Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

QUEST KIDS AND THE DRAGON PANTS OF GOLD de Mark Leiknes

Comics artist Mark Leiknes delivers a laugh-out-loud story set in a fantastic world of dragons, rock creatures, and golden loungewear. This first book in a trilogy is A Series of Unfortunate Events meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid—introducing readers to a (mostly) fearless fellowship of adventurers, the Quest Kids!

QUEST KIDS AND THE DRAGON PANTS OF GOLD
by Mark Leiknes
‎ Union Square Kids/Sterling, September 2022
(via Writers House)

Okay, QUEST KIDS, you’re hired, but if I don’t have my super-soft zip-up golden track jacket in one year’s time, this town is toast. DRAGON OUT!
The Quest Kids are ready for their first real quest. This time, they won’t oversleep, they won’t be put off by a little rain, and they won’t accidentally burn down the village that hired them. All they have to do is find the Golden-Fleeced Rage Beast, shave it, and make a really nice golden track suit to appease a furious dragon. Simple, right? I mean, check out their crew: Gil, a wizard (well, wizard in training. . . the beard isn’t his); Terra, a 700-year old elf kid; Boulder, a rock troll who, okay, is more of a cook than a fighter; Ace, a flatulent pig-dog-maybe-lizard hybrid; and Ned—their intrepid and overly optimistic leader with his own personal quest: to solve the mystery of his missing parents.
With humor, magic, mystery, and at least one acid swamp filled with skeletal alligators, QUEST KIDS AND THE DRAGON PANTS OF GOLD is a richly illustrated saga of fantasy friendship that’s sure to thrill and crack up readers from all kingdoms! Mark already has the next titles lined up, too – Quest Kids and the Dark Prophecy of Doug (2023), and Quest Kids and the Mystery of the Goblin Gazebo (2024).

Mark Leiknes lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and three kids. He produced a nationally syndicated comic strip (Cow & Boy) for eight years and now he writes and illustrates books for kids. Mark studied graphic design in college and honed his comedic chops studying improv and sketch comedy at the acclaimed Groundlings School. Visit him online at markleiknes.com.

THAT SELF-SAME METAL de Brittany N. Williams

A stunning YA fantasy debut, perfect for fans of Holly Black and Justina Ireland, about a Black girl (and sword expert) fighting a Fae uprising in Shakespearean London.

THAT SELF-SAME METAL
by Brittany N. Williams
Amulet/ Abrams, April2023
(via Writers House)

Sixteen-year-old Joan Sands is a gifted craftswoman who creates and upkeeps the stage blades for William Shakespeare’s acting company, The King’s Men. Joan’s skill with her blades comes from a magical ability to control metal—an ability gifted by her Head Orisha, Ogun. Because her whole family is Orisha-blessed, the Sands family have always kept tabs on the Fae presence in London. Usually that doesn’t involve much except noting the faint glow around a Fae’s body as they try to blend in with London society, but lately, there has been an uptick in brutal Fae attacks. After Joan wounds a powerful Fae and saves the son of a cruel Lord, she is drawn into political intrigue in the human and Fae worlds.
Swashbuckling, romantic, and full of the sights and sounds of Shakespeare’s London, this series starter delivers an unforgettable story—and a heroine unlike any other.

Brittany N. Williams is an actress, writer, Co-Artistic Director of The NOLA Project, and nerd of many fandoms. She’s performed across three continents—including a year spent as a principal vocalist at Hong Kong Disneyland—and her writing has been featured on BlackNerdProblems.com, Tor.com, in The Indypendent, The Gambit, Fireside Magazine, and in the Star Wars anthology From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back.

THE GODSTONE de Violette Malan

This new epic fantasy series begins a tale of magic and danger, as a healer whose discovery of a sinister and possibly sentient artifact is pulled deeper into a web of secrets and hazardous magic that could bring about the end of the world as she knows it. Perfect for fans of Game of Thrones and The Witcher.

THE GODSTONE #1
by Violette Malan
‎ Daw, August 2021
(via JABberwocky)

Fenra Lowens has been a working Practitioner, using the magic of healing ever since she graduated from the White Court and left the City to live in the Outer Modes. When one of her patients, Arlyn Albainil, is summoned to the City to execute the final testament of a distant cousin, she agrees to help him. Arlyn suspects the White Court wants to access his cousin’s Practitioner’s vault. Arlyn can’t ignore the summons: he knows the vault holds an artifact so dangerous he can’t allow it to be freed.
Fenra quickly figures out that there is no cousin, that Arlyn himself is the missing Practitioner, the legendary Xandra Albainil, rumored to have made a Godstone with which he once almost destroyed the world. Sealing away the Godstone left Arlyn powerless and ill, and he needs Fenra to help him deal with the possibly sentient artifact before someone else finds and uses it.
Along the way they encounter Elvanyn Karamisk, an old friend whom Arlyn once betrayed. Convinced that Arlyn has not changed, and intends to use Fenra to recover the Godstone and with it all his power, Elvanyn joins them to keep Fenra safe and help her destroy the artifact.

« An original, enigmatic fantasy about reluctant heroes drawn into a quest to save the world. » —Kirkus
« Malan’s elaborate worldbuilding and nuanced characters help keep the pages turning on the way to the slow-building climax. The unexpected plot twists and a subtle hint of romance will leave readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. » —Publishers Weekly
« Fenra and Arlyn’s banter is so pleasant, so assured, that it at times reads like classic English literature. Readers would be wise to pick up this exciting start to a new fantasy series. » —BookPage

Violette Malan is the author of the epic fantasy Dhulyn and Parno novels. Born in Canada, Violette’s cultural background is half Spanish and half Polish, which makes it interesting at meal times. She has worked as a teacher of creative writing, English as a second language, Spanish, and beginner’s French. On occasion she’s been an administrative assistant and a carpenter’s helper.

Série THE GIFTED CLANS de Graci Kim

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Graci Kim’s thrilling middle-grade debut series about an adopted Korean-American girl who discovers her heritage and her magic on a perilous journey to save her witch clan family.

THE GIFTED CLANS TRILOGY
by Graci Kim
Disney-Hyperion
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

Book 1: THE LAST FALLEN STAR (May 2021) – Riley Oh can’t wait to see her sister get initiated into the Gom clan, a powerful lineage of Korean healing witches their family has belonged to for generations. Her sister, Hattie, will earn her Gi bracelet and finally be able to cast spells without adult supervision. Although Riley is desperate to follow in her sister’s footsteps when she herself turns thirteen, she’s a saram–a person without magic. Riley was adopted, and despite having memorized every healing spell she’s ever heard, she often feels like the odd one out in her family and the gifted community.
Then Hattie gets an idea: what if the two of them could cast a spell that would allow Riley to share Hattie’s magic? Their sleuthing reveals a promising incantation in the family’s old spell book, and the sisters decide to perform it at Hattie’s initiation ceremony. If it works, no one will ever treat Riley as an outsider again. It’s a perfect plan!
Until it isn’t. When the sisters attempt to violate the laws of the Godrealm, Hattie’s life ends up hanging in the balance, and to save her Riley has to fulfill an impossible task: find the last fallen star. But what even is the star, and how can she find it?
As Riley embarks on her search, she finds herself meeting fantastic creatures and collaborating with her worst enemies. And when she uncovers secrets that challenge everything she has been taught to believe, Riley must decide what it means to be a witch, what it means to be family, and what it really means to belong.

Book 2: THE LAST FALLEN MOON (June 2022) – For Riley Oh, life as the Godrealm’s last fallen star is not all it’s cracked up to be. Her new divine heritage doesn’t even come with cool magical powers; half of her friends and family (including her parents) can’t remember her; and to top it all off, the entire Gom clan is mad at her for killing the Cave Bear Goddess and stripping away their healing abilities.
But when their anger boils over and a group of witches curse Riley’s home, she knows it’s up to her to restore magic back to her clan – even if it means sneaking into the Spiritrealm.
Luckily, Riley has some backup. Along with her sister, Hattie, Riley meets Dahl, a heaven-born boy with shockingly white hair and a fondness for toilets who might not be telling the whole truth about who he is. Together they’ll fight vicious monsters, discover dark underwater worlds, and race to save the land of the dead from a fate that no one could have foreseen.
And this time, Riley won’t let anything get in her way. Because she can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is coming their way – and the gifted community is going to need all the powers they can get.

Book 3: THE LAST FALLEN REALM (June 2023) – Riley Oh wasn’t born into her family. Instead, as she recently discovered, she tumbled down to the earth many years ago as the last fallen star. Riley Oh also wasn’t born to be a witch. Like, at all―even her status as a divine celestial being comes with zilch in the magical powers department. And Riley Oh definitely wasn’t born to be a leader. But now the entire magical community thinks she and her soul-twin, Dahl, are meant to lead the world into the Age of the Final Eclipse (or whatever it is that the Haetae keeps saying they’re “destined” to do). Greeeat.
But ever since Riley killed the Cave Bear Goddess, she’s been a bit pre-occupied with one thing: waiting for the goddess’s sisters to get their revenge. And it looks like her wait is finally over―because as witches from around the world prepare for war, it seems as though the goddesses are preparing for something much worse. Something that will lure Riley and her friends deep into the realm of the gods. Into a world of humongous, talking moon bunnies; life-or-death mini-golf competitions; and…magical gummy candies?
And in order to save the world, Riley must do the one thing she was born to do: believe in herself.

« Graci Kim does such an amazing job of blending Korean mythology into the modern world, I am now wondering how I ever lived without knowing all this cool information. » –New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan

Graci Kim is the national best-selling author of The Last Fallen Star, the first book in the Gifted Clans trilogy. A Korean-Kiwi diplomat turned author, Graci writes about the magic she wants to see in the world. In a previous life she used to be a cooking show host, and she once ran a business that turned children’s drawings into cuddly toys. When she’s not lost in her imagination, you’ll find Graci drinking flat whites, eating ramyeon, and most likely hugging a dog (or ideally, many). She lives in New Zealand with her husband and daughter

Video: Rick Riordan talks to Graci Kim about THE LAST FALLEN STAR

THE MIRROR SERIES de Julie C. Dao, Dhonielle Clayton, J.C. Cervantes et L. L. McKinney

An innovative four-book fairy tale collection following one family over several generations, and the curse that plagues it, written by best-selling authors Julie C. Dao, Dhonielle Clayton, J.C. Cervantes, and L. L. McKinney.
“This touching fantasy redefines the witches of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales.” – Publishers Weekly

THE MIRROR SERIES
by Julie C. Dao, Dhonielle Clayton, J.C. Cervantes & L. L. McKinney
Disney-Hyperion, 2020 onwards
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

Book 1: BROKEN WISH by Julie C. Dao (October 2020) – Sixteen-year-old Elva has a secret. She has visions and strange powers that she will do anything to hide. She knows the warnings about what happens to witches in their small village of Hanau. She’s heard the terrible things people say about the Witch of the North Woods, and the malicious hunts that follow. But when Elva accidentally witnesses a devastating vision of the future, she decides she has to do everything she can to prevent it. Tapping into her powers for the first time, Elva discovers a magical mirror and its owner-none other than the Witch of the North Woods herself. As Elva learns more about her burgeoning magic, and the lines between hero and villain start to blur, she must find a way to right past wrongs before it’s too late.

Book 2: SHATTERED MIDNIGHT by Dhonielle Clayton (July 2022) – Zora Broussard has arrived in New Orleans with not much more than a bag of clothes, a beautiful voice, and a pair of enchanted red shoes. Running from a tragic accident caused by her magic, Zora wants nothing more than to blend in, as well as to avoid her overbearing aunt and mean-spirited cousins. Music becomes Zora’s only means of escape, yet she wonders if she should give it all up to remove the powers that make her a target, especially as a Black woman in the South. But when Zora gets the chance to perform in a prominent jazz club, she meets a sweet white pianist named Phillip with magic of his own, including a strange mirror that foretells their future together. Falling into a forbidden love, Zora and Phillip must keep their relationship a secret. And soon the two discover the complicated connection between their respective families, a connection that could lead to catastrophe for them both. In the era of segregation and speakeasies, Zora must change her destiny and fight for the one she loves . . . or risk losing everything.

Julie C. Dao is the author of the acclaimed Rise of the Empress duology, including Forest of a Thousand Lanterns and Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix , as well as the follow-up novel Song of the Crimson Flower. A proud Vietnamese-American who was born in upstate New York, she now lives in New England.
Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times Bestselling author of The Belles series, the coauthor of the Tiny Pretty Things duology which was adapted into a Netflix original series, and the author of the forthcoming MG fantasy series The Marvellers. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle-school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books, and co-founder of CAKE Literary, a creative kitchen whipping up decadent―and decidedly diverse―literary confections for middle grade, young adult, and women’s fiction readers. She’s an avid traveler, and always on the hunt for magic and mischief.