Meyer Brant has lived in the Outlands his entire life. Sometimes Traders bring magical artifacts from the Great Realms and other far off lands, but otherwise he is removed from the kings, sorcerers and magical creatures of the world. Instead, Meyer's biggest concern is enduring his daily Martial Training--a necessity in Vanroc, a town which lives in constant fear of Raiders. Yet one day during a sparring session, Meyer experiences a moment of supernatural strength, and his life is changed forever...

What if our spirit animals could give us magical abilities? At sixteen-years-old Shale has spent her entire living memory within the cold stone walls of Silverwood monastery. Her only joys come from reading about heroes and pretending to be a hero. Her life changes when three strangers arrive from the west to tell her of her magical abilities and secret past. But an ancient evil has returned to Yim and it hunts her and her kind. Can she journey to a land of dragons and demons, and become the hero she's only read about in stories? 120k - 130k words

"I pledge myself only to those I love, those who have earned my love warily, for I know that betrayal can only come from those you trust." In the second installment of the theurgy series, Ryan is an orphan living an uncertain life. A promise, an oath made from retaliation has slowly lost its purpose as he finds himself questioning his goals. But as dark forces attempt to strangle the last bastions of peace within his grim life, he will do all he can to salvage it. We follow Ryan as he is targeted by the ever-present entity of Talin and its minions, discovering the secrets of his forgotten past and pledging and embrace the dangerous powers that dwell within him now. Can he really be the hero that Lyse swears him to be? Can he be a godslayer? Godslayer of Death

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

Twelve-year-old Carmen has a secret: she can talk to her cat Grim. But the powerful Brotherhood has banned pets, and the penalty is death. Ward is the most wanted boy in the world. The only thing standing between him and the hangman's noose is master criminal Saint Nick. In exchange for Nick's protection, Ward must find the long-lost horn called the Oliphant, said to have the power to wake legendary beings known as the Sleepers, whom Nick believes can aid him in his guerilla war against the Brotherhood. This leads Ward to Carmen, whose family has a long and mysterious association with the Oliphant. Ward and Carmen are soon hot on the trail of the horn, but the Brotherhood are closing in on Carmen's family. Ward and Carmen realise that waking the Sleepers may be the only thing that can save Carmen's parents from certain death. If only they knew how. FOR READERS WHO LIKED Scarlett & Browne - Jonathan Stroud Fly By Night - Frances Hardinge His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

"His mother's screams remained etched in his mind. He promised himself that night he would never again stand by as people he cared for suffered, and he would one day kill Volcseck. He intended to keep those promises." Falcon Hyatt has a problem. For reasons unknown to him he can wield all the elements, not only basics like fire and water, but also those more advanced, like space and poison. And now the chaos element, the same one his parents' killer Shal-Volcseck wields, has awakened within him, with catastrophic results. To complicate matters, the Suteckh Empire has declared war on the capital cities of Va'siel. Now he must venture out into the world with his friends Lao, Faith, and Aya on a mission to stop the Suteckh from taking over Va'siel, and find his parents killer, as all the while he struggles to suppress his newfound abilities. In his quest Falcon is forced to question what he's really fighting for, where his loyalties lie, and his own character. Is he truly a good person, or an even more dangerous menace than the dreaded Shal-Volcseck? Element Wielder is the story of faith, love, and a young man's struggle to continue on his quest, when surrendering to his emotions and giving up is so much easier.

After bursting onto the fantasy scene with his acclaimed debut novel, Elantris, and following up with his blockbuster Mistborn trilogy, Brandon Sanderson proves again that he is today’s leading master of what Tolkien called “secondary creation,” the invention of whole worlds, complete with magics and myths all their own. Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.

***This story takes place 100 years before the events of Falcon and ELEMENT WIELDER. It is a novella prequel to Element Wielder!!!!**** On planet Va'siel, there exist beings who can control basic elements like fire, mind, void, and, water. Some even have power over advanced elements like poison, space, and lightning. These gifted people are known as element wielders. But times are changing. For reasons unknown, no earth wielder has been born in over one hundred years. Without an earth wielder to keep balance, the planet has undergone a scorch. Food is scarce. Plants no longer grow in abundance. Humanity is headed toward extinction. Young orphan, Aadi, knows all this. He spends his days scouring the rowdy streets of Missea, doing his best to keep himself and his best friend, Zoen, alive. He takes life one day at a time, not giving the future much thought. But an ancient evil is headed on a collision course with him. And a hidden power within him is urging to be set free. Aadi tries to ignore it, but it relentlessly calls to him. Will he be able to overcome his past and face the threat to Va'siel? And at what cost?

As happened many times in the past the Fell Ice once again charged down from the north and attacked the world in its effort to turn it into a frozen ball of ice. Only the White Magic and it's ally the Sun could stand against such a vast enemy. From their home in the Valley of the Sun the great tribe of Elves could only watch as the monumental fight unfolded. As the battle intensified and the valley became threatened the tribe separated back into their four original tribes and each made their way back to their ancestral homes. Within their Vales, behind thick stone walls and under powerful domes of magic, they were protected from the onslaught upon the earth. The Elves watched for thousands upon thousands of turns as the war raged overhead. The Fell Ice against the Sun and the White Magic were locked in a struggle lasting for an age, with neither side claiming victory as the earth was ravaged. In time the Fell Ice retreated, as it had so many times in the past. Beaten, yet not defeated, only biding it's time for the next attack. It returned to its frozen Kingdom at the Top of the World, thus ending this last Age of Ice. This time, as the earth warmed around them, the Elves remained secluded from the world in their hidden Vales. They observed from afar life returning to the lands and took stock of man becoming the dominant ones as their numbers grew and spread. As the Elves watched they felt safe and secure in their Vale strongholds. They had no idea of the danger that was about to befall them. This is a stand-alone sequel to my story "Druids Bane".

Magic is to be feared. It is a wild, unpredictable thing, and anywhere it goes it brings mayhem and destruction. Those that wield it are even more dangerous. At least, that's what King Soren claimed when he hunted down and killed nearly every magic-user in Eldernia. The only ones he spared were sworn into Soren's service as elite agents that have one purpose, and one purpose only--find any remaining magic-users and give them a choice. Join the Valkir . . . or die. Asher, a sixteen-year-old boy, has managed to conceal his power for years. But when his secret is revealed, there will be no more hiding. || Winner of the 2020 Sinne Awards || || Third place in the 2020 Black and Gold Flames Awards - Fantasy || The fabulous cover is from @-designdistrict ! NOTE: This book is NOT public domain, whatever Wattpad says. All rights are reserved.