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arc review: stormbringer by erinn harper

A big thanks to INK & INCENSE PRESS for the ARC! @ink-and-incense

the overview

All right, so I originally reviewed this book back in October of 2022—the now first edition.

As a lover of magic-infused modern settings, this was an urban fantasy of weird pseudo-witches that tipped me straight into a gritty world of fame, fortune, and finding a name for yourself that I couldn’t help but fall for. I loved the introduction of Nikkeah as a cocky main character soaking up the limelight, his relationships with his siblings, his backstory that slowly unfolds alongside his current-day downfall, and his run-in with a certain Halfsleeper who I look forward to seeing more of in book two.

This version is a revamp, which ripped me from the high of finishing book 3, but oh man was it worth it.

So take a quick trip with me into an urban fantasy with a genderqueer main character, friction between casters and non-casters, tournament gladiator sports, and nefarious covens with ulterior motives.

the back cover

The vengeful vibes of Vicious meet the gritty urban flavors of Arcane in this dreampunk take on adult urban fantasy.

NIKKEAH TARANIS is a Stormcasting superstar.

Having ascended to the lofty rank of champion at Spectrum Stadium, Nikkeah enjoys a life of stardom high above his caster kin. The next step in his conquering the annual Invocation tournament, in which two dozen elite casters pit their magic and wit against each other for the chance at ultimate fame and fortune.

In the days before the tournament, Nikkeah’s magic is sabotaged under suspicious circumstances, trapping him in the threads of a dark plot that dismantles his glamorous life and sets him against his beloved city. Armed with little more than his outrage and wild Stormcasting, Nikkeah charges down the road to retribution. But what he discovers at the end may leave him with more questions than answers.

the characters

Nikkeah is an absolutely amazing main character. A genderqueer he/him Mx. icon who shines on the page even brighter than the first edition from his attitude to his gut-wrenching backstory to his empathy for the other characters he runs into along the way.

Micah’s role as mentor and coach was fleshed out so much more and was handled wonderfully as Nikkeah’s counterbalance. Seeing him care so much for his protégé was honestly heartwarming.

Gahera, Nikkeah’s older sister, is a gem, and I will always love her. We love supportive siblings in this house.

Vision. Oh, Vision, my precious Dreamer, I look forward to seeing more of you in the next releases. (Not me fawning over his page time over here or anything.)

The rest of the cast was balanced wonderfully, and while I’ve left out some key names, they absolutely stand out even sharper in my mind than before. I’m excited to see how vividly they’ll stand out on paper as the next volumes trickle out.

the setting

This was the piece that drew me to the book in the first place. I love urban fantasies that stray from the typical vampires, werewolves, and witches narrative. Honestly, dreampunk—as it’s described by the author—is the best name for it, since it weaves between realities in a world that feels like a futuristic take on Legend of Korra.

You have a bustling city; non-casters being Karens over casters using fire magic to cook their food at fancy restaurants; magical steroid usage in sports matches. It’s all got a touch of familiarity to it with distinctively fantasy elements that cause the right amount of friction for an amazing story.

the plot

The story itself deals with the rise and fall of Nikkeah’s fame through the unraveling of unfortunate tournament events and dips into his past, when he started his training to become a Spectrum champion. But that’s only where things start.

Because that also really heaps on that pressure to win, and when some of Nikkeah’s opponents turn out to have drugs in their systems, it seems like a play of desperation at first. Then things start to domino from potential scandal to scandal until much more ends up on the line.

The shift from Nikkeah’s teenaged flashbacks to his championship to the absolute mess of a situation he’s in during the latter portion of the book is a twisting maze of a mansion. Everything from the past to the present and the characters’ connections were well thought out and illustrated masterfully.

the verdict

Stormbringer was incredibly enjoyable. The pace pushed me through a little quicker than I expected, and even though I already expected most of the twists and turns, it was absolutely worth the re-read with polished prose and grittier details about such a wonderfully different urban fantasy I need more of.

Go add this book to your reading list and nab yourself a copy when it re-releases on February 7th, 2024!

Add on Goodreads

Originally posted Jan 2, 2024 on readwithnox.com.

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10 Indie Fantasy Books with A-spec Main Characters

Enjoy some magical a-spec spec-fic.

From asexual to aromantic and every variation inbetween, these fantasy books have a wonderful selection of a-spec LGBTQIA+ main characters for your next read!

While some of these books don’t outright announce some of the characters’ identities in the story, there are cues that a-spec readers are likely to pick up on either in the first book or later in the series. For the ones that aren’t completely obvious, I’ve received confirmation from the authors.

Structural Integrity

by Tabitha O’Connell Fantasy Romance featuring an a-spec trans mc

Messenger boy Kel never expected to strike up a romance with a government official. But Yaan lacks the self-important snobbery of the others, seeing Kel as more than just a pretty face. Living with him in the city’s plush government complex is everything Kel could want: no more expenses, kitchen workers and resident animals to befriend, and of course seeing Yaan every day. Even if Yaan does spend most of his time working or worrying about work, and seems to have forgotten that they used to have actual conversations…

When the city decides to tear down the iconic theater building in Kel’s old neighborhood, Yaan’s indifference toward his pleas to help save it forces Kel to confront his growing unhappiness. In the aftermath, both will have to decide whether their relationship is salvageable.

Song of Phoenix and Ink

by Margherita Scialla New Adult Portal Fantasy featuring an a-spec mc and a-spec li

All Nadzia Kaminski wanted was to finish writing her novel.

When she finally finished the manuscript for Crimson Mayhem, she did what any writer would: gave it to her best friend to read. Her friend’s reaction, however, wasn’t what she had expected and, upset by her criticism, Nadzia left her at the café where they had met.

Waking up the next morning, Nadzia was no longer in her bedroom, finding herself in a world of her creation, surrounded by dangerous magic and vaguely familiar settings.

With a country at war and no clear way home, time is running out and Nadzia has to find a way to gain the trust of the very people she created and figure out her confusing feelings for two of her own characters.

She soon realizes stories aren’t perfect when there is no one left to write them.

Dirt-Stained Hands, Thorn-Pierced Skin

by Tabitha O’Connell Fantasy Romance featuring an a-spec nonbinary mc and a-spec li

A queer, Beauty-and-the-Beast-inspired novella

Heron thought ey wanted to be with handsome, charming Tiel — but the relationship hasn’t quite lived up to eir expectations. With Tiel’s confidence comes a tendency to be overbearing, and now he wants Heron to leave eir farm life behind and move to town with him. And Heron can’t figure out how to explain to him that ey doesn’t want that.

When an accident strands Heron’s mother at a castle rumored to belong to a family of mages, Heron rushes off to make sure she’s all right — only to find the castle occupied by a single man who isn’t a mage at all. Prone to hiding behind his long mess of hair, the mysterious Theomer possesses a long-neglected, semi-magical garden. A job tending it is Heron’s perfect opportunity for some time away from Tiel while ey decides what to tell him.

Heron did not plan to be drawn in by Theomer’s attentive gaze and understated sense of humor. But as an undeniable bond forms between them, ey’s soon going to have a much bigger choice to make…

A Searing Faith

by Audrey Martin Epic Dark Fantasy featuring an aroace fmc

When sixteen-year-old Rena finds herself the sole survivor of the fire that destroyed her home town, the only thing keeping her going is the suspicion that the tragedy wasn’t an accident. She is determined to find those responsible, no matter how far her quest might take her. But no one in charge of the kingdom of Kal-Hemma seems to care that this isn’t the first town destroyed by a mysterious fire. And according to Rena’s travelling companions, there’s a lot the members of the Royal Council aren’t telling their subjects.

If Rena is truly the only survivor of the tragedy, why did she find her sister’s ring outside of their destroyed home?

Who planted the strange bird figurines around the town’s church before the fire?

And what do the old, forgotten Gods have to do with any of this?

A Searing Faith is the first book in an epic fantasy series and based on the award-winning, interactive audio drama The Heart Pyre.

A Kind Voice in Hell

by Ames Mullery Urban Fantasy featuring an a-spec trans mc

What’s a few years of bloody gladiator matches and witchcraft-for-hire when your best friend’s life is on the line?

To cover the soaring costs of his best friend’s life-saving healthcare Lark signs away everything he’s got — his body, his freedom, even his witchcraft — to a billionaire who plays at philanthropy for entertainment. Although Lark may have the heart of a saint, he doesn’t have the patience of one. It isn’t long before he begins to rock the boat and ends up threatening the very people he wants to save in his reckless heroics.

A KIND VOICE IN HELL is a story about an occult-obsessed billionaire looking for away to bring gladiators into the twenty-first century, a trans man with a hero complex who has never known illness a day in his life, and the disabled people caught in the middle. It contains queer love, found family, and a hero who needs to sit down and shut up before he tries to help anyone.

Follow Lark as he forges an unlikely alliance on the inside and weaves masterful spellwork in hopes of changing the world for the better.

Havesskadi

by Ava Kelly Fantasy featuring an a-spec mc

The red dragon is hunting her own. Up in the icy peaks of the northern mountains, Orsie Havesskadi spends his days hiding from her, but eventually he is found and his dragon magic stolen. Cursed to wander the lands as a mortal unless he recovers his magic before twenty-four rising crescents have passed, Orsie embarks on an arduous journey. Spurred by the whispers in his mind, his quest takes him to a castle hidden deep in a forest.

Arkeva Flitz, a skilled garrison archer, discovers an abandoned castle in the woods. Trapped there, he spends his days with his two companions, one cruel, the other soothing. One day, a young man arrives at his gates, and soon they are confined by heavy snowfalls and in danger from what slumbers in the shadows of the castle.

The Thirteenth Key

by Cara Nox New Adult Science Fantasy featuring an ace mmc

The chaotic crew of heisting misfits in Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows meets the familiar yet fantastical, modern landscape found in Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs.

“The thirteen emblems given to the original rulers weren’t just symbols. They’re keys to the Vault — one that no one’s ever opened.”

Noa has lived her life as an unsuspecting, ID-burning, face in the crowd that disposes of “problems” for her miscellaneous, secretive employers. So, when Noa’s surrogate father — a Seer — hands her a long-lost emblem, telling her with his dying breath that it’s her responsibility to reignite magic, she laughs at the idea that the fate of their world rests on the shoulders of a killer. Instead, she uses his words and the key he gave her as an excuse to go on one final suicide mission to seek out the power supposedly waiting for her to annihilate his murderer.

Prince Glacier Caelius has lived his life trapped inside a gilded cage, pushed down by the ever-present threat of death as the bastard son of Amarais’s late king. But when the rebels attack during a nationalist party, Glacier’s rescued by none other than Noa and her merry band of thieves, who are scrambling to salvage a failed attempt at stealing his country’s emblem: the Soul of Amarais. When the dust settles, he’s the only person left alive to unlock the palace vault and give the Soul to Noa in exchange for saving his life.

Well, once they’re able to formulate a plan to take the palace back.

Struggling with their tentative, newfound freedom, Noa and Glacier must learn to work together to survive the urban landscape of Avaria’s greatest cities fortified by technology in the wake of dwindling magic. The goal: steal as many keys as they can before their pasts catch up. But the further they go, the more they realize that something worse may be lurking on the horizon, and they may very well be the only ones able to stop it.

Bloody Spade

by Brittany M. Willows Young Adult Urban Fantasy featuring an ace fmc, aro mmc, and demi fmc

Bloody Spade is the first installment in an upper YA urban fantasy duology that follows a cat-eared thief and a softhearted girl as they navigate his wild magic, her hotheaded brother, a sinister plot, and the feelings they’re developing for each other. Suitable for fans of A Darker Shade of Magic and This Savage Song, or anime/manga such as RWBY and D.Gray-Man.

A girl full of heart A thief touched by darkness A hot-tempered golden boy An unwitting servant of evil

The era of magic was once thought to be a myth, but after the Reemergence ushered forces both dark and light into the mundane world, it has since become a harsh reality. Now those affected by this strange power — a specialized group of Empowered called Jokers, known collectively as Cardplay — must protect their world from the darkness that threatens to consume it, all the while fighting for equality in a society clinging to normalcy.

But the Reemergence was only the beginning.

When another influx occurs on the seventh anniversary of that fateful event, an unfortunate encounter at ground zero lands Iori Ryone, a teenage boy in possession of a corrupt and legendary magic, in the care of recent Joker graduate Ellen Amelia Jane. From him, she learns the Reemergence may not have been the inevitable natural disaster it first seemed.

Someone is trying to tear down the barrier that separates the magical realms from the mundane. The question is why, and can Cardplay stop them before it’s too late?

Tell Me How It Ends

by Quinton Li Young Adult Fantasy featuring an aroace nonbinary mc

A coming-of-age cozy fantasy with a queer cast, witches, and tarot. Perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes and Our Flag Means Death.

Iris Galacia’s tarot cards do more than entertain gamblers.

With the flip of her fingers she can predict the future and uncover a person’s secrets. But under the watchful eye of her mother, she is on thin ice for pursuing a passion in the family business, and then cracks start to form until she eventually she falls through.

She is given an ultimatum — a test to prove her worth: earn a thousand coins or leave the business, and the family.

Enter Marin Boudreau, a charming young person who can scale buildings and break off door knobs, who comes for her help to rescue a witch who’s been falsely imprisoned in Excava Kingdom.

And Marin is willing to pay a high sum for her talents.

But saving a prisoner from royal hands isn’t easy, nor is leaving home for the first time in eighteen years.

Now Iris must learn to trust in herself, Marin, and this new magical world, while racing the clock before the royals decide the fate of the witch, and before any secrets catch up to her.

Trick

By Cara Nox New Adult Urban Fantasy featuring a demi fmc and aroace mmc

Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series meets V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue with a dash of Disney+’s Loki in this new adult urban fantasy.

WELCOME TO NEW ATLAS: A CITY WITHIN A REALITY JUST BEYOND OUR OWN.

Evie is a nobody. Spending her days in college classes and her nights studying, having a social life has never really been a priority. With her sights firmly set on the future to keep away her thoughts of the past, she loses her grip on the present when her world is ripped out from under her. And it’s all thanks to two mysterious strangers showing up on her doorstep, claiming that she can turn back time.

Cade is a notorious troublemaker. He’s never been afraid to throw around his name to get what he wants as someone who’s clawed his way to the top. But power is quick to change hands in this city, and when he chooses to blatantly disregard an order from his leader, his older brother, he’s tossed back down to the bottom again. He’ll be more than lucky to regain any sort of trust when everyone knows he’s one of the best spies there is, sliding in and out of shadows in the blink of an eye.

Ren is a bored teenager. Always labeled as the “golden child” or “gifted student,” he finds himself writing down cryptic messages and following strange leads, rather than putting on the same old song and dance for his family. Especially once he discovers his little stolen fragments of the future are starting to take a darker turn. Perhaps chasing the life everyone wants him to have isn’t necessarily in the cards for him, but there’s only one way to find out.

So when someone within the secret society known as the Custodians targets Evie for her power, the clock starts in the final sprint to hunt down the culprit. In order to uncover whatever hidden clues are lurking in the past, the three of them have no choice but to peel back the layers of obscurity built up between their factions to figure out why she’s being hunted and how they might be able to fix their bleak futures before it’s too late.

Just remember: time is nothing but a trick.

Follow the divine archivists on twitter for more queer indie lists, reviews, and recommendations.

Where to find Cara Nox: instagram • twitter • writing tumblr • reading tumblr

Disclaimer: anything purchased through the links provided in this article helps me continue writing with compensation through Amazon’s affiliate program.

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7 LGBTQ+ Indie Books Releasing During Pride Month

Looking for some new books to celebrate? Check these out!

Paragon Seven

by Phoenix Ning

The gritty setting and angsty sapphic relationship of ARCANE meets the ensemble cast and discussions of power in THE ATLAS SIX where seven queer people of color with superpowers work together to overthrow an oligarchy in a federation of four sectors.

Twenty-two-year-old Mu Lanying is one kill shy from graduating as Skyleen Military Academy’s next valedictorian. After that, she will be crowned as the Laurel Scholar in a private ceremony held in the Chancellor’s Office. Within the Office lies a restricted archive that holds the truth to her mother’s death — an enigma that has haunted her for the past six years. But when Lanying is tasked with executing a revolutionary called Marigold, she fails the mission.

Twenty-four-year-old Lee Chaewon is no stranger to threats. In the past seven years, she had been a triple threat in the entertainment industry and a threat to the Skyleen Administration as a member of the insurgent quartet called Blossom Four. But now, the only threat haunting her is the lack of funds needed to treat her older sister’s terminal illness. When Marigold offers to cover the remaining cost of her sister’s chemotherapy in exchange for a favor, Chaewon takes the money and agrees to assassinate the upcoming Laurel Scholar.

During the Academy’s Commencement Parade, Lanying gains access to the restricted archive where she learns that her mother was executed for posing as the Chancellor’s mistress while spying on his inner circle. On top of that, her mother had passed on classified information to a network of rebels including Chaewon’s father, and the Administration is still hunting for surviving insurgents. When Chaewon fails to assassinate Lanying, the former learns that her father had also died under the Chancellor’s order. Enraged, the pair set out to locate surviving rebels in hopes of recovering the information that is worth killing for. The girls eventually find themselves leading a coup d’etat with five other people that will either end in bloodshed or usher in a new age.

Releasing June 1st, 2023—LGBTQ+ Fantasy

Add it on Goodreads

By Your Side: A Queerplatonic Short Story

By Margherita Scialla

Emma’s relationship ends abruptly when she comes across her boyfriend cheating on her at a party. Yet another failed relationship brings her repressed platonic feelings for one of her best friends to the surface once more.

Emma’s scared to voice her worries and desires, but even if she manages to bring up how she feels, how will Noah react to such a revelation?

Releasing June 6th, 2023 — Young Adult LGBTQ+ Fiction

Add it on Goodreads • Get it on Amazon

Trick

By Cara Nox

Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series meets V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue with a dash of Disney+’s Loki in this new adult urban fantasy.

WELCOME TO NEW ATLAS: A CITY WITHIN A REALITY JUST BEYOND OUR OWN.

Evie is a nobody. Spending her days in college classes and her nights studying, having a social life has never really been a priority. With her sights firmly set on the future to keep away her thoughts of the past, she loses her grip on the present when her world is ripped out from under her. And it’s all thanks to two mysterious strangers showing up on her doorstep, claiming that she can turn back time.

Cade is a notorious troublemaker. He’s never been afraid to throw around his name to get what he wants as someone who’s clawed his way to the top. But power is quick to change hands in this city, and when he chooses to blatantly disregard an order from his leader, his older brother, he’s tossed back down to the bottom again. He’ll be more than lucky to regain any sort of trust when everyone knows he’s one of the best spies there is, sliding in and out of shadows in the blink of an eye.

Ren is a bored teenager. Always labeled as the “golden child” or “gifted student,” he finds himself writing down cryptic messages and following strange leads, rather than putting on the same old song and dance for his family. Especially once he discovers his little stolen fragments of the future are starting to take a darker turn. Perhaps chasing the life everyone wants him to have isn’t necessarily in the cards for him, but there’s only one way to find out.

So when someone within the secret society known as the Custodians targets Evie for her power, the clock starts in the final sprint to hunt down the culprit. In order to uncover whatever hidden clues are lurking in the past, the three of them have no choice but to peel back the layers of obscurity built up between their factions to figure out why she’s being hunted and how they might be able to fix their bleak futures before it’s too late.

Just remember: time is nothing but a trick.

Releasing June 13th, 2023 — New Adult LGBTQ+ Urban Fantasy

Add it on Goodreads • Get it on Amazon

Scars & Secrets (Shield & Sorrow, Book #2)

by J.E. Ridge

Saving the kingdom was only the beginning …

Kings Archer and Silas successfully thwarted the plot to take over Arnsveld and Bellacosta. Now they’re struggling to maintain their tenuous relationship amidst dissenting soldiers, scheming nobles, and the trial of the century.

Valerian’s job is to neutralize the mage behind the plot without getting tangled in his sinister web. When Penn finds himself at the mercy of traitors, Valerian abandons everything to help him. Love and magic prove to be a deadly combination.

Releasing June 20th, 2023—LGBTQ+ Romantic Fantasy

Add it on Goodreads • Get it on Amazon

Hymn of Memory

By S. Jean

As the Divine of Blackburn, Morgan sends its departed souls into the afterlife. It’s a sacred job spanning generations of Divines before him, but there’s a problem: the process invites the dead’s memories inside and those memories quickly erode and erase his own. Before long, he fears he will completely lose who he is and no one seems to care.

Then Fin, a familiar face from town, sneaks into Morgan’s room to beg for a resending of his grandmother and Morgan quickly agrees, knowing it means an opportunity to escape.

As escape quickly turns into a road trip with Fin to replace the memories he’s lost, Morgan has to confront what it means if he never returns. Without him to send souls, they die completely, leaving a void in the world where nothing will live or grow. Returning, however, means he will lose himself.

And so, Morgan must decide if never returning and living his life as himself — not the Divine — is worth more than the souls he’s leaving behind.

Releasing June 27th, 2023 — Young Adult LGBTQ+ Contemporary Fantasy

Add it on Goodreads • Get it on Amazon

Of Knights and Books and Falling in Love

by Rita A. Rubin

A slice-of-life fantasy, perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Jayce has little memory of life before entering servitude to the Dark Lord, and no hope of ever escaping. Until he meets Alexius, the knight with a heart of gold. He offers Jayce, his enemy, a chance to break free of the Dark Lord’s clutches, and Jayce is not about to let such an opportunity pass.

When the war comes to an end, Jayce finds himself finally free, with Alexius’s help, and surrounded by a new world of opportunity. And the prospect of a new love. The more time Jayce spends with Alexius, the more he finds himself falling for this knight in shining armour.

Releasing June 29th, 2023 — New Adult LGBTQ+ Romantic Fantasy

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Unpainted

By Dan Fitzgerald

In the hermetic society of the Painted Faces, pale, unblemished skin is rewarded with station, wealth, and power.

Tera would almost rather go unpainted than enter into an arranged marriage with a total stranger, but that would mean giving up the only life she’s ever known. Not to mention her share of her family’s Pureline fortune.

She’s always thought love was a fairy tale and sex a joyless chore, but the alternative might be worse.

Enter Aven, a soft buttercup of a man, the kindest and most considerate person she’s ever met. A tropical honeymoon awaits, and with the help of her intimacy consultant, Tera is determined to make the best of this awkward ritual. Amid the island breezes, she and her new spouse form a bond neither of them knew they were capable of.

But trouble stirs beneath the polite veneer of the Painted Faces’ society, threatening to tear them — and their entire world — apart.

Releasing June 30th, 2023 — LGBTQ+ Fantasy Romance

Add it on Goodreads

Disclaimer: anything purchased through the links provided in this article helps me continue writing with compensation through Amazon’s affiliate program.