Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

THE MOSSHEART’S PROMISE de Rebecca Mix

From New York Times bestselling YA author Rebecca Mix comes a breathtaking middle grade fantasy duology about a young fairy who has always lived in her heroic grandmother’s shadow but now must step up and embark on a quest to save her mother from the ever-creeping mold overtaking their world. Perfect for readers who loved Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, and Endling: The Last by Katherine Applegate.

THE MOSSHEART’S PROMISE
by Rebecca Mix
Balzer + Bray, 2023 – 2024
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

THE MOSSHEART’S PROMISE (Book 1, September 2023)

The mold takes all.

Twelve-year-old fairy Canary Mossheart knows this better than most. A few years ago, the mold took her papa, and even her famous, former-chosen-one Gran never found a cure. So when Ary’s beloved mama falls ill, Ary decides it’s taken enough. Armed with only a bucket and a prayer, she sneaks out to find a magical, underground lake whose healing waters are straight out of Gran’s adventures.

But when Ary gets there, the lake’s bone dry, and instead of healing waters, she finds a terrifying secret: Her entire world is actually trapped inside a giant terrarium—one they were meant to leave centuries ago. Worse, Gran knew and hid the truth, dooming Ary and her generation to a dying, rotting world.

Now, allied with only her doomsday-obsessed frenemy, a timid pill bug, and a particularly grumpy newt, Ary has one week to unravel the clues and find a way out of the terrarium—or they’ll be trapped for good.

THE GHOSTWING’S LIE (Book 2, October 2024)

Rebecca Mix is the New York Times bestselling author of stories about weird magic & hope. Her debut novel, The Ones We Burn, was an instant New York Times & Indiebound bestseller. Her other books include Neopets: The Omelette Faerie, the first of two official graphics novel developed in partnership with the game, slated for summer 2024.

THE CHRONICLES OF VIKTOR VALENTINE de Z Brewer

A perfectly average boy uncovers a supernatural secret about his family that could put his whole town in grave danger—if it doesn’t make him die of embarrassment first—in this mysterious and funny middle grade debut from New York Times bestselling author Z Brewer.

THE CHRONICLES OF VIKTOR VALENTINE
by Z Brewer
HarperCollins Children’s, September 2024
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Viktor Valentine can’t think of a better way to end his summer vacation than playing All the Vampires Everywhere, his favorite video game, with his best friend, Damon. Yet his parents, who make cringey jokes and call him dorky nicknames, seem set on ruining his plans. Viktor knows he can’t really compete with Damon’s “cool” friends—so their epic video game playing is the best Viktor can do to come close to being cool in Damon’s eyes.

But then Viktor slowly starts to realize that his parents may be hiding something from him. They’re acting very suspicious; they sneak out after midnight and return with bloody mouths. But he’s probably just played too many video games. After all, vampires aren’t real . . . right?

Seventh grade is tough enough without having to figure out if your family has fangs. And to make matters worse, the new girl that moved in across the street seems particularly interested in things that go bump in the night. Can Viktor protect his family, or will his sleuthing come back to bite him?

Z Brewer is the author (writing under the name Heather Brewer) of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling series The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, about a half-boy, half-vampire, and its spin-off series, The Slayer Chronicles, as well as the YA fantasy, Soulbound. Z’s other novels include Cemetery Boys, The Blood Between Us, Madness, and Into The Real. Z’s newest book is THE CHRONICLES OF VIKTOR VALENTINE, a middle grade novel set in the same world as the Vladimir Tod series, but which will appeal to a whole new generation of readers. Z is also a tireless anti-bullying advocate and lecturer.

THE DRAGON’S APPRENTICE de James Riley

In this hilarious fantasy adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Story Thieves series, a 12 year old girl strikes a deal with the ancient, cranky dragon she accidentally summoned to teach her the magic she needs to save her mother from the tyrant terrorizing their town.

THE DRAGON’S APPRENTICE
by James Riley
Random House BFYR, April 2025
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Ciara lives in the village of Skael under the thumb of the Warden (ugh), who enforces the rule of the Emperor (double ugh). When she accidentally gets her mom arrested for possessing a banned book by the (allegedly) disgraced apprentice of the Dragon Mage, Ciara uses the maybe-dangerous, definitely-forbidden book to summon a very cranky dragon.

Scorch the dragon had no idea he’s been asleep for a thousand years. All he wants is to discover what happened to the Dragon Mage, who tasked him with teaching magic to all humans, and why this tiny annoying child summoned him. Although they make an unlikely pair, Scorch agrees to teach Ciara magic, just as he once taught his apprentice Bianca. Together, they just may be able to rescue Ciara’s mom and unravel the lies of the Empire…if they can stop bickering for long enough to make a plan, that is…

James Riley is the New York Times bestselling author of the Half Upon a Time series, The Story Thieves series, and The Revenge Of Magic series for middle grade readers. In his most recent series, Once Upon Another Time, which is set in the world of the popular Half Upon A Time series, storybook characters collide in a trilogy of twisted fairy tales. His newest novel for young readers is THE DRAGON’S APPRENTICE.

THE ANCIENT’S GAME de Loni Crittenden

Alchemy and ancient spirits come to life in this debut fantasy inspired by African Diasporic folklore and the 1920s World Fair, wherein sixteen-year-old Kellan DuCuivre, an orphan from a reviled class, must compete for a coveted apprenticeship among the nation’s elite in order to save her adopted father from a twisted fate.

THE ANCIENT’S GAME
by Loni Crittenden
HarperTeen, October 2024

In THE ANCIENT’S GAME, readers will find themselves on the edge of their seats as Kellan competes in The Gauntlet, a thrilling test of wits and skill wherein eight apprentices studying in the alchemic art of makecraft must compete for a coveted spot among its Guild of Engineers—only for the tests to take a series of deadly turns.

The love stories centered in THE ANCIENT’S GAME touch upon a range of relationships, from familial love in Kellan’s quest to save her adopted father, the love between friends and found families, and the tender, friendship to romantic relationship that’s cultivated when Kellan encounters Axel Bonne, the illegitimate son of the vicious head of the House Bonne, a family of makers renowned for their runework inventions.

With its 1920s World’s Fair inspired setting and thrilling, death-defying gauntlet competition, THE ANCIENT’S GAME is the perfect read for fans of These Violent Delights, Iron Widow, and Dread Nation.

Loni Crittenden is a writer from Buffalo, New York. She has a BA in creative writing from SUNY Oswego and an MFA in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill University. When she’s not glued to her laptop, you can find her nursing various cat-inflicted wounds, planning on painting again someday maybe, and hunting for unusually flavored teas.

SONG OF THE LAST KINGDOM SERIES d’Amélie Wen Zhao

In a fallen kingdom, one girl carries the key to its forgotten past – and the demons that sleep at its heart…

SONG OF THE LAST KINGDOM Series
by Amélie Wen Zhao
Delacorte, 2023 – 2024
(via Park & Fine Literary and Media)

SONG OF SILVER, FLAME LIKE NIGHT (Book 1 – January 2023)

Once, Lan had a different name. Now she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and her days scavenging for what she can find of the past. Anything to understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother in her last act before she died.

The mark is mysterious—an untranslatable Hin character—and no one but Lan can see it. Until the night a boy appears at her teahouse and saves her life.

Zen is a practitioner—one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom. Their magic was rumored to have been drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Now it must be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.

When Zen comes across Lan, he recognizes what she is: a practitioner with a powerful ability hidden in the mark on her arm. He’s never seen anything like it—but he knows that if there are answers, they lie deep in the pine forests and misty mountains of the Last Kingdom, with an order of practitioning masters planning to overthrow the Elantian regime.

Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within—secrets they must hide from others, and secrets that they themselves have yet to discover. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.

Now the battle for the Last Kingdom begins.

DARK STAR BURNING, ASH FALLS WHITE (Book 2 – January 2024)

The Demon Gods have risen. Skies’ End has fallen to the colonizers. And Lan and Zen have chosen sides.

But they will not fight together.

Though Lan inherited the power of the Silver Dragon, she understands the path she must take. She believes the Demon Gods to be the cause of war, conflict, and turmoil, and that the future of the Last Kingdom depends on their being eliminated forever. Worse, she knows that if the Elantians manage to bind one of the legendary beings, their army will be unstoppable. To save her kingdom and her people, Lan will need to find the only mythical weapon capable of destroying the Demon Gods: the Godslayer.

Zen is sure that the only way to free the Last Kingdom is to use the power of the Demon Gods. When he bound the Black Tortoise, he paid the ultimate price: to inherit its strength, he will forfeit his body, his mind, and his soul. Yet one Demon God is not enough against the might of the colonizers. In the ruins of the northern Mansorian lands slumbers a magical army of demonic practitioners capable of facing off against the Elantians—but Zen must find the Seal to awaken them to fight by his side.

At the center of both Lan’s and Zen’s journeys is one city: Shaklahira, a former stronghold of the Imperial Court that vanished without a trace when the Elantians invaded. Its location is a mystery, and both are sure that it holds the answers they need, but the past it hides might be more dangerous than anything they’ve faced yet.

The battle for the Last Kingdom rages on. But to win the war, Lan will have to decide: Can she face the boy she loves again? And when she does, can she kill him to free her people?

Amélie Wen Zhao（赵雯）was born in Paris and grew up in Beijing, where she spent her days reenacting tales of legendary heroes, ancient kingdoms, and lost magic at her grandmother’s courtyard house. She attended college in the United States and now resides in New York City, working in finance by day and being a fantasy author by night. Amélie is the NYT bestselling author of the SONG OF THE LAST KINGDOM duology and the Blood Heir trilogy.