Fantasy stories that feature protagonists in their mid-to-late-teens. Return to general Fantasy
Note: these books are currently sorted by release date, with newest first.
Word Count: 96500 Summary: Aik will never be the same … and neither will his world. War is coming. Aik has become the Progenitor, and the Seed Mother has released him to transform the world for her alien brood. Silya and Raven, Aik's former friends, are the only ones who can save him and the world. But what if the cure is worse than the invasion? As Silya rushes to prepare Gullton for the battle to come, she's determined to save as many people as she can. But new crises emerge that demand her attention. Raven has his own hands full, keeping the dragon-like verent in line, while helping Silya to save the world. But what if the only way to do so is to sacrifice Aik, the man that he loves? It's the end of the world … or could it be the start of something new?  Published: 09/19/2024 Genres:
Word Count: 9000 Summary: Avgonne and Revell, would-be adventurers, hadn’t yet reached their sixteenth years, but both had dreams. Unfortunately, they lived in the village of Crimplebush, where dreams went to die. Neither wanted to die there. They dreamed of dying just about anywhere else. And maybe living a little before then. So when the thief hatched a plan to make their dreams reality, the warrior went along to a narrow lane off Market Street to the home of Knwult, the village’s resident seer. Will what is seen portend gloom or gold?  Published: 07/25/2024 Word Count: 93300 Summary: Silya comes into her own, but will she be enough? Silya finally has everything she always wanted: She's the Hencha Queen, head of the Temple, and is mastering her newfound talents. So why does the world pick now to fall apart? Her once-nemesis Raven is off riding dragons, and their mutual friend (and her ex) Aik is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, a new threat menaces the Heartland from the East. If she can't convince a reluctant city council to prepare for the worst, she may lose everything—and everyone—she's ever cared about. As Silya wields her abilities, dry wit, and sheer determination to save her city, she's joined by Raven and his new friends, just as a dark storm threatens to sweep them all away. Will their aid help tip the scales? And will she and Raven finally find out what happened to Aik? Forget messy. Things just got apocalyptic.  Published: 03/14/2024 Genres:
Word Count: 38000 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.  Published: 10/25/2023 Genres:
Word Count: 96,000 Summary: A guard and a thief. What could go wrong? Aik has fallen hopelessly in love with his best friend. But Raven's a thief, which makes things … complicated. Oh, and Raven has just been kidnapped by a dragon. Now Aik is off on a quest of his own, to hunt down the foul beast and make them give back his … friend? Lover? Soulmate? The whole not-knowing thing just makes everything harder. Meanwhile, the world of Tharassas is falling apart, besieged by earthquakes, floods, and strange creatures no one has ever seen before. Aik's ex, Silya has gone back to Gullton to try to save her people as the Hencha Queen, and Aik's stuck in a caravan with her mother and a damnable magical gauntlet that won't let him be. He has to find Raven, before it’s too late. Things were messy before … but now they're much, much worse.  Published: 09/21/2023 Genres:
Word Count: 300000 Summary: The collection of the Stolen series, including Stolen, Broken, and Chosen. Dive into the heartwarming young adult fantasy series featuring faeries, dragons, and a magical world filled with cruel queens and shadow wolves. Bonus short story: Protector of Dreams featuring Mawr the Living Statue. Stolen In the garden, nothing is as it seems It’s difficult taking care of a delusional father by yourself. Sixteen-year-old Shaleigh Mallet would rather explore and photograph dilapidated buildings than cater to her father’s dark episodes. But when she is kidnapped by a creature who carries her atop a flying bicycle into another world, she realizes this wasn’t the escape she wanted. In a kingdom known as the Garden where minotaurs pull carriages and parties are held in hot air balloons, Madam Cloom and her faerie servant Teagan rule over the land with incredible but terrifying magic. Shaleigh must prove that she is the reincarnation of a long dead ruler, not because she believes it to be true, but because it’s her only chance at survival. With the help of a trespassing faerie, a stoatling, and a living statue, Sheleigh thinks she has outwitted everyone. She’ll break bonds of servitude and finally make her way home. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s played right into the hands of a far worse enemy. Broken A land has fallen. An escape was made. It’s a victory of sorts, but at what price? Shaleigh has made a terrible mistake, one she may not ever be able to fix. Lost and in a strange land with anger and death all around her, she must navigate her way through treacherous lands on her quest for redemption. Along the way she’ll have to negotiate with the mercurial Queen of the Fae, survive the dangers of the Masked King’s realm, and seek out a terrifying fire dragon. With two powerful beings hot on her trail, Shaleigh has no choice but to keep moving, or else face the dangerous magic of the Madness that has already caused so much pain and heartache. With her sights on helping her friends and her heart longing for home, Shaleigh is determined, but will it be enough? Chosen Can she stop what she unleashed? How in the world did Shaleigh Mallett find herself standing on a volcanic mountain facing the fire dragon, Tanwen? She isn’t supposed to be here. She’s supposed to be in high school, studying for classes and exploring abandoned buildings with her best friend. But no, she’s stuck on the Peak of Gwern, hoping that the dragon will somehow show mercy and stop the Madness that plagues them. There is still so much to do, so many wrongs to right. She can’t abandon her friends after she’s come so far. She won’t abandon them. Not even Talek, who is all but consumed by the Madness. She must take down Keriam the Magician, she must face the Bloody Forest, and she must lead if she ever wants to see home again.  Published: 09/02/2023 Word Count: Information not available Summary: A fractured world. An impossible friendship. When a mysterious ring suddenly appears on reclusive teenager Ellen’s bookshelf, she is granted the power to travel miles away from everything she’s ever known. There she meets Shard, a friendly dragon who offers to help Ellen grow her stunted-since-birth magic. Although it seems too good to be true, Ellen accepts, sure she can conquer her self-hatred by becoming an accomplished magician. Little does she know, her magical voyages have raised the suspicions of those who would destroy her. Young and lonely, Shard is determined to find his first friend in Ellen. But befriending a creature as detested as a human could spell banishment from his tribe — or worse. As the bond between them grows, they will have to face their deepest fears. If they can’t, their friendship is doomed … along with any chance they have of saving both their kinds from annihilation.  Published: 08/23/2023 Word Count: Information not available Summary: A boy is in danger when he stumbles upon a crime committed by two prominent men of his town, but finds an unusual ally in the form of a castle ghost. Twelve-year-old Haycorn may know all about ghosts of Ohio, but even he is stunned when he and his friend Budge encounter a ghost in a castle. The boys witness a clandestine meeting there between two men involving a kick-back scheme, putting their lives, and that of Haycorn’s mother, in jeopardy. But the ghost may have other plans for all of them.  Published: 06/14/2023 Word Count: 98993 Summary: Several hundred years after the Great Dying, a whole new way of organizing society has come about. There are no cages. What long ago were considered gender relations no longer are done in the same way. A gender binary doesn’t exist. People are free. Then, comes a hunger for power. And freedom is lost. Again. Four major struggles set the scene as we meet Makk, a sixteen-year-old about to transition into adulthood. Now that Alvás is coming to an end, Makk and their fellow sixteen-year-olds embark on a long, dangerous journey to fetch water as a sacred rite of passage meant for self-discovery. But the scorching sun makes it unsafe to do anything during the day. So, for centuries, humans have turned to nocturnal ways of life. And the younguns must rely on each other to navigate the night. All the while, unable to telepathically mindspeak like the rest, Makk is marginalized by their peers and feels utterly alone. Until they meets Takver, a stranger from a shared past. Life seems to be improving for Makk. But, seemingly isolated raids by marauders—Kidnappers and pillagers of entire encampments. Murderers. Rapists.— not only threaten the vulnerable waterfetchers and the entire Átmeneti people but force Makk and Takver into hiding. While contemplating their past and future, together, Makk and Takver unexpectedly unearth a long-dormant technology that allows them to connect with ancestors and descendants across space-time. But soon they realize that the delicate balance of the present-past-future relies heavily on finding the missing journals of loved ones that they never knew existed. Makk will do whatever is necessary to reunite with their people and fight to maintain their way of life, even if it means putting their ancestors in the path of danger.  Published: 06/08/2023 Word Count: 85000 Summary: A charming traditional quest fantasy, full handsome villains, dangerous sorcerers, and a pretty, perky apprentice. Not to mention lots of very cool magic!  Published: 05/17/2023 Word Count: 47421 Summary: Mercy must bring justice to Kanta. After months of being held captive in her childhood home, Mercy returns to Farrell Mill, expecting a warm welcome from her friends. But there is none. Farrell Mill has been raided and left to rot. Everyone she knows and loves is missing and even her research is gone. Thomas and Andrei have been arrested, accused of reselling werewolves, a crime they did not commit. But if they declare their innocence and reveal their true purpose at the mill of curing and freeing werewolves, they could put many lives in danger. Mercy will need to face her most terrifying opponent yet: the people of Kanta. She will need to rally the goodwill of the werewolves she has helped and hope it will be enough to turn the tide in her favor. This time without masks, without lies, and without a disguise. Can Mercy find her allies and free her friends without losing everything? The clock is ticking. An execution date looms closer and Mercy is scrambling to keep from losing the only family she has left. Book 5 in The Wolves of Kanta series.  Published: 04/18/2023 Word Count: 45000 Summary: These three tales tell the story of Tharassas before the Tharassas Cycle, including the origin of the hencha queens, the ce’faine, and the colonization of the Highlands, essential companions for the four novels that make up the cycle: The Fallen Angel Charlie Fah, Cha’Fah to most of the world, has never fit in with the other citizens of Gully Town, thanks to his darker skin that sets him apart. But one day, an Angel arrives on a supply run from Earth, and what happens next sets Charlie on a new path that will turn his life upside down. The Last Run Sera is the last runner from Earth, bringing badly needed supplies to the Tharassas Colony across a twenty-five year gulf between the planets. Jas works on a hencha farm to make ends meet, harvesting berries from the semi-sentient plants. Neither one that knows their lives—and worlds—are about to change forever. The Emp Test Jey awakens to find himself in the care of a handsome stranger—a cheff from one of the mountain tribes. Afraid for his life, Jey has no choice but to let the man take care of him and his broken leg. Avain is on his Aud'ling—the coming-of-age test that requires him to spend a couple months away from his own people. The two of them will have to come to an understanding if they're going to help one another. The Last Run and The Emp Test have been published before in previous stand-alone editions, but The Fallen Angel is a new story written exclusively for this collection.  Published: 03/31/2023 Word Count: 93700 Summary: Raven's a thief who just swallowed a dragon. A small one, sure, but now his arms are growing scales, the local wildlife is acting up, and his snarky AI familiar is no help whatsoever. Raven's best friend Aik is a guardsman carrying a torch for the thief. A pickpocket and a guard? Never going to happen. And Aik’s ex-fiancé Silya, an initiate priestess in a magical crisis, hates Raven with the heat of a thousand suns. This unlikely team must work together to face strange beasts, alien artifacts, and a world-altering threat. If they don’t figure out what to do soon, it might just be the end of everything. Things are about to get messy.  Published: 03/16/2023 Word Count: 99000 Summary: Watchers’ eyes track a miles-distant bird. Listeners’ ears hear a whisper a village away. Knowers, extinct for 500 years, possessed telepathic powers straight out of a nightmare. Alesea’s sole extraordinary trait is her musical talent. But when Watchers invade her tiny island on the night of her professional debut, she’s the only one who escapes—unwittingly using the powers of a Knower. Now, it’s up to her to save her people while coming to grips with her dangerous new identity, her pacifist beliefs, and only a traitor to help her.  Published: 01/19/2023 Word Count: 51004 Summary: Captured! It didn’t matter that Mercy found a cure for lycanthropy or fended off bloodthirsty werewolves in Crowsmirth. Oscar the hunter still found her. Finding herself in a place she never wanted to return to again, her captor insists she play a twisted game. Oscar wants to be the father she never had, and Mercy his doting daughter. Refusal is not an option. Plotting to escape while playing along is dangerous, but Mercy is determined to get home. She must unravel the mystery of her parents’ past and conceal her growing fury if she hopes to see her friends again. Book 4 of The Wolves of Kanta series  Published: 12/20/2022 Word Count: 56024 Summary: Mercy is on a mission. She plans to administer her partial cure to as many werewolves as she can find, giving them a new chance at life. That means leaving Kanta and convincing werewolves of her good intentions. But finding their campsites during the day isn’t easy. Hot on the heels of a large camp somewhere near Crowsmirth, Mercy and Andrei get side-tracked by an unexpected rescue mission. They soon learn that there are far more werewolves in those woods than they expected. They’re outnumbered, completely unprepared for the sheer numbers against them, and worse yet, running out of daylight. Desperate to get out of the forest before night falls and the slaughter begins, they run straight into a team of highly organized werewolf hunters. Surrounded by vicious killers and countless werewolves, can Mercy and her friends survive the long night in Crowsmirth? Book 3 of The Wolves of Kanta series.  Published: 09/20/2022 Word Count: Information not available Summary: Jody Burns borrows her brother Peter's silvery bracelet because it looks good with her outfit. She doesn’t remember it’s the key to another world—until a green-haired girl steps out of nowhere in the mall and asks Jody’s help rescuing her grandmother from a great evil. Jody ignores Peter's warning about the land on the other side of the Watcher—until the haunted tree pulls her inside. Suddenly, she’s trapped in a place where no one listens to her. And then her jacket starts sprouting leaves. Return to the world where horses can be wizards, and trees talk, and an ancient evil is planning to destroy every last living thing.  Published: 09/16/2022 Word Count: 108000 Summary: The destruction of the embargo has made Darynn Mark a lot of enemies: an interstellar bounty hunter, the Grand Cardinal, families of the fallen. On top of that, Darynn struggles with his new responsibility to discover the truth behind Vastire’s gods, while battling his growing internal desire to destroy. Darynn and Fyra must travel to the frozen planet Yiptae to find the final pieces of the gods’ puzzle. But Yiptae has problems of its own, from a violent revolution to the assassination of a key political figure for immigrant rights. In the middle of it all is Kaylaa, whose mysterious past leads to new opportunities, conflicts, and enemies. Darynn, Fyra, and Kaylaa must work with new allies to solve the secret to the past while navigating the revolution and solving the murder. If they don’t, they will be buried in a frozen wasteland, and the truths of two worlds will be obscured forever.  Published: 09/13/2022 Word Count: 99000 Summary: Gavin Booker, a school librarian at Cooper Road Elementary, Raleigh, Northern Carolina, leads an orderly, normal life. Work, jogging, friends from work, his son every other weekend. Gavin is also a secret. He is a hybrid, or part-fairy, and in the Columbian Empire, hybrids are under an automatic death sentence. Magic is illegal. So is loving another man, another capital crime. Fairies are locked away in ghettoes, magical beasts, such as gryphons, unicorns, and pegasi are kept in zoos. The others, the tree and water spirits, the talking beasts, fauns, and the rest, are in hiding. This is the world in which Gavin grew up. He survived, thanks to his mother. He can never forget he is different: ministers preach against people like him constantly; hating the other is a part of every school’s curriculum. But now, things are changing fast, and apparently, for the worst. Earthquakes, volcanoes, killer storms are all frequent occurrences. The medicine Gavin takes to suppress his body’s glowing, isn’t working. The spells cast by his doctor, a witch, are losing their power. If anyone finds out what Gavin is, he is dead. Under threat, the Empire always goes after its marginalized people. Can Gavin survive the coming catastrophe? Will he ever recover from losing the boys he loved? Can he find the fairy man who has haunted his dreams all his life before it is too late? Can his scarred heart ever heal?  Published: 09/03/2022 Word Count: Information not available Summary: His love is locked inside an enigma. Can he solve the mystery to make himself a home? A hidden kingdom. The 18th century. Alden grew weary of battle long ago. And now the honorable soldier seeks to put the horrors of war behind him to settle in a land of peace and start a family. And while an attractive shopkeeper catches his eye, he finds himself caught up in the kingdom’s greatest riddle: the twelve daughters of the king and queen vanish every night and reappear in the morning with their shoes worn out. Drawn to a shared passion for dancing as he spends more time with the woman of his dreams, Alden can’t avoid a growing involvement with the land’s enchanted magic. And as he does so, he starts to realize that the alluring woman he’s falling for may hold the key to answering the perplexing mystery. Can Alden unravel a magical entanglement and find his way to happily ever after? Twelve is a charming fairy tale retelling. If you like upstanding heroes, picturesque romance, and delightful surprises, then you’ll adore Joan Marie Verba’s heartwarming story. Read Twelve to expose the realm’s enchanting secrets today!  Published: 08/02/2022  |
