Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

THE FIRST BINDING de R. R. Virdi

A heroic fantasy series which follows a wandering storyteller, a hero or villain out of legend (depending on who you’ve heard the stories from), on a quest to kill the terrifying demons who took everything from him, and to undo a worse evil he’s set loose—a power nearly as old as god bent on turning the world at war with itself.

THE FIRST BINDING
(Tales of Tremaine, Book 1)
by R.R. Virdi
Tor/Macmillan, August 2022
(via JABberwocky)

All legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first.
I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I’ve stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I’ve called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster.
My name is Ari.
And this is the story of how I let loose the first evil.

Thus begins the tale of a storyteller and a singer on the run and hoping to find obscurity in a tavern bar. But the sins of their past aren’t forgotten, and neither are their enemies.
Ari is still in the throes of hunting down the story book demons that took his old life from him and set him on the path to becoming all he is known and feared to be. But corrupt nobles are playing a dangerous game of politics and murder, old enemies are coming to find him, magical beings out of storybooks bent on revenge of their own against him, and a power nearly as old as god working to turn neighboring countries against one another in war.
Ari’s old lives are catching up swiftly and it could cost him the entire world. Unless he turns back and faces his past.

« Crafted with patience, passion, and most importantly, tremendous love. Read R.R. Virdi! » ―Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files

« THE FIRST BINDING is epic fantasy at its finest―an homage to storytelling and legend, richly told and endlessly engaging. Complex and luxuriant, this is an emotional, multifaceted gem of a book that examines the twists and turns a story takes on its journey from the truth. » ―Andrea Stewart, author of Bone Shard Daughter

R.R. Virdi is a two-time Dragon Award finalist and a Nebula Award finalist. He is the author of two urban fantasy series, The Grave Report, and The Books of Winter. One of his short stories is part of a collection of artists’ works to go to the moon aboard the Astrobotic Peregrine Lunar Lander in 2022. His love of classic cars drove him to work in the automotive industry for many years before he realized he’d do a better job of maintaining his passion if he stayed away from customers. He was born and raised in Northern Virginia and is a first generation Indian-American with all the baggage that comes with. He’s offended a long list of incalculable ancestors by choosing to drop out of college and not pursue one of three pre-destined careers: lawyer, doctor, engineer. Instead, he decided to chase his dream of being an author. His family is still coping with this decision a decade later. He expects them to come around in another fifteen to twenty years. Should the writing gig not work out, he aims to follow his backup plan and become a dancing shark for a Katy Perry music video.

WHEN STARS COME OUT de Scarlett St. Clair

From the brilliant mind of A Touch of Darkness‘s bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair comes a YA crossover in a darkly unique fantasy world.

WHEN STARS COME OUT
by Scarlett St. Clair
‎ Sourcebooks, July 2022

Anora Silby can see the dead and turn spirits into gold coins, two things she would prefer to keep secret as she tries to lead a normal life at her new school. After all, she didn’t change her identity for nothing. Hiding her weirdness is just one of many challenges. By the end of her first day, she’s claimed the soul of a dead girl on campus and lost the coin. Turns out, the coin gives others the ability to steal souls, and when a classmate ends up dead, there’s no mistaking the murder weapon. Navigating the loss of her Poppa, the mistrust of her mother, the attention of gorgeous and enigmatic Shy, and Roundtable, an anonymous student gossip app threatening to expose her, are hard enough. Now she must find the person who stole her coin before more lives are lost, but that means making herself a target for the Order, an organization that governs the dead on Earth―and they want Anora and her powers for themselves.

Scarlett St. Clair is the bestselling author of the Hades x Persephone saga, the Hades saga, and King of Battle and Blood. She has a Master’s degree in Library Science and Information Studies and a Bachelors in English Writing. She is obsessed with Greek Mythology, murder mysteries, and the afterlife.

THE MASK OF MIRRORS by M.A. Carrick

Darkly magical and beautifully imagined, THE MASK OF MIRRORS is the unmissable start to the Rook & Rose trilogy, a rich and dazzling fantasy adventure in which a con artist, a vigilante, and a crime lord must unite to save their city.

THE MASK OF MIRRORS
(Rook and Rose, Book 1)
by M.A. Carrick
‎ Orbit, January 2021
(via JABberwocky)

Nightmares are creeping through the city of dreams . . . Renata Virdaux is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadezra – the city of dreams – with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house and secure her fortune and her sister’s future. But as she’s drawn into the aristocratic world of House Traementis, she realises her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as corrupted magic begins to weave its way through Nadezra, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled – with Ren at their heart.

“Utterly captivating. Carrick spins an exciting web of mystery, magic, and political treachery in a richly drawn and innovative world.” ―S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

“Wonderfully immersive—I was unable to put it down.” ―Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter

Book 2: THE LIAR’S KNOT (Orbit, December 2021)
An unmissable fantasy collaboration by two renowned authors in which a con artist returns to the city that betrayed her, determined to have her revenge—only to find that her fate might be to save it.

M.A. Carrick is the joint pen name of Marie Brennan (author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent) and Alyc Helms (author of the Adventures of Mr. Mystic). The two met in 2000 on an archaeological dig in Wales and Ireland — including a stint in the town of Carrickmacross — and have built their friendship through two decades of anthropology, writing, and gaming. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

THE ONES WE BURN de Rebecca Mix

Love and duty collide in this richly imagined, atmospheric young adult debut about a witch whose dark powers put her at the center of a brewing war between the only family she’s ever known and the enemy who makes her question everything.

THE ONES WE BURN
by Rebecca Mix
‎ Simon & Schuster BYR, November 2022
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Monster. Butcher. Bloodwinn. Ranka is tired of death. All she wants now is to be left alone, living out her days in Witchik’s wild north with the coven that raised her, attempting to forget the horrors of her past. But when she is named Bloodwinn, the next treaty bride to the human kingdom of Isodal, her coven sends her south with a single directive: kill him. Easy enough, for a blood-witch whose magic compels her to kill. Except the prince is gentle, kind, and terrified of her. He doesn’t want to marry Ranka; he doesn’t want to be king at all. And it’s his sister—the wickedly smart, infuriatingly beautiful Princess Aramis—who seems to be the real threat.
But when witches start turning up dead, murdered by a mysterious, magical plague, Aramis makes Ranka an offer: help her develop a cure, and in return, she’ll help Ranka learn to contain her deadly magic. As the coup draws nearer and the plague spreads, Ranka is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her power, her past, and who she’s meant to fight for. Soon, she will have to decide between the coven that raised her and the princess who sees beyond the monster they shaped her to be. But as the bodies pile up, a monster may be exactly what they need.

Rebecca Mix is a fantasy author and Michigander who writes about messy girls and creepy magic. Her work has been featured by BuzzFeed, Tor, Bustle, HuffPost, and more.

DAUGHTER OF SPARTA TRILOGY de Claire M. Andrews

In this thrilling reimagining of ancient Greek mythology, a headstrong girl becomes the most powerful fighter her people have ever seen.

DAUGHTER OF SPARTA TRILOGY
by Claire Andrews
Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown, 2021 – 2023
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Book 1: DAUGHTER OF SPARTA (June 2021)

Seventeen-year-old Daphne has spent her entire life honing her body and mind into that of a warrior, hoping to be accepted by the unyielding people of ancient Sparta. But an unexpected encounter with the goddess Artemis—who holds Daphne’s brother’s fate in her hands—upends the life she’s worked so hard to build. Nine mysterious items have been stolen from Mount Olympus and if Daphne cannot find them, the gods’ waning powers will fade away, the mortal world will descend into chaos, and her brother’s life will be forfeit.
Guided by Artemis’s twin—the handsome and entirely-too-self-assured god Apollo—Daphne’s journey will take her from the labyrinth of the Minotaur to the riddle-spinning Sphinx of Thebes, team her up with mythological legends, such as Theseus and Hippolyta of the Amazons, and pit her against the gods themselves.
A reinterpretation of the classic Greek myth of Daphne and Apollo, DAUGHTER OF SPARTA by debut author Claire Andrews turns the traditionally male-dominated mythology we know into a heart-pounding and empowering female-led adventure.

Book 2: BLOOD OF TROY (September 2022)

The sequel to Daughter of Sparta thrusts warrior Daphne and her love interest, the Olympian god Apollo, into the middle of the Trojan War in this epic YA fantasy reimagining of Greek mythology.
A year after saving the powers of Olympus by defeating Nyx, the Goddess of Darkness, Daphne is haunted by still-looming threats, her complicated feelings for the god Apollo, and the promise she made to the Olympian gods that she would help them again when they called upon her. When their command finally comes, it is deceptively simple: secure herself a spot as one of Queen Helen’s guards.
A war is coming, and all of Sparta must be prepared.
In the midst of a treaty summit among the monarchs of Greece, Daphne and Helen uncover a plot of betrayal—and soon, a battle begins that leads to all-out war. As the kingdoms of Greece clash on the shores of Troy and the gods choose sides, Daphne must use her wits, her training, and her precarious relationship with Apollo to find a way to keep her queen safe, stop the war, and uncover the true reason the gods led her to Troy. But the gods are keeping more than one secret, and Daphne will be forced to decide how far she is willing to go to save those she loves—and whose side she’s on in a war that is prophesized to be the downfall of her people.
Claire M. Andrews continues to turn Greek mythology on its head in this thrilling sequel that centers a female protagonist in a land ruled by powerful men and gods alike, filled with exhilarating action, unforgettable romance, and a destiny that could destroy the world.

Book 3: STORM OF OLYMPUS (September 2023)

The heart-pounding conclusion to the Daughter of Sparta series forces Daphne to face her past, her deepest fears, and an enemy who can defeat even the all-powerful gods of Olympus in this epic reimagining of classic Greek mythology, for fans of Circe. 
After fighting in the Trojan War against her own people, Daphne is plagued by memories—of her family, of her shortcomings, of her lover, Apollo, and of the secrets he and the gods keep. As she reels from the horrendous sacrifice she had to make and her own failure in the battle for Troy, she knows the Titans are out there—just beyond the island of Aeaea where she has taken refuge—raging a war against the world.
As Daphne struggles to regain her will to fight as well as rein in the new abilities that have been thrust upon her, the gods call for her help once more. But it has been prophesized that she will bring about the ruin of Olympus and the downfall of Sparta, just as she caused the destruction of Troy. Now, as she begins to witness her terrible destiny coming true, she must become a hero to rival those of myth and save the gods, her people, and the world. Or she will watch it all burn around her.
Claire M. Andrews has crafted a jaw-dropping conclusion to an epic series that gives women a powerful place among Greek mythology, flipping the world of gods and goddesses on its head. This breakneck race to the finish will have readers devouring its pages late into the night with one mind blowing twist after another, in a finale fit for a heroine who rivals any Ancient Greek hero.

 

« Free of vanity, indifferent to the male gaze, and portrayed without objectification, Daphne’s the compelling hero of an epic closer in tone to its Homeric source than to many pop-culture iterations…. A vivid, riveting sequel. » ―Kirkus, starred review

« Nonstop action, drama, and an unforgettable female warrior will keep readers turning pages…. Awe-inspiring. » ―School Library Journal

Claire M. Andrews was raised in both Alaska and Scotland, but currently lives in Vermont; when not writing, she can usually be found outside swimming, skiing, or hiking across the state’s famous green mountains. She can be found on Instagram and Twitter at @cmandrewslit.