The Indie Author Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror New Release List: December 2024
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New Releases in Science Fiction
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds by Bill Adams: Available December 2, 2024
A Novella
Subgenre(s): Post-apocalyptic, Dystopian
The hateful Path, that of the 9th Born.
The survival of the Ark—humanity’s last bastion after God’s wrath destroyed the world—is balanced by birth order: the oddborn are assigned a Path, the evenborn are given over to the will of God. And it is upon those of the 9th Born Path to sanitize the evens.
John 59129’s first walk as a Niner is the same day the scientists of the Ark plan to defy God by seeking to turn back time. An electrical surge sends John past the safety of the Ark, into an unblemished world. A glimpse of perfection. Of all the evenborn saved.
But when John wakes, he’s back in the Ark, twenty years after the failure to harness time. Was his encounter real or just a dream caused by his accident? Are those in charge of the Ark keeping the oddborn caged? Is God the monster, or is it mankind?
For John 59129 to find out before his own child is born, he must be willing to play the odds.
The Accidental Time Traveler’s Collective, Volume 3: Available December 8, 2024
An Time Travel-themed Anthology
Contributing Authors: Joshua Bellin, Lucia Green, Katherine Benfante, Nathaniel Swift, Mayken Brünings, Gregory Taylor, Dan Weaver, Amanda Pampuro, Donald A. Sansom, K.L. Small, Fenley Grant, Steven Alloway
Third Time’s the Charm
Mysterious timepieces and yet-to-be-written masterpieces. Second chances and experiments with the fabric of time. Fortune-tellers and temporal tour companies whose services might not be all they are advertised to be. Travelers with the power to save the future, if they can avoid the mistakes of the past.
These and other adventures await in The Accidental Time Travelers Collective, volume 3. As with the first two volumes in the series, this anthology features twelve works by an international group of speculative fiction authors who share a love of time travel. Stories include new tales by old favorites, as well as debut voices. We pride ourselves on showcasing established authors, some of whose novels’ universes are expanded through these short stories, as well as discovering new talent for whom this is their first published story ever.
Open the pages of The Accidental Time Travelers Collective, volume 3. Lose yourself in alternate worlds, lives long past, and future possibilities. Explore tales that run the gamut from humorous to harrowing. We promise it’ll be time well spent!
Suppression of Powers by J.C.M. Berne: Available December 17, 2024
The Hybrid Helix, Book 6
Subgenre(s): Space opera
Rohan doesn’t want to be famous, to be rich, or to rule over the galaxy with an iron fist. All he wants is a peaceful life towing ships, a decent cup of coffee, and time to pursue the woman of his dreams.
First he’ll have to tame or destroy a self-centered god, a sector-spanning evil empire, and a race of slumbering moon-sized vampiric cephalopods.
That will require new allies by his side and new tricks up the sleeves of his purple and yellow jumpsuit.
Allies like the il’Zkin, cat people who can’t leave their homeworld, or the kaiju of Toth 3, monsters he can’t control. Tricks like the mystical technique given to him by Spiral, his mentor, that seems completely incompatible with the Hybrid rage that has been his greatest strength.
When his friend Wei Li receives visitors from her own mysterious past, Rohan realizes they might hold the keys to helping him with several of those problems.
Those visitors seem to have other ideas.
The Books of Haevne: Nyx by Destine Brown: Available December 26, 2024
Subgenre(s): Contemporary
“This was going to be fun.” Nyx never wanted to mutter those words ever again.
Nyx was the Diav of Despair— punisher of the wicked and protector of the righteous. Keyword “was,” because now Earth is forced to host the exiled Diav, who is desperate to find a human body for survival. Not a problem, though, except for the vow he’s forced to uphold in exchange with a crossed human he betrayed years ago.
Now Nyx is duty-bound to stop RNAct, a company that has created Atricel —a narcotic designed to give hyper-intelligence, but at a deadly cost. More bad news! Atricel has already been distributed throughout one of the most prestigious universities in the country, Somerset Private Academy.
Juggling classes, a huge identity crisis, and making sure no one dies before third period, will Nyx’s newfound humanity be the hope he needs to complete his mission and get back home? Or will the harsh reality of being human be his final breaking point, dragging him into a pit of despair?
New Releases in Horror
Minotaur: Stories by Josh Hanson: Available December 1, 2024
Short story collection
Stories of the worlds that lie just below and behind this one.
grieving boy finds a doorway within a burnt out house that opens onto the past. A woman researching her dissertation on a famous Irish poet discovers secrets she wishes she could forget. A red, lichenous growth rises out of the seas and destroys everything in its path. A boy discovers the crawlspace beneath his house and begins a transformation that he can not begin to understand. A couple find a strange pool in the trees behind their house, seeming to offer pure happiness but unleashing terror. A small Montana town is invaded by Sovereign Citizen militiamen, and find no recourse but to open the door to the old mine, releasing what lives beneath.
Birdwatcher 2 by Ann Greyson: Available December 18, 2024
Birdwatcher 2 is the next outstanding novel in Ann Greyson’s Birdwatcher series, a ghost thriller that careens through the Poconos and deep into the psyche of serial killer Joey Marks. And Detective Philip Silverwood is the hard-nosed, relentless pursuer of justice bent on capturing the killer on the run.
A demonic presence haunts the cabin on Wagon Trail Road in East Stroudsburg, additionally to possessing the fragile soul of Abigail Wincoff. With the assistance of Reverend Claude Bonanni, Abigail’s mother is determined to free her daughter’s spirit from this evil entity. Through Abigail’s talent for astral projection, the demon will take many forms before the climactic spiritual showdown comes.
New Releases in Fantasy
Page’s Pyre by Jordan Loyal Short: Available December 3, 2024
Dragon Reich, Book 2
Subgenre(s): Humorous Dark Gaslamp Fantasy
How do you steal a book that doesn’t exist?
When Izola travels to Jarlsbeck bearing news of her ex-husband’s death, she discovers that her daughter, Page, has made dangerous friends. Obsessed with finding a mythical book whose origins are clouded in mystery, Page is embroiled in a magical heist. To steal the book out from under the noses of a secret society of librarians, she’ll have to assemble a team of experts: a sarcastic dwarven historian, a devious summoner, and of course… a book witch—her mother.
But working together will test the team’s loyalties. Page was always a daddy’s girl, and her rebellious spirit has pushed her away from Izola. Worst of all, Page is keeping a secret that just might get the whole team killed.
On the eve of Reinveldt’s post-war election, the world’s fate teeters on the brink, and the sinister Thule Society puts forth a candidate. Nothing is beneath the Thule in their quest to control the fabledbook: intimidation, blackmail, assassination.
And Then You Were Gone by Ivy Logan: Available December 10, 2024
Subgenre(s): Urban fantasy / speculative fiction
Nina, a popular fantasy author, maintains a reclusive existence. Aside from Nina’s work, her primary focus is her daughter, Sophie.
Incessant bullying at school and a public, mortifying falling out with another girl sparks a downward spiral in Sophie’s emotional state.
Nina watches helplessly as her daughter appears to be unable to move past this unfortunate event. Nina grows so consumed with Sophie’s suffering that she loses her desire to write. How does one help a teenage daughter in torment?
But then Nina has an idea—an unorthodox method to help her daughter. She is going to write a story—bringing in a special character into Sophie’s life. As the author, Nina can control the outcome of the story. Or can she?
As fiction and reality blur, Nina realizes that things have gotten out of hand. Is her story the blessing she hoped for or a curse she never expected?
The Mage-Killer by Christina K. Glover: Available December 10, 2024
Connections, Book 2
Subgenre(s): Urban Fantasy, Portal Fantasy
A FIGHT TO RECONNECT
Magicless mage Henley Yu is on a mission to keep a promise. He swore he wouldn’t forget the Chief Operator, but Kit won’t know Henley kept his promise until his friend proves it to him in person. Joining the same Order that tried to kill them is the best way to make that happen, if he can navigate the rewritten Between and fellow officers skeptical of the ‘special case’ making waves in their unit.
Kit has bigger problems than the certainty that he’s been forgotten. The Ethereal plane is spilling elemental destruction into the Between and leaving him at odds with both the Shields and his own people. Even worse, there’s a chance Kit is to blame for the failure of the barrier that holds the magical world in balance.
Henley and Kit are unstoppable together. A chance to reconnect is all they need, but as the peace of the Between frays, old secrets and new enemies will fight to keep the pair apart.
Mark of a Hero by L. Cyrus Welchel: Available December 15, 2024
A Prequel to The Faumen War Chronicles
Subgenre(s): Cozy Fantasy
As Grand Duchess of Livoria, Fusette Ardei finds herself in an odd position when a member of the reviled Norzen tribe is put forward for a prestigious position among the legendary Exarch Knights.
When the conservative set within Parliament attempts to pressure her, will Fusette capitulate and brush off the young hero’s valorous act as a lucky fluke? Or will she find the courage to stand against public scrutiny and take a chance on a man many, including himself, consider wholly unworthy of the office to which he’s been nominated?
Waves of a Tempest by Jessica Barberi: Available December 15, 2024
Fires of an Empire Saga
The Emperor of Perinthia rules with an iron fist. Young boys are torn from their families at just ten years old, forced into military conscription. Soldiers are forbidden from marrying, while only the Emperor’s loyal officers and nobility are permitted wives. Beliefs outside the greatness of the throne have been brutally crushed – temples burned, devotees killed or enslaved. Yet a glimmer of hope persists in secret.
Roshin grew up an orphan on the docks of the southern port city of Ancalah. Taken in by a sister of the faith of Hulen Ahir, she was trained in the healing arts, as well as the forbidden truths of the old religion. Traveling the country as a healer, Roshin has witnessed the Empire’s oppressive degradation of the social order. But the reality hits home when she and her companions are seized and sold into bondage.
With her world consumed by darkness, Roshin clings to the faith’s prophecy – that light will come on the back of a dragon, when a destined rider rises again to crush the Empire’s tyranny. And now, it seems that rider has arrived.
Winds of Determination by Karen Lykkebo: Available December 18, 2024
The Palace of Winds Trilogy, Book 3
The Spirits are free and Literra is on the brink of civil war. Following the destruction of the City of Winds, Jodea, Lady of Earth, has taken refuge in her family’s fortress of Groma. Here, while waiting for Mareau to recover from fatal wounds, she advocates for peace. An appeal that’s continuously ignored by Panmar’s soldiers who are raging terror upon the land. Forced to act, she marches her army to meet them. But the power of the Spirits is a sporadic and unreliable ally, and soon she finds herself in need of aid that perhaps only the Wind can provide.
Trapped between the lines of war, Samerra and Jerro search for Storm whom they refuse to believe dead. Their journey is treacherous and old foes become forced allies while they tread along a knife’s edge of danger and failure.
Far out in the wilderness, Lira is hiding with Panmar, struggling to understand the purpose of her existence while memories of another life merge with those of an ancient one. Putting her faith in the one person she knows – Panmar – she hopes to find the truth about herself before Literra succumbs to war. But Panmar has his own agenda, one that strikes fear into her heart, and she sends the Spirits to find another who might know her truth: The Spirit Guide.
hen she finds that her fear and anger is not only justified but the base of her very being, the question remaining is not if she should take vengeance, but on whom.
In a race against time, the Wind will rise one last time in a fight for justice.
Asterius by Susana Imaginário: Available December 21, 2024
A Timelessness Novella
Subgenre(s): Greek mythology retelling, Slipstream
My Name is Asterius, yet I have never seen the stars.
You all know me as the Minotaur.
This is my story.
The Minotaur himself relates to a mysterious listener the events that led to his death in the Labyrinth as he reflects upon the meaning of good versus evil, right versus wrong and monsters versus heroes.
Chai and Cat-tales by Lynn Strong: Available December 21, 2024
Subgenre(s): Cozy Fantasy, Novella collection, LGBTQ+ and POC representation
Bask in a sunbeam with three cozy fantasy novellas of the Catsprowl, a busy neighborhood brimming with cats and cat-goddesses, book-keepers and bath-houses, piping hot chai, and pouncing kittens’ mischief.
This volume includes the novellas The Prince of Her Dreams, Priye, and The Potter’s Dream under one cover.
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