Best products from r/Fantasy

Some of my favorite books available on Kindle Unlimited:

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

Paternus by Dyrk Ashton

Danse Macabre by Laura M. Hughes

The Half Killed by Quenby Olson

A Star Reckoners Lot by Darrell Drake

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe

Jaeth's Eye by K. S. Villoso


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

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes

Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan

Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher

A Warrior's Path by Davis Ashura

Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher

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

Ours is the Storm by D. Thourson Palmer

Path of Man by Matt Moss

Threat of Madness by D.K. Holmberg

To Whatever End by Claire Frank

House of Blades by Will Wight

Path of Flames by Phil Tucker

The Woven Ring by M. D. Presley

Awaken Online: Catharsis by Travis Bagwell

Wolf of the North by Duncan M. Hamilton

Free the Darkness by Kel Kade

The Cycle of Arawn Trilogy by Edward W. Robinson

Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw

Benjamim Ashwood by AC Cobble

The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson

The Queens Poinsoner by Jeff Wheeler

Stiger's Tigers by Marc Alan Edelheit 

Rise of the Ranger by Philip C. Quaintrell 

Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

Devil's Night Dawning by Damien Black


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

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

Witch World as well as other good books by Andre Norton

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

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

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

Glad you liked the book!

I consider SAM to be somewhat of a mix between a "hard magic" epic fantasy novel and something in the LitRPG genre. As such, I'd recommend taking a look at options within both genres.

There are some good suggestions here already. I'll second Threadbare, Mother of Learning, and Will Wight's Cradle series. Those are all excellent choices.

If you're looking for more hard magic fantasy books, I recommend the following:

• The Way of Kings is the first book in the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. It’s a bit of a slow start – the book is around a thousand pages – but Sanderon excels at world building, internal consistency, and “avalanche” endings where many plot threads come together at once.
  
  
• Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers by Ishio Yamagata is fantastic if you enjoy fantasy mixed with mysteries. Not all of it has been translated yet, but the first couple books are out.
  
  If you want to try some other LitRPG books, I'd recommend the following:
  
  In terms of published Western LitRPGs, I'd say Ascend Online is my favorite. The central protagonist isn't a complete psychopath like a lot of LitRPG protagonists, and he immediately starts treating the highly intelligent AI NPCs as people. That's a huge selling point for me, since it's so rare to see LitRPG protagonists that are friendly to NPCs.
  
  Also, rather than immediately jumping into save the world stuff, it's reasonably paced. The main character doesn't start out with any crazy game breaking abilities, and the setting itself feels largely realistic - it feels very similar to a futuristic version of Everquest.
  
  In terms of non-Western LitRPGs, Log Horizon is my favorite. The author has clearly played MMORPGs, and the tactics used in there - both by the main character and other characters - feel like the types of things real people would do in a MMO setting. Once again, the main character also takes NPCs seriously and treats them well, which is a big plus for me. Shiroe for Log Horizon is probably the closest character I've seen to someone with my own background in a book.
  
  I also love I'm a Spider, So What?, which is a hilarious story about a girl who gets reincarnated into an RPG setting as a tiny spider monster. Fortunately, she can grind to get stronger! It's a bit of a strange one, but tons of fun. Note that this one is not strictly going into a VR game - they're just reincarnated in a world with RPG stats. It's a little different, but similar.
  
  If you want a character that's actively looking for bugs and exploits, I'd recommend Kono Sekai ga Game da to Ore dake ga Shitteiru. I enjoyed the first book a ton. The second book started getting into tropes I didn’t enjoy quite as much.
  
  One of my other recent favorites is The Tutorial is Too Hard, which focuses on a main character transported into a dungeon on “Hell” difficulty that needs to make his way through to the top floor. We see a lot of his analytical process, which gives it a somewhat similar feel to Sufficiently Advanced Magic.

Sorcerous Rivalry is my debut sword and sorcery novel! Recognized as a Semi-Finalist from SPFBO 2018, this novel will hook you with vibrant characters, action packed battles, and just enough romance to keep things interesting.

If you loved Sorcerous Rivalry and needed more of those lovable characters in your life, you’ll be thrilled to know that Mistress Mage is released and finishes the current arc of the story where we left our heroes. Both novels are free on Kindle Unlimited and available through Amazon worldwide as either e-book or paperback formats!

If you’d like to review either of my works, my contact information is available through the TBRindr Project! I want to thank all of the r/Fantasy community and especially those of you who read and review the works of indie authors such as myself. Your feedback and enthusiasm for fantastic worlds are an endless source of motivation – thank you and happy reading!


Sorcerous Rivalry qualifies for the following Book Bingo squares:

• Self-Published Novel
  
  
• Novel Published in 2018 (HARD MODE Eligible)
  
  
• Novel with Fewer than 2,500 Goodreads Ratings (HARD MODE Eligible)
  
  
• Novel that was Reviewed on r/Fantasy (HARD MODE Eligible)
  
  
• Novel from the r/Fantasy LGBTQ+ Database (HARD MODE Eligible)
  
  
• Novel that Features the Fae
  
  
  Mistress Mage qualifies for the following Book Bingo squares:
  
  
• Self Published Novel (HARD MODE Eligible)
  
  
• Novel Published in 2018
  
  
• Novel with Fewer than 2,500 Goodreads Ratings (HARD MODE Eligible)
  
  
• Novel that was Reviewed on r/Fantasy (HARD MODE Eligible)
  
  
• Novel from the r/Fantasy LGBTQ+ Database (HARD MODE Eligible)
  
  
• Novel Featuring a Library
  

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

The Outlaw King Volume 1 and 2 Boxset

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

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

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

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

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

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

----

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

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

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

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

Third! EDIT: Forth :(

I have one dark fantasy / romance novelette out, called Larkspur: A Necromancer's Romance. It's 99cents, and you can download it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and/or Kobo. It's up for a Stabby for best short work, but given the competition it's highly unlikely to win. :P

Nifty new summary:

Childhood love, forbidden magic, and a goddess of death.

A romance is reignited when Pierre Salvador returns from University, now a surgeon as well as the heir to a duchy. But his love, family, and friends are unaware of his dealings with Mora, the Lady of Death. She is among the last keres, giving the duc her knowledge and power while calling him Suitor. He strives to know all the physical and mystical means of controlling life-- and ending it. With one final task he will master necrocræft, but will Mora let him go?

This is a novelette. It is ~15,000 words, or about 60 pages.

It has pretty good reviews, even from people who don't usually read the genre. I hope some of y'all give it a chance if you haven't already :)

(If you have, feel free to PM/pester me about Delphinium)

Also, my new website: http://vmjaskiernia.com/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Star-Reckoner's Lot

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

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

Come on down to:

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

Some suggestions:

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

Coiling Dragon

Desolate Era

World of Cultivation

I Shall Seal the Heavens

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

Warlock of the Magus World

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

The Way of Choices

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

The Records of the Human Emperor

Martial World

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

The Unsouled

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I only read one fantasy book this month:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for the shout-out, Laura! How very kind! The book is on sale on both Amazon US and Amazon UK for the rest of the week, and the Amazon US link can be found here.

For those who've already read the book, or are put off by an unfinished series, rest assured book 2 of the trilogy will be coming out soonish (couple of months, methinks). For those entirely unfamiliar with it, it's been dubbed grimdark, dark fantasy, and other unsettling names--not for the faint of heart. ;) It was a finalist in last year's SPFBO, and has appeared on a number of "best of" indie fantasy lists. I'm still overwhelmed and quite humbled by the reception it's received, and by every nice review I see posted about it. Thanks again to everyone willing to give it a chance.

Here's some I can recommend:

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

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



Forging Divinity by Andrew Rowe, narrated by Nick Podehl.

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



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

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

***

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

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