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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 or beyond, let me know by filling out THIS FORM, 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.
1st May – Immortal Connections (Celestial Cataclysms #1) by Tao Wong
Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Historical Fantasy
A new Immortal has risen… and with him, the fate of all the realms hangs in the balance.
Long Wu Ying has ascended to the Heavens, fulfilling the ultimate dream of all cultivators. However, the heavens are not all that it seems, and his vow to raise his lover to the realms of immortality conflicts with the Jade Palace’s rules.
In the Middle Kingdom, the fracturing of an empire echoes across the kingdoms. As states rush to fill the power vacuum, war-weary armies march with little food, weakened by years of drought. Wu Ying’s mortal friends are caught in the middle of the conflict. As leaders among cultivators and within their sect, they must do what they can to hold the world together and carry on without their closest ally.
When chaos consumes the realms above and below, even the greatest cultivators must surrender to the winds of fate.
5th May – Children of Ziwei (Cursed Light Stars) by M.J. Johnson
Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Progression/Cultivation
Nyne Alnair lives on the platforms. A city balanced atop the roots of Ziwei, a colossal cherry blossom tree floating among the clouds, and ruled by The Toad Mother. The heavens above hold endless burning stars that grant elemental power to those who accept their radiance.
Wielding a star of lava in a city of wood, she’s also a thief, and she has no idea what she and her brother have just stolen. When news of their mother’s death pulls the siblings into the service of the toads, Nyne finds herself hunting for more than just answers to her own questions, but for the truth of Ziwei’s dark past.
Old enemies lurk. A mighty tree quakes. All while the divine power rooting Ziwei to the sky grows weaker the addictive drug, phire, spreads across the city, and Ziwei’s human inhabitants grow sick. As the Equinox Festival approaches, and with it the Toad Mother’s return to the city, the future of the great tree of Ziwei hangs in the balance.
But can an understreet thief hope to shift the currents of destiny?
12th May – The Burden of a Broken Crown (Dragons of Rokahn #3) by M.H. Woodscourt
Epic Fantasy
Royal. Dragon. Conqueror.
With the Mages now out in the open, Mikoneh and Maya must work fast to gain alliances and topple enemies.
Tasked with visiting the Gilded Emperor—the tyrant ruler of Cimin—they enter Crestfel, the imperial coastal city, which is ready to burn in the sparks of civil unrest.
There, the twins need to steal the source of power keeping magic suppressed in the city before the Mages claim it. They also hope to meet their long-lost kin tucked away in the ancient archives of the legendary Spire and find answers about a resurfaced prophecy that could shift the balance of war.
Both of these goals will prove impossible unless they can properly mingle with Ciminian nobility, endure a Mage ambassador, and gain the trust of the Gilded Emperor.
12th May – Crypt Currency: A Lesson in Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike
Satirical Fantasy
On Arth, the future of finance revolves around deep politics, hidden interests, and dark magic. Notably absent is actual money.
Crypt currency is the future. The enchantments are reliable. The aethernet infrastructure is sound. And despite the fact the currency is stored in something called a pocket crypt, relies on phantoms of the dead, and often involves a worrying green glow, experts agree it has nothing to do with necromancy. All of the big crypt magnates say so.
Then pocket crypts unleash sorcerous chaos at a funeral. Then a necromantic blight begins rotting the countryside. Then Gorm Ingerson, guild auditor and professionally skeptical Dwarf, starts following the money that isn’t money, and learns that economics is far more deadly than advertised.
Along the way, Gorm will discover that there are no real experts in noncorporeal cash, Dwarven cultural identity, nor matters of the heart. He’ll need to navigate all three if he and his friends are to survive a crisis that’s rapidly becoming less financial and more apocalyptic. Because when crypt currency crashes, the dead don’t stay dead—they come to collect.
15th May – Tales from the Assassin Without a Name by Scott Marlowe
Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Gaslamp
Ten tales of danger, deception, and daring from the dark fantasy world of the Assassin Without a Name and beyond.
Tales from the Assassin Without a Name brings together ten standalone adventures featuring the characters who make the dark fantasy world of the Assassin Without a Name unforgettable.
Watch Elizabeth West risk everything on the heist that will define her career. Join Inspector William Wright as he solves an impossible crime. Flee through the streets of Shantytown with Mathilda as a mother’s love becomes her deadliest weapon against those who hunt her. Witness rival mercenary captains Geoffrey Belford and Madilyn Oakthorn navigate an uneasy alliance when hired to eliminate the same target. See if there is any line Jarek Blackwell won’t cross when he hunts a rogue sorcerer. And of course, accompany the Assassin Without a Name through two tales—a daring escapade that begins when he meets Elizabeth West for the first time and a clash with a sorcerer hunter where death is a mercy.
Whether you crave cunning heists, deadly mysteries, magical hunts, or dark conspiracies, this collection delivers with eight original tales never before published and two classic Nameless Assassin stories—The Assassin’s Dilemma and The Assassin’s Ruse. Each story stands alone, but together they paint a rich portrait of a world where skill, nerve, and ruthlessness are the only currencies that matter.
15th May – The Weight of Loyalty (Ink, Brand, and Knife) by Robert C. Laymon
Epic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy
Loyalty is not freely given.
Bulder chose war, Camoria answered, and now, the Bulderian city of Hvall is set to be seized.
The city, by all accounts, is just that, a city. Orders are to take it, but is that worth the cost of innocent lives?
War is not black and white, it’s ever-shifting shades of gray. And in the end, what weighs more, broken loyalty or shattered morals?
15th May – The Ash Remains (The Law of Teeth #1) by C. William Phillips
Epic Fantasy
The son of a murdered emperor caught between destinies. A dragon rider wrestling with untold power. An old warrior forced back into the fray. And a master of dragons with the fate of his order resting on a single choice.
When an unknown dragon and its rider burn Aneving Keep, it throws the world off-balance, teetering on the edge of chaos. An army is on the march, bringing fire and death to the people of the Empire.
At the mountain monastery of Mun-Alin, the dragon riders have been forced into sequester. No one knows why. But this new threat to the Empire cannot be ignored.
The throne of Ir-Anan sits empty.
The dragon riders have vanished.
The Empire burns.
19th May – Together is a Distant Star ANTHOLOGY by Various Authors
Epic Fantasy, Sci-Fantasy, Cozy Fantasy, Dark Fantasy
How far would you go to find where you belong?
A shapeshifting alien changeling raised by humans. The “wicked” child selected as the village sacrifice. People trapped in rigid belief systems, oppressive regimes, well-intentioned families, complicated relationships, and their very own bodies.
Is it better to succumb and survive, or escape by staking everything on a slender hope?
What triumphs in the end, love or vengeance?
And if all that remains is ashes, is it still worth it?
Grapple with these questions by diving into twelve new science fiction and fantasy stories. Together is a Distant Star is a collaborative anthology that encompasses authors hailing from Europe to Australia, South Africa to South America, and celebrates a kaleidoscope of perspectives—female, nonbinary, BIPOC, queer, and more.
19th May – Calculated Whisk (Tales from the Dragon Diner #1) by Lindsay Buroker
Cosy Fantasy
The Dragon Diner: Bookkeeper Wanted.
After a lifetime as a mercenary and years of war, Rylana seeks a peaceful new career, and this job looks perfect. What could be calmer and more relaxing than crunching numbers while delightful scents waft from a professional kitchen?
There’s just one problem. The Dragon Diner is run by a real dragon, one she shot with an arrow during the war. And, oh yes, he remembers her.
This might not be the relaxing new start to life that Rylana envisioned.
20th May – Everyone Dies by Daniel Roy Greenfeld
Grimdark, Dark Fantasy
• Aaron, a mercenary archer with a murderous past.
• Bram, a man who lives by winning contests of skill.
• Timo, a quiet woodcutter with no taste for war.
• Melody, a young swordswoman desperate to prove she belongs.
• Trent, a weary soldier awaiting the birth of his great-grandchild.
• Konstantina, a fire mage sworn to the king’s service.
• Shai, a seer cursed with the knowledge of what is to come.
They travel together, bound by circumstance, loyalty, and fragile hope. But their fates are already sealed. Because in the end…
Everyone dies.