Sff Stories

The Nine Worlds of medieval times are threatened by threats from Norse and Gaelic mythology, and only the teenagers -- the Venetian mariner's daughter, Clarinda, and Hospitaller knight, Ríg -- can prevent the return of the darkest of the Artifacts of Destiny, the Codex Lacrimae. If they manage to survive, Clarinda & Ríg will discover whether friendship and perhaps love can stand against the host of villainous enemies, supernatural forces, and the march-to-war on different planes of existence caused by the return of the most corrupt of the Books of Fates, and the different paths that they will choose are unexpected and filled with perils that are literally out of this world. In action-filled journeys and breathtaking battles that range across exotic locales such as the besieged Krak des Chevaliers on Midgard, to the Weeping Wood of Svartalfheim, the Dwarf-Caverns of Nidaveller, and even to the fabled Fjords of Asgard, the relationship between the Norn and Hospitaller knight develops and deepens. With an unpredictable outcome that confounds traditional expectations of the genre and begins the tale of a thousand year-romance, this first book of The Artifacts of Destiny will surprise and delight readers of epic fantasy!

📚2018 Wattys Shortlist!📚 An ancient evil returns. The Huntsmen of Muspelheim want the Codex Lacrimae, so they've set a trap in 12th Century Crusader lands to get it! Believed lost for half a millennium, the Codex Lacrimae reappears when an old scholar brings the Dark Book to the Hospitaller castle of the Krak des Chevaliers. Unwittingly, that action leads the malevolent Huntsmen to the one person they've been seeking: Ríg, an apprentice who trains the warrior-monks in the castle's library and seeks only a quiet existence because of a haunted past. The arrival of the Codex Lacrimae and its supernatural temptations will force Ríg to choose between the peaceful path of a priest or violent ways of a warrior. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, the Norns of Fate try to counter the Huntsmen's plot by casting a net around Clarinda Trevisan, a beautiful Venetian sea merchant's daughter who is content to sail with her father's fleet throughout the Mediterranean Sea. After her father disappears, Clarinda's attempt to solve the mystery pulls her into both Ríg's orbit and matters far greater than the cargoes and crews that usually occupy her time. The girl must learn the ways of war and magic to fulfill Fate's role, and confront strange creatures of Norse mythology, a nefarious Templar Grandmaster, the magical Nine Worlds, and a tempestuous relationship with Ríg himself! The return of the Codex Lacrimae unleashes a host of evils that might challenge even the most star-crossed of lovers. If Clarinda & Ríg can't stop the Huntsmen of Muspelheim, Hela and her Wilde Jagd, the Dragon Fafnir, the armies of Saladin, & a mysterious figure whose dark designs are centuries in the making, they'll find the worlds of the Multiverse at the brink of annihilation!

Featured on @ScienceFiction | Josiah Li lives in a flooded world, where global warming has taken its toll and technology is intertwined in every aspect of daily life. To pass the time in between virtual classes, he finally takes the leap to sign up for a popular game, Starlia. He chooses the least popular class, a bard--good for providing support and crowd control. Josiah quickly rises to fame when he teams up with Starlia's number one player, Nathan Lum--who's totally handsome and charming, by the way. Josiah joins Nathan's guild, and from there he's introduced to the game's royalty. Turns out, Josiah is pretty good at gaming. So much so that he's invited by the game's company to fly out to their headquarters to meet Nathan and a few other guild members. The company is quick to admit that the game world is harboring many secrets, including a code that's key to building a weathering machine to save Josiah's broken world. Josiah and his guild set out on a quest, which includes defeating multiple strong bosses to reveal the code. As the flooding only worsens, Josiah and his guild mates begin a race against time, betting all of their hopes on unlocking the weathering machine. As their rivals race for the code in hopes of fame and wealth, Josiah risks his all for the game's secrets.

Princess Aegertha Sideria Belquis has just turned eighteen. Which means she is to be wed to Prince Brannon Calderwith, heir to the throne of Calswath. As a gift, he brings her a Drachta Fianna. The offspring of a Fae's relations with a deer. An accident causes the creature to murder Brannon's young ward, but also awaken a hidden ability with Aegertha. The ability to compel without resistance, man, Fae or beast. With her newfound power, Aegertha begins a quest that will take her on the adventure of a lifetime. At least...That's what was supposed to happen. Instead, Brannon's gift is a young man by the name of Milton Carter. Peculiar to the lands of Aegertha and the rest of the Belquisian court, Milton seems to know more than he let's on, and shows nothing but contempt to the entire court. Because to him, Aegertha is not a princess. To him Aegertha is a character, known as AERIS BELLE.

All things are known in the end. A SAMPLE of The Cathedral of Known Things (book 2 of The Relic Guild trilogy) Divided, hunted and short on resources, the surviving members of the Relic Guild are in real trouble. Their old enemy, the Genii, and their resurrected master have infiltrated Labrys Town and taken over the police force. So the Relic Guild must flee their home, and set off on a dangerous journey across the worlds of the Aelfir. One that will lead them to a weapon which might destroy the Genii. Or the whole universe... And forty years before all this, the war which led to the fall of the Genii continues. And what happens to the Relic Guild during that conflict will change the course of their desperate flight.

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Jaxx, the small French Bulldog Chester had bought Grace as a surprise, sees the ups and downs of his owners relationships even annoying them every so often along the way.

Upper City or Lower City—it's all the same old shit to ex-cop Luis. Anywhere that he can hunt for the perfect hand he needs to rebuild life for himself and his family. But his quarry ends up being something far bigger. Maybe too big for Luis.

Labrys Town, home to a million humans cut off from the rest of the universe, has been invaded. Those who protected it have been deposed. The Relic Guild are scattered across the worlds of the Aelfir. Many of them are dead or dying. The Genii control everything. The war is almost over. Clara, a young woman barely able to control her werewolf side, has seen her friends and mentors killed in front of her. She is the last hope for Labrys Town. But someone else is watching...

Ellie is a soldier in a world without governments. A generation ago, a series of financial crises caused most of the world’s governments to collapse, and left many of the people in those countries in terrible personal debt. Since then, the worst debtor nations have been under military occupation by the troops of the debt recovery corporations, and the worst debtor of all is Měi-guó, the old United States. Ellie is serving in the Afghan Police Action when she receives bad news from home. She is told the daughter she hasn’t seen in years is dead. She flies home from war, upset, to do what needs to be done, but once there she finds out all is not as it seems. Ellie’s daughter is alive and unhurt. She is being held by of one of the many debt-recovery corporations. Held, for leverage, to make Ellie do the corporation a favour. Ellie’s daughter will be returned unharmed if Ellie does as they wish. The son of a company director is lost somewhere in the wilderness of post-debt-restructuring America, and hasn't been seen for three days. The company wants Ellie to go and find the kid, and Ellie doesn't know if she can. The one rule she's stuck to all her working life is to never to go to America, but now she might have to. She will have to, if she wants to save the daughter she hasn't seen in years. This is fairly dark and gritty near-future dystopian SF. ----- Debt Collectors War is now on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QZG1RHI/ Also on iTunes and B&N and other places. Just if that's easier to read that way! But please don't feel obliged or anything, and thank you for looking -----

From the free fantasy e-zine Tales From Netherün Volume 3 A young orphan and her friends find twelve skulls buried on the island they call home. When one of the skulls goes missing, Daewynn and her friends pay the price. visit www.quillandread.com to learn more or subscribe

A woman travels to Keystone hoping to finally pay off her debt to the nightmarish Mercy of the Road. All she longs for is freedom, but will she find it? visit www.quillandread.com to subscribe to a free, shared world fantasy e-zine.

Space is vast, and the Hauler is alone. It is a kilometers-long train of supplies, but it has been off course for years. Its lone inhabitant used to get transmissions from Earth, but eventually, even those stopped. An occasional visitor might be nice.

A boy loses his life too early, as well as the memory of his death. This boy with the power of healing hands must spend his time in Purgatory until he can remember the truth. Only then can he move on to the world of blue, where the dead live on. A woman becomes one with a man, only for him to fall into death's embrace. With the woman's power to time travel, she must save her partner's fate and preserve the family she cherishes. A young man with prosthetic limbs yearns for wonderment in his life in a windy, cliff side town. He drifts through life until he meets a young child. These are a collection of short stories that take place in a world called Athre. The people in these stories struggle to find their own truths, while trying to endure the pain that comes with it.

"What is that?!" "An Erif. A killing machine. If they catch us, they'll kill us. That's all you need to know." The Erifs are ruthless, powerful and unforgiving. They feed on rage and hatred. And Prince Torin is all that stands in their way. He is young and impulsive. Determined to protect those he loves at any cost as their kingdom prepares for war with the Erifs - a fierce race of warriors - even if it means paying the ultimate price. But little does he know that those closest to him are hiding dark secrets. And in a land where battle lines are drawn in blood and carved out with fire, secrets could end them all. The Fire Song Chronicles Books 1 - 3 OUT NOW!