Book picks similar to
The Serpent's Orb by Guy Antibes


fantasy
young-adult
fantasy-high-fantasy
ya

Nightblade


Ryan Kirk - 2015
    Found by a wandering warrior, he learns he may have more strength than he ever imagined possible. A quiet child, Moriko is forced into a monastic system she despises. Torn from her family and the forest she grew up in, she must fight to learn the skills she’ll need to survive her tutelage under the realm’s most dangerous assassin. Young, beautiful, and broke, Takako is sold to pay for her father’s debts. Thrust into a world she doesn’t understand and battles she didn’t ask for, she must decide where her loyalties lie. When their lives crash together in a Kingdom on the brink of war, the decisions they make will change both their lives and their Kingdom forever. If they can stay alive.

A Furious Muse


A.J. Nuest - 2014
    As the single heir to the half-blood gypsy king and his prophesied white queen, she is fiercely protected, shuttered inside an ivory castle and well-trained in the art of war. Yet neither her obligations as future queen nor the black infestation threatening her kingdom fail to hinder the mysterious pull of the antique armoire hidden in her parents’ bedchamber. And stealing the golden key for a leap through time is the only way to confront the dark lord haunting her dreams. One face. The image of one defiant, relentless woman has been stuck in Rhys McEleod’s head ever since he was old enough paint her luscious curves on the canvas. But the day she walks into his life off the street—sexier than hell and itching for a fight—he’s not convinced she’s the same women he’s envisioned since childhood. That is, not until he spots the golden key around her neck—an object he’d never fully shown in any of his paintings.Now if he could just persuade his lovely muse he’s not the enemy. Unless the elusive Faedrah Austiere learns to trust him, he’ll never have her in his bed—the one place he’s convinced she belongs.

Darkest Fear


Cate Tiernan - 2014
    But that doesn’t mean she’s accepted it. Being Haguari isn’t something she feels she’ll ever accept. How can she feel like anything but a freak knowing that it’s in her genes to turn into a jaguar?Now eighteen, Vivi’s ready to break away from the traditions of her heritage. But all of that changes with the shocking, devastating deaths of her parents and the mysteries left behind. Vivi discovers family she never even knew she had, and a life open with possibility. New friends, new loyalties, and even romance all lay ahead—but so do dangers unlike anything Vivi ever could have imagined.

The Young Magician


Michael Foster - 2008
    Entire continents have been decimated time and time again at the hands of the demon hordes, forcing civilisation to start over in every instance, all culture and art and history destroyed. Now, in the last days before the gates of hell fall open again, it seems as if all efforts to avert disaster have failed, but for one small sliver of hope. A boy is found whose potential is unequalled, a boy who could hold the secret to the demons' realm, a boy who could be the very salvation of man. But not even the Order's greatest champions could guess the true secrets hidden away deep inside of this boy, secrets that could ultimately destroy them all. Commended in the Austalian Literary Awards, The Young Magician begins a remarkable tale.

The Legacy


J.D. Franx - 2016
    There are no exceptions. Pulled by magic and blood sacrifice into a world he can't possibly begin to understand, Kael Symes soon finds himself the focus of a Talohna-wide manhunt. Desperate and trying to stay ahead of ArchWizard Giddeon Zirakus's execution squad, Kael soon discovers that Talohna's ArchWizard may be the least of his worries. An ancient witch coven is also on the hunt for Kael, and they'll stop at nothing to find their messiah first. Trapped far below the earth inside the long-lost Dwarven prison of Arkum Zul, Kael has few allies he can trust. After months of torture and suffering, he is quickly running out of time to recover what was stolen from him: The magic of the DeathWizard. It's his only hope for escape.

The Reach Between Worlds


Cameron M. Hayden - 2016
    For years he’s worked for a notorious crime lord named Victor Mathan. Mathan deals in stolen magical artifacts and trusts Taro to finish his work with as few questions as possible. When an absurdly well-paying job comes up, Taro is quick to volunteer. Mathan wants him to break a powerful sorceress out of jail, but her prison is under the control of an ancient military order called the Magisterium. To get to her, Taro must pose as a Magisterium recruit. The courses are grueling, the trials drive students mad, and the magic they teach can be as deadly to the caster as it is to the target.

The Griever's Mark


Katherine Buel - 2014
    Despite being one of the few remaining Drifters, able to manipulate the energy world, she cannot break free. She knows her fate: she will serve Belos until she dies, at which point he will harvest her energy to augment his own.She’s done some bad things in her master’s name. She’s not asking for forgiveness—she expects to be hated.What she doesn't expect is Logan, a man meant to be her sworn enemy, a man with secrets as dark as her own. When Logan recognizes that Astarti may be more than she seems, she begins to unravel Belos's lies: about the tattoo she bears on the back of her neck, about her history—and about her power.Previously released under Katherine Hurley.

Society of Wishes


Elise Kova - 2018
    That is, until the day she and her best friend are gunned down in a government raid.With her dying breath, Jo uses magical lore passed down from her grandmother to summon a wish-granter. Her wish? To save her friend’s life. Except wishes have costs, and for Jo, the price is the erasure of her entire mortal existence.Now, as the most recent addition to the mysterious Society of Wishes, Jo must form a new “life” alongside the seven other members, one of which being her savior himself. Living as an occupant of the Society’s lavish mansion should be quite the perk, but while it is furnished with everything its inhabitants could possibly need, it lacks one thing—freedom.Her otherworldly identity crisis takes a backseat, however, when Jo learns that the friend she sacrificed everything for is headed down the same path to ruin. Jumping in head-first, Jo uses her newfound magical abilities to protect him, only to realize that the ripples of her actions have far-reaching consequences. When the Society’s aloof leader Snow decides to give her a taste of his own ancient magic, Jo discovers that there are threads woven into the tapestry of her new reality that reach far beyond the wishes she is now required to grant. Ones that, if tugged on, could mean the unraveling of the world itself.

Imber


Tyffany Hackett - 2018
    But when rumors begin to swirl throughout her kingdom the young queen shifts her focus and realizes that the world she loves could be destroyed in an instant.An ancient enemy, long thought gone, is trying to return.Forgotten legends have resurfaced, stories that tell of three scepters: the keys to unleashing these foul beings. Across Araenna the hunt rages for this trio of formidable power—to command the keys is to hold the power of mortal gods.Aided by her snarky elven bodyguard, an unassuming blacksmith, and a clever nature witch, Natylia races to correct the mistakes of the past… before they can destroy her people’s future.

Dreamstrider


Lindsay Smith - 2015
    She can inhabit a subject's body while they are sleeping and, for a short time, move around in their skin. She uses her talent to work as a spy for the Barstadt Empire. But her partner, Brandt, has lately become distant, and when Marez comes to join their team from a neighborhing kingdom, he offers Livia the option of a life she had never dared to imagine. Livia knows of no other dreamstriders who have survived the pull of Nightmare. So only she understands the stakes when a plot against the Empire emerges that threatens to consume both the dreaming world and the waking one with misery and rage.A richly conceived world full of political intrigue and fantastical dream sequences, at its heart Dreamstrider is about a girl who is struggling to live up to the potential before her.

Winter's Breath


Carrie Summers - 2020
     From bestselling LitRPG author Carrie Summers comes a new saga about survival on a wind-swept coast. Jace, a backcountry ranger assigned to patrol the wilderness of North America, was hiking when abruptly he was somewhere...else. Wind battered his thinly-clothed body, and the salt air from crashing waves immediately soaked him to the skin. Nothing looked familiar. And then the strange game messages started appearing in his vision. With no explanation for how he arrived here, Jace must nonetheless learn to survive in a merciless environment, crafting everything with his own hands. He must learn the art of combat and how to control the powerful abilities that surface in his body. Northblood, they'll call him. A blessing and a curse. On the bright side, he's totally buff. And there's this hot redheaded game tester who was pulled from her old life and shoved into his. Things could definitely be worse. Tales of a Northblood: Winter's Breath starts a brand new adventure.

Dark Mirror


M.J. Putney - 2011
    Then she makes a terrifying discovery that will ruin her life and disgrace her family forever. Tory's blood is tainted... by magic.When a shocking accident forces Tory to reveal her despised skill, she is immediately exiled to Lackland Abbey, a reform school for young men and women in her position. Tory's greatest wish is to be cured so she can return home and perhaps recover some of her shattered life.Instead, curiosity and the lure of magic lead Tory to rebel students who have pledged their talents to protect England. As she joins them in their secret studies, she discovers her full powers - and is drawn to the handsome, enigmatic young Marquis of Allarde. But Allarde'a reserve and haunting secret keep him away, though she can see equal longing in his eyes.Then Tory's pledge sweeps her and her friends into a perilous world of danger, challenge, and a triumph that saves Britain from conquest. Can danger also bring Tory and Allarde together, despite all that stands between them?

The Dragon's Price


Bethany Wiggins - 2017
    When two warring kingdoms unified against a deadly menace laying waste to both their lands, they had to make a choice: vow to marry their heirs to one another, or forfeit their lives to the dragon. Centuries later, everyone expects the sheltered princess Sorrowlynn to choose the barbarian prince over the fire-breathing beast—everyone, that is, except Sorrow, who is determined to control her own destiny or die trying. As she is lowered into the dragon’s chamber, she assumes her life is over until Golmarr, the young prince she just spurned, follows her with the hopes of being her hero and slaying the dragon. But the dragon has a different plan. . . . If the dragon wins, it will be freed from the spell that has bound it to the cave for centuries. If Sorrow or Golmarr vanquish the dragon, the victor will gain its treasure and escape the cave beneath the mountain. But what exactly is the dragon hiding? There are no safe havens for Sorrow or Golmarr—not even with each other—and the stakes couldn’t be higher as they risk everything to protect their kingdom.

Dark Light of Day


Jill Archer - 2012
    The demons won. And yet somehow...the world has continued. Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves, and the world from slipping back into chaos.Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, the daughter of a prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer's warlords. Noon has a secret: She was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of, and some would consider her an abomination.Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer's, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there...or to attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine--who suspects Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own--Noon realizes there may be more at stake than just her life.

Frost Arch


Kate Bloomfield - 2012
    Barely eighteen years of age, she wields the gift of fire yet she is unable to control it. She leaves her family in the dead of night and heads to the city of Frost Arch, her future seemingly grim.Will Avalon be able to overcome the trials that befall her? Will she be able to save the ones she loves and stay strong within herself?Time will tell.