#fantasy reads

[lastseenleaving]

US vs UK covers

#Travis Baldree #legends and lattes #legends & lattes #bookshops and bonedust #bookshops & bonedust #cozy fantasy #book covers #fantasy fiction #fantasy reads #fantasy books #sff fiction #sff books #sff reads #fantasy recs

[the-modern-typewriter]

Happy birthday to me, and happy birthday to The God Key! 🥳

Thank you all so much more for your support, encouragement and feedback on my writing over the last seven years (bloody hell) I've been writing on here <3 It has meant a lot. I really hope you enjoy this one too.

Please let me/the interwebs know what you think. Rate. Review. Share. All that jazz!

I also promised I would share a masterlist of links on the day so...here we go :)

Print options

Amazon (UK) (US) (Canada) (France) (Spain) (Italy) (Germany) (India) (Japan) (Australia) - basically, anywhere you get Amazon!

Barnes & Noble

Waterstones

Blackwells

Ebook options:

Kobo: (UK) (US) (Canada) (Australia) (India) (Worldwide store) - you can pick your country!

Google Play

Apple

Amazon: (UK) (US) (Canada) (France) (Spain) (Italy) (Germany) (Japan) (Australia) - again, anywhere you can get Amazon!

Barnes & Noble Nook

Ebooks.com

Read the first chapter here FREE.

Click here for The God Key on Goodreads

#i always post on my birthday #but it's extra cool that it's a book this year #The God Key #TGK #lgbtq books #fantasy books #lgbtq reads #fantasy reads #m/m #m/m books #m/m fiction #dark fantasy #fantasy fiction #superpowers #heroes and villains #standalone fantasy #queer fantasy #book #books #books and reading #queer books

[ekbelsher]

Endpaper art for the Owlcrate book box edition of THE BURIED AND THE BOUND by Rochelle Hassan. I’ve always wanted an opportunity to draw stained glass windows :)

#book characters #book art #bookish art #ya fantasy #fantasy reads #fantasy fiction #character art #commissions #endpaper art #ekbelsher

[mercerislandbooks]

Book Notes: Fantasy Roundup

Or, some ideas for what to read when you have a book hangover from Iron Flame:

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle

When Emory is the sole survivor of a secret ritual in the caves below Aldryn College, her healer powers, given to those born during the new moon on a rising tide, begin to shift into something strange and uncontrollable. Will her estranged friend Baz, brother to one of the students who died, help Emory figure out her new powers and what really happened that night? This debut fantasy has it all — dark academia, an upper YA that crosses over beautifully into adult, a murder mystery, secret societies, forbidden magic, a pining romance and the most gorgeous book design I’ve seen in a while. The magic system is built around the moon phases and the tides. Curious Tides is book one of a planned duology.

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

What happens when Talasyn and Alaric, two soldiers from opposite sides of an entrenched war meet on the battlefield and discover their opposing powers combine to create something entirely new and unexpected? They continue to absolutely hate each other while having to work together to save their people from an even worse fate. Of course. And we all know what happens when two attractive people hate each other. Drawing inspiration from Southeast Asia, debut Filipino author Thea Guanzon has penned a fun, fresh fantasy that balances an authentic depiction of the toll of conflict on a population with a strong cast of characters and all the political machinations of Machiavelli. The Hurricane Wars is book one of a planned trilogy.

Godkiller by Hannah Kane

In a world where gods, fed by the attention, prayers, and offerings of humans, can also be destroyed by them, three disparate people come together to travel to the ruined city that was the last stand in the wars between gods and people. Kissen, a godkiller for hire. Elo, a former knight turned baker. And Inara, a young girl whose life has become intertwined with a god of white lies, Skedi. The four travel together to Blenraden, hopeful that they will find a way to untangle Skedi from Inara. All the feels of quest fantasy with characters that are delightfully flawed and human. The world building was immersive and queer normative with a host of diverse characters. The religious and magic system was at once familiar but with enough twists to make it unexpected. Godkiller is book one of a planned trilogy.

The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab

From page one of The Fragile Threads of Power, I was invested all over again in the world of the four Londons, seven years after the events from The Shades of Magic trilogy (also excellent, if you want to start there). The plot works together like interchanging gears, or a chess game, the movement of each character affecting the others, often unknowingly. There are characters from the original trilogy, new additions, and Tes, the one who, unconsciously, holds the key to everything. Schwab investigates power in this novel -- who has it and who controls it, and by whose standards its morality is judged. Schwab puts a lot of things in motion in this book, and only a few are resolved by the end. The Fragile Threads of Power is book one of planned trilogy. You can always go back and read The Shades of Magic series in the meantime!

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

I can’t think of a more fun combination than 1880’s Egyptian archeological digs, a feisty heroine determined to find out what happened to her explorer parents, and a current of magic running through it all. When Inez Olivera hears that her parents, on a dig in Egypt, are presumed dead, she takes matters into her own hands. Inez books passage from Bolivia to Egypt, intent on discovering the truth. What she finds in Egypt is an infuriatingly handsome young man, assisting her guardian in carrying on her parents discoveries, and men thwarting her inquiries at every turn. Add to this a mysterious ring that connects Inez to the magic of the past and the questions continue to pile up. It will take a trip up the Nile and many near escapes just to get Inez closer to any answers. Packed with action, a slow burn romance, and a huge twist kept me enthralled to the very last page. What the River Knows is book one of a planned YA duology.

Hopefully you find one, or many, of these titles to be a satisfying read!

— Lori

#island books #lori robinson #book notes #fantasy reads #ya fantasy #curious tides #pascale lacelle #hurricane wars #godkiller #hannah kaner #v. e. schwab #fragile threads of power #isabel ibanez #what the river knows #thea guanzon

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Ringing in the new year the right way: with tea, wearable blankets, and books ✌🏻

#booklr #book photography #book picture #books and tea #bookish #bookish mug #the once and future witches #current read #bookworm #bibliophile #fantasy reads #witchy books #witchy reads #book aesthetic #book community #book lover #book nerd #open book #my photos #mine

[powells]

Powell's Best Books of 2023: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Bookseller Picks for Best Books of 2023: Science Fiction & Fantasy! Absolutely an excuse to run up to booksellers — street-interview style — and demand to know their favorite world-building, magic systems, and political messes (in SPACE!). On this year's list, look out for dragons and more dragons, love letters to books in cozy fantasy settings, unionized dolphins, cyberpunk thrillers about orbital elevators, series conclusions that stick the landing, pirates, supervillains, not-quite-robots, fairytales, and more. Read our list at the link in bio.

📚🔗: To the list

#powell's books #powell's recommends #books #book recommendation #reading #portland #pdx #bookrecs #recommended reading #science fiction #sci fi #fantasy #scifi reads #fantasy reads #dragons #MORE dragons

[adorkastock]

That's my pose! That's me in that art!! :D

My patron and illustrator friend @rosecatkhan just released the second edition of her novel series, Centernia! 🥰📖 It’s a dark, elegant contemporary fantasy tale with an LGBTQ ensemble cast, dragon-riders, slow-burn romance, castles, cat-people, and magic.

​​​​​​​The series finally tells the story behind her magical, super detailed fantasy illustrations. It’s out on Kindle and in paperback, or you can order directly from her website.

Centernia.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Centernia-Return-Rose-Catherine-Khan/dp/B0BZF8NZF1/ Get 25% off your entire order of books, prints and puzzles from RoseCatKhan.com with the code ADORKA, now through June 30th!

More info: "Artemisa Wynter yearns for the realm of Pennsylvania, a world she has only glimpsed through her mother's bedtime stories. Her deepest desire is to leave Castle Aurumice and embrace a life filled with movies, malls, and microwave burritos. However, Artemisa was blessed with her father's fangs and cat-like eyes, making that plan a forbidden dream for the ailurian mage.

Time dances on, and a bitter feud has come to Artemisa's home. Castle Aurumice is now entombed beneath a protective shield fashioned by her father's desperate hand. His act of love condemned the castlefolk to the streets as an insidious cancer overwhelmed his body.

Now the only one alive who understands her father's magic, Artemisa must return to her mother's strange realm. She is tasked with retrieving her cousin, Jessica Ravenwolfe, a teen with the key to unraveling the energy barrier."

#fantasy novel #fantasy reads #lgbtq fiction #fantasy books

[tometraveling]

Stunning! When I saw the stenciled edges I knew I had to have it.

#booklr #the fourth wing #rebecca yarros #fantasy books #dragons #limited edition #stenciled edges #beautiful books #booklover #book collector #you had me ad dragons #dragon lover #fantasy reads #fantasy romance #books of tumblr #you can never have to many dragons

[hufflepuff-belle]

The tricky thing is to capture the truth and not just an interpretation. Stories can change depending on who tells them.

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

#book quotes #iron flame #fantasy reads #rebecca yarros #the empyrean #violet sorrengail #romantasy

[iambic-stan]

last book read + last stethoscope used, part 19

The stethoscope: Prestige medical sprague in hunter.

The book: The second title in B.B. Alston's Supernatural Investigations series, Amari and the Great Game. This was So. Much. Fun. I know I'm way too old for this series but it doesn't matter. I don't know how many books Alston has planned, but it feels like reading Harry Potter all over again, minus the antisemitic tropes and racist names and, well, the author turning out to be openly and passionately transphobic. The first book got me interested in this world and the second made me want to lose myself in it for a time. And I love Amari as a brilliant, powerful protagonist who is also just a tween girl. I also really enjoy the strong bonds the characters share without the author pushing sex and romance onto them and just allowing them to be kids. But of course in the tradition of these kinds of fantasies, they are kids who are accomplishing what the adults around them cannot. Can't wait for book three.

#cardiophile #cardiophilia #stethoscopes #Prestige medical #B.B. Alston #Supernatural Investigations #Amari and the Great Game #YA reads #fantasy reads #last book last stethoscope #lbls

[thebookishmum]

Just finished reading ‘The Shadow of the Gods’ by John Gwynne with the @wellreadwyvern_bookclub with @wellreadwyvern

I absolutely loved this book. Dripping with Norse inspired mythology, dark, visceral and cinematic in it’s descriptions.

The book follow three point of views in a third person narrative, Orka, Elvar and Varg. The main characters are fleshed out and real, you can feel their emotions and all of their decisions make sense for the types of people they are. This is the first in the series and the three stories are separate for the most part but all help to show the world they are living in. Orka is my favourite point of view character to follow throughout, she is fierce, brave and more than she seems.

The world created in these pages is vivid and real, the characters feel alive. The magic and creatures are easy to imagine.

This book gets 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and I cannot wait to read ‘The Hunger of the Gods’

#bookworm #bookwyrm #booklr #book tumblr #fantasy reads #fantasy books #fantasybooklover #book review #fantasy book review #norse mythology #bookreader #dark fantasy

[lastseenleaving]

US vs UK covers

#fantasy books #fantasy reads #heather fawcett #emily wilde’s encyclopaedia of faeries #emily wilde's map of the otherlands #cover love #sff reads #sff books #sff fiction #fantasy recs #fantasy fiction #cozy fantasy

[the-modern-typewriter]

So, some of you lovely people may know I have a tradition of posting something new on my birthday each year. I am delighted to officially confirm that this year it will in fact be my book ^^

THE GOD KEY will be out on the 13.10.2022.

I can't write 'I am so excited!' without feeling like a cliché but...!!!

Pre-order links:

Amazon paperback and ebook: (UK) (US) (Canada) (France) (Spain) (Italy) (Germany) (India) (Japan) (Australia)- basically, anywhere you get Amazon!

Barnes & Noble paperback and ebook

Kobo ebook: (UK) (US) (Canada) (Australia) (India) (Worldwide store) - you can pick your country!

Google Play ebook

Blackwells paperback

It will be available all around the world, along with Google play.

You have the power to make everyone in the world a good person. All it costs is the love of your life. Which do you choose?

At university they were best friends and boyfriends – Gabriel, a charming telepath obsessed with saving the world; Isaac, a lonely magnifier who quadruples the superpowers of anyone he touches.

It’s happily ever after until Isaac fakes his death.

Five years later, a villain is bringing everyone’s worst nightmares to life and Gabriel learns that Isaac is still alive. Isaac, who he never stopped loving. Isaac, with his secrets and strange connection with their dreamweaver enemy. Isaac, who might yet be the key to everything that Gabriel ever wanted…

Whether he wants to be or not.

#The God Key #queer books #queer lit #fantasy #fantasy books #lgbtq #lgbtq books #lgbtq reads #fantasy reads #queer reads #m/m #superpowers #What's the TikTok hashtag for #friends-to-lovers to-fake death-to-mutually pining reluctant allies-to whatever the hell is going on now? #lol #Instagram #ebook

[eelifnazfirat]

Wylan van Eck is a fictional character from the best-selling fantasy duology Six of Crows and he is my favorite book character of all time. Wylan and I have a lot in common.

Starting with similarities, we have similar personalities. Firstly, we both have Ravenclaw as our Hogwarts house and in my opinion, we show the traits of a Ravenclaw. Wylan is smart, hardworking, considerate, nice, caring, curious, insecure, and reasonably shy although he is willing to fight anyone that hurts his loved ones. He only speaks when he is asked to but throughout the series, he becomes more confident and talkative as his teammates reassure him that he is wanted and loved. Before this year, I was also like that. When I settled in and found the right friends for me, I started to be more talkative and confident next to them as they made me feel like my opinions mattered and that they liked me. Me and Wylan also have a hard time believing that people love and need us so it meant a lot. Even as kids we tried to be easy as possible and not to cause any problems. We were scared and shy and these are traits we also projected to our teenager selves. We want everyone to aprove of us so over time we learned how to avoid negative judgement, beeing invisible and unnoticed. As a kid, we mastered how not to exist. Trying to not take attention as much as we can, hiding in corners hoping no one would come and talk to us. Over the time this caused people to see us as unimportant. That was what we wished for but that certainly did not feel good, trying to get validation from every single person while also not putting in the effort to commmunicate with them really turns you into a people pleaser. In the end when you try to start expressing how you feel and want to start existing you just don’t want to burden anyone. As stated in the books whith a quote; “Wylan summoned every bit of bravado he’d learned from Nina, the will he’d learned from Matthias, the focus he’d studied in Kaz, the courage he’d learned from Inej, and the wild, reckless hope he’d learned from Jesper, the belief that no matter the odds, somehow they would win. (...) In the end, he was not Nina or Matthias or Kaz or Inej or Jesper. He was just Wylan Van Eck. He told them everything.” (Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom page 501) These experiences caused self-esteem issues and anxiety in both of us and it will take a long time to fix. Secondly, we have the same interests. We are both "gifted" at art, interested in chemistry, and we both play the piano. Then, we have the same perspective towards life. We are both curious about the future and fascinated by simple experiences in life like going out alone and just inhaling the fresh air.. When we look at a structure It's complete form isn't what we see, we see its sketch and how it was constructed. We want to tear things apart and rebuild them to see how they work. And lastly, we both have a Kaz Brekker in our lives, the only difference is that my Kaz is @reyyanfromartemisia . :D

Continuing with differences, We have different appearances. Wylan has ginger curly hair with blue eyes and freckles while I have brown hair and brown eyes. Then, there is the fact that Wylan is dyslexic. That is an experience that I could never relate to or, describe what it feels like as most of his self-esteem issues are rooted from here and as reading and writing are a part of my favorite things to do. And lastly, obviously, I am not a chemist who makes bombs and other dangerous mixtures planning a dangerous heist to kidnap a world-famous scientist (not yet).

In conclusion, Wylan and I have a lot of similarities and differences We have similar personalities, interests, perspectives, and friends but we also have differences like appearance, some life experiences, and occupation. I really wish I could be him in another lifetime.

#six of crows #fantasy reads #leigh bargudo #jesper x wylan #wylan van eck #wylan van sunshine #inej ghafa #kanej #kaz brekker #jesper fahey #nina zenik #matthias helvar #wesper #helnik #crooked kingdom

[thelegacyofgreyleaf]

Stories from Kyoguild #1

The Falcon Takes Flight

By Eveline Brooks

***

As the young tiefling girl comes to, all she can hear is the ringing in her ear from the initial explosion, the cracking and popping of the engulfing flame around her. A glowing red light is all she can see as what was once her home is suddenly falling to ruin around her. The elegant spires and structures of this methodically constructed monastery, which once would bustle with life of all shapes and sizes, is fracturing as the wood that makes up the structures splinters and pops in the inferno.

Yavari looks around at her surroundings. Dazed, she is able to make out the blue glow of the gem at the end of her staff. Being on the ground, she crawls through the rubble and debris to her staff. Upon grabbing it, the gemstone projects three glowing orbs that emit a golden aura. A shadow can be seen, they are tall, muscular, and massive. A boar-kin maybe? No. A half-orc.

The orcish figure exclaims, “Raeburn! Over here!” Yavari dashes out of the collapsing building as it comes crashing down. Upon stepping out of the blaze, she falls to her knees. Before her body is pulled to the ground by gravity’s magnetic force, she is grabbed by her shoulders and is pulled to her feet.

“What were you thinking? You could have been killed.” He says.

“My apologies, Archdruid Torrig.” She mutters barely. “The children. The fire. It was too much. It was too far late by the time we arrived.” Yavari releases a sigh as she falls unconscious.

Torrig looks up, with his student cradled in his arms, to watch the building crumble. As he gazes at the support beams, he thinks of the times his tutor would bring him to this temple to practice druidcraft and the Druidic language. The walls and books marked only by Druidic sigils. Each one, more unique and intricate than the last. They all give off a powerful, mystical feeling that only those who draw power from nature itself can understand. “Who could do such a thing?” He says, and as Torrig reminisces on the times of old, lightning strikes.

As the flash fades quickly out of the darkened night sky which is lit by the surrounding flames. An arrow pierces the back of Torrig. He lets out a mighty roar through his jagged asymmetrical tusks. His roar booms throughout the monastery, even after he’s stopped it continues to echo off the enflamed walls.

Torrig falls to his knees as a hooded figure, slim and tall, steps closer and closer to his back. With one quick motion and a second strike of lightning, the assailant plunges a jagged dagger into the back of the Archdruid.

Once again, the mighty half-orc lets out a roar that echoes the surrounding forest. Now his thoughts go from his childhood and upbringing, to his son. Now realizing that if he were to give up, he would lose everything. He wouldn’t be able to raise his son.

Torrig picks up his mace and swings it faster than any creature should be allowed to swing a weapon of such mass. The hooded assailant’s legs get shot out from underneath them. Yavari’s unconscious body falls out of his arms and naturally rolls into a tall bed of flowers. The patch of flowers are tall enough to completely engulf her.

The assailant mutters, “so long” As a wave of purple and gold energy blast is released from his hand, sending Torrig flying into the side of the building. The assailant stands up and looks around. “Raeburn!” He draws a blood red sword. The blade, slightly curved back to slice through it’s prey. The sword emits a dark mystical aura, one that could never be natural. “Ya-vaa-riii!” He calls out. “Damn, she got away. Who knows, maybe the inferno consumed her.” As he begins to walk away, Yavari regains consciousness.

Before getting out of the flowers, Young Raeburn simply asks one word: “Torrig?”

The hooded figure turns around with haste, a magical wind lifts him by the cloak and drops him on the bed of flowers. He raises his cursed blade and slashes through the flowers. As the flowers begin to rapidly decay and fall, there is no sign of Yavari. The only living being left is a single Falcon flying away.

The Falcon flies enough away to land on a tree, she turns back into herself. And there she is, Young Yavari Raeburn. Having lost it all, she begins to simply cry. As she does, the leaves begin to close in around her. The leaves contain her in what could only be described as a cocoon. Occasionally, her cries can be heard around the tree. And there, she waits, for whoever wills to get her down and help her resolve the murder of her tutor and the destruction of her home. Yavari hasn’t given up before. She never loses hope. She never loses faith in the nature of the world. But now, she’s at least questioning it.

“What could I have possibly done?”

#fantasy reads #fantasy #dark fantasy #druid #short story #worldbuilding #the legacy of greyleaf #stories from kyoguild #yavari raeburn #archdruid torrig #kyoga greyleaf #fantasy writing #fantasy author #lgbtq authors #lgbtq author #creative writing #fantasy literature #trans author #trans authors

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

#booklr #book photography #book picture #current read #ordinary monsters #jm miro #bookworm #bibliophile #fantasy reads #historical fantasy #book community #book aesthetic #book lover #book nerd #bookish #my photos #mine