It’s Christmas so lets send some love to all the indie authors out there! As I suck at coming up with sentences longer than 10 words I shamelessly stole the blurbs from Goodreads
Paul S. Lavender writes fantasy and was a contender for the SPFBO 2017. His book The Eighth God came out in january of this year. It features orcs, a half-elven battle mage and orcslayers
The blurb
For thousands of years, five great fortresses have stood sentinel between the Borderlands and the rapacious Orcs. But the Orcs have allies, and these allies are about to set a chain of events in motion that will lead to war…
Heroes will rise to answer the call.
Saethryth has just returned from the Orc Lands where he has been killing them for over twenty years. He is one of the last Orcslayers left alive.
Melress is a Half-Elven Battle Mage, recently promoted to Captain and sent to the fortress of Knight’s Perch, where there are rumours of a traitor.
Tierra has been sleeping with the enemy, and now she wants revenge.
And Bazak-Kul, well he just wants to get home alive.
They and others will face the onslaught at Knight’s Perch, but battle is the least of anyone’s problems because The Eighth God is on the rise and everything can change when the Gods are playing.
Next up is burrito lover Michael McClung who won the SPFBO back in 2015 he also writes fantasy. The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids was released in 2012 and he’s currently working on releasing his next book Prayers in Steel in early 2018
This is the blurb for The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids
Amra Thetys lives by two simple rules—take care of business, and never let it get personal. Thieves don’t last long in Lucernis otherwise. But when a fellow rogue and good friend is butchered on the street in a deal gone wrong, she turns her back on burglary and goes after something more precious than treasure: Revenge.
Revenge, however, might be hard to come by. A nightmare assortment of enemies, including an immortal assassin and a mad sorcerer, believe Amra is in possession of The Blade That Whispers Hate—the legendary, powerful artifact her friend was murdered for—and they’ll do anything to take it from her. Trouble is, Amra hasn’t got the least clue where the Blade might be.
She needs to find the Blade, and soon, or she’ll be joining her colleague in a cold grave instead of avenging his death. Time is running out for the small, scarred thief.
Yarrrr I heard you like pirates! So read some of Rob J. Hayes’s books. Where Loyalties was released in may of this year it’s set in the same world as his previous grimdark fantasy The Ties that Bind (part of a trilogy)
Le blurb
Everybody knows Captain Drake Morass is only out for himself.
As the fires of a dying city burn on a distant shore, Drake sees an opportunity to unite the other pirate Captains under his flag and claim a crown for himself. If he is to succeed, he will need allies and the Oracle named Keelin Stillwater, the best swordsman in the isles, as his right hand.
With enemy ships sailing his waters and setting fire to his cities, and the sinister Tanner Black threatening to steal the throne before Drake even has a chance to sit upon it, Drake Morass must somehow convince the other Captains that his best interests are also theirs.
I’m currently reading Hiss of the Blade by Richard Writhen.
Two petty mercenaries are falsely accused of switching sides in a feud between two rich and powerful magnates; an ex-miner on the run from a murder charge becomes a reaver and embroiled in a romance; an industrial lieutenant is recruited to help capture a serial killer and an entire city is in danger of being ensorcelled by an ancient monk
R.B. Watkinson writes epic fantasy and her first book came out in january of 2016, she’s currently working on an anthology for charity called Art of War which will feature a lot of the other authors I’ll be writing about in the next days.
Against a background of failing states, magik, and spirits, Coryn and Katleya lose all they have and must flee all they know. Coryn, protected by a cracked amulet, must find his sister and fulfill an oath. Katleya, with just her wits and her knives to defend herself, for her Wealdan allows her to only see the magical Wefan, is desperate to reach a Haven where she can learn to use her power fully. But she is hunted by those meaning to use her for terrible purposes of their own.
A story as intricate and as powerful as any Weaving of the Wefan.
Graham Austin-King is currently also working on his story for Art of War. His latest book Faithless is even darker than his Fae books. Faithless was also part of the SPFBO this year
The temples of the Forgefather have fallen. The clerics and defenders that could once be found across the nine lands are no more. Priests huddle in the great temple, clinging to the echoes of their lost religion. But the Father has fallen silent. There are none who still hear his voice.
The mines of Aspiration lie far below the temple’s marble halls. Slaves toil in the blackness, striving to earn their way into the church and the light. Wynn has been sold into this fate, traded for a handful of silver. In the depths of the mines, where none dare carry flame, he must meet his tally or die. But there are things that lurk in that darkness, and still darker things within the hearts of men.
When the souls bound to the great forge are released in a failed ritual, one novice flees down into the darkness of the mines. The soulwraiths know only hunger, the risen know only hate. In the blackest depths Kharios must seek a light to combat the darkness which descends
Art of War is an anthology in the makes and is expected to be released in February of 2018. It will feature 40 known and lesser known authors, such as Mark Lawrence (Prince of Thorns), Miles Cameron (The Red Knight), Brian Staveley (The Emperor’s Blades), Ben Galley ( The Heart of Stone), Nicholas Eames ( Kings of the Wyld), Dyrk Ashton (Paternus), D.M Murray (Red Season Rising) and many many more.Big thanks to Petros Triantafyllou from Booknest. All the proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders http://www.msf.org/
So, with clear consciences, several busloads of excellent and acclaimed fantasy authors have applied themselves to the task of penning a veritable mountain of words on the subject of The Art of War, expect bloodshed, gore, pathos, insight, passion, and laughs. Maybe even a wombat. Who knows. Anyway, as the original blurb said: “It’s good. Buy it.”
-Mark Lawrence
Dark Mondays 
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