Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

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.

GAME OF VEILS d’Eva Chase

The Selection meets Catherine the Great in this why choose? romantasy about an ambitious princess, betrothed to a ruthless emperor, who plots to overthrow him with help from sexy courtiers.

GAME OF VEILS
(The Royal Spares Series, Book 1)
by Eva Chase
Ink Spark Press, September 2024
(via JABberwocky)

As the secondborn princess in a kingdom under the thumb of a brutal empire, Aurelia never had high hopes for her marriage prospects. But she is delighted when she is bethrothed to the son of the emperor himself.

Determined to earn better treatment for her country, she sets out to play her part as a loving wife. To her horror, she arrives at the emperor’s decadent palace only to discover the proposal was conditional. The emperor and his heir expect her to compete with several local noblewomen in a series of humiliating trials to prove their devotion. The winner will receive the heir’s hand in marriage; those who fail will be executed.

If facing marriage with a man she reviles and fending off sabotage from her scheming competitors wasn’t enough, her presence has caught the attention of the emperor’s princely wards who are forced to live in the palace as punishment. As far as they’re concerned, Aurelia is a traitor for trying to win the prince’s devotion. And she’s the perfect target for their bottled rage. They’ll do whatever they can to distract her, unsettle her, ruin her…and if they get to cuckold her future husband at the same time, even better.

For all their sharp words and heated glowers, they might be just the allies Aurelia needs. She isn’t merely going to land an emperor-to-be and wheedle minor concessions out of him once he ascends the throne—she’s going to win the entire empire. Over his dead body, if need be.

Eva Chase is an Amazon top 100 bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She grew up on a steady diet of magic, mayhem, and romantic angst, and brings plenty of all three to her stories. But no need to fear the dreaded love triangle—Eva’s heroines never have to choose. You can visit her online at www.evachase.com.

ANIMA RISING de Christopher Moore

From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore comes a deranged tale of a mad scientist, a famous painter, two psychiatrists and an undead woman’s empowering journey of self-discovery.

ANIMA RISING
by Christopher Moore
William Morrow, May 2025
(via DeFiore and Company)

1911. Gustav Klimt, the most famous painter in Vienna, finds a young woman floating in the Danube canal, who has no idea of who she is or where she came from. He names her Judith, after the Hebrew heroine who beheaded an Assyrian general and thus saved her people. Back at his studio, Klimt and his model-turned-muse, Wally, tend to the girl, but she is almost feral, blurts out nonsense in a variety of languages, and generally scandalizes Viennese café society.

With help from famous psychiatrists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Judith recalls being stranded in the arctic one hundred years ago, locked in a crate by a man named Victor Frankenstein, being kidnapped by an enormous patchwork monster, before he murders her for trying to escape him and then finds herself with the gods of the Inuit Underworld. She is of course, the bride of Frankenstein.

But how did she turn up in Vienna more than a century later? And why are so many people keen to find her, including Geoff, the giant croissant-eating dog who also shares her superhuman strength, endurance and immortality?

Welcome to Anima Rising, Christopher Moore’s most ingenious and most hilarious novel yet.

With a body of work that boasts some of the most outlandish plots and outrageous characters ever to make it onto the printed page, Christopher Moore has made a name for himself as the clown prince of contemporary fiction. He is the author of The Serpent of Venice, Second Hand Souls, and other novels. He lives in San Francisco.

A GIRL WALKS INTO THE FOREST de Madeleine Roux

Midsommar meets The Shadows Between Us in this alluring mash-up of horror and fairy tale from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux, where a girl must embark on a harrowing journey through a deadly forest filled with otherworldly creatures, supernatural forces, and one maniacal villain who will stop at nothing to bring her down.

A GIRL WALKS INTO THE FOREST
by Madeleine Roux
Quill Tree/HarperCollins, June 2025

For as long as she can remember, Valla’s been told her beauty would give her a life most people only dreamed of. So when the mysterious Count Leonid calls on her to be his betrothed, Valla jumps at the chance to leave her small, bleak village. The only thing standing in her way? The journey through the dangerous Gottyar Wood that many don’t survive.

Filled with deadly and cunning creatures, the Gottyar immediately delivers on its reputation with an attack that leaves Valla injured; her face torn to shreds. Barely making it to the castle in one piece, Valla is relieved to finally be safe. But things have changed. Valla’s face is no longer beautiful. And the Count is not happy…Valla thought making it through the Gottyar was a victory, but when she sees what awaits beyond the palace walls, the true battle begins.

In this ruthlessly female-forward narrative that borrows from the best of horror, fairy tales, and folklore, a chewed-up-and-spit-out heroine must lean on the brutality of nature and her biggest fears in order to win back what’s she’s been robbed of: her life.

Madeleine Roux is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Asylum series, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. She is also the author of the House of Furies series and several titles for adults, including Salvaged and Reclaimed. She has made contributions to Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and Dungeons & Dragons. Madeleine lives in Seattle, Washington, with her partner and beloved pups.