Reddit mentions: The best books on mythology

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

I'm going to repeat quite a few titles that have already been mentioned by OP and others for the sake of compiling a list of Kindle Unlimited titles. I apologize for not giving info about the books, but I did snag links and made sure that the titles were still currently available on KU. I know I'm forgetting a bunch too, so I'll edit later.

Some of my recent favorites:

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 - More of a horror title, but it's a creepy novella that I absolutely adored.

A Star Reckoners Lot by Darrell Drake

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe

Jaeth's Eye by K. S. Villoso - I'm currently reading this. It has me hooked to the point where I know I'm going to start the next book in the (completed) trilogy when I finish this one. Plus, it is currently being read by r/fantasy RRAWR book club.


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

Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan was just released just this week and it looks fantastic.

Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher I haven't read this yet, but look how awesome that cover is!

And for anyone that has read his book Beyond Redemption, which sadly isn't available on KU, the second book in the series, The Mirror's Truth and a short story from the Manifest Delusions world, Flesh and Fire are available.

A Warrior's Path by Davis Ashura

Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher

Faithless by Graham Austin-King just came out a few months ago and his previous series The Riven Wyrde Saga, is also available, beginning with Fae - The Wild Hunt

Ours is the Storm by D. Thourson Palmer

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

The Queens Poinsoner by Jeff Wheeler, this guy writes a ton of books and he seems to be fairly popular between his new Kingsfountain series, and his previous Muirwood series


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

Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany

Witch World as well as some other really good books by Andre Norton

I recommend the following with the caveat that these might not appeal to everybody. The short stories in these collections are of the pulp fiction variety. If you aren't familiar with Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, etc... and the type of sci-fi and Sword & Sorcery that were found within these magazines, then you might want to skip these.

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, an average origin story 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. I'm currently reading this one, so far there are a few stinkers, a few mediocre, and a few really good ones. Poul Anderson and Ramsey Campbell both have awesome stories in this anthology. There are quite a few annoying typos in this eBook, nothing too distracting though.

The Best of C. L. Moore by C. L. Moore. I read this recently and I absolutely loved it. The collection is all sci-fi and one Jirel of Joiry story, which is her famous female S&S character. Moore was married to the writer Henry Kuttner, and up until his death they wrote a bunch of great stories together. The Best of Henry Kuttner The short story that the movie The Last Mimzy was based on is in this collection, and a story that became a season one Twilight Zone 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 short stories in the genre.

Hi everyone,

Guild of Tokens combines urban fantasy with a dash of questing fantasy for an adventurous romp through a New York City where magic is real and those random doors you pass at night just might lead someplace fantastical. Also there's mind-reading apples and gummy squares that boost your abilities like in a video game.

I was recently interviewed by Calvin Park on the Under a Pile of Books podcast (which you should definitely subscribe to, btw) if you want to learn more about the book and where the series is headed.

This week, I'm also putting together a real-world Quest to celebrate the release of Guild of Tokens: Origins, which collects three prequel short stories in one volume (including one never-before-published story). The Origins Quest will start tomorrow and you can sign up to play here: quest.jonauerbach.com.

For those of you already participating, congratulations! You've found today's clue. Here it is:

Clue No. 4: Diary author

2019 Book Bingo Squares:

• Fantasy Novel Published In 2019 (Hard mode)
  
• Self-Published SFF Novel (Hard mode)
  
• Audiobook (coming this fall, see clip below)
  
• SFF Novel by a Local to You Author (New York City)
  
  Available on Amazon (and in Kindle Unlimited):
  
  US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07STPH2F5/
  
  Rest of world: www.books2read.com/guildoftokens
  
  First seven chapters: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/t1eg7p8jv5
  
  Chapter 1 audiobook (coming this fall narrated by Tavia Gilbert): https://soundcloud.com/jaauerbach/guild-of-tokens-teaser

You could read about Hereward the Wake, and the resistance of the remnants of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia to the Norman conquest in the 11th-12th century, for an example of the place of marsh culture in the medieval English historical context. There are some enjoyably cheesy historic novelisations of Hereward's legend by James Wilde which are quite fun.

Hereward hid in the swamps, called fens, around the island city of Ely, which in those days was navigable to through the fenland (a mixture of salt and freshwater marshes and riverlands) from The North Sea and surrounded virtually all year round by standing water, and ran a guerilla war. He was a master of disguise who was even able to infiltrate the Norman camp. The Normans won through in the end, with the help of a local witch, and various acts of treachery, and built a pretty incredible cathedral on the island, which had long been regarded as a holy site, as a monument to their conquest. The cathedral can be seen for 20 miles around on clear days; even from the ancient prehistoric / neolithic site of Wandlebury just outside Cambridge. Pretty mystic.

Modern fen drainage began in the late 15th / early 16th centuries with the assistance of Dutch engineers, the waters were confined to rivers and ditches, called lodes, and that culture all but disappeared (part of the purpose of the drainage was political -- we might almost think of it as ethnic cleansing); but you can still see and hear traces of it in the strange and semi-desolate villages of Cambridgshire, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire, in what is one of the most extraordinary surviving examples of a man-made landscape from before the Victorian period. It's a very strange and eerie place -- not to everyone's taste! But I kinda love it.

Some stories from that part of the world were collected by Kevin Crossley-Holland, and can be read in his book "The Old Stories", and are well worth a read. Crossley-Holland was a brilliant folklorist and the stories are really evocative. I would expect GRRM to be familiar with them and would suggest that the Anglo-Saxon fenland culture is a main source for the Crannogmen in his mythos, blended in with the Celts of the Irish wetlands.

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

and yet, i wouldn't bet against something turning up.

digression: with apologies to the Enlightenment ideology that informs much of the current paradigm about how we see ourselves, people are not rational. cognitive science has made huge strides in demonstrating just how idiosyncratic the human cognitive mechanism is, but rather than belabor the point i'd simply say this: people, to survive in the world, rely heavily on a group of essential stories that are adapted to whatever comes down the sensory pike. these small number of archetypal stories appear in myths, faiths, news, relationships, and science over and over again.

one of those core archetypal stories is the Flood, present in some form every human culture on earth. in it, wayward mankind has lost its virtue and strayed, incurring the righteous wrath of the godhead. a pious few are set above the fray, preserved to reseed the earth -- while the rest are destroyed for their wickedness as the world is reborn.

we in the West are most common with the tellings of our cultural heritage -- Noah's Ark, the Book of Revelations, Gotterdammerung -- but often miss how we use this familiar pattern to describe and 'make sense' of all kinds of current events.

one of those postmodern retellings is basically the common understanding of climate change.

why we use this group of archetypes likely has to do with human brain structure and how we've evolved a control mechanism to optimize survival. so it's not that we shouldn't take our archetypal retellings seriously -- they're here to help us stay alive. but it is very fair to question whether this projection of what is to come has any more basis in reality than any other crystal ball forecast.

tl;dr: much as with the Great Manure crisis, we know our environment is changing unsustainably. what will happen to us as a result of that change is utterly unknown -- all fantasies about end times and the archetypal purification of the world notwithstanding. most progress traps are not in fact traps but distorted retellings of the Flood archetype that suit the human cognitive mechanism far better than reality.

• Hayley
  
• 32
  
• Oregon, USA
  
• Oregon, USA
  
• I am a Production Assistant for a marketing firm
  
• I would love to get paid to sing or be a motivational speaker
  
• The Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Chronicles of Narnia (I have them in one book, so it counts!), He Shall Thunder in the Sky, Ellen Foster, The First Love Stories: From Isis and Osiris to Tristan and Iseult
  
• The Carpenters, Pearl Jam, Ambrosia, John Mayer, Lisa Loeb
  
• Criminal Minds, X-Files, Buffy, Family Guy/American Dad, Game of Thrones
  
• Braveheart, The Last of the Mohicans, Garden State, Kingdom of Heaven, Super Troopers
  
• Burgerville
  
• Chocolate Hazelnut Milkshake
  
• Diet Coke
  
• Craft, read, buy things
  
• Baked beans on toast
  
• Diet Coke 100%
  
• Pink!
  
• Sad girl eating
  
• I don't really know, I don't play enough - I like my Narnia Monopoly game!
  
• My kindness
  
• Living with my boyfriend again
  
• Married to said boyfriend, maybe one or two bundles of joy
  
• Squirtle
  
• Very crisp, cold red grapes
  
• Brussels Sprouts
  
• I have no idea - I am usually able to help people see all aspects of a situation, even stuff they had never considered
  
• I don't know how to make this decision
  
• It's all full! The other half is just stuff we can't see with the naked eye!
  
• Tell me a joke: What did the snail say when he rode on the back of the turtle... Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee
  
• I don't think I have one of these!
  
• I love ketchup like a person.
  
• 32?
  
• French Fries
  
• I like them both! (but probably dogs since they seem to like me back)
  
• Singing super loud in my car
  
• Lisa Loeb - Stay (I missed You)
  
• Aladdin - those eyes
  
• Aladdin - for the eyes (see above) and the music
  
• I'm pretty easy when it comes to dates - dinner, movie, good conversation
  
• /u/KittenAnne - I keep thinking about how much I liked your cosplay pictures!
  
• My stuffed chicken that I named Ducky 30 years ago, the wooden box my Papa made me for Christmas the year before he died, The painting of Mt. Hood my Nana painted before she died.
  
• 1972 Superbeetle, yellow with my name across the hood
  
• Egypt
  
• I would love to audition for some local theater, but my memory is THE WORST and I'm afraid I won't be able to remember the lines.
  

Can't recommend the Robin Wood Tarot highly enough.

Amazon has been a really good place to buy tarot decks.. I found a neat site that gives nice reviews of tarot decks with lots of pics, Aeclectic Tarot and then when I find one I really like, I go look at Amazon.

Is it The Main Stalk by Farella that you're referring to? If so, that sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. Thanks for the quick reply and thanks as well for an extremely interesting AMA.

I liked this vampire encyclopedia: https://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Encyclopedia-Matthew-Bunson/dp/0517162067

​

And as a huge fan of vampire cinema, this one even more: https://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Film-Nosferatu-Updated-Expanded/dp/0879103957/
This is a huge beautiful book, very in depth.

The guy who wrote this article, Timothy Tangherlini, later wrote a whole book on the topic. It's an interesting and thoughtful look at EMS from a (relative) outsider. It's also a great look at EMS in California in the late 90s.

As a paramedic with a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology, I find all this stuff SUPER interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1578060435/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_AYYzybYP61ESH

Hmm... I really feel like I've read this story before. I even remember bits of it, like as she was passing through the mountains the trolls would reach for her, then see her tomte and back off. I think it might be in another Swedish fairytales book I have... I tried to find it when I posted my original comment this morning; I'm about to go on lunch break and I'll look again but I think I loaned it to my sister. Pretty sure it's this book.

My favourite book on Greek mythology is A Brief Guide to The Greek Myths: Gods, Monsters, Heroes and the Origins of Storytelling. However it might be a little too dense if you're not already familiar with some of the myths. An even briefer guide that I enjoyed is 100 Characters from Classical Mythology: Discover the Fascinating Stories of the Greek and Roman Deities.

This is a little late and off topic, but I'm just getting into this. I have this book that's from a library. So the dust jacket is in awesome shape but there are some stamps in it. There are no versions sold through Amazon, 17 used versions, and 9 new through 3rd party sellers. The new ones start at $42. How can I price that through FBA?

A friend. Who works at a zoo. And is a furry. But either way, I can vouch for it being a good book. I wouldn't have mentioned it on the manesub if it was something that was inappropriate. It's really just a fantasy biology textbook, honest.

The book on amazon.com

Lord, the assumptions/priviledge that is in your post/responses...

The cuisine you're describing isn't an "old food fad" or "old food phenomenon." It's a multi-generation adaptation of a people's (the immigrant Chinese) cuisine in response to the to conditions, available ingredients, and demands of the people around them; in North America. To say that it isn't authentic, or calling it "fake crap," is condescending (and shows a lack of understanding) to the thousands of Chinese immigrants who have lived/worked/adapted/died in the U.S. and Canada for the past 200 hundred years. To think that this cuisine doesn't exist anymore (outside of of old menus) shows how sheltered/closed off you truly are. It is no greater/worse, nor is it less "authentic," than all the [regional] Chinese cuisine from China/Taiwan. It is a food style unto it's own; with it's own influences, responses, techniques and made by people who [usually] identify as Chinese.

If you want to try and know what you're talk about:

Books:

Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States by Andrew Coe

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8. Lee

Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants by John Jung

Wu: Globalization of Chinese Food by David Y.H. Wu and Sidney C.H. Cheung

China to Chinatown: Chinese Food in the West by J.A.G. Roberts

Ethnic Regional Foodways United States: Performance Of Group Identity by Linda Keller Brown

The Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Quick and Easy Dishes to Prepare at Home by Diana Kuan

American Chinatown: A People's History of Five Neighborhoods by Bonnie Tsui

Documentary:

Chinese Restaurants directed by Cheuk Kwan (IMDB Overview)

dear god a four volume set! hehehe I usually try to read recommendations on the subject, but I think I must pass on this one! :)

seriously though thanks for the recommendation, I will order the occidental volume, which oddly appears to have a newly printed 2001 edition without volume numbers, yet [amazon appears to have mislabeled and its in fact the first volume](http://www.amazon.com/Masks-God-Occidental-Mythology/dp/0285636073/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195215379&sr=8-3
) (judging by the look inside). It looks like they have also published a audio series, which I might actually prefer in the end.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

I'm assuming you're referring to the Lord and Lady of Wicca, in which case, any deck's Emperor and Empress will probably do just fine. You might like the Robin Wood Tarot, beautiful art that has Wiccan themes woven in: https://www.amazon.com/Robin-Wood-Tarot/dp/0875428940

Ok so kind of strange to recommend a book I haven’t read but I see this one get brought up in discussions about American Gods every now and then. Looks like something he might like?

https://www.amazon.com/Paternus-Rise-Gods-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01CXPD8T4

I really enjoy Robin Wood -- aside from Smith-Waite it's my favorite.

Well, Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy mostly takes place about 25000 years in the future. But it is a fairly straightforward extrapolation of a galactic empire (still awesome work, though!) and people are still just like people today.

A lot of the other suggestions here are really good: Silverberg, Campbell, Clarke, Egan, Niven, Bear, Wright, Simmons, and Banks.

Gregory Benford's "Galactic Center" series takes place way in the future, first book is In the Ocean of Night.

A couple of commenters mentioned Simmons' Hyperion series, but nobody mentioned his novels Illium and Olympos.

There are quite a few novels where people travel through time to the far future, some by relativistic means, but those don't seem to meet your criteria.

SOLVED!
BAH GAWD I FOUND IT. NEVERMIND.
http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Dragons-Peter-Dickinson/dp/0060110740

If this works here is the kindle link for the first book. It's only .99 :)

I recommend reading Dan Simmon's Ilium and Olympos

There is a really cool book called The Flight of Dragons that attempts to prove that dragons used to exist in reality. The author uses the traits described in folklore and fiction to show how they flew and why there are no existing fossils. His theory was that they flew by producing hydrogen from the reaction of hydrochloric acid on calcium. The dragon produces acid that pores onto fast growing but porous bone in flight cavities in its body. This is why they were so large but their body was actually very delicate (due to the lightness required for flight and the weakness of the bone). He uses this as the basis for all other known traits of the dragon - why they live in caves (to protect their delicate bodies), why they hoard precious items (a byproduct of the hydrogen producing process is the continual leeching out of corrosive chemicals from their bodies which would only leave inert elements), fire breathing (a necessity for controlling hydrogen levels and he uses the Bombardier Beetle as an example of how nature evolves seemingly impossible processes) and even their preference for aristocratic maidens (bred to be lady-like rather than peasant girls or men who were more likely to fight and damage their delicate bodies). It is definitely worth a read.

"Flight of Dragons" by Peter Dickenson
https://www.amazon.com/Flight-Dragons-Peter-Dickinson/dp/0060110740/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1480555340&sr=8-3&keywords=flight+of+dragons

Dyrk Ashton's Paternusseries. It's urban fantasy that's more epic than most epic fantasies.

If you haven't, you really should pick up this book and read it. He gives a very compelling argument for the existence of dragons.

Paternus by Dyrk Ashton (UnDyrk)

>The gods and monsters of myth have returned. In a breathtaking story that takes place in a single day, Fi and Zeke are caught up in the final battle of a war that's been waged since the dawn of time.

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

Dyrk has also offered to gift the book to up to 10 randomly-drawn folks for whichever month his book has been chosen. If you ever see the man, buy him a beer. Unless he doesn't drink... in which case, I dunno... Chuck a lettuce at him.

It seems like a busy thread to me! Suppose it has been busier, though. Linking one from each:

/u/ksvilloso Jaeth's Eye

The minor characters in an epic story are often forgotten, relegated to the dusty corners of a text; footnotes in a biased account that draws focus on the privileged, the named, and the powerful. This is a story from those shadows.

The lives of a mercenary, a seamstress, and a merchant converge. Kefier, who is picking up the pieces of his life after his brother’s accident, finds himself chased down by former associates for his friend’s death. Already once branded a murderer, he crosses paths with his friend’s sister, Sume, whose only desire is to see her family through troubled times. In the meantime, young, arrogant Ylir takes a special interest in Kefier while he himself is entangled in a battle with a powerful mage, one whose name has been long forgotten in legend. At the crux of their conflict is a terrible creature with one eye, cast from the womb of a witch, with powers so immense whoever possesses it holds the key to bring the continent to its knees.

Jaeth’s Eye introduces an epic fantasy tale of revenge and lost kingdoms, but also of grief, love, hope, and a promise for tomorrow. The Agartes Epilogues gets to the heart of epic fantasy from the sidelines.

-----

/u/benedictpatrick They Mostly Come Out At Night

The villagers of the forest seal themselves in their cellars at night, whispering folktales to each other about the monsters that prey on them in the dark. Only the Magpie King, their shadowy, unseen protector, can keep them safe.

However, when an outcast called Lonan begins to dream of the Magpie King’s defeat at the hands of inhuman invaders, this young man must do what he can to protect his village. 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 convince them to trust him again.

They Mostly Come Out At Night is the first novel from Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld series. Straddling the line between fantasy and folklore, this book is perfect for fans of the darker Brothers Grimm stories.

-----

/u/undyrk Paternus

The gods of myth, monsters of legend, heroes and villains of lore.

They're real -- and they're coming back to finish a war that's been waged since the dawn of time.

Fi Patterson and Zeke Prisco's daily routine of caring for the elderly at a local hospital is shattered when a catatonic patient named Peter unwittingly thrusts them into a conflict between ageless beings beyond reckoning. A war of which he is the primary target, and perhaps the cause.

In order to survive, Fi and Zeke must forget everything they know about the world and come to grips with the astonishing reality of the Firstborn. Only then can they hope to learn the secrets locked in Peter's mind, help stave off an ancient evil that's been known by many names and feared by all, and discover truths about themselves perhaps best left hidden.

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/u/tanniel The Eagle's Flight

Peace in the Seven Realms of Adalmearc is only as strong as those who rule them. With the death of the high king and his heir too young to assume the throne, political intrigues fill the landscape as the leading noble families scheme and plot their way to power. Meanwhile, enemies abroad sense the changes and make their own preparations.

Standing as a safeguard against both foreign foes as well as enemies closer to heart are the Order and its knights. Keeping the realms of Adalmearc united and at peace is their foremost duty. But when the strife turns political and the enemy is difficult to discern, when alliances shift and allegiances are torn, even the hitherto unassailable honour of a knight may become stained.

The Eagle's Flight compiles the first three of the Chronicles of Adalmearc. It is a journey into the world of Adal, its realms, peoples, cultures, and conflicts.

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/u/stevenkelliher Valley of Embers

For hundreds of years, the flame-wielding Embers have been the last line of defense against the nightmare creatures from the World Apart, but the attacks are getting worse. Kole Reyna guards Last Lake from the terrors of the night, but he fears for his people’s future.

When Kole is wounded by a demon unlike any they have seen before, the Emberfolk believe it is a sign of an ancient enemy returned, a powerful Sage known as the Eastern Dark.

Kole has never trusted in prophecy, but with his people hanging on the precipice, he reluctantly agrees to lead the Valley’s greatest warriors in a last desperate bid for survival. Together, they will risk everything in search of a former ally long-thought dead, and whether Kole trusts him or not, he may be the only one capable of saving them.

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/u/stevethomas Klondaeg Omnibus

Monsters killed his parents, and Klondaeg is out for revenge. Armed with a double-headed battle-axe with a split personality, Klondaeg travels the world, teaming up with its mightiest adventurers to battle every monster he can find. Klondaeg is the greatest monster hunter in all of history, but the world needs more than a monster hunter. It needs a lord of heroes.

This omnibus edition collects all of Klondaeg’s outrageous adventures, including “Klondaeg The Monster Hunter,” “Klondaeg Saves Fromsday,” “Klondaeg and the Klondaeg Hunters,” and “Klondaeg: Lord of Heroes.”

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/u/salaris Sufficiently Advanced Magic

Five years ago, Corin Cadence’s brother entered the Serpent Spire — a colossal tower with ever-shifting rooms, traps, and monsters. Those who survive the spire’s trials return home with an attunement: a mark granting the bearer magical powers. According to legend, those few who reach the top of the tower will be granted a boon by the spire’s goddess.

He never returned.

Now, it’s Corin’s turn. He’s headed to the top floor, on a mission to meet the goddess.

If he can survive the trials, Corin will earn an attunement, but that won’t be sufficient to survive the dangers on the upper levels. For that, he’s going to need training, allies, and a lot of ingenuity.

The journey won’t be easy, but Corin won’t stop until he gets his brother back.

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/u/ashearmstrong A Demon in the Desert

Grimluk is an orc with one purpose: hunting demons.

The Wastelands mining town of Greenreach Bluffs is deteriorating: with each passing day its inhabitants grow more fearful and paranoid, plagued by...something. They suffer nightmares and hallucinations, there are murders at the mine; the community is on the brink of madness and ruin and, as events escalate, realization dawns: the town has a demon problem. Two attempts at hunting it down fail, Greenreach Bluffs is at breaking point...and then Grimluk the Orc strides in out of the Wastes to answer their call for salvation.

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/u/pirateaba The Wandering Inn

An inn is a place to rest, a place to talk and share stories, or a place to find adventures, a starting ground for quests and legends.

In this world, at least. To Erin Solstice, an inn seems like a medieval relic from the past. But here she is, running from Goblins and trying to survive in a world full of monsters and magic. She’d be more excited about all of this if everything wasn’t trying to kill her.

But an inn is what she found, and so that’s what she becomes. An innkeeper who serves drinks to heroes and monsters–

Actually, mostly monsters. But it’s a living, right?

This is the story of the Wandering Inn.

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/u/michaelrfletcher Ghosts of Tomorrow

The children are the future.
And someone is turning them into highly trained killing machines.

Straight out of school, Griffin, a junior Investigations agent for the North American Trade Union, is put on the case: Find and close the illegal crèches. No one expects him to succeed, Griffin least of all. Installed in a combat chassis Abdul, a depressed seventeen year old killed during the Secession Wars in Old Montreal, is assigned as Griffin's Heavy Weapons support. Nadia, a state-sanctioned investigative reporter working the stolen children story, pushes Griffin ever deeper into the nightmare of the black market brain trade.

Deep in the La Carpio slums of Costa Rica, the scanned mind of an autistic girl runs the South American Mafia's business interests. But she wants more. She wants freedom. And she has come to see humanity as a threat. She has an answer: Archaeidae. At fourteen, he is the deadliest assassin alive. Two children against the world.

The world is going to need some help.

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/u/will_wight Unsouled

Sacred artists follow a thousand Paths to power, using their souls to control the forces of the natural world.

Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan.

When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must rise beyond anything he's ever known...and forge his own Path.