May is just around the corner and (along with my Birthday) there’s a bunch of new self published fantasy books releasing. As always, this is not a comprehensive list, but only includes all the books I have heard about so far.
If you have a fantasy novel you are self publishing in May, let me know either in the comments, or by emailing me, and I shall add it to the page. There are but 3 requirements:
1) It must be a self published fantasy novel.
2) It must have a Goodreads page.
3) It must have a cover.
On to the list… and this month I get to cheekily start with one of my own. 😀
26th April – City of Kings AUDIOBOOK by Rob. J Hayes
War makes monsters and corpses of us all.
For generations the blooded have ruled the Wilds, cultivating a lawless frontier and bleeding the good folk dry. The Black Thorn, once the most wanted outlaw the world has ever seen, is set on stopping them, and bringing an end to the great game that oppresses them all.
Crucible is the only blooded fortress left, but not for nothing is it called the City of Kings. Its defenses are unbreakable, its walls unassailable, all built so one hundred can hold back a thousand. Worse yet, the Black Thorn is running out of time and there are darker things hiding underground, looking to turn the city into a tomb.
28th April – A Voice that Thunders (Voice that Thunders #1) by Cully Mack
Life was simple. Place your inky hand on the rock shelter wall and transition into adulthood. You may not know your betrothed but they are with you, your clan is small. That was life until the god, Shemyaza, sent his sons to slaughter them all.
Of those who survived, Gabe is missing, and his sister Mirah is captured.
Shemyaza offers Mirah the mysteries of his heavenly kingdom. Through magic, Mirah gains secrets. As she attempts to hide her powers and the mystery behind her wielding, Shemyaza’s stepson offers to train her but can she trust him with her heart?
Shemyaza, united with four gods, a host of Giants, Wielders and Chimera, has one enemy, the destined Voice of Thunder.
Her old and new world collide and Mirah is torn. War is coming.
Whichever path she chooses Mirah knows the shadow is here, and only she can hear it whisper.
30th April – Back in Blue (Corin Hayes #4) by G.R. Matthews
Corin Hayes is back and he’s not happy about it.
In the corporation owned cities at the bottom of the ocean, life can be a struggle. The rich have it all, the poor have little but the air in their lungs and even that is owned by someone else. When war erupts between the corporations, Hayes finds himself caught in the middle of it all. Back in the navy and sent on missions which utilise the destructive power of his Fish-Suit, his life is in danger every moment.
An old comrade and a young recruit stand beside him as the submarines set sail and Hayes faces up to the truth of war.
Nowhere is safe and death is a single mistake away. However, the biggest threat may not come from the enemy across the ocean, but from the traitors and spies embedded in his own military. If Corin wants to survive the war, he must find the traitor and end their life before all is lost.
30th April – Elaria: Wings of Change by Jack Wright
In Verdenheld, only the innocent burn.
As the wheels of the Oppressor’s plans grind into motion, evidence of a terrible plot emerges at the heart of the Kingdom of Verdenheld – the sprawling island capital of Aldreichen. Join Erisian Hestia and Caesia Lacroix, a pair of plucky young adventurers, as they unwittingly stumble across a threat that will shake the foundations of their world.
As they work their way into the darkest depths of the city, they will uncover secrets long hidden and truths long forgotten. As Erisian learns of the full extent of Verdenheld’s cruelty, Caesia must grapple with her past as she struggles to find her place in the world and understand her mysterious gift.
The second book in the five part series, Winds of Change takes readers to Aldreichen, seat of Elaria’s mightiest nation. Both glorious capital and festering cesspit, the mighty city is a beacon of faith and authority. How that faith and authority manifests however, is often in flame. Entire peoples are persecuted and put to the torch by holy warriors and the commonfolk are crushed and ground beneath the boots of careless nobles. It is the dark heart of a tyrannical kingdom, bathed in the blood of the weak and the innocent. It is an icon of oppression just waiting to be torn down.
1st May – Hallow (Celestial Creatures #2) by Olga Gibbs
Being one of the most formidable archangels with the power to end the world doesn’t serve you well if you don’t know how to use it.
Thrown into a battle of courts and factions, tangled in a web of intrigues and palatial games, naïve Ariel is surrounded by powerful angels, chasing their own agendas.
There’s no one she can trust. Everyone stands to gain something from her death.
To avoid the bloody battle that Baza brought to her door at Uras, Ariel retreats back to Apkallu (Earth) to find her sister, but the Heavenly battles and intrigues she flees follow her, as Baza’s immense hold on Apkallu forces Ariel and Rafe to make uncomfortable choices.
Ariel’s fight for survival is far from over and it looks like it’s going to be a deadly one.
1st May – Nectar and Ambrosia AUDIOBOOK by E.M. Hamill
Callie, a Classics major, flees home to protect her family from a monster straight out of mythology. Visions lead her to Nectar and Ambrosia: the weirdest pub on Earth, where inter-dimensional travelers with attention seeking issues get drunk in between the A-list celebrity lives they create. They can’t pretend to be gods anymore—not since a treaty with the current Supreme Deity promising they won’t intervene in human affairs.
The Doorkeeper of this threshold, Florian, rides herd on the rowdy Amaranthine and offers her shelter and a job. Callie likes the lonely, mysterious bartender more than she should. For Florian, her presence is a ray of light in the gray monotony of his sentence behind the bar, but he keeps a cautious distance—the truth of how he became Doorkeeper could change Callie’s perception of him forever.
When angels show up for a war council over Zeus’s irrational mutters about a comeback, Callie has uncontrolled visions of an apocalypse. Ex-gods realize she’s the first Oracle Priestess in generations. All Callie wanted was keep her parents safe, and now it seems she must sacrifice her future to keep the rest of humanity safe, too. Ambrosia could be the key to harnessing her visions— or it could cost her life.
War is coming. The threshold between worlds has never been more fragile. Callie must discover who is pulling Zeus’s strings and avert the final battle—before the immortal vying to become the next Supreme Deity kills her first.
1st May – Starfall (Chronicles of Fid #3) by David Reiss
Last year, the notorious Doctor Fid waged a violent war to save the Earth from annihilation.
Two months ago, the armored supervillain fought a vicious, deadly battle to protect his city.
Today, there is only one little girl in need of rescue.
Pity any who stand in Doctor Fid’s way.
1st May – Thaumaturge (Spellmonger #11) by Terry Mancour
The Spellmonger In Exile!
When Minalan the Spellmonger was exiled from his beloved mageland of Sevendor by Prince Tavard, his friend Duke Anguin made him Count Palatine of the Magelaw, a vast realm in the Alshari Wilderlands that Minalan is all too familiar with. After the goblin invasion, the province is devastated, ruined, and peopled almost only by freed slaves. But Minalan has brought his recovering wife and family into exile with him, and he views their impoverished fief as an opportunity to build a new City of Magi in the wilderness. To assist, he recruits some of his closest friends among the High Magi: Mavone, the military intelligence specialist; Sandoval, the Marshal in charge of recruiting Minalan’s army; Carmella, whose genius for defensive magics will be key; Gareth, whose ambition to create knows no bounds; and Terleman, perhaps the greatest tactical warmage of his time. Together, Minalan knows that they can build his new city, Vanador, into an anvil that can blunt the thrust of the dark forces that rise against them. For the first of three Nemovorti have come to the Penumbra, and Gaja Katar has vowed to wipe humanity from the face of the world. Yet he is far from the worst of Minalan’s worries. For the powerful Sea Folk have sent an emissary to see the Spellmonger, and the news he bears will change the fate of all. Minalan’s only hope is to rely on his cunning, and his ability as a Thaumaturge!
2nd May – The Queens Executioner (Magelands Epic #1) by Christopher Mitchell
Would you kill for your sister?
High Mage Shella has a choice to make. When her sister decides she wants to be Queen at any cost, should she help her? Or stop her?
Feeling restless in the claustrophobic and over-crowded metropolis of her birth, Shella is drawn to the power of her sister’s voice as she assembles thousands of their people, calling upon them to gather their possessions and follow her in a Great Migration.
Her sister plans to lead them over the border into the Rahain Republic, whose unconquered army has just returned from victorious campaigns abroad. There, she intends to settle and crown herself Queen.
Shella’s mage powers have only ever been used for the good of her homeland. Now, in the service of her sister, is she prepared to use their darker side?
For Shella knows that if she cannot control her powers… they will consume all that she loves.
7th May – Strings of Chance (The Ballard of Bards and Bastards #1) by Jeff Pryor
Life is a song, sing it well!
Edson Pye is the greatest bard in all of Elraon. Unfortunately, nobody else has figured this out yet. An annual competition in the city of Vonst provides an opportunity to validate his claims, while a chance encounter springs him toward the fame he so desperately covets…though at what cost?
Wanting only wine, women, and an audience for his music, Edson instead finds himself drawn into an increasingly tangled web of schemes centered around a mysterious murder. His growing fame, coupled with an aggressive manager, puts him in front of crowds larger than he ever imagined…can he live up to his own hype?
Edson’s trio of desires continuously spark misadventures, compelling him to confront his own flaws and decide what kind of person he wants to be, all while moving on an unavoidable path toward a confrontation with his greatest rival.
7th May – The Jigsaw Blade (The Bizarre Blades #1) by Stevie Collier
Finn Featherstone… apprentice painter… social outcast… and now Champion?
In the freezing land of Shimoshimo, Finn’s dreams become reality then ultimately his nightmares. He obsesses over those who have acquired the magical swords called Bizarre Blades and wishes with all his might that he too may one day be called Champion.
If only he knew what dangerous and life-threatening responsibilities come with the Blades. People will betray you, people will seduce you, and they will most certainly kill you to get their hands on the awesome power that is a Bizarre Blade.
In a world teeming with vicious meat-eating dinosaurs and plants that would puff poisonous gas into traveler’s faces, Finn accidentally stumbles upon and binds with a Blade with a horrible attitude. Jigsaw.
14th May – The Renegade Apprentice (Heirs of Destiny #0.5) by Andy Peloquin
A desperate breakout. A perilous life on the streets. A fight to the death.
Evren’s life as an apprentice priest is an endless torment, until he seizes the chance to escape his slavery. But his freedom, and his life, may be cut very short because the dark alleys of Vothmot hold their own dangers…some deadlier than others!
17th May – Spectre (Book of Never #7) by Ashley Capes
Darkness is gathering deep within the land of Vadiya as the Red Seed Cult perform twisted experiments on human flesh.
Never has already tangled with the foul creatures and knows no-one else can stop them… but if he charges into enemy territory now, he will have to face old flame Sacha, who has promised to kill him should they meet again.
Yet when he learns that she has been captured by the creatures he sets out with unlikely allies on a quest to uncover the truth behind the cult and hopefully save – and then survive – Sacha.
17th May – Curse of the Daemon Beast (Bulletproof Witch #2) by Francis James Blair
Magic bullets, talking horses, and daemons—what more could a girl ask for?
Temperance Whiteoak is the last surviving heir to her grandfather’s legacy. Gunslinger. Daemon-hunter. Witch. Able to call forth powerful magicks with the pull of a trigger, she travels the continent of Korvana seeking after the creature that destroyed her town along with everyone she ever knew and loved.
Hot on the trail of the daemon Belial, Temperance finds herself in a remote mountain town. Far from the nearest road and not marked on any map, Shady Hollow has a daemon problem of its own that needs solving. The job is simple—defeat the monster, save the town.
However, Shady Hollow is hiding its own secrets, ones the townsfolk would prefer stay hidden and buried. Each attack draws Temperance closer to the truth, but that truth may find her on the wrong side of the dirt, if she isn’t careful.
20th May – Sin Eater (Iconoclasts #2) by Mike Shel
I SHALL BAPTIZE YOU, SIR, AND MY BAPTISM WILL BURN YOUR FOLLY AND FLESH AWAY.”
A year has passed since Auric Manteo descended into the haunted depths of a Djao ruin to return a lethal artifact, only to face down a bloodthirsty, imprisoned god. Now his daughter Agnes comes to bring him back to the capital with promises of hidden secrets finally revealed.
But the city decays, poisonous disorder is rife, and whispered prophecy foretells of cataclysm and doom. Summoned by their no-longer human queen, Auric and Agnes are commanded to carry out an impossible task, one that can be accomplished only with the mysterious blade Szaa’da’shaela, gifted to Auric on a lunatic’s whim.
Can Auric and his daughter survive a journey fraught with blood, menace, and madness? And can they pay the price demanded by a being every bit as evil as the Aching God?
21st May – Chaos Reigns, Vol. 1: The Hand of God by G.S. Scott
For 500 years, the God of Chaos has ruled in a torturous reign of brutality. Now, desperate gods and goddesses are seeking an end to his dominion. To counter them, Chaos calls for the Cleansing: the sacrifice of all children under two.Ellis escapes the Cleansing through intuition and prophetic dreams. Visions drag him north toward an ethereal tower, deep in The Lands of the Dead. His life is saved by Dirge, a swordsman with a haunted past who thinks Ellis was born to end the reign of Chaos. Ellis grows to head a troupe of traveling entertainers. His only true friend is Daylin, a young woman and former priest’s slave who talks with wolves. Always on the move, they stay steps ahead of the fire-wielding priest who killed Ellis’ parents.To the north, villagers discover Betal at the forest’s edge. Sensing Betal’s immense power, a local paladin excludes Betal from the Cleansing and declares him The Hand of God. As Betal falls into a roll as an acolyte to Chaos, strange dreams of wolves haunt him. His only friend is a fellow acolyte, Mangin, a beguiling young woman who delights in twisting the minds of others. The pair set out to Citadel, where they will become full-fledged priests, if they can escape a murderous beast and assassins who stalk the path.When the two groups meet, intrigue, love, and sex intertwine them. Can they trust one another when the old gods challenge Chaos using mortals as pawns? Even fools know to trust Chaos is to invite death.
31st May – Search of the Lost (The Knights of Ezazeruth #1) by Thomas R. Gaskin
The Knights of Ezazeruth were the most elite warriors the world had known: toughened by war and trained in a harsh regime, they were a force to reckon with. But when the arrogant King Afthadus became afraid they would not survive, he cursed them with immortality: and so they went into exile…
2,000 years later, the dark armies of the Black, the very empire they swore to protect the world against, begin their invasion of Ezazeruth, and the ancient legends must be summoned back to fulfil their oath. This quest falls upon Havovatch, with his newly-appointed captaincy and unit of elite warriors. They must venture into the wild to find the Knights. But there is one problem: no-one knows where they are…
If Havovatch does not succeed then Ezazeruth is doomed.
May – Balam, Spring AUDIOBOOK by Travis M. Riddle
Balam is a sleepy town on the eastern coast of Atlua, surrounded by forest and sea. It’s a village where nothing happens and everybody knows each other. But now, people are dying.
School is out for the spring, and schoolteacher Theodore Saen is ready to spend the next few months relaxing with his family. But when the town’s resident white mage falls ill and several townspeople begin to show similar symptoms, they must call on a new mage. Aava has freshly graduated from the nearby mage academy when she is swiftly hired to deduce the cause of the unknown illness and craft a cure before the entire town is afflicted. Aiding her is an ex-mercenary named Ryckert who keeps to himself but has grown bored with retirement and is itching for a new investigation when a suspicious young man appears in the local pub the same night the sickness begins to spread.
On top of it all, whatever is causing the sickness seems to be attracting strange insectoid creatures from the surrounding woods, desecrating the bodies of the victims and tearing through anyone unlucky enough to cross their path. Theo, Aava, and Ryckert must come together to discover the cause of the illness and put a stop to it before there is nobody left alive in Balam.
Fantastic List.