Book picks similar to
Ancient Magic by Bob Blink


fantasy
abandoned
gave-up
not-started

Storm Without End


R.J. Blain - 2013
    Few know the truth about the one-armed Rift King, and he prefers it that way. When people get too close to him, they either betray him or die. The Rift he rules cares nothing for the weak. More often than not, even the strong fail to survive.When he’s abducted, his disappearance threatens to destroy his home, his people, and start a hopeless and bloody war. There are many who desire his death, and few who hope for his survival. With peace in the Six Kingdoms quickly crumbling, it falls on him to try to stop the conflict swiftly taking the entire continent by storm.But something even more terrifying than the machinations of men has returned to the lands: The skreed. They haven’t been seen for a thousand years, and even the true power of the Rift King might not be enough to save his people — and the world — from destruction.

Deadly Catch


E.Michael Helms - 2013
    . . .”   After twenty-four years in the U.S. Marines, recently retired Mac McClellan is happy to be a civilian again. He is enjoying a leisurely fishing vacation in the Florida panhandle when he hooks a badly decomposed body. Then, when a bag of rare marijuana is discovered stashed aboard his rental boat, he realizes someone is setting him up to take the fall for murder and drug smuggling. Mac’s plans for a more laid-back life must be put on hold while he works to clear his name as the number one suspect. Mac launches an investigation with the help of Kate Bell, a feisty saleslady at the local marina with whom he has struck up a promising relationship. Along the way he must butt heads and match wits with local law enforcement officials, shady politicians, and strong-armed thugs from the Eastern Seaboard to sniff out and bring the real smuggler and killer to justice.

The Breaking Light


Heather Hansen - 2017
    Arden—beautiful, street-smart, and cynical—is one of the citizens of the lowest Level, known as Undercity, of an off-world colony. A blackout band traps Arden in her district, but as sister to the leader of the most powerful gang in Undercity, she has access to Above.There she meets Dade, one of the few lucky enough to be born into the sun-kissed families who reside in the Towers soaring above the rest of the city. But life isn’t perfect in the sky. Dade, desperate to escape his upcoming arranged marriage, has a secret of his own, and he’s willing to risk everything for it.An unlikely romance develops between the two teens—but their love faces opposition from above and below. When her gang pressures Arden to help break the grip of the elite and end Dade’s interference with their drug trade, she is forced to make a deadly choice between love and family loyalty. But will the brewing class war destroy the world around them first?

Deamhan


Isaiyan Morrison - 2013
    Ramanga, Lamia, Metusba, and Lugat have been overshadowed by what humans know as the modern vampire. But what if vampires aren't the real threat?One woman's search for her mother who disappeared without a trace on the streets of Minneapolis takes her into the precarious world of Deamhan, psychic vampires who rule the underground nightlife in the city's most darkest corners.She gains the trust of the only other human familiar with the Deamhan lifestyle. With his help she finds not only can the Deamhan not be trusted but it s her own father, president of a ruthless organization of researchers, who has diabolically maintained that distrust.

The Eight Walls of Rogar


William Woodward - 2006
    The story unfolds in the weeks following Andaris’ seventeenth name day: Desperate to escape a life of meaningless drudgery behind the plow, he leaves the safety of his secluded valley town and ventures alone into the uncharted depths of an ancient forest, the heart of which is said to be twisted and black. Choosing to ignore the counsel of his more sensible nature, he is drawn ever onward, lured by the tantalizing splendor of distant mountains, the sheer peaks of which purportedly stand sentinel over a land long steeped in mystery. What ensues is more remarkable than anything even he could have envisioned. Andaris goes looking for adventure.... What he finds is a world in the midst of tidal change, an extraordinary place where he encounters all manner of extraordinary things—vast landscapes teeming with flora and fauna capable of firing the most malnourished of imaginations. To be sure, danger lurks around every bend, a heady amalgam of sword and sorcery which threaten to bring his young life to an abrupt end. Indeed, if not for a very fortuitous encounter, namely the crossing of paths with a band of travelers who turn out to be much more than meets the eye, it surely would have. Gaven, Ashel, and Trilla seem fated to become fast friends, the sort of companions he’d always wanted, but never thought he’d have. The Lost One and his army of shapelings are preparing to march against Rogar’s western border—the only thing standing between them and the green, fertile lands to the East. The balance of power is shifting. Despite the debt of blood owed them by their Sokerran neighbors, the Alderi Shune fear they will be made to stand alone. No one speaks of defeat, but it is on the tip of every tongue. For the first time since they were erected, more than a thousand years ago, the impossible is about to happen: The Eight Walls of Rogar are about to fall. The scales could tip in either direction, depending, oddly enough, on the choices of a rather bookish young man named Andaris Rocaren. You will forgive me, intrepid reader, if I now take the opportunity to formally invite you to join in the fun, to accompany young Andaris and his fellows into and out of the kingdoms of Nelvin, Mindere, Sokerra, and Rogar. Over hill, dell, and stream you shall go, hiking through rugged mountain ranges heavy with snow, into subterranean catacombs whose unplumbed fathoms are illumined by naught but the guttering flames of your makeshift torch, until you reach, at long last, and in just the nick of time, the battered gates of a once great civilization on the brink of war.

The Lost Prophecy Books 1-3


D.K. Holmberg - 2019
     The arrival of the mysterious Magi, along with their near invincible guardians, signals a change. For Jakob, apprentice historian, and son of a priest, it begins an opportunity. When his home is attacked, Jakob starts a journey that will take him far from home and everything he has ever known. Studying with a new swordmaster, he gains surprising skill, but also strange new abilities that make him fear the madness which has claimed so many has come to him. He must withstand it long enough to finish the dangerous task given to him, one that with his new abilities he may be the only person able to complete. With a strange darkness rising in the north, and attackers moving in from the south, powers long thought lost begin to return. Some begin to suspect the key to survival is the answer to a lost prophecy, yet only a few remain with the ability to find it.

Nobody's Child


Anne Baker - 1995
    Dorothy wants nothing to do with her daughter Lizzie, so the Benders arrange for the child to be brought up by the O'Malley's, a feckless family living on the estate. Lizzie is unaware of her parentage but her brother Joey is suspicious of the attention she receives from the Benders... Eventually he takes Lizzie to Merseyside to claim what is rightfully hers. But Joey's obsession to provide Lizzie with the riches she deserves leads to the destruction of their love, and Lizzie finds herself drawn to the family she has never known...

Blood's Pride


Evie Manieri - 2012
    They forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery and forged an alliance with their former trading partners, the desert-dwelling Nomas tribe, cutting off any hope of salvation.Now, two decades after the invasion, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an infamous mercenary, to aid their fledgling uprising—but with her own shadowy ties to the region, she is a frighteningly volatile ally. Has she really come to lead a revolution, or for a more sinister purpose all her own?Set in a fictional quasi-Medieval Mediterranean region with a strong cast of male and female characters, the series "presents a striking world with civilizations similar to those of the Vikings and the nomadic cultures of the Middle East, and with the Mediterranean sensibilities of the ancient Greeks. Her characters are passionate and memorable, lending a personal touch to a complex tale of clashing cultures and philosophies. Fans of Sharon Shinn, Elspeth Cooper, and Gail Z. Martin should enjoy Manieri's approach to culture and drama." (Library Journal, starred review)

World's Strongest Farmer


Tyr Havolt - 2019
    However, getting what he wants isn't so easy when everyone's job class is designated by the gods and they have plans for the would-be farmer. A pestilence that hasn't been seen for two hundred years has discovered a way to pierce the fog wall and the world is going to need a hero. Will Raverek take up the fabled Hero job class and leave everything he loves willingly or will the gods need to get creative? How is a farmer supposed to save the world? A litRPG adventure where job classes are everything. Level up your job class and evolve it into something stronger!

Red Sapphire


Ashley Mayers - 2015
    But, when she discovers a hidden box of letters in the attic of her family's San Francisco Victorian, she quickly realizes that perhaps, she rather would not know. As Supriya uncovers a dark family secret, a surprising supernatural identity, and a frightening cache of uncontrollable power destined for her, a diverse otherworldly ensemble must help her overcome incredible odds to master the burden of her new self-awareness while the fate of all humankind rests precariously in her hands. A captivating saga featuring interwoven stories across generations, cultures and continents, RED SAPPHIRE pays homage to its roots in the beloved Indian epic, The Ramayana, with an enchantingly vivid and unabashedly global tale. As key figures from the ancient Hindu pantheon join modern counterparts in present-day San Francisco and WWII India, RED SAPPHIRE brings together a delightfully complex counterpoint of thrilling arcs into an emotional narrative punctuated by mesmerizing imagery, philosophical dilemmas, and tender human stories. RED SAPPHIRE is the first book of the seven book series THE SITA CHRONICLES.

The Hidden


Jo Chumas - 2013
    As Aimee tries to unravel the web of lies and secrets surrounding her husband’s death, she unwittingly becomes a pawn in a revolutionary plot against Egypt’s king. With the discovery of a twenty-year-old diary, the mystery only deepens. As Aimee gets ever closer to the truth, she discovers startling parallels between her own life and that of the mother she never knew. Unfolding in the city’s brothels, hashish cafes, and jasmine-scented colonial mansions, The Hidden is a gritty, sensual tale of revolution, betrayal, and the lengths we will go to for love—and truth.

Erased


Jordan Marshall - 2011
    They programmed her to forget everything. She was supposed to be the perfect patsy, until something went wrong… When Sara wakes up on the roof of a Union Square department store with a sniper rifle in her arms and the body of a political activist in the street below, she can’t even remember how she got there. A mysterious stranger calls and instructs her to turn herself in. He warns that her life has been erased and she’ll never see her family again if she doesn’t cooperate. Sara is terrified, and in a desperate attempt to sort out her past and prove her innocence, she goes on the run. Sara quickly finds herself one of America’s most wanted criminals. The police and the FBI are convinced she’s a known terrorist. The black ops team that framed her is out to kill her before she can expose them. Her only hope lies in rookie FBI agent Brandy Jackson. Unfortunately, Brandy and her partner have every reason to believe Sara is the real killer and they’re being pressured from above to close the case as quickly as possible. As the evidence mounts, Sara even begins to question her own memories. What if she’s not the dedicated mother and hardworking attorney she thinks she is? What if she really is the killer?

It Won't Always Be This Great


Peter Mehlman - 2014
    For one Long Island podiatrist, it takes an impromptu act of vandalism just to make him aware of his own being. Walking home in the sub-zero wind chill of a Friday night, he stumbles on a bottle of horseradish and mindlessly hurls it through the window of a popular store selling over-sexed tween fashions. This one tiny, out-of-character impulse turns his life vivid and terrifying, triggering waves of fear, crooked cops, and suspicions of antisemitism, both accurate and paranoid.The story is told by this same podiatrist, an often hysterical, endearingly wide-eyed, and entirely nameless narrator, to what he regards as the perfect audience: a comatose college friend. Yet, our narrator s most unique quality lies simply in his glowing love for his wife Alyse, the girl of his dreams whom he met in college and still can t quite believe he attained. She is the mother of his two children, Esme and Charlie, who are just starting to come into their own minds and experiencing their first encounters with prejudice.Prior to the bottle throwing incident, our narrator had just enough going on to keep him interested in his own life. Now he s way too interested. Friends and neighbors push his new intrigue-filled existence into wildly unpredictable places, especially nineteen year old Audra Uziel, a long-time patient whose plantar warts have given way to brilliance, rebelliousness, sexiness, and a taste for happily married men.And oh: Audra also happens to be the daughter of Nat Uziel, self-proclaimed neighborhood patriarch business owner and owner of the store whose window the horseradish bottle smashed. Nat, always loudly on the lookout for antisemitism, doesn't know the true culprit but doesn't let that stop him from whipping his neighborhood into a frenzy, forcing our narrator into hiding in plain sight.Pushed to the edge by his own desires, despairs, and disappointments, our narrator is about to find out what it s like to become a criminal, and what his excruciatingly dull neighborhood looks like when it s been turned upside down.

Road Devils MC: The Complete Collection


J.S. Striker - 2019
     The Road Devils have a certain reputation. Human trafficking. Specifically trafficking in exotics. Faeries. Witches. Shifters. The special ones. But these Devils aren’t what you think. They’re fierce. Protective. Loyal. And the trafficking is just a front for their rescue operation. This collection of eight books will take you into the inner workings of these knights in black leathers. Join them as they face danger, defy death, and fall in love. Get your own Devil today! Box Set includes: Shackles & Redemption Vengeance & Freedom Wrath & Refuge Honor & Sins Mates & Mayhem Defender Secrets & Seduction Devils & Decisions Adult content.

War Wizard


D.B. King - 2021
    With their power, he can mark his followers and turn them into elite units for his fledgling army.