It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”.
So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some May books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.
Once again, we have new releases covering the whole broad spectrum of speculative fiction. We have science fiction, space opera, military science fiction, science fantasy, paranormal romance, post-apocalyptic fiction, dystopian fiction, YA fantasy, epic fantasy, time travel romance, Steampunk, weird western, horror, vampires, dragons, djinns, starships, magical schools, teen superheroes, otherworldly dogs, magical bookstores, vampiric bees, villainous teabags and much more.
Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.
As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.
And now on to the books without further ado:
The Lost World by Susan Alison
Lily’s life was dog-free and uneventful until one night when it became absolutely the reverse.
That same night Matt Lannings was reluctantly drawn into the fantastical scenario that Lily’s life had become – the only thing was that Lily believed she’d been chosen to save another world in another universe – and Matt didn’t.
Matt didn’t believe any of it!
Katie Fforde (internationally best-selling author, and President of the Romantic Novelists’ Association) said of ‘The Lost World’ — ‘Magical! Full of warmth and humour.’
Libby is a high school senior who should be preparing for graduation. Instead, she’s been bedridden for six months with valley fever, stuck on her father’s farm in California’s central valley.
When the beekeepers arrive in February, bringing their bees to pollinate the almond crop, one of them looks like a vampire, acts like a vampire, says his name is Malevolent, and tries to murder Libby’s lousy boyfriend. Yet he offers her honey that dramatically improves her illness, and his bees sing words that she can understand.
Mal took up beekeeping in order to preserve the last remnants of his humanity. What started as a simple trip to California quickly turns into something far more complicated, as he meets a lovely girl who is deathly ill, infected by Mal’s own brother. Feeling guilty and responsible, Mal sets out to heal her with his precious, magic-infused honey, and with each passing day, comes closer to breaking his personal creed:
Befriend Many, Serve Some, Trust Few, Love None.
Once healed, Libby has the strength to break up with her boyfriend–touching off a war between Mal and his brother. This escalates into a realm of awful magic Libby has never dreamed of, where she is both pawn and prize in the battle against a Necromancer. In the end, Libby must face her growing feelings for Mal, and decide whether to destroy him–or rescue him from his soulless existence.
Eylin is hiding in the underground city from the group of ancients who want her dead, but she’s not safe even there. On the other side of some massive tunnels, an unknown group is systematically removing magic from each underground city.
As pressure mounts, Eylin has big decisions to make, and each could have deadly consequences. After being personally attacked, she makes a bold decision, and goes after it with the hopes of saving those she loves.
She becomes deeply invested in an ancient culture. If she gets too close, she could put all of her loved ones at risk.
This is book 8 of The Transformed series.
Hunted Hero Hunting by Timothy Ellis
Jonathon Hunter’s world grows darker each day. Assassins, Pirates, Bounty Hunters, Mercenaries, and Retros, all want a piece of him. Each trap leads to yet another trap. When the unthinkable happens, the prey becomes the predator. The hunted goes hunting. But how does a young spiritual warrior cope, as the kills mount?
The Hunter Legacy series:
1. Hero at large
2. Hunted Hero Hunting
3. Send in the Hero ***forthcoming***
Alex Armstrong: Awakening by Hayes Farley
Alex Armstrong is definitely not telekinetic.
But he will be. And all it takes is a little red pill.
Welcome to Pal Tech, the top-secret school for kids with latent telekinetic powers. Like the other freshmen, Alex was recruited sixteen years ago, when neonatal scans revealed his capacity for telekinesis. Now that he’s of age and his powers are ripe for unlocking, he can begin his training.
Alex excels. Whether he’s navigating a mock Star Wars Trench Run in lab class, crushing his friends in a game of no-hands basketball, or dodging a paintball-shooting helicopter drone during his Simtest, Alex makes telekinesis look easy.
Pal Tech’s president takes notice, moving Alex out of the simulation rooms and into field work with the upperclassmen. His first assignment: join the juniors as they oversee the school’s latest diamond shipment.
But somebody talks, and what should have been a routine delivery gets intercepted by a rogue telekin—a rogue telekin who’s already murdered two senators in his quest to kill Pal Tech’s founders.
With the other students scrambling to survive, Alex must stop the telekin before he causes any more destruction. There’s just one problem: The bad guy can fly.
The Twiceborn Queen by Marina Finlayson
Kate O’Connor’s had a rough week. Thrown into the middle of a war of succession between the daughters of the dragon queen, her introduction to the hidden world of the shifters almost proved fatal. Now, because of Kate and her new powers, that hidden realm has been revealed to the world, which hasn’t exactly won Kate any popularity contests.
Still, it’s not all bad news. After all, it’s not every day someone you love comes back from the dead. Throw in a hot new boyfriend, and suddenly Kate’s got a lot to live for—which is bad timing, because now the queen’s set a bounty on her head and every shifter in Sydney is trying to collect it.
Kate may have defeated a dragon already, but there are plenty more where that one came from. As her enemies close in and the body count mounts, Kate begins a desperate search for allies. The deadly game of the proving continues. If Kate is to save the people she loves, failure is not an option. The rules are simple: win or die.
The Twiceborn Queen is the second book in the urban fantasy trilogy The Proving.
The pressure of being a super – especially a teen super – can get to anyone, as Jim (aka Kid Sensation) has witnessed firsthand. Now he wonders if he himself might be succumbing to the strain in some way, as he can’t shake the feeling that he is now being watched by some new stalker. Moreover, despite his wide slate of powers, he hasn’t been able to discover to a single clue to substantiate the existence of this potential new enemy, making him wonder if it’s all in his head.
Looking forward to a few days of R&R and hanging out with his friends, Jim’s downtime is interrupted by the unsettling news that Alpha Prime, the world’s greatest superhero (and Jim’s father), is missing. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Jim finds his world rocked by an even more ominous revelation: his deranged half-brother, Paramount, has escaped from confinement in a maximum security installation.
In the course of investigating these events and trying to ascertain what connection, if any, there is between them, Jim becomes privy to information concerning a potent alien device capable of laying waste to the entire planet. But he’s not the only one – an enigmatic villain wants the alien technology for his own purposes, and it’s up to Jim to find a way to stop him before the world pays the ultimate price.
The Hartshire Bank by R.D. Henderson
Crepier is missing and the bank he created is foundering at the start of Hartshire Bank, the fourth novella in the Nambroc Sequence, a fantasy novella. His disappearance sends members of Watley Greywall’s crew reeling. Crepier was the longest-serving lieutenant in Watley’s crew.
Sir Sander Guyle, a reputed crime lord who wants to be thought of as legitimate merchant, steps into the void created by Crepier’s disappearance to lead the bank. He seizes the opportunity of managing the bank to complete the evolution to becoming a tycoon.
Things become dangerous and precarious when Crepier’s dead body is discovered on the rocky banks of the Waterford River a few leagues outside of Hartshire. The cause of death was several stab wounds in the chest.
Several senior members of Watley’s crew suspect that Sir Sander Guyle was responsible for Crepier’s death.
Watley, on the other hand, does not seem to be too troubled by the murder of Crepier, her most loyal and longest-serving lieutenant.
It appears Watley Greywall is hiding something, but what is it?
The year is 2350.
Earth is in the Planetary Alliance with aliens who claim to be our creators. But not everybody agrees with the new doctrine.
Starship Scorpius is sent to explore space in search of advanced extraterrestrial technologies that will give us an advantage over our alien allies.
The battle for supremacy begins here…
The race is on when Scorpius encounters an alien phenomenon that leaves a mysterious extraterrestrial technology stranded on the ship—a strange machine that can teleport the crew to parallel dimensions.
But a deadly accident forces Captain Megan Ashley to forbid further usage of the machine. First Commander Sy Race supports Ashley’s decision, but secretly starts exploiting the technology when he realizes he can create his own parallel worlds and use them to attain his personal goals.
The STARSHIP SCORPIUS SERIES is infused with aliens, AIs, ghosts, starships, high-tech, mysterious space phenomena, battle between good and evil, and the central question of what it means to be an individual within the collective—human and alien—in the galaxy of the 24th century.
The Shadowseeker by Victor Kloss
Spellswords, Wardens, Traders, Scholars, Diplomats – the five departments of the Royal Institute of Magic an apprentice must master to become a full member.
Ben Greenwood has no idea what to expect when he begins his apprenticeship, but he quickly realises his family history is going to make life difficult. On his very first day, a Shadowseeker – a mysterious and dangerous dark elf – surfaces, and Ben suspects the dark elves might be trying to capture him again in an effort to flush out his parents.
When Ben renews his own search for his parents, he soon discovers they are closing in on a piece of Queen Elizabeth’s legendary armour – the only weapon strong enough to defeat the dark elf king once and for all – but it is guarded by something even more deadly than a Shadowseeker.
A race against time ensues, with Ben desperate to warn his parents they’re walking into a death-trap, while somehow completing the first level of his apprenticeship and securing his place at the Royal Institute of Magic.
Through a Mirror, Darkly by Kevin Lucia
There are a lot more truths in the books we read, than we’d like to admit.
What if a book delves into the lives of the very town you live in? Reveals to you some personal stories of people you know? Or thought you knew.
Bookstore owner Kevin Ellison faces this truth when a mysterious book shows up in Through a Mirror, Darkly by Kevin Lucia.
Through a Mirror, Darkly is a Supernatural Thriller collection masked as a novel. With elements of mystery, suspense, and otherworldly horror, Through a Mirror, Darkly successfully delves into the worlds of Lovecraft, Grant, and the mysterious Carcosa.
“Arcane Delights. Clifton Heights’ premier rare and used bookstore. In it, new owner Kevin Ellison has inherited far more than a family legacy, for inside are tales that will amaze, astound, thrill…and terrify.
An ancient evil thirsty for lost souls. A very different kind of taxi service with destinations not on any known map. Three coins that grant the bearer’s fondest wish, and a father whose crippling grief gives birth to something dark and hungry.
Every town harbors secrets. Kevin Ellison is about to discover those that lurk in the shadows of Clifton Heights.”
Through a Mirror, Darkly is a Supernatural Thriller collection masked as a novel. With elements of mystery, suspense, and otherworldly horror, Through a Mirror, Darkly successfully delves into the worlds of Lovecraft, Grant, and the mysterious Carcosa.
Ranger Rising by Salvador Mercer
A thousand years ago, on the world of Claire-Agon, a war raged between men and dragons, destroying both the creatures and the land’s many civilizations.
When his family is enslaved, Targon Terrel must battle the sinister Kesh wizards to save them, but a desperate group of refugees from his home country of Ulatha needs his help, too.
With the unexpected aid of a Druid of the Arnen, Targon discovers his destiny as a Ranger, but far from solving his problems, this discovery will soon reveal a personal betrayal. Targon’s fate brings him closer to long-buried truths about the ancient war between wizards and dragons — truths that could plunge his world into darkness forever.
When a group of rogue djinn attack the sanctuary of Taos, New Mexico, Jessica Monroe has no choice but to activate the device that was designed to destroy the elementals’ supernatural powers. With her lover Jace and the other friendly djinn in Taos doomed to a weakened half-life as long as the machine is active, Jessica and the other members of the community launch a desperate mission to retrieve the one man who might be able to help them — Miles Odekirk, the scientist in Los Alamos who invented the device in the first place.
The threat of retaliation by the Los Alamos survivors is only one of the perils facing Jessica, however. For Jace has his own enemies, and when an ancient rival returns to seek his own revenge, Jessica may have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save not only the man she loves, but everyone in the Taos community, human and djinn alike.
This is book 3 of The Djinn Wars.
McSorely’s Evil Tea by Helen Ryan
Sky Swift lives happily in a cosy home with her mother. She enjoys the simpler things in life like drinking tea, munching biscuits, oh and sniffing everything. One day evil pays a visit. Her world has changed forever. Stalked by an evil tea bag and chased by an evil tea company that will stop at nothing to get her.
They want her for their wicked plan.
Sky is in trouble. She needs help.
But who can she turn to?
A Prospect of War by Ian Sales
Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it, but those who ignore history do so at their peril. The Empire was born in civil war and now, 1,300 years later, a fresh civil war is brewing. But who is the mysterious “Serpent” who threatens the Imperial Throne? And what can the renegade naval officer known only as the Admiral, and her single battlecruiser, do to combat him? Casimir Ormuz, a young man of low birth, may be the key. Whoever controls him is most likely to win—but he is determined to be his own master.
And then the historical origin of the Serpent’s conspiracy abruptly intrudes into the present… And the civil war becomes a battle for the Empire’s survival.
Set in a colourful and richly-detailed universe, An Age of Discord tells an epic story of derring-do and intrigue, while subverting space opera sensibilities and traditions.
It’s 2020, and there’s an environmental crisis brewing in the depths of the Greenland ice sheet that’s a threat to everyone on the planet. But California girl Camilla Brightly is an expat just trying to make a buck, working for an offbeat PR firm. Their latest project? Everyone on staff has to get their “domestic helpmates” –anything from dishwashers to disco balls–networked via a new client’s “smart” home automation system. Camille doesn’t want Big Brother knowing that the only thing in her freezer is the makings for a vodka smoothie, but that’s not the worst of her problems.
A hacker intent on taking down one of her firm’s customers stumbles across a secret Camilla didn’t even know she was keeping, and her refrigerator turns out to be so smart it’s figured out how to stalk her. On top of that, there’s an environmental crisis brewing in the depths of a glacier halfway across the world that’s a threat to everyone on the planet. Global warming has reached a tipping point–and so has Camilla. She can’t stop the impending apocalypse but can she save herself?
With the help of an adorably nerdy co-worker and his polyamorous cousin, Camilla has to untangle herself from her less-than-harmonious home, foil a blackmailer, and face down an ecological disaster that might change life as she knows it forever. “Wake”–the prequel to “An Etiquette Guide to the End Times”–is a novel of climate change, unruly appliances, and finding a place to belong.
The Magician of Dustville by Hollis Shiloh
Magic, danger, and love in the Old West
A small yet powerful magician moves to Dustville. He’s prickly about his height (or lack thereof) and extremely private about his past.
Magician meets sheriff, also private about his past and quite firmly in the closet. It is, after all, the only safe place to be in the little almost-town of Dustville.
Attraction blossoming between them promises pleasure, and possibly more. Can this become what they both truly want — a real relationship?
And can they survive cruel villains, dark pasts, and a grave magical danger that will test them both to their limits … or beyond?
Born in the land of magic, Ariella has never cared for the nightmare world of technology beyond Elitia’s borders: airships, bombs, some dubious thing the humans call fusion energy. Her last encounter with technology very nearly killed her, and she’s not eager for a rematch. But then her friend Davin, the crown prince of Elitia, is abducted by agents of the Avan Empire. To save the man she secretly loves, she has to travel beyond Elitia to the Avan capital city. Her only hope lies with rogue mercenary Everett—and trying to fight technology with magic.
Everett, mercenary and rescue mission expert extraordinaire, knows he’s in for trouble as soon as he sees his latest client. Ariella is Elition; the enormous glowing sword she carries around won’t let him forget that, just as he can’t forget the last time he crossed paths with Elition magic. Ten of his friends died, victims of telekinetic sorcery, and Everett learned to be very wary of magic. But Ariella is offering him a substantial reward for his help—if they can save Davin before the Avans’ unknown endgame plays out.
Enchanted is the first book in the Sorcery and Science fantasy adventure series.
The Wanderer by Vincent Trigili
Episode one of The Silverleaf Chronicles follows the life of Silverleaf, a dragonmaster who was born into a world without dragons, and doomed to die as a madman alone in the wilderness until a young woman enters his life, and a mysterious army marches across the land destroying all in its path.
The Silverleaf Chronicles is the first season in The Dragonmasters and is made up of seven episodes, each around 70 pages in length.
The America of the late 21st century is a pale shadow of its former glory. Decades of war and the growing divide between the poor and the wealthy leaves all but the super-rich in the grips of the greatest depression since the 1930’s.
This is the world that sixteen-year-old Sharon Hall lives in. With her city teetering on the razor’s edge of dying, the dream of graduating and getting the diploma she needs to get a real job and save her family grows more distant with each passing day.
However, a team of television developers has other plans for her city. In exchange for around 140 high school students selected at random, her city will receive the millions of dollars it desperately needs to jump-start its broken economy. Before Sharon knows what the developers are really filming, she’s drafted into the production, known simply as “The Battle.”
But, “The Battle” is anything but simple. While touted as an ordinary wilderness survival show, the game is, in fact, a staged war that splits Sharon’s circle of friends in two and equips everyone involved with rifles, machine guns and other deadly weapons of modern warfare.
Of course, Sharon is going to survive. She has a family that needs her. But when the cost of her survival is the lives of her friends on the other team, it may be a more expensive price than she’s willing to pay.
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