Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

WOVEN FROM CLAY de Jenny Birch

In this fresh and imaginative contemporary fantasy, a golem must master the magic that binds her together and finds an unexpected ally in the mysterious boy sent to ensure her demise.

WOVEN FROM CLAY
by Jenny Birch
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s, August 2025

Terra Slater might not know anything about her birth family or where she comes from, but that’s never stopped her, and she fully intends her senior year to be her best yet. Until the dark and mysterious Thorne Wilder—a magical bounty hunter—moves to town, bringing revelations that wreck all of her plans.

When Terra learns she is a golem, not born but crafted from mud and magic by a warlock, her world is upended. Worse, Cyrus Quill, the warlock who made her, is a fugitive, on the run from the witches who want to hold him accountable for his past crimes. But Quill’s sentence is death, which would unravel the threads of magic that hold Terra—and all of the other golems that he crafted—together.

Desperate to save herself and her friends, Terra strikes a deal with Thorne and his coven to preserve the warlock’s life and his magic. If she can prove her worth to the coven by mastering the magic within her, the golems will survive. If she can’t, they’ll perish along with Cyrus. As Thorne helps her to see and manipulate the tapestry of magic that surrounds them, their unexpected alliance evolves into something more and Terra comes to understand the depths of her magic, her humanity, and her love for the people most important to her.

Jenny Birch is a middle school teacher of English, French, and history, and serves as a youth theater director for students in grades 7-12. She lives in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA with her husband, two sons, and foster baby. Jenny holds a BA in French and an MEd in Instruction & Learning and as an adoptee herself, she is a passionate advocate for children, particularly those in the foster care and adoption communities. When she’s not in her classroom or on stage with her students, you can find her either dancing in the kitchen with her family or flexing her overactive imagination. You can find Jenny on Twitter @TheRealMrsBirch.

MARKLESS de C.G. Malburi

“With an interesting magic system and a fresh take on soulmates, this enemies-to-lovers romantasy will enthrall readers.” —Booklist

MARKLESS
by C.G. Malburi
Levine Querido, June 2024
(via Context Literary)

Ruti is Markless. In a society where worth is determined by the mark on your palm and the magic it grants you, this also deems her worthless. Except she’s also a hardened survivor, a protector of the Markless…and the most powerful witch in Somanchi. With a single song, she can pray to the many gods for unimaginable powers.

Dekala’s Mark is strong, a Mark fit for the future queen of Somanchi, but it’s also unstable. She knows the only solution is to be bonded, but she also knows that this would mean relinquishing control over her throne and kingdom. So when she is witness to Ruti’s power, Dekala offers the witch a deal: She can be prosecuted for her crimes…or she can help Dekala ascend to the throne, unbonded.

Dekala is cold and brutal and cares only about getting her way. She is also determined, intelligent, and compassionate. Ruti is torn between wanting her to fail or to emerge victorious. But as the gods are defied, new alliances are forged, and unexpected feelings are unearthed, Ruti realizes the fate of the kingdom––and the survival of the Markless––lies in her unmarked hands.

“Fast-paced and thrilling, this magical fantasy brings the enemies-to-lovers trope to new heights while poignantly examining themes of poverty, discrimination, and sexuality.” —Kirkus

“Malburi crafts an ambitious adventure teeming with surprises and romance” —Publishers Weekly

When C.G. Malburi read her first sapphic love story, she felt recognized in a way that she never had before. Now, she’s determined to fill bookshelves with more sapphic books for teens so they can experience the same. She lives on the East Coast and loves fandom, tropes, and stories in which characters flout destiny to choose each other.

SAVAGE BLOOMS de S.T. Gibson

Wuthering Heights meets a grown-up The Cruel Prince by way of Sierra Simone, in the first of a dark new romantasy series by bestselling author S.T. Gibson.

SAVAGE BLOOMS
by S.T. Gibson
Orbit, October 2025
(via KT Literary)

Adam has been in love with his best friend Nicola since college, but the closest he can come to admitting his feelings is inviting her to travel with him to Scotland in search of a legendary cave from his grandfather’s bedtime stories.

When a storm washes out the road, Adam and Nicola find themselves at the mercy of Eileen, an eccentric aristocrat, and Finley, her brooding groundskeeper. The Americans quickly get more than they bargained for as they become entangled in Eileen and Finley’s world of mind games, kink, and ancient enchantment.

S.T. Gibson is the British Fantasy Award-nominated and Goodreads Choice -nominated author of the USA Today bestseller Evocation and Sunday Times bestseller A Dowry Of Blood and She holds a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing from UNC and Masters of Theological Studies from Princeton Seminary.

DEATH’S SUCCESSOR de Brad Abdul

Following hard on the footsteps of Gaiman and Pratchett’s Good Omens Brad Abdul rushes headlong into a madcap, satirical masterpiece of supernatural misfortune.

DEATH’S SUCCESSOR
by Brad Abdul
Flame Tree Press, November 2024
(via KT Literary)

Brian is tapped by Gabrielle, the Archangel of Death, to find a worthy successor before she succumbs to a mortal wound suffered during the invasion of Hell. Brian is forced to juggle this new task in addition to operating as CEO of S.I.N Industries, as well as taking over managing the daily operations in Hell. Dahlia struggles with her new life as a purified human, finding herself adrift, mourning the loss of her twin brother and lacking purpose. That is, until Allanah recruits her to come work for Heaven and develop a strategy to consolidate the afterlife.

Brad Abdul is a Canadian author of fiction. He enjoys the geekier side of life, and can be frequently found playing Magic: The Gathering or reading the latest chapter of One Piece. He is happily married and a father of two boys. He will, one day, successfully perform a Kamehameha.

THE MOUNTAIN CROWN de Karin Lowachee

An epic dragon-rider quest where Empress of Salt and Fortune meets Temeraire.

THE MOUNTAIN CROWN
(The Crowns of Ishia, Book 1)
by Karin Lowachee
Rebellion Publishing UK, October 2024
(via DeFiore and Company)

Méka must capture a king dragon, or die trying.

War between the island states of Kattaka and Mazemoor has left no one unscathed. Méka’s nomadic people, the Ba’Suon, were driven from their homeland by the Kattakans. Those who remained were forced to live under the Kattakan yoke, to serve their greed for gold alongside the dragons with whom the Ba’Suon share an empathic connection.

A decade later and under a fragile truce, Méka returns home from her exile for an ancient, necessary rite: gathering a king dragon of the Crown Mountains to maintain balance in the wild country. But Méka’s act of compassion toward an imprisoned dragon and Lilley, a Kattakan veteran of the war, soon draws the ire of the imperialistic authorities. They order the unwelcome addition of an enigmatic Ba’Suon traitor named Raka to accompany Méka and Lilley to the mountains.

The journey is filled with dangers both within and without. As conflict threatens to reignite, the survival of the Ba’Suon people, their dragons, and the land itself will depend on the decisions – defiant or compliant – that Méka and her companions choose to make. But not even Méka, kin to the great dragons of the North, can anticipate the depth of the consequences to her world.

THE MOUNTAIN CROWN is the first entry into an unmissable fantasy trilogy about resistance, loyalty, and resilience in the fact of colonial domination.

Karin Lowachee was born in South America, grew up in Canada, and worked in the Arctic. She has been a creative writing instructor, adult education teacher, and volunteer in a maximum security prison. Her novels have been translated into French, Hebrew, and Japanese, and her short stories have been published in numerous anthologies, best-of collections, and magazines. When she isn’t writing, she serves at the whim of a black cat.