By Sea & Sky
The Sky Pirate Chronicles Book 1
by Antoine Bandele
Genre: Fantasy Adventure, Pirates
With no magic, no brawn, and no pirate crew, Zala seeks to steal back the one treasure that matters to her most: her husband. To succeed she needs a ship—and not just any ship, but the latest, secret invention by the Vaaji Empire. An airship.
Zala will have to use her wits to overcome scoundrels and nobles alike on her journey through the clouds.
But if she’s smart enough, she may just have what it takes to save her husband—and go down in history as the first sky pirate.
Delve into a pirate fantasy inspired by the West Indies, The Swahili Coast, and Arabia, where Zala will encounter ruthless raiders, arrogant aristocrats, and imperial secrets.
By Sea & Sky is Antoine Bandele’s sophomore novel, the first in the Sky Pirate Chronicles trilogy, a pirate fantasy.
I really enjoyed this unique fantasy novel. It’s so rare to find a fantasy story that isn’t set somewhere reminiscent of Europe, but this setting bears not the slightest resemblance to it. I grew up in East Africa, so when I read the blurb and saw that part of the setting was inspired by the Swahili coast, I was immediately intrigued. I could hardly wait to start the book, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was really fun to see fantasy terms that were based on Swahili words, and to meet characters that don’t look or act European. Actually, the characters’ races was another of my favorite parts of the story. I can only think of a few other fantasies I’ve read that had non-white characters, and none at all in which none of the characters were white. (And why should we assume by default that people would have white skin in a totally different world, anyway?) A variety of human cultures and magical beings were represented, all of them distinct and well-developed. There were enough details about history, geography, government, and religion to make for some great worldbuilding without bogging the story down with them.
My personal preference is for more emphasis on characters’ interpersonal relationships and less nonstop action, so some of the battle scenes seemed to drag on a bit, but that’s just me. The story opens with a particularly long battle sequence, and while I might otherwise have been tempted to put the book down after a chapter or two of fighting, the lead character kept me turning pages. Her love and loyalty toward her husband, and her determination to get the ingredients for the medicine he desperately needs even when surrounded by battling pirates, make her a relatable character whom I couldn’t help but care about.
The book could have used a better edit, with grammar and punctuation errors sprinkled throughout. But I’m an obsessive-compulsive proofreader, so these things jump out at me. The errors weren’t bad enough that they’d be likely to bother most people. Overall, I recommend By Sea and Sky to anyone who likes action and adventure or fantasy in a refreshingly unique setting. (And I suggest flipping to the end of the book first to see a great drawing of the three main characters, if you want to be able to picture them clearly as you go adventuring with them.)
Book Trailer:
https://youtu.be/S54AnsEzPPQ
ANTOINE BANDELE IS AN AMAZON BESTSELLING AUTHOR IN AFRICAN LITERATURE.He lives in Los Angeles, CA with his girlfriend, where he produces work on YouTube for his own channel and others, such as JustKiddingFilms, Fanalysis, and more. During the summer he is a camp counselor. Whenever he has the time he’s writing his debut series: Tales from Esowon.
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Reckoning Day
A Jennifer Long Series Novella
by J.J. Carter
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Investigative Reporter, Jennifer Long, stumbles onto a high-level corruption scheme among three local corporations. They are attempting to find a gateway portal between our world and the supernatural-paranormal, and killing Mediums in the process who don’t comply. While she is left for dead and unsure if her family is alive, she seeks the help of a new team, the SPA (supernatural paranormal agency), to expose this deadly truth before it’s too late and the world is run over by supernatural-paranormal forces that could be uncontrollable. This story is a novella, not a novel. It is approximately 31, 355 words. The story finishes with NO cliff hanger. It is action packed with mystery, romance, thrills, and the paranormal!
JJ Carter (also known as C.A. Michaels) is a lifelong resident of Michigan and currently lives in South Eastern Michigan with her husband whom she calls Superman. She began writing and drawing stories in the sixth grade. She’s since then tried many different things, music, having a Rock N Roll band in the early nineties, and learning graphic design since 1999. She typed her first manuscript back in 2010. However that will never see the light of day.
It was when she got great feedback from a helpful agent, she became passionate about writing once again. She took that former manuscript and turned into the first of the Pathfinders series. She is always on her laptop listening to Rock n Roll, Heavy Metal and yes even some Country while she creates new exciting worlds. She does love to take breaks every now and then to visit her friends, hang out, play cards, games, enjoying hot summer nights by a bonfire with a beer, and even do a little Karaoke. e better.
Handmade jewelry and 13X19 posters of book cover
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Ashes of Ailushurai
The Esfah Sagas Book 1
by Christopher D. Schmitz
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Dwarves, elves, & goblins collide…
…Esfah is another world originally from the creators of Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance.
Here there be dragons!
When a reluctant Dwarven adventurer undertakes a quest on behalf of his blind father, he accidentally awakens an ancient evil banished ages ago. Now, with dark elves and goblinoid trogs snapping at his heels, Hy’Targ must prevent a powerful lich from reuniting with the ancient bones of his lover. Failure means a new age of darkness will spread across the land.
Prince Hy’Targ of the Irontooth vagha would much rather stay in the library and read about the exploits of others. In his studies, however, he uncovers the tale of a powerful artifact he believes could restore his father’s sight. On his quest, he accidentally triggers a trap that releases an ancient undead general that was long ago sealed away to prevent him from beginning a planet-wide uprising of the dead. Hy’Targ knows that this fiend must be destroyed before he can regain his full strength, and he knows where the lich has escaped to.
Journeying towards the creature’s dark tower, he enlists the help of the few souls who believe him, one of whom is an imprisoned thief that must first be freed… a thief who is linked to their problems more closely than they realize. He stole the sacred bones the lich is after and undead scouts pursue his every move. Can this band of unlikely heroes prevent a second rise of the Black Tower?
Book Trailer
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhF8RPFkF9I]
Rise and Fall of the Obsidian Grotto
The Esfah Sagas Prequel
Elves. Dwarves. Blood Oaths & Dragons.
There are far worse things crawling upon Esfah than goblins…
…some, even swords and sorcery cannot defeat.
A devious elder monster allies with the lava elves of the Obsidian Grotto. She promises to provide an elven general with arcane weapons to throw down their dwarven enemies, and also the support of a black magic wielding cult hidden within the Nhur-Gale Forest. General Shedakor assumes that any bargain with such a dark creature would extract a high cost… but can he afford to pay it?
Meanwhile, on the far side of Esfah. An elven hero from the northern coasts embarks on a mission to protect his home from the goblins of Brackishomme swamp. But Davian Whisperwynd is prone to rash vows and the gods will not release the adventurer from a promise to lay down his sword: an oath that complicates things when he promises a beautiful enchanter that he will retrieve an item from the lair of the Death god himself.
Neither knows it, but the gods of fate have interlinked their destinies.
In the mid 1990s there was one fantasy RPG that ruled them all: D&D, of which Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and many other books and gaming worlds were a part of. It’s publisher, TSR, created another gaming world that won Game of the Year in 1995. That world was Esfah.
In eons past, when time was young and creation malleable, the four powers of Nature — earth, air, fire, and water — the children of Nature, gods in their own rights, brought forth two races of beings to care for their fledgling world of Esfah, created by the all-father, Tarvenehl. One race, the Selumari or coral elves, was created to husband the fluid forces of air and water. The other race, the Vagha, a dwarvish race, embodied the stability of earth and the tempering power of fire. Together, these two peoples worked to nurture their infant world into something glorious and beautiful… but then another god revealed himself: Death…
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Christopher D. Schmitz is an author of fiction and nonfiction books. Before throwing himself into book writing he had published short fiction in more than twenty outlets. In addition to a day-job working with teenagers, he also writes for a local newspaper, speaks/sells books at comic-cons and other festivals, runs a blog for authors, and makes an insanely tiny amount of money playing the bagpipes.
He grew up as a product of the 1980s and thinks Stranger Things is “basically my biography.” He lives in rural Minnesota where he drinks unsafe amounts of coffee with his family and three rambunctious dogs. The caffeine shakes keeps the cold from killing him.
A copy of the strategy dice game this book series is based on (Dragon Dice) which was originally created by the makers of D&D in 1995 (approx $50 value) plus 5x copies of the audible book The Esfah Sagas: Rise and Fall of the Obsidian Grotto
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