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Hey gang! Paternus, my new contemporary mythic fantasy novel, will finally be unleashed upon the world on May 1st. Weird, I know. For me, at least. AND, there’s a prerelease giveaway coming up on Goodreads that will run from this Friday, April 1 through the 14th. First editions, personalized, signed with tender loving care by yours truly. In other words, untouched by human hands. eBooks are on presale now on Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, etc. No presale for print, sorry. Amazon is like that.

PATERNUS

Gods, monsters, angels, devils. Call them what you like. They exist.

The mythical epic battles between titans, giants, and gods, heaven and hell, the forces of light and darkness. They happened.

And the war isn’t over.

17 year old Fi Patterson lives with her stuffy English uncle and has an internship at a local hospital for the aged. She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life, misses her dead mother, wonders about the father she never knew.

One bright spot is caring for Peter, a dementia-ridden old man whose faraway smile can make her whole day. And there’s her conflicted attraction to Zeke -- awkward, brilliant, talented -- who plays guitar for the old folks.

Then a group of very strange and frightening men show up for a “visit”...

Fi and Zeke’s worlds are shattered as their typical everyday concerns are suddenly replaced by the immediate need to stay alive -- and they try to come to grips with the unimaginable reality of the Firstborn.

“Keep an open mind. And forget everything you know...”

What readers are saying (for real, I didn’t make this shit up):

“What if myths were real? Which is like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson, but this takes it a whole lot further. Think your favorite Teen and YA fantasy adventures, but for grown-ups. I loved it!”

“A deep and believable world with compelling characters. Funny, snarky and exciting. A really fun read.”

“Bold epic fantasy that takes myths, science, and legends, and creates an original cosmology that spills into the present day with action and surprises left and right. Fantastic.”

“Excellent storytelling. Imaginative and captivating.”

“Paternus is a bold epic fantasy in the mythic tradition of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, with graphic novel pacing and colorful ensemble reminiscent of Alan Moore's The Watchmen and the grand scope and narrative momentum of Grant Morrison's graphic novel Seven Soldiers of Victory. It evokes the same sense of wonder as C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, but for a more sophisticated reader of fantasy (and without the Christian allegory). Fans of the above, as well as those who loved J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter but grew up, will welcome this addition to the ranks of contemporary epic fantasy.”

“Get ready to have everything you thought about mythological beings and monsters turned on its head. Not only are those tales based on true events but those events have now spilled over into the present day. This imaginative story plunges its young protagonists headlong into a titanic struggle between good and evil that shatters everything they thought they knew about their families, their world and even themselves. Ashton pulls you in and takes you on a wild ride through an alternate reality that normally exists just beneath surface of the modern world but is about to erupt and threaten our very existence. The re-interpretation of myths is original in style and approach. The level of detailed research and linking in of historical tidbits in inventive new ways are evocative of The DaVinci Code’s Dan Brown’s twists on religious cults and secret societies, and together with references to a wide range of myths and legends, give the story a great depth that helps suck the reader in. I read a lot of this kind of thing, and thought Paternus was excellent. Ashton does a great job developing the characters, the villains are great, the overall writing style flows easily, and the writing on the action pieces is exceptional. I can’t wait to see how the story unfolds in the next book.”

Genre: Contemporary mythic fantasy adventure. Mythic fiction.

Market: New Adult to Adult (as opposed to Teen or YA, though savvy 16 or 17 year olds might survive without permanent damage).

More info on the Paternus Books Media website.

Thanks all. Have a fantastic day. And go give my book a “want to read” on Goodreads or preorder it or do something else positive and wonderful that would make my day. If you feel like it. Or not.

Sincerely,

The Management

Some of my favorite books available on Kindle Unlimited:

They Mostly Come Out At Night and Where the Waters Turn Black by Benedict Patrick

Paternus by Dyrk Ashton

Danse Macabre by Laura M. Hughes

The Half Killed by Quenby Olson

A Star Reckoners Lot by Darrell Drake

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe

Jaeth's Eye by K. S. Villoso


Here are some that I haven't read, but have heard mostly positive things about:

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes

Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan

Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher

A Warrior's Path by Davis Ashura

Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher

Faithless by Graham Austin-King. He also has another series, The Riven Wyrde Saga, beginning with Fae - The Wild Hunt

Ours is the Storm by D. Thourson Palmer

Path of Man by Matt Moss

Threat of Madness by D.K. Holmberg

To Whatever End by Claire Frank

House of Blades by Will Wight

Path of Flames by Phil Tucker

The Woven Ring by M. D. Presley

Awaken Online: Catharsis by Travis Bagwell

Wolf of the North by Duncan M. Hamilton

Free the Darkness by Kel Kade

The Cycle of Arawn Trilogy by Edward W. Robinson

Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw

Benjamim Ashwood by AC Cobble

The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson

The Queens Poinsoner by Jeff Wheeler

Stiger's Tigers by Marc Alan Edelheit 

Rise of the Ranger by Philip C. Quaintrell 

Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

Devil's Night Dawning by Damien Black


Here are some older fantasy and sci-fi books that I enjoyed:

Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany - African inspired S&S by an extremely talented writer.

Witch World as well as other good books by Andre Norton

Swords and Deviltry The first volume of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber - Many of the tropes of the rogue/thief came from this legendary duo created by Leiber. And it's worth noting that Leiber actually coined the term Sword & Sorcery. This collection contains 3 stories, two average origin stories for each character and the final story is the Hugo and Nebula winning novella "Ill Met in Lankhmar" detailing the first meeting of Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser.

Swords Against Darkness - A '70s S&S anthology. It has few stinkers, a few mediocre stories, and a some really good ones. Poul Anderson and Ramsey Campbell both have awesome stories in this anthology that are well worth checking out. For some reason, there were quite a few typos in this book, it was slightly distracting, but may have been fixed since I read it.

The Best of C. L. Moore by C. L. Moore. I read this earlier this year and I absolutely loved it. The collection is all sci-fi and one Jirel of Joiry story, which is her famous female Sword & Sorcery character. I was suprised by how well her sci-fi stories held up, often times pulp sci-fi doesn't age well, but this collection was great. Moore was married to the writer Henry Kuttner, and up until his death they wrote a bunch of great stories together. Both of their collections are basically collaborations, although I'm sure a few stories were done solo. His collection The Best of Henry Kuttner features the short story that the movie The Last Mimzy was based on. And, if you are into the original Twilight Zone TV series there is a story that was adapted into a memorable season 1 episode entitled "What You Need". Kuttner and Moore are two of my favorite pulp authors and I'm not even that into science fiction, but I really enjoy their work.

> There are limits to my system. There are differemt types of magic and all magic users are only able to use one of these types. There are different strengths of magic users across those types, but I am not yet sure how they become stronger. My gut feeling is not to overcomplicate this, and to keep it so that, like almost anything in life, the more you do something the better you become at it. And equally, some are simply more talented at things than others. So it should be with magic (at least IMO).

This is a common way to handle magical growth. You may want to consider things like how quickly people improve, if learning specific branches of magic limits your ability to grow in others, if people have varying maximum capacities, etc.

> Where it becomes more complicated is setting boundaries on what they can and cannot do. For example, if someone can cast a fire spell to start a fire, can they burn an entire city down too? My gut feeling is no. At the very least, if someone did this, they should 1) be an extremely advanced and powerful magic user 2) almost certainly die in the process. To me that means magic has a cost, it consumes energy, and the user must recover sufficiently, proportional to the level of magic they have used.

All of that makes sense. You may also want to consider how common it is to reach that level of mastery - how many people in the world would you want at the level of power where they can demolish a city?

Also, how does spell casting work? What's the methodology? (e.g. hand gestures, verbal incantations, mentally channeling energy, etc.)

If there are multiple different methods, you can map them to advantages and disadvantages or different cultures (e.g. group A uses incantations, group B has silent but weaker spells, etc.)

> Then there's the issue of learning new spells. I'm not sure how you all feel about this, but for a moment, let's use video games as an example. Let's take Skyrim, for example, in which you learn new spells by reading scrolls. Personally I am not sure a system like this could work in a fantasy novel because it is vague. On the other hand, I do like the way 'shouts' are learned in Skyrim, which involves your character reading ancient runes, learning how to say a magical word, them speaking it to carry out the spell.

This maps back to "how are spells cast?"

If every spell requires saying a specific incantation, for example, then learning from a scroll makes sense - someone wrote down the words on the scroll, and you read it to memorize the words. Can't remember the words? Better hold onto the scroll, then. Might even just read straight off of it.

If spells use pre-constructed incantations, however, you may want to think about why they need pre-constructed incantations. Is there an external entity that monitors the world and produces spell effects when specific words are spoken in sequence? Is there something dormant in the human body that is activated by key words? How are new spells discovered? Are there specific common terms that can be combined in order to construct new spells?

Example: I know "eth" means fire, "zon" means ball, "ver" means throw", "seris" means storm, and "tha" means lightning. I have an existing fireball spell, "eth-ver-zon", and "tha-seris" is lightning storm. Can I experiment to attempt to make "eth-ver-zon" for lightning ball and "eth-seris" for fire storm, or do only pre-constructed combinations work?

> Each game has a slightly different system. In FF7, magic had to be 'equiped' through using materia, which I don't think could work for a novel, as you would constantly have to provide boring explanations of how your characters changed their 'equipmemt'.

There are plenty of item or equipment-based magic systems out there. Typically, rather than having characters repeatedly changing their gear on the spot like in FF7, you'd have characters with limited sets of equipment that might get new pieces throughout the story at points that are plot significant. Some degree of equipment-based progression is extremely common in the LitRPG subgenre (which you may want to check out if you're looking to work on something with Final Fantasy inspiration).

Mistborn is an example of a more typical epic fantasy novel where consumable items are used for specific magic powers.

One of my main characters in Sufficiently Advanced Magic is almost entirely dependent on magical items for his abilities, so that's another example.

> FF9 has a slightly better system in that characters buy, equip and use new weapons which teach them new abilities. I like this better, but again, you would have the same old dull explanations or equipping, learning and using abilities.

Whether or not this is dull is really up to the writer and the audience. Again, I'll point you at the LitRPG genre, which flourishes on good execution of progression systems. If you're not familiar with the genre at all, I'd recommend Sword of the Bright Lady if you want something that feels mostly like a standard fantasy novel with minor RPG elements, or Ascend Online if you want something even more mechanics driven.

> FF12 has you simply buying new magical spells and bang, done.

From a story standpoint, buying the spell has to translate into something the character actually receives. Is it information? A magic crystal that they absorb to gain a new ability? A new tattoo that gives them access to a new power?

> None of these options really work for any medium other than video games (or do they?).

This comes down to execution; any of these could work in a novel, you'd just have to figure out how to apply them.

> So how do I get around the issue of my characters progressing, becoming stronger amd developing their abilities without having some clunky, boring explanation of a 'system' that shows how characters have grown?

Write a system that isn't clunky or boring. Tie it into the setting and the plot as organically as possible. You can build real stakes into the story based on progression, the costs of magic, and the limitations of magic.

There will always be a subjective component to how much system development is too much, and whether or not a specific style works for any given reader. Take a look at the reviews on something like Mistborn sometime on Amazon or Goodreads. Some people love the level of detail, some people hate it. That's a microcosm of the kind of discussion you'll see about any fantasy novel.

I kind of got a bunch of books at once, but they are all within a series, so I'll combine them.

The Raven's Shadow books (Blood Song and The Tower Lord) by Anthony Ryan are my most recent read. I read them back to back in less than a very busy month. It's the fastest I've read a book in a long time. I love the other books I've read recently, but these books have truly been the highlight of my 2014 reading list.

Why did I read it? It seemed to be the top of the underrated fantasy list and seems to be quickly growing to the respectable position it deserves as an incredible series.

The Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence. The more I think on them, the more I like them. I wish I had spaced them out a bit, as reading them back to back was a bit much. It's not that there's something wrong with the books, it's just that I think they are best read not-one-after-the-other (sorry, that's wordy, I know). These were really good, well worth the read.

Why did I read it? As a writer ('aspiring,' is perhaps more honest as I have yet to complete anything publishable save one short story), I wanted a story where I rooted for the bad guy. I also wanted to support Mark Lawrence because he frequents /r/fantasy and /r/fantasywriters and I wanted to give back by buying his books. In giving back, I received three really great reads.

Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice is currently being read. I'm a chapter in, so I can't say much about it. I'm intrigued and the prose is impressive, so I look forward to getting into this one. The covers are truly atrocious, so this is a trial in me not judging a book by its cover. Like I said, it's off to a very good start.

Why did I buy it? I saw an interview of her with GRRM, and she seems to have a more-than-good reputation around here. Figured it was high time I give it a shot.

• Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson: I think this might be literally the only book I've ever pre-ordered, and it actually managed to exceed expectations. I was already a big Sanderson fan, but this is probably his best book yet.
  
  
• The Sarantine Mosaic, by Guy Gavriel Kay: Ok, so I hadn't read anything of his before this year, and most of his books could qualify for this list. But I only wanted to do one per author. The portrait he paints of the city and its empire is absolutely fascinating. Loved the characters, loved the setting, and some of the plot twists really caught me by surprise. (though to some extent, that might be because I was familiar with the history this was loosely based on, so departures were a bigger shock to me than they might otherwise have been).
  
  
• Pact, by Wildbow: Its predecessor, Worm, was one of the best things I read in 2013, so I came into this with high expectations. And for the most part, it meets them with flying colors. Especially impressive, since its dark supernatural fantasy strikes a really different tone than Worm's world spanning superhero tale. Pact does an especially good job exploring the idea of identity, and what it means to be human. It's dark, magical, and spooky in all the right ways, with a couple of absolutely great villains. Also, it's free, so go read it here. Like, right now.
  
  
• Twinborn Trilogy, by J S Morin: Flat out one of the most fun reads for me this year. A really neat concept, explored wonderfully. The first book is free on amazon.

I'll add some of my favorites that you didn't mention. They are mostly Superhero, because that's what got me into self published authors that are frequently on KU.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. Great sci fi with plenty of humor and nerdy pop culture references, but also a fare share of danger and adventure. KU has all 3 books in the Bobiverse.

Sensation: A Superhero Novel by Kevin Hardman. This is a YA Super Hero novel, and is the first of 7 along with a couple spinoffs and short stories. The author also has a sci fi series and a fantasy series, but I haven't read them yet. I'm pretty sure all of his books are on KU.

Into the Labyrinth by John Bierce. This is the Mage Errant series. The 3rd book just came out, and there is a post here by the author. This is a book centered on a magical school, and it has a very good and detailed hard magic system.

Fid's Crusade by David Reiss. This is a Super Villain novel, and is darker than a lot of superhero books out there. There are currently 3 books in the Chronicles of Fid. I've only read the first one but I really liked it, and I even bought it when it was on sale so I could go back and read it again sometime instead of relying on it being on KU forever.

Arsenal by Jeffery H. Haskell. Another Super Hero novel, this one is probably in between the other two I mentioned in terms of tone, being darker than Kid Sensasion, but lighter than Fid. The protagonist is disabled and in a wheel chair, but made an awesome suit of armor to become a hero. There are 8 books in the series, and there is another series set in the same world with the 4th book coming at the end of the month. All of them are on KU.

Try The Riyria Revelation by Michael J Sullivan. Great, fast paced series with two of the best protagonists in fantasy. Starts a bit trope-y, and some of the tropes don't go away, but he has a way of turning many on their heads, and taking others and doing them really, really well. The first book is fun, but as the series progresses it gets better and better and the scope goes from small scale to worldwide in a very natural way. And the series is considerably shorter than something like WoT, not taking forever to get going.

Also, The Emperor's Edge books by Lindsay Buroker are absolutely delightful. Another quick, not crazy deep series, but with wonderful characters that feel like real people. Seriously, it's almost impossible not to fall a little in love with the main character as the series progresses. Fun action, witty dialogue, etc...They're great. Also, the first book in the series is free on Amazon.

Hm, here are some recommendations of my favorite Dark/Gritty Fantasies that immediately come to mind:

Joe Abercrombie is one of my favorite new authors, his books are incredibly gritty dark and original, but the characters are simply amazing. The best starting place is The Blade Itself, but you can read his two other books that aren't part of the trilogy and can be read without losing too much, though they are in the same world and there's more to like about it if you already read the First Law Trilogy. Out of his two stand alone books I'd recommend Best Served Cold which is a Fantasy revenge story in the vain of Kill Bill.

One really good book I read recently is Daniel Polansky's Low Town which is a really cool gritty noir fantasy novel. Where the main character is a former detective for a Fantasy city, but at the beginning of the book he's a drug dealer. Then when murders start to occur, he gets drawn back into the politics of the city, resulting in a great story and multiple plot twists and revelations.

One of my favorites books I've read recently has to be Brent Week's Black Prism. It has some really unique world building, where the magic powers are based on light/colors, and the different magic users have different really unique powers based on their color wavelength. His previous work, the Night Angel Trilogy is also great and it's a little more gritty, with the main character being an assassin.

Next I'll go a little indie here, with the author Jon Sprunk's Shadow's Sun. It features an assassin with slight magical powers and the conscience of a beautiful invisible woman (a real imaginary friend) that is always following him around. There's a lot of things to like in this book, even if they are a little shallow.

Two books from different authors (both of which I really loved) that have kind of similar settings featuring thieves running amok in the underbellies of fantasy cities with a decent amount of grit (without being too dark) are The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and Doug Hulick's Among Thieves.

There's also Ari Marmell's [The Conqueror's Shadow] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Conquerors-Shadow-Ari-Marmell/dp/0553593153/ref=la_B001JSDH98_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1340785404&sr=1-20), the main character is a former evil warlord who gave it all up to live a mundane life with a woman he kidnapped. He then has to put back on his fear inducing armor, when someone else is out in the world impersonating him. There is no evil force in this book, and there's a lot of interesting stuff here, the guy actually has a demonic amulet as a partner that provides him with magical abilities, and the demon is hilarious.

The next series isn't too gritty but it's awesome, so I'd still recommend the author Michael Sullivan, a DIY author that was so successful Orbit picked up his 6 book series to release as three larger books (he's also done some great AMA's on Reddit), the first of which is Theft of Swords. The characters in his book are absolutely superb. It's about these two master thieves that are brought into the conspiracy that they wanted no part of, but will see it to the end no matter what the cost.

Robin Hobb technically isn't real gritty, but she is one of my favorite authors, and in her books serious and horrible things can happen to the characters at times, but the endings of some of her trilogies are some of my favorite endings I've ever read. You could start with her first book about the bastard son of a king (that can bond with animals) being trained as an assassin, Assassin's Apprentice, or my favorite trilogy of her's set in the same universe but a different continent, Ship of Magic that has some awesome pirate settings, talking ships, and dragons. I also love one of her other trilogies set in a different universe than the rest of her books, Shaman's Crossing, the first book has kind of a Harry Potter-esque academy setting without the magic, and the rest of the trilogy gets into some really interesting stuff that's too weird to attempt to explain.


I think that's all I got, and you wouldn't go wrong reading any of these books, all of the pages I linked to are the book's Amazon page, so you can read further descriptions that I'm sure are better than mine. :)

The Outlaw King Volume 1 and 2 Boxset

4.2/4.8 out of 5 stars, 174 reviews total
The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree and Law of the Wolf, $3.99 for two books at almost 1000 pages. Two-for-one deal!

After coming home from a stint in Afghanistan, veteran Ross Brigham learns that his father has passed away. Dearly departed Dad was a famous fantasy novelist, and the 300 fans that show up for the funeral demand that Ross finish E. R. Brigham's long-running magnum opus.

Ross and two of the author's devotees investigate his untimely death and discover that he might have been murdered...and the time-bending gunslingers of Dad's steampunk novels might be real.

As they try to acclimate to the arid deserts of the author's fantasy world, the three damaged heroes become pawns in a war for humanity's survival. The Muses have grown tired of immortality and now incite atrocities on Earth, trying to lure down a leviathan from the stars.

Can Ross and his new friends stop the scheming satyrs before both worlds are eaten?

Inspired by such old-school fantasy classics as Stephen King's The Dark Tower, C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Volume 3, Ten Thousand Devils, is currently at 240,000 words and almost finished!

----

A. D. Howe, Amazon reviewer - "No mere Wild Wild West (With Magic!) steampunk pastiche, Hunt's world(s) with their immortal muses, lean and scarred gunslingers, come with a well-developed origin story and fearlessly metatextual delving into the stuff of storymaking itself."

Dan Schwent, #6 GoodReads reviewer - "While the Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree may have been inspired by the Dark Tower in some degrees, like Stephen King being a character in the later books and the fact that there are Gunslingers running around, it stands on its own. It actually reminds me more of the second half of Lev Grossman's The Magicians, where Quentin finds out that the Narnia-analog Fillory is real. My fears about the writing were unfounded. There were some hiccups but it was head and shoulders above most self-published books I've ever read. I loved references to the Dark Tower, the Simpsons, and lots of 80's fantasy and sf movies. When's the next one coming out, Hunt?"

Monica Woodall, Dark Tower group mod - "There's some books that completely sweep you away from the real world and this was one of them. I couldn't put it down and I constantly schemed to make time to come back to it."

Andrew Turner, Amazon reviewer - "I want to give a BIG thank you to S.A. Hunt for writing such an epic story. I originally found this book on BookBub, because it was free and I was looking to do a little reading that didn't cost me anything. How was I to know that I would be giving my heart to Ross, Sawyer, and Noreen? And loosing my imagination in the world of Destin? This is by far the best fantasy book I have read since Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I liked it so much that I immediately picked up the second book in the series for my Kindle. If you love fantasy, you will love this book."

1. The Path of Flames by Phil Tucker (70)
   
   It's in this year's SPFBO and Pornokitch gave it such a great review that I had to pick it up right away. IMO it's the real deal and might be the next Blood Song. Go read the kindle sample already.
   
   
2. Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier (534)
   
   This is just a really good dark fantasy series that no one ever talks about.
   
   
3. The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells (3,415)
   
   One of the very few fantasy books that not only doesn't have human protagonists, but the world doesn't even have 'standard' humans. Well worth trying out
   
   
4. The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe (960)
   
   The Heir of Night is a strong first book that manages to tread the line between young adult and "adult fantasy" really well. The second and third books in the series just get even stronger.
   
   
5. Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard (795)
   
   How many books do you read about an Aztec priest forced to solve a mysterious death? Unless you've read this series, not enough.
   
   
6. The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids by Michael McClung (447)
   
   This book won last year's SPFBO and out of the books I read in that competition, it was easily my favorite. Sadly it's no longer free, but even for $6, it's a complete bargain.
   
   
7. Company Town by Madeline Ashby (445)
   
   This is a book filled with strong characters and an engaging plot. It didn't really stick the ending, but I still enjoyed it.
   
   
8. Mage's Blood by David Hair (1,893)
   
   This series starts out feeling built on two stereotypical societies, but the author does a really good job of making things more complicated than they first appear and including a really rousing story. All four books of the series are now out and they're completely worth your time.
   
   
9. Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley Beaulieu (1,121)
   
   Maybe the only book on my list that will actually make it big, despite 12 Kings being recently published, it was just too strong a book to not to include on my list.
   
   
10. Heaven's Needle by Liane Merciel (105)
    
    It's the second book in the series and while the first book was good, Heaven's Needle just hits it out of the park.

I love this thread idea, though I feel like it's already mostly covered by the "What did you read this month?" thread. Still, far be it from me to not shove my preferences in everyones face.

Anything Lindsay Buroker puts out. Most known for her Emperor's Edge books. First one is free, just try it. Steampunk, bit of romance, fun cast of characters. It's nothing revolutionary, honestly, but I just have so much fun reading her stuff and I can't even tell you why. I'm just an absolute addict and she provides the crack in a timely manner. You think Sanderson writes like a machine? This woman must have self-triplicated somewhere along the line. 5+ books a year.

Next up would be J.S. Morin's Twinborn books. It's not exactly unknown on here, but it still needs a mention. Two series, one building on the other. Excellent work-building, cool characters, can't wait for what the author does next. It's mostly traditional Fantasy as you can get, but featuring Pirates, Magic, Empires, Demi-Gods and as of the 2nd series Steampunk, bit of SF and Transhumanism. Excellent stuff.

I also greatly enjoyed the short, fun read that was Larkspur. Not unknown on here either as the author frequents /r/fantasy relatively often, but still. MORE DAMN YOU!

Also, [Fae - The Wild Hunt] (http://www.amazon.com/Fae-Wild-Hunt-Riven-Wyrde-ebook/dp/B00IWOW2Y8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417986097&sr=1-1&keywords=graham+austin+king) by Graham Austin-King. He has a promo thread for the 2nd volume up on here right now anyway, but who cares? I loved the first book. Dark fairy-tale, novel approach to multiple POV story-telling. Can't wait for tomorrow. (2nd book release)

Lastly, [Book of Deacon] (http://www.amazon.com/Book-Deacon-ebook/dp/B0036FTF4S/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417986518&sr=1-1&keywords=book+of+deacon) by Joseph R. Lallo. Counting by the Amazon reviews it isn't exactly obscure, but I never saw it mentioned on here. Quite traditional "chosen one, save the world" Fantasy, but what makes this series is the diverse cast. There's a human magician and there's a fox and a dragon and... I'll just shut up now. Traditional in many ways, not so much in others.

Overall, really enjoyed it. Copy-paste from my review in the "What did you read in October?" thread:

> I enjoyed them a lot, although not quite as much the the first Twinborn trilogy. The plotting is interesting, because you're never quite sure where things are going to go next. It's a story that feels grown rather than constructed, where the author took a bunch of characters and circumstances, dropped in newly-discovered world portal technology, and then just explored the repercussions. A lot of it works really well, and it's fun to see all the creative things steampunk tinkers and magicians can do with a portal capable of connecting arbitrary points across three different worlds... especially when most of the main characters live in two of those worlds at once. It makes for a really fun read. That said, the ending felt a little rushed: all the conflicts and crises that had been steadily (and alarmingly) escalating over the course of the series were wrapped up, perhaps, a bit too quickly to be as believable as their growth.

> It's a story I'm happy to recommend, and if you enjoyed the Twinborn books you'll like these ones too. However, although the first book is fairly independent of the previous series the remaining three end up tying pretty closely to it. I would definitely recommend reading Twinborn first, then Mad Tinker Chronicles. You'll probably get pretty lost otherwise.

And for those of you who haven't tried any of J.S. Morin's books... The first one really is free. Go get it.

A Star-Reckoner's Legacy —
Fates Sealed in Death

Puns and incest and character-driven fantasy inspired by ancient Iran, Mushishi, Pratchett, and The Witcher.

— SPFBO Semi-Finalist
— Voted an r/Fantasy 2017 Underread/Underrated Novel
— #5 on The Fantasy Inn’s Best Reads of 2017
— #6 on Weatherwax Report’s Top 10 Indies of 2017
— Tome & Tankard’s Best Reads of 2017
---
BINGO SQUARES

A Star-Reckoner's Lot

• Novel that was Reviewed on /r/Fantasy
  
• Novel Featuring a Non-Western Setting
  
• Self-Published Novel
  
• Subgenre: Historical Fantasy OR Alternate History (Hard Mode)
  
• Novel with Fewer than 2500 Goodreads Ratings (Hard Mode)
  
• Novel Featuring a God as a Character
  
• Novel by a RRAWR Author OR Keeping Up With the Classics
  
• (Note: I need to ask if this counts as Stand Alone, since it technically is.)
  
  An Ill-Fated Sky
  
  
• Novel that was Reviewed on /r/Fantasy
  
• Novel Published in 2018
  
• Novel Featuring a Non-Western Setting
  
• Self-Published Novel (Hard Mode)
  
• Subgenre: Historical Fantasy OR Alternate History (Hard Mode)
  
• Novel with Fewer than 2500 Goodreads Ratings (Hard Mode)
  
• Novel by a RRAWR Author OR Keeping Up With the Classics
  
• Novel Featuring a Mountain Setting

Oh shit, my friend are you missing out. There is an explosion of Chinese/Korean/Japanese fantasy works being translated that you can freely read online. The writing isn't always superb, but they are all immensely entertaining.

Come on down to:

https://www.reddit.com/r/noveltranslations/

Some suggestions:

These are classics, super long, and finished both being written and translated.

Coiling Dragon

Desolate Era

World of Cultivation

I Shall Seal the Heavens

This one uses western themes but in a more chinese-fantasy-style:

Warlock of the Magus World

There are a number of unfinished ones you might like as well. My favorite is The Way of Choices. It is written in a more classical and literary style. One of the better written ones definitely.

The Way of Choices

For the next one, the initial premise is weird here, a person is reincarnated, and then given a second chance at their new life groundhog-style, but I like it.

The Records of the Human Emperor

Martial World

Will Wight has a series that mimics the style of Chinese fantasy novels. You might like it.

The Unsouled

There is a whole huge world of this material being written and translated out there. More than you could read and stay ahead of really.

These type of novels are usually called Wuxia or Xiancia novels depending on whether they center in on martial arts (the former), or more fantasy elements (the latter).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xianxia_novel

https://forum.wuxiaworld.com/discussion/7616/difference-between-xianxia-wuxia-novels

I'm not sure what you like, but I have some suggestions:

S. A. Hunt's The Whirlwind in the Thorntree is pretty fantastic. It's perma-free on Amazon and is the first in The Outlaw King series. I'm reading the second book now. Sam also happens to be a really nice guy and a fantastic cover designer (check out his website if you have a chance). The Outlaw King series is supposed to be an homage to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, but I haven't read it so I'm not sure how similar it is. I read it as incredibly creative, a little dark but not grimdark, and very addicting.

And I also write fantasy - my Erdemen Honor series is epic fantasy lite (no magic, just a different world). It's also more character-driven and written on a smaller scale than a lot of epic fantasy... it's epic in tone, but not scale, if that makes sense. That series starts with The King's Sword. I also have a dark, urban, Christian fantasy series in progress called A Long-Forgotten Song. Only the first book, Things Unseen, is out now, but the second will be out this fall.

The links go to Amazon, but my books are available at other online stores and I think Sam's are too. Also, I enabled DRM on Amazon when I published, but now I think DRM is just an annoyance. So if you want a DRM-free copy, just let me know.

The buzz is building as They Mostly Come Out At Night launches - it has been selected as one of the top 30 covers in Mark Lawrence's SPFBO, and a recent advance reviewer on Goodreads wrote: "They Mostly Come Out At Night is every dark fantasy reader's dream."

The book was released on Thursday, and is currently at the reduced price of 99 cents (99p in the UK). Here's the product description:

He locked himself away from the dark, but in the Magpie King’s forest nowhere is safe…

Lonan is an outcast, accused of letting the monsters that stalk the night into the homes of his fellow villagers. Now, he will not rest until he wins back the heart of his childhood love and reclaims the life that was stolen from him. However, locked safely in his cellar at night, in his dreams Lonan finds himself looking through the eyes of a young prince…

Adahy has a destiny, and it terrifies him. How can he hope to live up to the legend of the Magpie King, to become the supernatural protector of the forest and defender of his people? But when the forest is invaded by an inhuman force, Adahy must rise to this challenge or let the Wolves destroy his people.

Watching these events unfold in his sleep, Lonan must do what he can to protect his village from this new threat. He is the only person who can keep his loved ones from being stolen away after dark, and to do so he will have to earn back their trust or watch the monsters kill everyone that he holds dear.

[Amazon.com page] (http://www.amazon.com/They-Mostly-Come-Out-Night-ebook/dp/B01DL8S8F6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459363122&sr=8-2&keywords=they+mostly)

[Amazon.co.uk page] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/They-Mostly-Come-Out-Night-ebook/dp/B01DL8S8F6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459363505&sr=8-1&keywords=they+mostly)

I'm redonkulously excited right now - would love to hear any feedback from people about what's out there so far. I'm also /r/Fantasy's Author of the Day on Monday, so would love to chat with you guys then!

I only read one fantasy book this month:

The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree by /u/AuthorSAHunt was pretty enjoyable! It was obviously inspired by Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" Series, but it stood really well as its own story. I was really happy with it overall, but because of my own schedule, I didn't have a lot of time to read it, so it took me a long time. That combined with the slow pace at the beginning meant that it took some time for me to really get into it. The last third of the book really picked everything up, but the ending felt a little more like a chapter ending than a book ending - not a ton of closure, but a nice hook to keep on reading.

I'll definitely read the second book soon. Right now I'm finishing a small non-fantasy tour (finishing up with The Winter of Our Discontent) and so it may end up being a December or January book.

I encourage everyone to check it out! The first two books are free on Amazon!

I'd recommend giving Will Wight a try. His stuff reminds me of early Sanderson. It's definitely not very polished yet, but it's innovative, you can see his improvement as a writer, and he's trying new things. His first series is called Traveler's Gate; it's a really fun read. First book is available here.

He's currently working on two parallel series set in a different world with dueling protagonists. It's interesting because they just ooze potential- they're good books right now, but while reading them you can just tell that he's going to be huge within the next 10 years.

I can't believe I'm the first person to suggest this, but you probably want Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe. The kid is not an overly powerful mage, but has to traverse the tower of death traps using his wits and clever ways no one has thought of before with his magic. Feel is sort of a D&D campaign/ dungeon crawl but with LitRPG overtones and protagonist who might just be on the spectrum.

Will Wight's Cradle series is a more Asian inspired take on magic with the protag again being considered deficient magically and having to think his way around the situations in unconventional ways to gain strength. Even by the middle of the third book, he's still not brimming with power.

Brent Week's Lightbringerhas some VERY powerful characters in it (in fact one of the POVs is the most powerful man alive), but one of the POVs is a kid just getting his feet under him. Good series, but probably the least similar to what you're asking for here.

Here's some I can recommend:

House of Blades by Will Wight, narrated by Will Wight.

If you're a fan of Sanderson's magic systems or fight sequences, you might like this a lot. It's fast-paced, fun, and turns a few tropes around. I didn't listen to this on audio, but I just checked out the sample and it sounds like the author did a pretty good job narrating himself. The ebook is currently free on Amazon! So if you get the ebook for free, the audiobook should be $2 on Audible.



Forging Divinity by Andrew Rowe, narrated by Nick Podehl.

This is another book similar to Sanderson's style of hard magic systems. (Interestingly enough, Rowe is a huge fan of Will Wight and a regular member of this subreddit). The book is narrated by the same narrator who did the Kingkiller series! Also, this is the first book in what will likely be an extraordinarily epic series, with a magic school spinoff book due to release later this year.



Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan, narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds.

This book is and isn't indie/self-published, so I'm not sure if this fits what you are looking for. Sullivan originally self-published this series, and it was later picked up for traditional publication. This is the omnibus containing the first two books (both of which were self-published originally). Both the book and narration are very good, though.

***

A Warrior's Path** by Davis Ashura, narrated by Nick Podehl.

This has a society with a strict caste system, where each caste has their own magical abilities. The story follows a warrior who has to learn to reexamine this caste system and the politics of the warrior's home city. Also, there's a magical god-demon that can control hordes of evil minions.

Well since you've read the Night Angel Trilogy you should definately read Brent Weeks next book 'The Black Prism'. I Absolutely loved it! Its the first book in the Lightbringer Series, only catch is he's only written one so far.
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Prism-Lightbringer-Brent-Weeks/dp/0316068136/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Another awesome series is Peter Bretts Demon Cycle series, check out book 1 'The Warded Man' again awesome read.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Warded-Man-Peter-Brett/dp/0345518705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331693550&sr=8-1

And lastly since
both the series ive suggested so far are incomplete thought id at least suggest a completed trilogy for you to check out, Joe Abercrombie's First Law series are an excellent read as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-Law-Book/dp/159102594X/ref=pd_sim_b_5

hope that helps

I'm gonna stretch the rules and include some comics on this list:

1. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Perfect in tone, pacing, characters, exposition and humour.
   
   
2. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. One of the greatest sci-fantasy epics of all time.
   
   
3. The Outlaw King by S.A. Hunt. More sci-fantasy, but with the sort of trippy, psychological, anything-goes attitude that elevates it above most of the genre.
   
   
4. Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis. Exceptional political satire contained inside in a painfully real near-future scifi wrapper. Ellis's best work, IMO.
   
   
5. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan. Yeah, I have a soft spot for sci-fantasy, but this comic series is all about the characters, and every one of them is pure gold. Exceptional writing, great art, compelling storytelling. The complete package.

I completely understand. Some characters rub me the wrong way as well! Thanks for giving my work a try. And I'd encourage you to keep giving indie writers opportunities. There are some great works out there. I'd recommend Phil Tucker's The Path of Flames, Timandra Whitecastel's Touch of Iron, and Benedict Patrick's They Only Come Out at Night.

I'm so thrilled you enjoyed The Raveling! Makes me happy. The third book was just released, if you hadn't seen that yet.


Have you read The Aching God? I think it's a really terrific book. I've heard good things about the Rhenwar Saga. I also loved Paternus, though that might be classed as urban fantasy.


https://www.amazon.com/Aching-God-Iconoclasts-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07C9DBKB6


https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Rhenwars-Saga-Fantasy-Pentalogy-ebook/dp/B07KLXCH5X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rhenwars&qid=1575089953&s=digital-text&sr=1-1


https://www.amazon.com/Paternus-Rise-Gods-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01CXPD8T4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=paternus&qid=1575089982&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

It's been stated already, but it depends on if you're indie or trad.

In traditional publishing, it largely depends on your contract. Josiah Bancroft, for example, appears to have made the retaining of his original cover a clause in his contract for Senlin Ascends, while in cases like Jonathan French's The Grey Bastards, you have a publisher redoing a cover despite them having a fantastic cover in the first place. Ever deal is different, and the demands and desires of ever house/author/agent may be different.

It's one of the major advantages of self-publishing, especially if you have an eye of art, design, and talent. Having what is essentially complete control over your IP at all times can be exhausting and alarming, but if you have the energy, time, and capitol to invest into your product, you can knock out some killer creations.

A few examples of great indie covers, just for giggles. Remember that these are all driven and crafted solely by the authors and artists they employ to craft them:

Paternus - Dyrk Ashton

A Warrior's Path - Davis Ashura

Touch of Iron - Timandra Whitecastle

Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords - Benedict Patrick

Sanyare: The Last Descendant - Megan Haskell

I know someone started a thread here yesterday about my Mad Tinker Chronicles, but the best place to start reading is the Twinborn Trilogy, starting with Firehurler, which is perma-free (link goes to Amazon, but it's on Kobo/B&N/Apple too).

For more adventurous souls, I've also started a new series, called Black Ocean. It's a space fantasy (or sci-fantasy, or whatever you want to call it; I'm rather fond of "wizards and starships"). I'm currently working on the second book, but the first can be found right here. It's not free, but I've been known to give away copies to redditors when asked. ;)

I agree with a lot of the suggestions so far.

Fritz Lieber's Lankhmar books, while there are a lot of them, are quick reads, and well worth checking out if you haven't read them.

Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories are worth a read, too.

If you haven't already read Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Cycle, you might enjoy them, and they are short and easy reads.

J.D. Hallowell's War of the Blades series is only two books, definitely quick reads.

Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria Revelations should definitely be on your list.

There are a ton of different editions and compilations of the Amber books. It might be useful to poke around at the different editions if you're looking for a bargain.

Some potentially helpful links:

If you think you might want to read all of the Amber books and not just Volume 1, you may want to consider purchasing (or borrowing, whatever) The Great Book of Amber which is vol. 1-10 bound together. It's a doorstopper, so be forewarned. I do not think it's available electronically as an omnibus. Amazon link: https://smile.amazon.com/Great-Book-Amber-Complete-Chronicles/dp/0380809060/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1501692577&sr=8-2&keywords=nine+princes+in+amber

Secondly, for just Vol. 1 Nine Princes in Amber, for some reason the listings for the paper copies and the electronic copies aren't linked up very well.

Paper/Audible (the Amazon link GR provides): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380014300/ref=x_gr_e_nl_general_sin?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_e_nl_general_sin-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0380014300&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Kindle edition (Amazon link): https://smile.amazon.com/Nine-Princes-Amber-Book-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B011MYPIY0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501692577&sr=8-1&keywords=nine+princes+in+amber

You can find physical copies of most older books on amazon for like $4.

Half price books, abebooks, thrift stores and shopping around for ebooks are all also options.

If you are looking for specific books there are some pretty reasonably priced compilations out there.

The Belgariad volumes one and two can be gotten for around $14.

All ten volumes of The Chronicles of Amber can be purchased for about $12.

All three volumes of the Dark Elf Trilogy can be purchased for around $12.

If you look around there are some pretty great deals out there.