Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

SONG OF THE WIND de Ying Ping Low

A lyrical coming-of-age fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore, for fans of Kelly Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon and Annet Schaap’s Lampie and the Children of the Sea, centered on a young girl who is thrust into adventure when she crosses paths with a young emperor on the run from murderous traitors, and in search of the power of the mythical Dragon’s Pulse.

SONG OF THE WIND
by Ying Ping Low
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, July 2026
(via Park & Fine Literary and Media)

The Village has no name, hidden from outsiders for as long as anyone can remember–until today. Kaixuan, a 12-year-old emperor on the run from murderous traitors, has stumbled into the Village while seeking the fabled power of the Dragon’s Pulse, the key to vanquishing his enemies. Free-spirited Mengyao, a village orphan on the same cusp of adolescence, only wants to hold onto her belief in magic and become a divine healer to her people.

As the words of an old legend bring their fates together, sparking the hope of restoring rightful rule to the kingdom, the two set out in search of the Dragon’s Pulse. With help from unexpected quarters—a jade hare, a kitchen god, a moon goddess, and a spell woven from a handful of promises—they must reach their destination before they turn 13 and lose faith in the Dragon’s Pulse and its magic entirely…and before the enemies at their tail capture them, or worse.

An ode to the power of storytelling, suspenseful with the universal ticking clock of childhood’s end, SONG feels like a new classic in the making, spun together with a remarkable author’s magical touch.

Ying Ping Low lives in Singapore and has had several middle-grade novels published there: Prophecy of the Underworld with Penguin Random House Southeast Asia; and the Mount Emily quartet with Epigram Books. Her books have won the Singapore Book Awards, and been shortlisted for the Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award, and a short story won second prize in The British Fantasy Society’s Short Story Competition 2018. She holds degrees in English Literature from the University of Leeds and the University of Warwick and worked in education prior to becoming a writer. SONG OF THE WIND will be her first novel published into the US market.

LIAR’S KINGDOM de Christine Calella

Can “happily-ever-after” start with a lie?

LIAR’S KINGDOM
by Christine Calella
Page Street YA, January 2025
(via KT Literary)

Ell DeBrun is the girl of the cinders. The girl who’s spent years slaving away for her cruel stepmother and ungrateful stepsisters, dreaming of rescue. So when Prince Bayard — who seems to have difficulty recognizing faces — shows up at her door with a glass slipper in hand, Ell allows him to believe she is the girl he danced with at the grand ball. There’s just one problem: Ell didn’t attend the ball and she’s never met the prince before in her life. But if it’s a choice between being whisked away to the royal palace and staying trapped with her miserable step-family, Ell is willing to concoct any fairy tale that will grant her an escape.

However, Ell finds that fitting into royal life isn’t as easy as sliding into a glass slipper. Bayard’s sister, the crown princess, has gone missing. The king is preparing for war with the sinister army of fae. And Maxim, Bayard’s treacherous (and unfortunately, terribly handsome) best friend, appears to know Ell’s secrets — and is just waiting for the most advantageous moment to call her bluff. As her lies pile up like unwashed plates, she knows they’re only seconds away from crashing down on her head.

Luckily, Ell is used to a little dirty work. If she wants to keep this life she’s stolen for herself, one with creature comforts and companionship she’s only dreamed of, she’s going to have to roll up her sleeves and rescue herself.

Christine Calella is a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA program for Creative Writing. Her debut YA novel The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray published in April 2024. She lives in New York City.

BEAUTY OF UNWANTED THINGS d’Astrid Scholte

A darkly bewitching, distinctive, romantic fairytale that is perfect for readers of One Dark Window, Uprooted, and For the Wolf.

BEAUTY OF UNWANTED THINGS
by Astrid Scholte
Wednesday Books, Winter 2026
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

Thoralea Winyard has been a prisoner her entire life, forced to paint dead animals pushed into her cell each day. For twenty years she has not seen outside her tower. For twenty years she has dreamed of taking revenge on her captors and watching the castle burn.

When one of her dead subjects comes back to life, Thoralea is thrust into the sumptuous world of court life where she can have anything she desires—aside from her freedom. What no one knows outside the castle walls is that the king and queen of Lagonia have ruled for centuries. Their health, and immortality, gifted through the creation of portraits by painters with magic in their veins. Immortality is their one defense in the ongoing battle with Hetchnik: a cursed neighboring realm who seek to bring death and darkness to the land.

Prince Kelter is desperate to join the ranks of the immortal battalion.

Disillusioned with court and his figurehead role, he makes a deal with Thoralea: she will paint the portrait Prince Kelter has been denied by his parents, and he will help her escape the castle. As they grow closer and their attraction intensifies, a deadly secret is revealed, and Thoralea and Kelter will have to put their trust in each other to save the kingdom before the curse comes for them both.

Astrid Scholte is the internationally bestselling and award-winning author of Four Dead Queens, The Vanishing Deep and League of Liars. When she’s not writing, she works in film and animation production. Career highlights include working on James Cameron’s Avatar, Disney’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. She currently works at Industrial Light & Magic on the latest blockbuster.

THE GODS BELOW d’Andrea Stewart

In this sweeping epic fantasy comes a story of magic, betrayal, love, and loyalty, where two sisters will clash on opposite sides of a war against the gods.

THE GODS BELOW
(The Hollow Covenant, Book 1)
by Andrea Stewart
Orbit, September 2024
(via Mushens Entertainment)

A divine war shattered the world leaving humanity in ruins. Desperate for hope, they struck a deal with the devious god Kluehnn: He would restore the world to its former glory, but at a price so steep it would keep the mortals indebted to him for eternity. And, as each land was transformed, so too were its people changed into strange new forms―if they survived at all.

Hakara is not willing to pay such a price. Desperate to protect herself, and her sister Rasha, she flees her homeland for the safety of a neighboring kingdom. But when tragedy separates them, Hakara is forced to abandon her beloved sister to an unknown fate.

Alone and desperate for answers on the wrong side of the world, Hakara discovers she can channel the magic from the mysterious gems they are forced to mine for Kluehnn. With that discovery comes another: her sister is alive, and only the rebels plotting to destroy the God Pact can help rescue her.

But only if Hakara goes to war against a god.

‘Andrea Stewart is one of the best fantasy writers I’ve read in a long time’ —Sarah J. Maas

‘An epic and heart rending struggle between gods and mortals, lovers and siblings . . . Stewart is a writer of genius and brilliance’ —Hannah Kaner

‘Stewart’s worlds are some of the most exceptionally inventive in modern fantasy. A must read!’ —Shannon Chakraborty

‘THE GODS BELOW is as breathtaking as its magic system promises. Expect old gods, altered beings, magic stones, fighting, romance, and rollicking good fun. Stewart’s newest series cements her as a bright voice in the fantasy genre’ —L. R. Lam

‘This awe-inspiring trilogy-starter is everything fans of high fantasy have been looking for. Its characters are compelling, its world is vivid, new, and visceral’ —Booklist (starred review)

Andrea Stewart is the Chinese American daughter of immigrants, and was raised in a number of places across the United States. When her (admittedly ambitious) dreams of becoming a dragon slayer didn’t pan out, she instead turned to writing books. She now lives in sunny California.

REIGN & RUIN de J. D. Evans

She is heir to a Sultanate that once ruled the world. He is an unwanted prince with the power to destroy. They must find a way to save their people from annihilation—but first, they will have to balance their own forbidden passion.

REIGN & RUIN
(Mages of the Wheel series, Book 1)
by J. D. Evans
Self-published, 2019
(via Ethan Ellenberg Literary)

“All magic is beautiful…and terrible. Do you not see the beauty in yours, or the terror in mine? You can stop a heart, and I can stop your breath.”

She is heir to a Sultanate that once ruled the world. He is an unwanted prince with the power to destroy.

She is order and intellect, a woman fit to rule in a man’s place. He is chaos and violence and will stop at nothing to protect his people.

His magic answers hers with shadow for light. They need each other, but the cost of balance may be too high a price. Magic is dying and the only way to save it is to enlist mages who wield the forbidden power of death, mages cast out centuries ago in a brutal and bloody war.

Now, a new war is coming. Science and machines to replace magic and old religion.

They must find a way to save their people from annihilation and balance the sacred Wheel—but first, they will have to balance their own forbidden passion. His peace for her tempest, his restlessness for her calm…

Night and day, dusk and dawn, the end, and the beginning.

J. D. Evans writes fantasy and science fiction romance. After earning her degree in linguistics, J. D. served a decade as an army officer. She once spent her hours putting together briefings for helicopter pilots and generals. Now she writes stories, tends to two unreasonable tiny humans, knits, sews badly, gardens, and cultivates Pinterest Fails. After a stint in Beirut, J. D. fell in love with the Levant, which inspired the setting for her debut series, Mages of the Wheel. Originally hailing from Montana, J. D. now resides in North Carolina with her husband, two attempts at mini-clones gone rogue, and too many stories in her head.