fantasy – magical realism

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Summary: Justin Earl Knight, The Founder works with his son Rodney and a gifted healer, Peter, to rebuild the Elk Creek Tribe's community from the ashes of a series of quakes that devastate their land. We first meet Justin here when his mother summons he and his five siblings to a church celebration in 2012. There, Justin recalls his past with that church and meets a fanatic who tries to take his spirit down. Justin uses the strength of his own faith to fight off a demon and then must decide whether real family has value in a world of rejection and abuse. "The First Knight Shaman" is told from Rodney Knight's view. Peter's entry into manhood is the primary focus of "The Second Book of the Knight Shamans." Here, in "The Third Book of the Knight Shamans," Justin is the focus as he works through religious fanaticism and resurgent diseases to save the small community he founded only years before the great quakes devastated the western United States. Together, they discover their best chance of survival relies on ancient spiritualism and shamanism. Then they discover the religion which had dominated their world in the centuries before the cataclysm has fallen when Peter meets a fallen archangel in his quest to get a medical doctorate in the far-off city-state of Reno. In the end, we begin to question if Rodney were truly the first Knight Shaman, or if it was Justin himself as he negotiates his own path of spirituality from amongst the religion his culture imprinted onto him.

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Summary: "IT'S NINE YEARS LATER, AND EVERYONE HAS A NEW SECRET. BUT SECRETS NEVER STAY BURIED FOR LONG Nine years have passed since a group of strangers first met at a magical little restaurant in East Sacramento called Ragazzi. They have all been touched by its subtle magic, and have become a family. With the tragic death of one of them, ripples spread through the entire group, exposing secrets and revealing truths that many of them would rather not face. Dave and Marcos are each battling their own demons. Matteo is hunting an embezzler at Ragazzi, while Diego struggles to hold on to his son, Gio. Carmelina fears Daniele won’t take no for an answer. And both Ben and Sam are dealing with tragic losses that have turned their lives upside down. Into the mix come a few new characters—Ainsley, a Sac State student studying to be a doctor; a mysterious stranger who is stalking someone in the group; and a few new love interests who may have their own skeletons in the closet. The cast of River City is back, along with some great new Italian recipes for you to try at home! What secrets will be revealed before the last page turns? "

Word Count: Click here to reveal30,000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: The 15 short stories in the new collection by K.G. Anderson tackle the classic science fiction query: “What if this goes on?” Her answers span magic realism, humor, science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Each story is firmly rooted in the familiar present and moves seamlessly into a very near political future—chilling in most cases, but darkly humorous in others. Stories include: “A Sign of the Times”—A Seattle protestor is tried under the new Corporate Personhood laws “Wishbone”—An elderly woman faces euthanasia under the Age Equity Act designed by her politician grandson “The Bodies We Carry”—A young widow bankrupted by medical bills joins a “death camp” protest in front of the mansion of an old college friend who is now a healthcare CEO “Unwanted Visitors”—Seattle is declared a “terrorist zone” and the new Federal Security Agency comes calling “Yoga for Protesters: A Field Guide”—Advice for combining political fury with physical fitness “The Right Man for the Job”—Summoned by desperate Democrats, the ghost of Lyndon B. Johnson returns to haunt the Trump White House “Unnoticed”—The teenage daughter of frightened immigrants demands her native identity

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Summary: Feeling trapped? Cupid ignoring you? Have no fear! P.O.O.F. is here! Nozzag here with another tantalizing adventure for you. Navigating the edicts of The Creator isn’t a simple task. Even the Creator of Important Nexuses sometimes struggles to match individuals flawlessly. This next tale was a rough one all around, but don’t fret, it still has a happy ending. Meet Ryker: a Dark Elf, Technomage, a self-proclaimed geek, and a glorified field tech who’s stuck in a rut and yearns to find the love of his life. Then there's Kaba: a Pygmy Hippo Therianthrope, Omega, nearly the last of his species, imprisoned since birth, but he still clings to the hope of escape… for now. During a routine service call to repair a shield, Ryker stumbles upon a dreadful crime, yet he finds himself unsure of whom to alert. Those with significant wealth often evade justice, but Ryker refuses to stand idly by and let such atrocities occur. P.O.O.F. You! is set in the world of Bloodlines of Fate which is a type of omegaverse. Twilight Temptations are instalove, high heat, low angst stories that feature various creatures and a guaranteed HEA. Twilight Temptations is a continuous series and while each story can be read alone it is best to read them in order.

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Summary: The great quakes of 2040 led to the downfall of civilization in the Pacific Northwest. Here is a tale of the days of destruction and the survival of one small family that then shaped the future for a thousand years after. Peter is just one year old when his family is stranded in the wilderness after the quakes destroyed roads, bridges, buildings, and civility. His father and mother struggle to bring him home to their city of Sutherlin through a nine-year odyssey. Then, at the very gates of their home, they find themselves under attack by the townsmen they counted on for refuge. Follow Peter, and Wayne and Carrie Williams as they struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic world, meeting friends and foes all of whom set the path ahead for young Peter to either survive or perish. The Apocrypha of the Knight Shamans is an entire series devoted to explore methods to break people out of the deep programming that civilization and culture impose on them. In short, when nearly half the people in the United States have been convinced that “Woke” is evil and anyone who is “Woke” should be severely dealt with, this series will not only show how two young men escape the mind-prison of our current culture, but will also some ideas of what their human spirit gains in being truly “Woke” as opposed to what the ignorant masses have been indoctrinated to believe.

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Summary: A young girl's disastrous first foray through the multiverse cleaves her from her family and abandons her in a homeless encampment, adrift in a world and a body not her own. A doctor struggling with grief volunteers for the annual Boston homeless census and is confronted by the impossible and her deeply buried childhood trauma. A lonely, disaffected seer, rejected by those he seeks to help, is drawn from his home by a desperate call across the world walls. When the three strangers, each broken in some way, are pulled into a conflict between those with the ability to travel the multiverse and the organization seeking to exploit them, they must risk everything that matters to heal the fractured places in themselves and throughout reality.

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Summary: In November 2039, marine scientist Wend Taylor heaves themself aboard a zero-emissions boat skippered by elusive nature photographer Viola Yang. Guided by instinct, ocean dreams, and a shared birthday in 1972, they barter stories for passage across the Pacific. Aljon, Viola’s younger cousin, keeps a watchful eye and an innovative galley. Story by story, the trio rethink secrets, flying dreams, and how they experience their own minds. When they reach Hawaiʻi and prepare to part ways, opportunity and mystery pull them closer together. Both scientific and personal discoveries take shape as they join with ex-lovers, lost friends, and found family. Wend must navigate an ever-shifting future, complicated by bioengineered microbes and a plot to silence scientists, entangled with inexplicable dreams and a calling to Be the Sea.

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Summary: Magical Realism. Shamanism. Post-apocalyptic survival. Coming of age. Found Family. All of that and more in a short adventure in future Oregon after the great Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes have ravaged the west. Meet Rodney, a seven year old boy who can see the spirits of the dead. Meet Justin, a mostly-absent father who still wishes the best for his son. Meet AJ, the bridge between them and commander of the militia forces sent to liberate the community of Sutherlin from their evil overlords. Rodney first sees the spirit of a recently departed soul when he is only seven. He sees two of them in only a couple weeks. And they tell him things. Things his community are having difficulty believing. So he tells them secrets. Secrets that those spirits shared with him. When he's 17, another spirit helps Rodney and his militia patrol survive an ambush. Things build from there with an expedition to a ravaged community resulting in a short war to liberate them. Spirits, haunts, and otherworldly guides work with Rodney to rescue a community. Rodney becomes The First Knight Shaman.

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Summary: Nova Pendragon follows orders. He is a good son, ninth in line to the throne in Avalon. His allegiance is thrown into question when a mission leads to Tel, his chosen mate being used a scapegoat and put out of his reach. When he is given a gift and the chance of love in the guise of Daniel he is torn but finds he got more than was bargained for by the hidden plotters. Tel finds himself locked away in a 'prison' on another world with a collection of paranormal beings who are kept in reserve to deal with threats to the security of the Consortium. As Tel makes a life for himself he finds out things about himself which might explain why he is held where he is. Toybox is a compilation of the prelude and the first three books in the Toybox series: Blood Moon A Fallen Leaf A Bright Star A Shaft of Moonlight

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Summary: Venser is to be a guest at his own wedding. The eighth son of the High Priest of Aracoras, Venser was betrothed to the Leondra, daughter of Lunaria's paramount leader. At the crux of the arrangement is the Tomb of the Almighty, a landmark in Aracoras that is the resting place of a divine protector, a figure who helped their people escape above the sea of clouds. Venser and Leondra's impending marriage is so that Lunaria and its leaders can access the Tomb of the Almighty, a place forbidden to outsiders, and oversee the opening of the Tomb. While their fathers finalize the plans for their marriage, Venser and Leondra set out to unravel the mysteries of the Tomb of the Almighty, to answer the question of why they now seek to open the Tomb after it has remained sealed for generations. Information on the true nature of the Tomb has become scarce, and neither of them are willing to trust the lack of sources in Lunaria. Both also seek to escape the marriage neither of them wanted, and Venser hopes to escape the cage Aracoras has kept him in. Venser's journey sees him join with the crew of the airship Alamithea, visiting the other grand cities of the sky islands as he tries to escape his past and unravel the mysteries behind the Tomb of the Almighty and the sky islands themselves. With new companions and friends, like the jokester Matthias and the cantankerous Basch, Venser learns of the dark secrets underpinning the whole of their society, as well as the things about himself he never knew. But as they race across the sky, the darkness they don't see swells, and it's set on retaliation...

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Summary: A handful of heroes; an impending cataclysm. Can Ariel and her friends save the world as they know it? Communicating with plants and animals has become a rare gift, one Ariel cherishes. She loves her farm and her family, especially her three-hundred-year-old oma. As she grapples to preserve her connection with the spirit world, she realizes something is dreadfully wrong. Lysandra, a gifted healer, lives in the most splendid city in the world, overflowing with culture and prosperity. Despite her meaningful career, she misses the love of her youth whom she left behind. Now something is causing more illnesses and deaths at increasingly younger ages than typical for Atlantans. When both Ariel and Lysandra are called to the Ring of Stones for a meeting of scholars, masters, and gifted individuals, they reunite for the first time in thirty years. Pushing personal feelings aside, they must focus on discovering what’s wrong with their world and help fix it. Making a startling discovery, Ariel brings an ominous report to the council. Can the sharpest minds and most compassionate hearts of Atlantis create a plan to save their civilization, or is it doomed to be obliterated from the face of the earth forever? Engaging storyteller Edale Lane brings you an epic historical fantasy warmed with a second-chance sapphic romance. Atlantis, Land of Dreams, will transport you to a world of wonder and imagination, where myths of the past come to life and inspire a brighter vision for our future. Get ready to embark on an unforgettable journey of discovery and marvel at the beauty and magic of this legendary place that has captured the hearts and minds of generations.

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Summary: How far would you go, to save the one you love? The Gods themselves thrice blessed Cassia's life. All that is shattered when her wife contracts a magical illness. Now she must challenge Fate and the Gods to save the woman she loves and restore the life they had. Yet, how can she stand before the Gods when that means standing against the one she loves?

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Summary: Patreon -- stormcrowproductions GET YOUR POST APOCALYPTIC ON!!!! COMPLETE SERIES!!! ALL SIX BOOKS!!! The Nocturne Saga Part One!!! The Nocturne Saga Part Two Coming early next year!!!! A man who was forced to become an Assassin is interrupted just as he was to kill the last impediment to get to the Senator who sent him down the path. Earth has been chosen for Integration into the Multi-Versal System and reality itself will shift to a post apocalyptic scenario. It will not stop him from keeping the promise to end the Senator and bring justice for the broken women he left behind. Similar in scope and theme to Primal Hunter and Defiance of the Fall... Gideon Sho -- The Umbral Savage. Excerpt from Book 1 A man of wealth and means sits at an ornate table in a high end luxurious hotel speaking into a cell phone, a malicious glint to his eyes as he closes another million dollar pharmaceutical merger. He is blissfully unaware of the man behind him, in a black leather trench coat, a hood obscuring his face in deep shadow, a pistol with a suppressor aimed at the back of his head. Both are frozen within the moment of moments, between a breath and sift of sand, one with the anticipation of a killer, the other, riding high upon the arrogance of wealth. System Initializing…. -- Romance -- Progression -- LitRPG -- Multi-Versal Factions -- Gods -- GrimDark -- Classes, Levels, Skills, Abilities -- Dragons -- Dragonling Companion -- Horror

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Summary: In volume three of this widely-praised dark fantasy anthology series, the Night Bazaar, a secret marketplace of the rare, strange, occult, and dangerous, journeys to 19th century London. There, as usual, its vendors will purvey curious services, forbidden wares, and rare objects which cannot be had elsewhere, for any price. The midnight market has operated throughout history in various locales, appearing in a city for one week only, never to return. This time the Bazaar’s proprietress, the enigmatic and unflappable Madame Vera, escorts the reader on an eerie, fantastical British tour in ten linked short stories by various authors. Some tales feature such recognizable luminaries as Sherlock Holmes, occultist Madam Blavatsky, and Queen Anne Boleyn. Several take place during the Bazaar proper, while others occur earlier or later, tied to its 1880 London appearance by a curse or spell – or, by an object found, inherited, purchased, or stolen during the decades since, by the unsuspecting, foolish, or greedy (though seldom the completely innocent). Together, these ten linked stories take readers on a fantastical journey into astonishment, dread, and dark delight. The Night Bazaar still holds everything you’ve read about but thought had passed away, or perhaps never existed at all. How wrong you were! But be warned: as usual, each object or service comes with a gift, a curse, or a haunting. NOTE: THE VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES MAY BE READ IN ANY ORDER YOU LIKE!

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Summary: My name is Ben, and I died last year. Almost. I’d hoped I would wake up from my near-death experience as a medium just in time for high school. Turns out it just wrecked my legs. No medium talent, either. I’m something else. A summoner. Join Ben as he finds his feet at the Academy and learns what it takes to be a summoner in this complete 9-book series boxed set! --- I know next to nothing about my talent besides it involves portals and pledge bonds. It’s okay, they teach it at school. Sounds perfect, right? Wrong. Mateo, the other summoner in my class, hates me. The class clairvoyant thinks destiny has got it out for me, too. Makes sense. As if I don’t already feel like a square peg, getting around on crutches, my portals break stuff and go to the wrong realm. It’s a good thing I’ve got help from my family, friends, and a celestial called Arie. It takes constant rehab just to keep my busted body working. But how do I fix my broken talent?

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Summary: RISE (noun / verb) Eight definitions to inspire writers around the world, and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) An upward slope or movement 2) A beginning or origin 3) An increase in amount or number 4) An angry reaction 5) To take up arms 6) To return from death 7) To become heartened or elated 8) To exert oneself to meet a challenge Rise 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: What if you could suddenly foresee disaster and the end of civilization? In Seattle, an unremarkable earthquake ripples through the city on a sunny April day, barely registering for most residents. Yet, for five individuals, it becomes a seismic turning point, forever altering their lives. Somehow that fateful quake unleashed an extraordinary gift: the ability to peer into the future. What they witness in their visions is nothing short of apocalyptic—a civilization in ruins, ravaged by destruction and lawlessness. As resources dwindle, humanity descends into chaos, turning on itself in a desperate struggle for survival. With this grim foresight, the five new oracles, among them a cheerful and charismatic physics teacher, a brilliant neurodivergent six-year-old, a struggling artist, a deeply religious retired nurse, and a nervous real estate agent plagued by anxiety, must somehow awaken others to the impending catastrophe and guide them to safety. Time becomes their greatest adversary. Only by joining forces and acting swiftly can they hope to save themselves and those trapped within the confines of the city. The first book in Gordon Bonnet's “Arc of the Oracles” trilogy, “In the Midst of Lions" is an enthralling tale that intertwines ordinary lives with extraordinary circumstances. Can these five individuals defy the grim prophecies they bear witness to and inspire others to follow them to safety? As the clock ticks away, the answers lie in their unity, resilience, and unwavering determination to reshape destiny.

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Summary: All she wants is to drink. Alone. Now she's on an adventure. When the regent cuts off Cadma's alcohol shipments, and thus her magic, she must journey with a cowardly knight to the port city. Sir Thomas Wilhelm drags her into a world of deadly intrigue and crime. One she'd left behind. Desperate to escape the city’s troubles, she’s tricked into an apprentice and an ever-deepening debt to a talking cat. Not to mention the murderer after her newfound friends. Can Cadma fight off beasts, gangsters, and sobriety long enough to save them?

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Summary: 1100 years into our future, in a culture where ear buds are constantly fed the latest government sludge, one man is asked to venture into a wilderness. A wilderness where technology is anathema, and where he must learn to think his own thoughts again. It's the year 3115,and Priest-Applicant Justice Preston is sent to the ancient home of the Jamari to research his life and deeds. It seems straight forward until... A church gone rogue. An unexpected discovery of Fae. A murderous bishop. His boyfriend and guide introduces him to the people known as the Tuatha De Cernon. Stagmen. Fauns. Satyrs. Pixies, dryads, nymphs and others. These people have come through a portal opened by the legendary Jamari a thousand years before. They've been living amongst us in secret for all this time. And he discovers ancient memoirs written by the Sophia Shaman, boon companion to the Jamari. In her own words he finds proof the Church of Jamari has been subverting the teachings of the legend they claim to follow. Any rumor of this discovery will bring the inquisition and the enforcer priests into his life in dangerous and deadly ways. He can turn the fragile relics over to the church knowing they'll never be seen again. Or, he can find a way to make them public and become HERETIC.

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Summary: Rumors are swirling in the northlands about a curse in Westcliff. People are being driven mad by the touch of angry ghosts during the full moon, in a village already haunted by a brutal murder from decades ago. Growing up as an orphan, Genshai always expected his life would be the same as the other warriors of the abbey: learning the ways of the Iron Style, and training his mind and body toward Illumination. But, at the start of his fifteenth year the boy is shocked when the abbot names him the new laymonk, and he is sent to learn the ways of the world from his predecessor, an old man named Taisan. Soon, Genshai receives firsthand lessons in ways that he never imagined— from fighting for his life, to defending the innocent, and even striding between two worlds, into the ethereal Veil. And just as Genshai is beginning to learn how to keep the Still Mind in the presence of spirits, the laymonks are sent to Westcliff to break an old curse, and to confront an unfathomable evil. By taking up the staff of the laymonk, will Genshai uncover the truth about himself? Or will the madness spread, causing his greatest fears to be revealed on the night the Lotus is in Bloom?