Wintercraft


Jenna Burtenshaw - 2010
    Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane - the High Council's most feared man - recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council's experiments into the veil, and he's convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace.The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft - a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft.

Runic Apprentice


D.L. Harrison - 2020
    He has everything he could want. A good master, a wonderful young lady he planned to court as soon as he had the coin to do so, and who cared for him as well.Everything changes in one moment, as he forges his first sword, places his maker’s mark for the first time, and discovers the truth that will turn all his life’s plans, hopes, and expectations into ashes.Olin is a rune mage, and it looked like his life was going to be turned upside down again, as he once more took up apprenticeship duties. He has very little choice in the matter, all mages served the royal family, compulsorily.That won’t be his last surprise either. Join Olin on his path of discovery, as he does his best to forge his own destiny under the yolk of expectations, customs, and traditions of mage society.Note: This is the first book of a trilogy. No major cliffhangers but expect a few unresolved plot threads. This story is told in the third person limited, from Olin’s point of view.

Rebirth of the Undead King: Book 1


Ink Bamboo - 2019
     Rebirth of The Undead King chronicles the journey of a young village boy who seeks vindication against the monarchy of his kingdom. With no other way to achieve his goals, he is fortunate to find the remains of a fallen god who is willing to lend a hand as long as he can return the favor. With the former lord of death as his teacher, Zaros will be forced to learn of the ways of the world. Once presented with the cruelty of society and the dark nature of humanity, will he choose to uphold his ideals or will he embrace the legacy of his benefactor? Follow this story in a world filled with gods, demons, and magic. Witness the birth of the new Overlord of Death. This debut novel from InkBamboo is a new addition to the ranks of a grimdark fantasy tradition forged by light novels like Dungeon Defense, Goblin Slayer, and The Saga of Tanya the Evil. Don't miss your chance to read it now.

Nevernight


Jay Kristoff - 2016
    Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

Tooth and Claw


Jo Walton - 2003
    A family deals with the death of their father. A son goes to court for his inheritance. Another son agonises over his father's deathbed confession. One daughter becomes involved in the abolition movement, while another sacrifices herself for her husband. And everyone in the tale is a dragon, red in tooth and claw. Here is a world of politics and train stations, of churchmen and family retainers, of courtship and country houses... in which, on the death of an elder, family members gather to eat the body of the deceased. In which the great and the good avail themselves of the privilege of killing and eating the weaker children, which they do with ceremony and relish, growing stronger thereby. You have never read a novel like Tooth and Claw.

A Darker Shade of Magic


V.E. SchwabV.E. Schwab - 2015
    It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

Strange the Dreamer


Laini Taylor - 2017
    Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?Welcome to Weep.

The Warded Man


Peter V. Brett - 2008
    For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night.

Snow, Glass, Apples


Neil Gaiman - 1995
    A retelling of the Snow White fairy tale from the point of view of the "wicked stepmother." This version was a chapbook compiled by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and sold at Comic Con 2008 and on the BPAL website with all proceeds going to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

For the Wolf


Hannah F. Whitten - 2021
    But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn't the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods.Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again.But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole. The author has provided a list of content warnings here.

Wizard's First Rule


Terry Goodkind - 1994
    . . and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence. In a dark age it takes courage to live, and more than mere courage to challenge those who hold dominion, Richard and Kahlan must take up that challenge or become the next victims. Beyond awaits a bewitching land where even the best of their hearts could betray them. Yet, Richard fears nothing so much as what secrets his sword might reveal about his own soul. Falling in love would destroy them—for reasons Richard can't imagine and Kahlan dare not say.In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword—to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed . . . or that their time has run out.This is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend.

Roar


Cora Carmack - 2017
    Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage. She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough. Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

Remnant


Aaron Pogue - 2012
    Gone the high culture of the Mountain Tribes, the learned writings of the Twin Empires. Among the remnant of survivors, barbarism reigns. Men hunt men, sacrifice the weak, and do whatever they must to survive in the face of the dragonswarm.Rinuld, a man once deeply devoted to a fallen Empire, stands amidst this chaos. Despite danger and deprivation, he's fashioned a semblance of safety. Now he faces a form of brutality unthinkable scant years before, and it forces a decision. Rinuld can hide from the monsters, or he can risk his life for the memory of civilization by saving a young girl."Remnant" is a short story set in the fantasy world of the bestselling novel Taming Fire. Beginning thousands of years before the events of the Dragonprince Trilogy, "Remnant" reveals what happened last time the dragons woke.Approximately 10,000 words.

Death's Queen


Janeal Falor - 2017
    Owned by a vicious man who refuses to call her anything but girl, she is forced to commit atrocious acts of violence. Vowing to take her future into her own hands, the seventeen-year-old decides to risk everything on one act of defiance—drinking from The Death Drink. The beverage kills most whose lips touch it—only allowing those who are destined to be royalty survive the first sip. To the astonishment of the nation of Valcora, she imbibes it and lives, which crowns her queen. Thrown into a life of royal intrigue, she now has a purpose—to rule with the fairness she was never shown. Despite her altruistic plans, it becomes apparent that someone wants her dead. The new queen must use her training from the former life she only wants to forget in order to stay alive long enough to turn her kingdom into something she can be proud of. She’ll hold onto the crown… or die trying.

The Anvil of Ice


Michael Scott Rohan - 1986
    The first volume in The Winter of the World fantasy trilogy, this novel of a young boy's rise to power is set in a world where an ice age threatens a brilliantly imagined world similar to our own.