas- Book 1


Alexandria Clarke - 2018
    With help of her two best friends and her cousin Morgan, Noelle discovers that an evil witch has plans to abduct all of the kids in town. Can she find her student in time to save him and the rest of Yew Hollow’s children?

Prism


Nina Walker - 2017
    As an alchemist, Jessa must capture and harness the color of living things. Every color has a unique purpose, except red. Red is the untapped magic no one can access—until Jessa.Prince Lucas is running out of time. His mother is deathly ill and healing magic hasn’t worked. When Lucas suspects someone is using alchemy to control her, he sets out to discover the truth, no matter the cost.PRISM is the first installment of a unique young adult romantic fantasy series where a dystopian world with a Victorian flair meets the dynamic magic of color!

Memory Seal: Volume 1


Insane Mooncake - 2018
    His desperation, his regret, his sorrow shaped his soul as he was murdered. But the world is just; As the world he knows fades before his eyes, he finds himself reincarnated in the body of a newborn baby. He now has a second chance at life, to avoid his previous life’s tragic ending. But is the world really so kind?

Press Start


Thomas Whipple - 2019
    When he found his old console from when he was a kid, he dusts it off and sets it up. He played his old games, but he had finished them all long ago. So, what does he do? He takes a trip to the local game shop to browse the used titles. Browsing the old cartridges, he finds one that he never heard of: Dark Ages: The Death of Magic. When a store attendant tells him that game is rumored to never have been beaten, he had to have it. Occupying all his free time he finally beats the unbeatable game. What happens next, he never would have guessed. He is introduced to the System. Something that has always existed but not everyone knew about. Join Dean as he is introduced to the seedy underbelly of a world where the myths of magic from the past read like history. Joined by his childhood friend, he must survive in a world of magic hidden from everyone. A world that has remained secret through the blood of those who have discovered it. And to top it all off, he discovers that his childhood friend—his best friend—isn’t even human.

Blood Marked


Shawn Knightley - 2018
    Enchantress. Wizard. Witch. Just pick one already! My kind have been called many names. Not that it matters. Most of us are dead. And those still alive don’t make a spectacle of themselves. We know better. I promised my mother long before she died that I would never get caught. I would never reveal myself or the rest of my family to the vampires who have hunted us for centuries. Well, that didn’t last long. But for god’s sake, it’s not my fault! When the daughter of one of Georgia’s Congressmen disappears in my small southern town, it’s obvious to me that the vampires are involved. In other words, sit down and shut up! But Officer Parker is incapable of minding his own business when he asks me to help with the case. Lucky for me, he knows my gig as the town’s local psychic is more than just mere entertainment and tarot card reading. Then I got an unexpected and very unwelcome visit from Nathaniel. A staggeringly handsome and equally terrifying vampire who wants to know what happened to the Congressman’s daughter even more than I do. And he’s more than willing to threaten me to get what he wants. Now I’m stuck between a blood-thirsty vampire and a nosy policeman. Someone is gonna end up dead. Probably me. Blood Marked is the first book in the Kruxa Echelon series, the first series in the Witchling Wars urban fantasy universe.