Posts Tagged ‘fantasy’

Cover Launch: THE CITY OF STARDUST by Georgia Summers

Take your first look at the cover of The City of Stardust (US) by Georgia Summers! You can pick up this standalone fantasy novel in January 2024.

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

Cover Illustration by Micaela Alcaino

A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family’s curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.

For centuries, generations of Everlys have seen their brightest and best disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick—and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was just a child when her mother Marianne vanished on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. And when Penelope cannot find her, she issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find Marianne, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer from the curse. Unless she can break it first.

To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted—and yet whose knowledge of a world beyond her own is too valuable to avoid.

Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

Cover Launch: GRIEVAR’S BLOOD by Alexander Darwin

Take your first look at the cover of Grievar’s Blood (US | UK) by Alexander Darwin! You can pick up the sequel to The Combat Codes (US | UK) in December 2023.

Grievar's Blood by Alexander Darwin

Cover Design by Lauren Panepinto; Cover Illustration by Peter Bollinger

The second book in an action-packed science fiction trilogy set on a far future world where the fate of nations is determined by battle-hardened warriors who are trained to compete in brutal single combat.

In a world where single combat determines the fate of nations, the Grievar fight in the Circles so that the rest can remain at peace. But given the stakes, things are never so simple. The Daimyo govern from the shadows and plot to gain an edge by unnaturally enhancing their Grievar Knights.

Cego and his team enter year two at the world’s most prestigious combat school, the Lyceum. Though he’d like to focus on his martial studies, Cego feels the pull of his mysterious past and two missing brothers.

Solara Halberd, daughter of the fighting legend, embarks on her own quest to bury the past. She must utilize every lesson her father taught her to explore unknown lands where evil lurks in the shadows.

For more from Alexander Darwin, check out:

The Combat Codes
The Combat Codes (US | UK)

Cover Launch: WARRIOR OF THE WIND by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Take your first look at the cover of Warrior of the Wind (US | UK) by Suyi Davies Okungbowa! You can pick up the sequel to Son of the Storm (US | UK) this November.

Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Cover Design by Lauren Panepinto; Cover Illustration by Dan dos Santos

The empire has been reshaped. There is no peace in the season of the Red Emperor.

Traumatized by their escape from Bassa, Lilong and Danso have found safety in a vagabond colony on the edge of the emperor’s control. But time is running out on their refuge. A new bounty makes every person a threat, and whispers of magic have roused those eager for their own power.

Lilong is determined to return the Diwi—the ibor heirloom—to her people. It’s the only way to keep it safe from Esheme’s insatiable desire. The journey home will be long, filled with twists and treachery, unexpected allies and fabled enemies.

But surviving the journey is the least of their problems.

Something ancient and uncontrollable awakens. Trouble heads for Bassa, and the continent of Oon will need more than ibor to fix what’s coming.

For more from Suyi Davies Okungbowa, check out:

The Nameless Republic
Son of the Storm (US | UK)

Cover Launch: THE HEXOLOGISTS by Josiah Bancroft

In case you missed it, take your first look at the cover of The Hexologists (US | UK) by Josiah Bancroft! You can pick up this start to a new series in September 2023. We want to thank FanFiAddict and The Fantasy Inn for sharing this cover with their readers.

The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft

Cover Design and Illustration by Ian Leino

The first book in a wildly inventive and mesmerizing new fantasy series from acclaimed author Josiah Bancroft where magical mysteries abound and only one team can solve them: The Hexologists. “Bancroft is a magician.” —Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.

But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.

Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for whatever springs from the alleys, graves, and shadows next.

For more from Josiah Bancroft, check out:

The Books of Babel
Senlin Ascends (US | UK)
Arm of the Sphinx (US | UK)
​The Hod King (US | UK)

The Fall of Babel (US | UK)

Cover Launch: THE LAST HOUR BETWEEN WORLDS by Melissa Caruso

Take your first look at the cover of The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso! You can pick up this start to a new series in Winter 2024.

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Cover Design by Lisa Marie Pompilio

A whip-smart adventure fantasy packed with rival guilds, reality-bending magic, and sapphic pining, The Last Hour Between Worlds is the brilliant launch of a new series from David Gemmell Award-nominated author, Melissa Caruso.

Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she’s determined to enjoy herself at this party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She is a Hound, after all, and she can’t help picking up the scent of trouble.

She’s not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what’s causing the mayhem: a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual.

As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they’ll need to rely on their wits—and each other—to unravel the secret of the clock and save their home.

For more from Melissa Caruso, check out:

Swords and Fire
The Tethered Mage (US | UK)
The Defiant Heir (US | UK)
​The Unbound Empire (US | UK)

Rooks and Ruin
The Obsidian Tower (US | UK)
The Quicksilver Court (US | UK)
The Ivory Tomb (US | UK)

Cover Launch: THE HEMLOCK QUEEN by Hannah Whitten

Long live the Sainted King. Long reign the Poison Queen. Take your first look at the cover of The Hemlock Queen (US | UK) by Hannah Whitten! You can pick up this sequel to The Foxglove King in Winter 2024.

The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten

Cover Design by Lisa Marie Pompilio; Cover Illustration by Mike Heath

In the second installment of New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten’s lush, romantic epic fantasy series, a young woman who can raise the dead must navigate the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King’s royal court.

The corrupt king August is dead. Prince Bastian has seized the throne and raised Lore—a necromancer and former smuggler—to his right hand side. Together they plan to cut out the rot from the heart of the sainted court and help the people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the changes. The nobles are sowing dissent, the Kyrithean Empire is beating down their door, and Lore’s old allies are pulling away. Even Prince Bastian’s changed. No longer the hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves, instead he’s reckless, domineering and cold.

And something’s been whispering in her ear. A voice, dark and haunting, that’s telling her there’s more to the story than she knows and more to her power than she can even imagine. A truth buried deep that could change everything.

With Bastian’s coronation fast approaching and enemies whispering on all sides, Lore must figure out how to protect herself, her prince, and her country before they all come crumbling down and whatever dark power has been creeping through the catacombs is unleashed.

The Nightshade Crown
The Foxglove King (US | UK)
The Hemlock Queen (US | UK)

Cover Launch: THE WITCHER: THE TIME OF CONTEMPT Media Tie-In Edition by Andrzej Sapkowski

Take your first look at the cover of The Time of Contempt media tie-in edition (US) by Andrzej Sapkowski! You can pick up this edition in June 2023.

The Witcher: The Time of Contempt Media Tie-In Edition by Andrzej Sapkowski

Andrzej Sapkowski’s New York Times bestselling Witcher series has transported millions of fans around the globe to an epic, unforgettable world of magic and adventure. The Time of Contempt is the second novel in the Witcher Saga, following Blood of Elves, and is the inspiration for season 3 of the hit Netflix series coming in summer 2023!

Geralt the Witcher has fought monsters and demons across the land, but even he might not be prepared for what is to come.

The kings and their armies are maneuvering for position, each fearing invasion from across the river, each fearing their neighbors more. And after decades of oppression, the elves and other races are fighting back and fighting one another. With growing numbers preparing for battle, the threat of a devastating war looms ever greater. Intrigue, dissent, and rebellion fester on all sides.

Against this backdrop of fear, Geralt must protect his ward, Ciri, the orphaned heir who is sought by all. A child of prophecy, she will have the power to change the world—but only if she lives to use it.

For her safety, Geralt sends her to train with the sorceress Yennefer. But all is not well within the Council of Wizards.

Cover Launch: SHADOW BARON by Davinia Evans

Take your first look at the cover of Shadow Baron (US | UK) by Davinia Evans! You can pick up this sequel to Notorious Sorcerer in November 2023.

Shadow Baron by Davinia Evans

Cover Design by Stephanie Hess

Strap in for a thrilling adventure in the sequel to Davinia Evans’s wickedly entertaining debut fantasy that follows our favorite irreverent alchemists, high society ladies, and swashbuckling street gangs as they wrestle with the nature of reality itself. 

Siyon Velo might be acknowledged as the Alchemist. He may have even stabilized the planes and stopped Bezim from ever shaking into the sea again. But that doesn’t mean he has any idea what’s he doing—and it won’t be long before everyone knows it.

To make things worse, mythical creatures once confined to operas and myths are spotted around Bezim. A djinn invades Zagiri’s garden party, and whispers of a naga slither across Anahid’s Flower District card tables. Magic is waking up in the Mundane. It’s up to Siyon to figure out a way to stop it, or everything he’s worked hard to save will come crashing down.

Praise for The Burnished City: 
“I loved getting lost in this dazzling debut.” ―Shannon Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

“A firework of a fantasy novel: vibrant, explosive, deliciously dangerous, and impossibly fun.” ―Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne

“Sheer, glorious fun!” ―Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light

The Burnished City
Notorious Sorcerer (US | UK)
Shadow Baron (US | UK)

Acquisition Announcement: THE HONEY WITCH by Sydney J. Shields

Sydney Shields
Photo Credit: Will F. H. Jones

Warm, sun-dappled queer love stories, masquerade balls, and folk magic, you say? A story about a honey witch cursed never to fall in love? To that, we say yes! A million times yes!

When we first heard this pitch on TikTok we knew immediately that we had to read the manuscript, and it was everything we’d dreamed of and more. Redhook is thrilled to have bought The Honey Witch, Sydney J. Shields’s debut novel about a honey witch cursed never to find love and the woman who she’ll risk anything to save. For fans of Practical Magic and Bridgerton we’re so excited for this book to sweep you off your feet in Summer 2024.

 

Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude is entering another season without any intentions of accepting a proposal. When her eccentric grandmother Althea visits and finally provides an explanation for Marigold’s strange magical abilities, they return to the Lake Isle of Innisfree where she begins training as a Honey Witch—an apothecary and alchemist who uses her magical connection with the bees to create enchanted honey for her spells. While this lovely power leaves her especially adept at helping others find love, it also comes with an ancient curse that none have been able to break: no one can fall in love with the Honey Witch.

When Lottie Burke, a notorious grumpy skeptic who doesn’t believe in magic, accompanies her best friend to the cottage for a love spell, Marigold can’t resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. She invites Lottie and her best friend, August Owens, to stay with her for the summer to prove her abilities, but Marigold begins to care for Lottie in a way she never expected. She longs to break the curse and escape her lonely fate, but when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her freedom—at the risk of losing her magic and her heart.

 

While you wait, feel free to reach out and say “hi” to Sydney at her website, on Instagram @sydneyjshields, or on TikTok @sydneyjshields.