Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

MARK OF THE FOOL de J.M. Clarke

The Irregular At Magic High School meets Dungeons & Dragons in this light novel adaptation about an aspiring hero at a magical university who tries to find a way to grow beyond his designation as « the Fool. »

MARK OF THE FOOL Vol. 1
by J.M. Clarke
illustrated by Natsujirushi
Aethon & Vault, May 2025
(via JABberwocky)

The gods chose him. He said no.

After his parents died, Alex Roth had one desire: become a wizard. Through hard work, he was accepted into the University of Generasi, the world’s greatest academy of wizardry.

Fate had other plans.

On his eighteenth birthday, Alex is Marked by prophecy as one of his kingdom’s five Heroes, chosen to fight the Ravener, his land’s great enemy. But his brand is ‘The Fool’.

Worst of the marks.

Rather than die or serve other Heroes like past Fools, he takes a stand, rejects divine decree…and leaves. With his little sister, his childhood friend, and her cerberus, Alex flees for the university, hoping to research the mystery of the Ravener. He’ll make lifelong friends, learn magic from mad wizards, practice alchemy, fight mana vampires, and try to pay tuition.

There’s one small problem. The Mark insists on preventing the Fool from learning and casting spells, while enhancing skills outside of divinity, combat, and spellcraft…

…that is, unless he learns to exploit the hell out of it.

Explore a coming-of-age magic academy fantasy with a weak-to-strong progression into power, a setting inspired by D&D, detailed world building, and magical science, action, comedy, slice-of-life, and GameLit elements.

With nearly 10 million views on Royal Road, the popular web-serial MARK OF THE FOOL has sold more than 100K eBooks, while the bestselling (100K+) audio book is narrated by author Travis Baldree.

J.M. Clarke is the author of the bestselling, mega-hit, seven- volume LitRPG epic progression fantasy series Mark Of The Fool from Aethon Books, and the hit audiobook of Mark Of The Fool Book 1 from Aethon Audio, as well as the super-hit Rune Seeker series co-written with C.J. Thompson.

THE BRIDE PRICE d’Alyssa Pickering

The first book in a gripping romantic fantasy trilogy following Valerie Gracey, sent to be married to a man duty-bound to execute her if he discovers the forbidden magic flowing through her veins, who finds an unlikely ally in his younger brother. Containing a love-triangle where you actually like both guys, a rake with a heart of gold and a smart heroine who is willing to play the game of politics to win. For readers of The Hurricane Wars and The Red Queen.

THE BRIDE PRICE
by Alyssa Pickering
Wayward TxF/Transworld, January 2027
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Valerie Gracey never wanted the crown, but as the eldest daughter of a scheming duke, she doesn’t make the plans — she survives them. But survival seems impossible when she’s summoned to marry Crown Prince Aleksander: a man duty-bound to execute her if he discovers her forbidden inherited magic.

Valerie knows a single misstep means death not just for her, but her siblings too, so she resolves to win the prince’s heart. Surely a man who loves her is less likely to want her dead.

But ignoring her magic is not easy, and ignoring the Prince’s rebellious brother is even harder.

Alyssa Pickering has been obsessed with stories for as long as she can remember. When she wasn’t reading fantasy books, she was writing them—especially ones filled with magic. After a brief academic detour to earn a BS in Human Development and an MA in Family and Community Services, she remembered her preference for imaginary worlds and began drafting her debut novel.

THOUGHTS BE BLOODY d’Auden Patrick

A struggling student, a resident golden boy, and the curse that will bring them together: this queer, trans retelling is Hamlet as you’ve never read it before. Exploring classism, identity, and the true meaning of revolution, this dark academia novel is perfect for fans of R. F. Kuang’s Babel and S. T. Gibson’s An Education in Malice.

THOUGHTS BE BLOODY
by Auden Patrick
DAW, March 2026
(via Mushens Entertainment)

The summer before his sophomore year, Horatio Bithersea walks into the university library to find Carson Hamlett, resident golden boy and master magician, cradling his father’s dead body. Life at Elsinore, one of the most prestigious universities in the secretive magical world, simply goes on when the professor’s death is ruled an accident—despite the mysterious circumstances and the bloody scene.

A year later, Horatio is keeping his head down, attempting to graduate without his out-of-control magic harming his classmates. That changes when the ghost of Hamlett’s father appears and places a curse on Horatio and Hamlett: avenge his death by destroying Elsinore and its heart, lest the ghost robs them of their minds, memories, and their very souls.

Elsinore has given Horatio everything—knowledge of his magical ability, an escape from his abusive family, and freedom to pursue his life as a transgender man—and now he’s to be its doom. As the two uncover more of Elsinore’s secrets Horatio finds himself becoming more and more ensnared in Hamlett’s dark but charismatic web.

The question is not if Horatio will manage to destroy Elsinore. The question is if Hamlett will destroy him first.

Auden Patrick is a late-20s queer and trans author who most frequently writes about fear, love, and monsters. He was a student at Cat Rambo’s inaugural Wayward Wormhole Workshop in 2023, and his work has appeared in Apparition Lit, Beaver Magazine, among others.

GODS OF THE HOLLOW WILD de Michael Sala

In the tradition of Justin Cronin, prize-winning author Michael Sala has created a breathtaking new fantasy series with an absorbing cast of flawed heroes and heroines. With its propulsive narrative, and its epic world-building, The Hollow Wild series is set to become a publishing sensation.

GODS OF THE HOLLOW WILD
(The Hollow Wild, Book One)
by Michael Sala
Text Publishing, February 2027

The world is fractured. Every night, the Shroud rises from the cracks, a dread mist that devours souls…Or transforms them.

Isa was always viewed with suspicion in her village. Partly because her mother was a foreigner, partly because Isa fell into the Shroud as a child and survived. This animosity has smouldered away, fanned by the village Seer. And when Isa’s father can no longer protect her, she has only the forest for refuge.

Dio’s family is poor, but she knows that when the time comes she will be chosen, elevated to the Weaver caste and trained for mighty deeds. But when her father sells her to a city crime lord to pay his gambling debts, Dio will have only two options: kill or die.

Kyron is destined for greatness. As a Second of the Hyrarchs, he will eventually take his place among the half-dozen most powerful people in the world. Until an act of shocking violence destroys his innate powers, and his life is upended. Now he has to decide who he will betray in order to survive.

These three people, living in different places and times, have never met. But a time of crisis is coming for their world. Between them, they hold its future in their hands.

“The story is a huge feat of imagination, the narrative drags you in powerfully, and the characters are subtly drawn but heroic. It hits all the right notes and just the right amount of new ones – everyone here who’s read any fantasy thinks it is up there with best in class.” (Mandy Brett, senior editor)

Michael Sala is a prize-winning Australian author, whose earlier works have been praised by many, including Raimond Gaita and Hannah Kent. He was born in the Netherlands in 1975 to a Greek father and a Dutch mother, and first came to Australia in the 1980s. His critically acclaimed debut, The Last Thread, won the 2013 NSW Premier’s Award for New Writing and was the regional winner (Pacific) of the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize.

NAVIGATORS YOU CAN TRUST de Patrick Fitzgerald

Perfect for fans of Dungeons & Dragons, this action fantasy follows a mercenary, a swashbuckler, a knight, and a treasure hunter who are recruited to use their powers to protect a world while a perpetual war rages on.

NAVIGATORS YOU CAN TRUST
by Patrick Fitzgerald
Podium Publishing, May 2026
(via JABberwocky)

Meet Murta, Enoch, Jezna, and Prince.

They are a mercenary, a swashbuckler, a knight, and a treasure hunter. Each was recruited to train with the Brotherhood and become the newest Navigational Squadron and to follow in the fabled footsteps of the Leviathan and other storied navigators of Squadrons past.

But this isn’t the best time to be joining the Brotherhood. It’s hard in the best of times to be the neutral group in the middle, but with the Perpetual War starting to boil up again, the tension rising between the Noda and the Government, and rumors that the Jackals have resurfaced, there’s no room in the middle.

Now Murta, Enoch, Jezna, and Prince have to find themselves and the Tintagen Talismans, and confront their own pasts and innermost secrets while contending with factions both within and without the Brotherhood.

And the fate of the world of Archengard rests on whether they can, in fact, become navigators you can trust.

Patrick Fitzgerald developed a passion for fantasy books at an early age and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign with a major in creative writing. When he’s not reading or writing, Fitzgerald works in auto insurance and spends his free time playing (and obsessing over) heavy metal music. Outside of brief stints in England and Ireland, he has lived in Normal, Illinois, his entire life.