Book picks similar to
Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher
fantasy
spfbo7
self-published
grimdark
Peace and Turmoil
Elliot Brooks - 2019
The waning bloodshed from the War of Fire has ended, and the new generations have only the horrid tales of their forefathers to remind them of their countries' pasts. Poverty no longer prevails, the sights and palms of men have grown soft, yet four nations dictate more power than they know. Civil unrest stirs amongst the first, the heir to the throne of Mesidia and the Guardian to its Dagger questioned by a growing rebellion. To its south lies a country of scholars, the mighty nation of Xenith, liberators of the War of Fire and Guardians of the Amulet. Over the Dividing Wall lives the newly freed Sadie, a kingdom with an assassin for a prince and an insurgence at its heels. The fourth is the ancient realm of Eve, the Land Across the Sea, gifted and cursed with the Sight as it shows them what's to come. Only one knows the fate of the world, but all will be pawns in its reckoning.
A Cavern of Black Ice
J.V. Jones - 1999
Jones's Sword of Shadow seriesAs a newborn Ash March was abandoned--left for dead at the foot of a frozen mountain. Found and raised by the Penthero Iss, the mighty Surlord of Spire Vanis, she has always known she is different. Terrible dreams plague her and sometimes in the darkness she hears dread voices from another world. Iss watches her as she grows to womanhood, eager to discover what powers his ward might possess. As his interest quickens, he sends his living blade, Marafice Eye, to guard her night and day.Raif Sevrance, a young man of Clan Blackhail, also knows he is different, with uncanny abilities that distance him from the clan. But when he and his brother survive an ambush that plunges the entire Northern Territories into war, he yet seeks justice for his own . . . even if means he must forsake clan and kin.Ash and Raif must learn to master their powers and accept their joint fate if they are to defeat an ancient prophecy and prevent the release of the pure evil known as the End Lords.
The Hidden City
Michelle West - 2008
Nursing Jay back to health is an unusual act for a man who renounced his own family long ago, and the situation becomes stranger still when Jay begins to form a den of other rescued children in Rath's home. But worse perils lurk beneath the slums: the demons that once nearly destroyed the Essalieyan Empire are stirring again, and soon Rath and Jay will find themselves targets of these unstoppable beings.
For the Killing of Kings
Howard Andrew Jones - 2019
Unruly Naor clans might raid across the border, but the king himself would never lead his people to war so long as the blade remained in the hands of his enemies.But when squire Elenai's aging mentor uncovers evidence that the sword in their hall is a forgery, she's forced to flee Darassus for her life, her only ally the reckless, disillusioned Kyrkenall the archer. Framed for murder and treason, pursued by the greatest heroes of the realm, they race to recover the real sword, only to stumble into a conspiracy that leads all the way back to the Darassan queen and her secretive advisers. They must find a way to clear their names and set things right, all while dodging friends determined to kill them - and the Naor hordes, invading at last with a new and deadly weapon.Howard Andrew Jones' powerful world-building brings this epic fantasy to life in this first book of his new adventure-filled trilogy.
Shadow of the Lantern Bearer
Chris R. Underwood - 2020
It spreads like a plague and drives the infected mad with power.Death is the only cure.Seventeen-year-old Kole Felmen is destined for a life spent executing infected sorcerers and disposing of their tainted remains.But his first execution ends in disaster. Fearing he has been infected with the sorcerer's plague, Kole sees only one option: flee his village before his mind snaps and he destroys everyone he loves.His chance for escape lies with a band of treasure hunters traveling to a lost ruin from a plague-ravaged empire, where ancient dangers lurk and the shadows of the past still linger…Embark on a journey across a shattered empire in this coming-of-age fantasy brimming with ancient mysteries and deadly adventure. Shadow of the Lantern Bearer is perfect for fans of Robert Jordan, David Eddings, and Anthony Ryan.
Child of a Mad God
R.A. Salvatore - 2018
A. Salvatore, the legendary creator of Drizzt Do’Urden, comes the start of abrand new epic journey.When Aoleyn loses her parents, she is left to fend for herself among a tribe of vicious barbarians. Bound by rigid traditions, she dreams of escaping to the world beyond her mountain home.The only hope for achieving the kind of freedom she searches for is to learn how to wield the mysterious power used by the tribe’s coven known as the Song of Usgar. Thankfully, Aoleyn may be the strongest witch to have ever lived, but magic comes at price. Not only has her abilities caught the eye of the brutish warlord that leads the tribe, but the demon of the mountain hunts all who wield the Coven’s power, and Aoleyn’s talent has made her a beacon in the night.
Wheel of the Infinite
Martha Wells - 2000
And every hundred years, the Wheel and the world become one. But now a black storm ravages the beautiful mandala, and a woman with a shadowy past -- an exile, murderer, and traitor -- has been summoned back to put the world right. For if Maskelle and the swordsman Rian cannot stop the Wheel's accelerating disintegration -- then all that is what and will be...will end.
Kings of the Wyld
Nicholas Eames - 2017
Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk - or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.It's time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld.
Evil is a Matter of Perspective: An Anthology of Antagonists
Adrian CollinsJeff Salyards - 2017
Villains take centre stage in nineteen dark and magical stories that will have you cheering for all the wrong heroes as they perform savage deeds towards wicked ends. And why not? They are the champions of their own stories—evil is a matter of perspective.Authors:R. Scott Bakker (The Second Apocalypse)Adrian Tchaikovsky (Shadows of the Apt, The Tiger and the Wolf)Michael R. Fletcher (Manifest Delusions)Shawn Speakman (The Annwn Cycles)Teresa Frohock (Los Nefilim)Kaaron Warren (The Gate Theory, Mistification)Courtney Schafer (The Shattered Sigil)Marc Turner (Chronicles of the Exile)Jeff Salyards (Bloodsounder's Arc)Mazarkis Williams (The Tower & Knife)Deborah A. Wolf (The Dragon's Legacy)Brian Staveley (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne)Alex Marshall (Crimson Empire)Bradley P. Beaulieu (The Song of the Shattered Sands, The Lays of Anuskaya)Matthew Ward (Shadow of the Raven, Coldharbour)Mark Alder (Banners of Blood)Janny Wurts (The Wars of Light and Shadow, The Empire Trilogy)E.V. Morrigan (Glyph War world)Peter Orullian (The Vault of Heaven)Artists:Tommy Arnold (cover)Jason Deem (interior art)Shawn King (design)
Winds of Strife (Dawnless Night, #1)
Uri Gatt Gutman - 2020
I'm not done until I burn them and theirs in return.”Witch-hunts have plagued the kingdom of Olyanath for decades. Thousands were slain due to the king’s paranoia of women who practice Senspiritic magic.No more.Nye and his companions have seen enough of murder and misogyny.Fifteen years have passed since he joined the witch-hunters, and now, at long last, an opportunity to destroy them from the inside reveals itself. An opportunity to overthrow the king and end his reign of cruelty. But fifteen years of pretense have taken a toll. The strive for vengeance has steered Nye toward a path of violence and villainy. His hands are stained by the blood of countless innocents, his heart is scorched by grief, and his sanity hangs by a thread.Even if he can kill the king and see this revolution through, it may not suffice to purge the voices from his head.
A Crown for Cold Silver
Alex Marshall - 2015
One legendary general. A final quest for vengeance.Twenty years ago, feared general Cobalt Zosia led her five villainous captains and mercenary army into battle, wrestling monsters and toppling an empire. When there were no more titles to win and no more worlds to conquer, she retired and gave up her legend to history.Now the peace she carved for herself has been shattered by the unprovoked slaughter of her village. Seeking bloody vengeance, Zosia heads for battle once more, but to find justice she must confront grudge-bearing enemies, once-loyal allies, and an unknown army that marches under a familiar banner.
Stained Glass Monsters
Andrea K. Höst - 2011
Tyrland has a solution in the Kellian: faster and stronger than humans, they are Tyrland's clawed, shadowy monster hunters. But no matter how faithfully they serve, or how true their sworn word, they are too different, too separate, to ever be entirely trusted. Rennyn Claire is a complication. Secretive and obscenely powerful, she knows entirely too much about a massive new threat to Tyrland's safety. Worst of all, she is linked to a past that the Kellian would rather forget.All three of these things – monsters, Kellian, and an entirely overpowered mage – are about to land in Kendall Stockton's lap. The last thing Kendall wants is to try to play conscience to someone who can swat her like a bug. But innocent lives are at stake, and no-one else seems willing to ask if what is necessary is the right thing to do.And who, exactly, is the monster?
Seven Forges
James A. Moore - 2013
And it would appear that they were expecting him. As he returns home, bringing an entourage of strangers with him, he starts to wonder whether his discovery has been such a good thing. For the gods of this lost race are the gods of war, and their memories of that far-off cataclysm have not faded.The people of Fellein have lived with legends for many centuries. To their far north, the Blasted Lands, a legacy of an ancient time of cataclysm, are vast, desolate and impassable, but that doesn't stop the occasional expedition into their fringes in search of any trace of the ancients who had once lived there... and oft-rumored riches.
Velocity Weapon
Megan E. O'Keefe - 2019
A high-flying sergeant, Sanda has the skills to take down any enemy combatant. Biran is a savvy politician who aims to use his new political position to prevent conflict from escalating to total destruction.However, on a routine maneuver, Sanda loses consciousness when her gunship is blown out of the sky. Instead of finding herself in friendly hands, she awakens 230 years later on a deserted enemy warship controlled by an AI who calls himself Bero. The war is lost. The star system is dead. Ada Prime and its rival Icarion have wiped each other from the universe.Now, separated by time and space, Sanda and Biran must fight to put things right.
The Godless
Ben Peek - 2014
Fifteen thousand years after the end of their war, their bodies can still be found across the world. They kneel in forests, lie beneath mountains, and rest at the bottom of the world's ocean. For thousands of years, men and women have awoken with strange powers that are derived from their bodies.The city Mireea is built against a huge stone wall that stretches across a vast mountain range, following the massive fallen body of the god, Ger. Ayae, a young cartographer’s apprentice, is attacked and discovers she cannot be harmed by fire. Her new power makes her a target for an army that is marching on Mireea. With the help of Zaifyr, a strange man adorned with charms, she is taught the awful history of ‘cursed’ men and women, coming to grips with her new powers and the enemies they make. Meanwhile, the saboteur Bueralan infiltrates the army that is approaching her home to learn its terrible secret.Split between the three points of view, The Godless' narrative reaches its conclusion during an epic siege, where Ayae, Zaifyr and Bueralan are forced not just into conflict with those invading, but with those inside the city who wish to do them harm.The first installment of an exciting new epic fantasy series, The Godless is a fast-paced page turner set in an enthralling new world, perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie and Brent Weeks.