fantasy – knights & castles

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Summary: Clarity (noun) Four definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) Coherent and intelligible 2) Transparent or pure 3) Attaining certainty about something 4) Easy to see or hear Clarity features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: My sister is in grave danger, captive in the city of Witch Hunters. As Manalar prepares for war, her only chance lies with infiltrators from Augran. I shall join them. The prosperous port of Augran thrives in diverse trade with the Dwarven Clans. The Bishops of Manalar have withdrawn defiantly into the Temple of the Sun, scorning their past allies. The Ma’ab Empire has sent their dark army out of the Far North, seeking not riches but a small, well-protected spring high upon a mountain. The sacred pool of Manalar is said to bless all mages who control it. On the fringe, there’s Gavin and me. Each dedicated to our purpose, we garner allies from Augran and the Clans of Taiding willing to see them through. My Dragonblood bodyguard, Mourn, reinforces our strengths as we expect others like us to jump out of hiding and into the fray. I failed one sister. I will not fail another. Sirana’s desperate search upon the Surface reaches its culmination in Battle for Manalar, where foes and allies unite and clash in this transformative event driven by opportunity, righteousness, and reprisal. Sister Seekers is dark epic fantasy for adults with an ever-broadening scope. The saga genre-hops a bit so things never get stale. Found Family is a core theme throughout. Perfect for fans of entwined plots, challenging themes, immersive worldbuilding, and elements of erotic horror. Sexuality and inner conflict play into character growth with nuanced intrigue, intense action, and fantastical magic.

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Summary: The time has come. The Dark Mage, Lord Morgorth, and Aishe of the Ravena Tribe, are to become bondmates. Morgorth is equal parts nervous and excited. He wants to unite with Aishe in the sacred dialen ceremony, to proclaim their devotion to the world, to show everyone that Aishe is his equal and deserving of respect. After all they’ve survived together, why shouldn’t they make the cosmic promise before friends and family? But duty must often come before pleasure. When Morgorth’s estranged mentor, Master Ulezander, comes to him with a time-sensitive mission involving a major stone of power, Morgorth has little choice but to acquiesce. Aishe knows his mate struggles with the revelation of his true destiny, after a lifetime of defining himself as the future Destroyer of Karishian. All he can do is reassure Morgorth that being the Savior is a far better fate for both of them. But as Morgorth and Aishe leap through worlds and dimensions in pursuit of a stone of power, more pieces to the puzzle of Morgorth’s destiny are revealed. And they form an image of sacrifice and tragedy. The dark cloud of an ancient enemy looms ever closer, and the path to becoming the Savior might prove more monstrous than that of the Destroyer.

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Summary: Once upon a time, two handsome young princes fell in love, faced down adversity, and lived happily-ever-after…until one romantic evening, they unwittingly ate a confection laced with a mind-wiping toxin. In this light fantasy world, four realms have settled into an uneasy peace. A surprise twist to a prearranged marriage agreement spawns this story of unexpected love, newfound courage, and heroic adventure. Join Princes Efren and Marcelo on their heart-warming journey as they sort through misleading twists and turns to defeat devious foes. Twice! Contains the stories: The Contingency Plan: An untimely death throws a marriage arrangement, the final phase of a treaty, into disarray. Now the Crown Prince of Zioneven can make his own choice from among the princess’s younger siblings. As a royal son in the matriarchal sovereignty of Sheburat, Prince Marcelo grew up knowing Royal sons never married. Never. Period. Except Prince Efren isn’t from Sheburat, and he has other plans. The Best-Laid Plans: A death that wasn’t what it seemed … A kidnapping that isn’t what it seems … Time is running out. Enmeshed in political intrigue, death, and a kidnapping, will Prince Efren untangle the web of clues in time to save his naïve young husband, or will Prince Marcelo dig deep to discover a previously untapped inner strength and determination to facilitate his own survival? Change of Plans: Once upon a time, two handsome young princes fell in love, faced down adversity, and lived happily-ever-after… until one romantic evening, they unwittingly ate a confection laced with a mind-wiping toxin. Are their chances at rekindling their love doomed? Or will their ignominious new beginning propel them toward a more teasingly fun rapport? Also contains three bonus scenes not included with the individual stories.

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Summary: An act of desperation by young magician Brandon accidentally snatches Scott Hathaway from our world. Struggling to adapt to his new life, Scott becomes ensnared in dark local politics. He realizes he can use the knowledge he brought from his world to save his new friends, but at what cost? The first in a series. A story about an engineer who gets accidentally transported to a medieval type world where magic is real. But all is not as it seems!

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Summary: Only one magician remains to defend the kingdom. And he’s cursed. What could go wrong? Ellis is cursed. Not a little cursed. Completely cursed, as in cursed as cursed can be! Only the poor can afford an arcanist of Ellis’ questionable magic abilities. Yet the queen has asked for his help. What does she want with the likes of him? Turns out, an assassin has been dispatching the arcanists of the kingdom. Ellis is the only one left. The queen suspects her rival, King Anders, as the culprit. With the king set to arrive in a few days, the queen orders Ellis to hunt down the murderer. It’s a matter of urgency. If he fails, her majesty might be next. Can Ellis find the killer in time? Or will the bumbling arcanist screw up yet again?

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Summary: Werewolves, vampires, and King Arthur converge in the Lavender Valley.  Living safely in a valley set aside for them and protected by magic under a peace negotiated by King Arthur, the blood song and Lunae have left the past behind, seemingly. A prophecy has promised that a girl will be born of a certain family line and that she will give incredible power to her mate. Stella is of the right line, but she carries the blood of both sides, half vampire, half werewolf.  She's half outcast with the wolves that raised her.  She's been told all her life that she can't be the girl of prophecy, that she'll never be good enough to be the luna of the clan. Aurelius is the silver haired alpha. Raised in Camelot, Arthur expects the boy he raised to bring the wolves and the blood song into the civilized world. The only thing Aurelius has from his father is a letter telling him to marry Onyx. Stella and Aurelius have a forbidden love that is about to wreck the civilized world. Only on the NovelStar app, first six chapters free! Come read a world where chivalry meets wild instinct!

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Summary: INK (NOUN) Five definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) A colored fluid used for writing 2) The action of signing a deal 3) A black liquid ejected by squid 4) Publicity in the written media 5) A slang word for tattoos Ink features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: When secrets and lies threaten the throne, can a fierce champion tame her passion in time to stop a cruel enemy’s ruthless march? Viking Warrior Princess Lena craves revenge. Hunting a killer after her husband is brutally slain, she discovers a shadowy traitor is at play behind the scenes, working to disrupt the balance of power. Placing her need for vengeance on hold when the king falls gravely ill, Lena leads an expedition to locate a fabled healer across a treacherous sea. Caitlin had been snatched from her home in Eire and sold into slavery. She prayed for a means of escape, and in storms Lena to her rescue. She is grateful, but realizes her feelings for Lena run far deeper. Mighty warrior Gunnar is loyal to the core. But when his lord orders him to sabotage the princess’s royal mission, he’s plagued by doubt, uncertain he’s fighting for the right side. Beset by a plethora of dangers and delays, Lena battles foes on every front, even within her own heart as her love for Caitlin grows. Gunnar must choose between honor and fealty, but in the end, will a traitor’s blade end all their lives? Viking Quest is a breathtaking historical fantasy novel. If you like principled characters, battles of conscience, and tender F/F romance, then you’ll love Edale Lane’s action-packed epic. Buy Viking Quest to destroy a fearsome foe today!

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Summary: Julian Gypsun used to be a young man on his way to becoming a contractor. Everything changed when he died and was resurrected as a wizard’s familiar. He was immortal and far better off physically than he had been as a human. Still, he was trapped with his life chained to a giant of a wizard who had no problem abusing him in every way imaginable. Julian was powerless to stop it without ending his own existence. That is until he was yanked bodily through his own portal, transported to Draoithe, and assigned to babysit the visiting dignitary, Amazon Warrior Princess Zephyra, and try to convince her that her people should ally themselves with Luke and Draoithe. That sounded easy, but it wasn’t. He liked her. He had no clue how to act on that. Best to avoid that altogether. Keeping her safe just might equal his death. (Please see her warrior princess title.) She was old and so far out of his league. Worse, she liked him and was determined to have him. He can’t even consider that. She has no idea how broken he really is.

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Summary: IN-NO-VA-TION (Noun) 1) A new idea, method, or device. 2) The introduction of something new. 3) The application of better solutions to meet unarticulated needs. Three definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell. Here are 120 of our favorites. Innovation features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: The Green Man is lost to Sherwood Forest... Yet the Horned Lord roams there still, and the legend grows. Robyn Hood has vanished, and the mystic trine of the Old Religion—Archer, Maiden & Knight—has been broken. Or has it? Rumours abound as to a hooded man wandering the Shire Wode. Marion holds both the Wode’s magical influence and the castle of Tickhill with shield, sword, and wit—not only for love of her covenant and her children, but as a weapon to bring her brother Robyn back. And Robyn’s lover, Gamelyn, plays a dangerous game with his Templar masters. They believe he has delivered the Wode’s Pagan rites to their use, all the while unaware that Gamelyn has sworn an even deeper oath: he will realise his own power and find Robyn, whatever the sacrifice. For it is Robyn’s to wield the deepest magic of all—he is the Sacrifice, and Undying King of the Wylding Wode.

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Summary: While tracking a tribe of orcs, Remence comes across much more than that…an ogre mage seeks to unite all the orcs of the region against humans and non-orc kind. These orcs are well-disciplined, organized, and much better equipped; it is a true army, unlike anything young Remence has ever seen. And they are heading right for his village! When he fails to convince the village elders of the imminent threat to their lives, Remence takes extraordinary measures to save his people. Caladin and Quinn are much more than the fancy thieves they appear to be. On their latest endeavor, they, too, learn of the orc host bearing down on the people of the region and throw themselves into the fray. After the gentlemen procurers are hired to uncover information about the recent orc attack, they enlist the help of Remence, learning their fight is against a common foe. Alongside a ragtag group of orc hunters, three half-ogre brothers, and a half-orc, Caladin, Quinn, and Remence turn detective and seek to find the person who is aiding the ogre mage. What they discover is that they may be the only ones standing between the massive orc army and the threat to humankind.

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Summary: Alexio Asmodai is the demon king of Eaglafonn, a small outpost kingdom in the Netherworld overruled by the Demon Lord Asmodeus. It is Alexio’s responsibility to protect and police the frontier borders against any threats. He is an accomplished knight, so that part came easy. Eaglafonn is a cold and isolated kingdom. Alexio needed to stay and build his castle atop the hot springs to beat an addiction to seduction sickness. After over seven centuries, he thinks his loneliness has finally come to an end when he opens a crate to find a woman sent by Asmodeus for him to keep safe. He falls for her instantly. She is a human woman, fragile, timid, and irresistible. He must follow his liege’s directive, convince her to become his queen, and see that she is cared for properly in a place that is inhospitable to her existence. This leads to a realization that his castle lacks a lot to be a first-class home for a lady. Can a tainted demon prince rise to the challenge to become a true king and win the woman who stole his heart? Dread Allies 7-14 The Shadow king of Eaglafonn has chosen his queen, but his castle lacks the feminine element. To make her more comfortable, he orders the demon princes to seek out and claim their own mates. That is easier said than done. Eaglafonn is a cold dark isolated kingdom in the Netherworld. It might be easier to claim mates from the Domhain, but not everyone could survive on the brutal dangerous frontier. The other options afforded from the Netherworld come with their own dangers. The magic is unbalanced and balancing comes with a price. Claiming their mates lead the demon princes on epic mini journeys and reveals the need for Eaglafonn to take a greater role in helping Luke aid the dream. Dread Allies is a miniseries set in the Netherworld in the dream. It is an ancillary group of stories to the Draoithe saga. While it is set in that world, it is not in the direct series lineup. The dream just got darker and colder. Welcome to Eaglafonn.

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Summary: It's 1194, and the devil is indeed loose-- In Sherwood Forest. Ransomed from captivity, a Christian king rides through royal forest, intent upon reclaiming his realm.  Yet the Shire Wode already has a king—the Pagan outlaw known as Robyn Hood... The Old Religion is regaining its strength through the emergence of the Ceugant—the mystical trine of Winterking, Summerlord, and Maiden.  But amongst those who think to win the Maiden’s notice, there will be treachery of both heart and hand... A Queen once gave a promise: that the honour of Tickhill should be restored to its lord, and the outlaws all given pardon.  Yet the price of such grace might well be more than any can afford... The Templars have sent one of their own into the Shire Wode, to untangle the enigma that bides in the ancient forest ways.  Yet that emissary is one with the enigma, in ways they—and he—cannot begin to fathom... And still, it is the deepest and darkest of magics that could well rive apart the Ceugant. Forever.

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Summary: Frank Grimes is a lowlife, no count, barely classifiable as a human, male who just happens to have enough sense to hire and retain qualified construction workers. He landed the contract to build most of Draoithe in January of 2016. He’s not only worthless, but he’s also criminal filth. He will do anything for an easy dollar. After the Draoithe housewarming party, his true colors shine through when he attempts to rape the architectural designer in her apartment after driving her home. Luke can’t afford to let Jace kill him or allow Flame to turn him as dragonsworn, but there is no way that Frank can be allowed to just get away with what he’s done. Even the Assassin King wants him dead, and he is the dragon called to serve one miscreant underking. Sentenced to house arrest and forced labor, Grimes seeks a way to fulfill the requirements Luke sets on him to gain enough respect that Javier will turn him into a canine shifter until he meets a blood demon who wants to help Luke out. Is it possible to totally rehabilitate the walking filth that is Frank Grimes into a real man in order to help him avoid certain death and turn him into a wolf? Or will the demon simply drink him dry and slowly end his miserable existence?

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Summary: Daring the old gods. Defying the new. The making of a legend—and a truly innovative re-imagining of Robin Hood. --- Rob of Loxley and his older sister Marion have been groomed from birth to take their parents’ places within the Old Religion. Despite this, when Rob finds an injured nobleman’s son in the forest, neither he nor Marion understand what befriending young Gamelyn could mean for the future of their beliefs. Already the ancient spirits are fading beneath the iron of nobleman’s politics and the stones of Church subjugation. More, the druid elders warn that Rob and Gamelyn are cast as sworn adversaries, locked in timeless and symbolic struggle for the greenwood’s Maiden. Instead, in a theological twist only a stroppy dissident could envision, Rob swears he’ll defend the sacred woodland of the Horned God and Lady Huntress to his last breath—if his god will let him be lover, not rival, to the one fated as his enemy. But in the eyes of Gamelyn’s Church, sodomy is unthinkable... and the old pagan magics are an evil that must be vanquished.

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Summary: Legends chronicle Robin Hood and Guy de Gisbourne as the deadliest of enemies. The reality is… complicated. -- Home razed by Church edict, loved ones struck down by treachery, Rob is left for dead. Taken by the old druid master into the deeps, he emerges with a new name and purpose: leader of a band of tight-knit outcasts, claiming the ancient forest and wielding the Horned God’s vengeance with silent, deadly arrows. Also escaping the aftermath of Loxley’s destruction, noble-born Gamelyn has returned from Crusade with his own new identity and purpose--but no absolution. When the two boyhood lovers next cross paths, a brutal, blindfolded game of foxes and hounds ensues, pitting Templar assassin against Heathen outlaw. And as Robyn discovers his sister Marion is still alive, the game turns. Thwarted kings of a breaking realm, Robyn Hode and Guy de Gisbourne must restore the Maiden to her rightful place-- and manage to not destroy each other in the process.

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Summary: There will be time to crown a king, but first a warlord must rise. Arthur’s battle summer is upon him, and he must be victorious if he is to claim his throne and rid the land of Saxon invaders. The teenage king has pulled the sword from the stone, but still the petty kings will not accept his rule. The Saxons are invading, Lot and Uriens are united against him, and he still has to prove himself to the common folk of the land. Next stop: the mysterious standing stones of the Giants’ Dance and the Beltane ritual. Warfare does not wait for Arthur to catch his breath. Battle follows battle. Love is lost and found. Allies fall, enemies rise, and betrayals come to the young High King. If he stays strong, he can lead his people through a bloody summer. If not, all of Britannia will fall. Arthur alone will be responsible for the glory or ruin to come. Merlin will help him to see it through. But what secrets is the druid keeping? Arthur Rex: Dux Bellorum is the third installment in an epic retelling of the King Arthur legend. You only think you know the story.

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Summary: Aegaan is a vast and righteous kingdom, yet darkness gathers in the distant corners of the realm. Elven raids on small towns have inflamed racial tensions with humans, pushing distrust to hatred and the brink of war. Anrael wanders the woods alone until a chance meeting tempts him to set aside his contempt for those who scorn his half-elven blood. When Kylie, a naive elf terrified of humans, is thrust among them against her will, she begins to question her mother’s tales of dread. Having lost everything dear to him, the bandit king Jhelan lives only to seek challenge in battle… until he finds himself willing to die protecting that which he hates the most. The diabolical mystique of the dark elves cloaks L’an Thal’Sara in protection, but the cruelest lie she tells is to herself. Thaelwyn, a virtuous knight, sets out to discover the source of the Elves’ aggression, but faces a much greater test within his mind. Beneath the chaos, minions of the Destroyer search for their promised leader, a child possessing power beyond their years. If the innocent falls to darkness, a kingdom rife with hatred will surely crumble.