Fantasy Realism

Ophelia Castellan will never be just another girl at Elsinore Academy. Seeing ghosts is not a skill prized in future society wives. Even when she takes her pills, the bean sidhe beckon, reminding her of a promise to her dead mother. Now, in the wake of the Headmaster's sudden death, the whole academy is in turmoil, and Ophelia can no longer ignore the fae. Especially once she starts seeing the Headmaster's ghosts - two of them - on the school grounds.

In 1804, shortly before the Caribbean island of Saint Domingue is renamed Haiti, a group of women gather to bury a stillborn baby. Led by a lesbian healer and midwife named Mer, the women's lamentations inadvertently release the dead infant's "unused vitality" to draw Ezili - the Afro-Caribbean goddess of sexual desire and love - into the physical world. As Ezili explores her newfound powers, she travels across time and space to inhabit the midwife's body - as well as those of Jeanne, a mixed-race dancer and the mistress of Charles Baudelaire living in 1880s Paris, and Meritet.

In the Old Country, they called them the Gentry: ancient spirits of the land, magical, amoral, and dangerous. When the Irish emigrated to North America, some of the Gentry followed...only to find that the New World already had spirits of its own, called manitou and other such names by the Native tribes. Now generations have passed, and the Irish have made homes in the new land, but the Gentry still wander homeless on the city streets. Gathering in the city shadows, they bide their time and dream of power.

Charlie Rhodes’ life is in turmoil. Her relationship with her boyfriend Jack is going well but Casey, the newest member of the Legacy Foundation, has dropped a bombshell and Charlie feels as if things are spinning out of control. While waiting for DNA results to prove (or disprove, for that matter) Casey’s identity, the team gets called out on a weird case. It seems sadistic clowns with magical abilities are killing people in the suburbs surrounding Nashville, and the deaths are bloody and horrible.

WINNER "Fantasy - General" American Fiction Awards 2023 (Daniel Scratch, book 1) WINNER "Fantasy" Indie Book Awards (Daniel Scratch, book 1) "...Jones has created something new, compelling, beautifully written, and somewhat reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)...An engrossing, well-written, and original story; readers will be eager for the next installment." – Kirkus Reviews "Adult and teenage fans of thoughtful fantasy will love exploring this beautifully described world of arcane powers. This meditative look at power will engage readers who like their fantasy ...

Three best friends, all with the same birthday, are about to turn 40. They plan to share this momentous occasion together at a summerhouse in Maine, taking stock of their lives and loves, their wishes and choices. But none of them expect the gift that awaits them at the summerhouse: the chance for each of them to turn their "what might have beens" into reality.

Queen of the Underworld I never asked to be Queen. In fact, I never even knew I was a witch until a little while ago. Now I’m struggling to lead the creatures of the Underworld while uncovering secrets about my own identity that could change everything. When I’m suddenly kidnapped by the mysterious Lurker elder and taken to their hidden compound, I discover a shocking truth—I have a twin sister, and we share blood with the very enemies I’ve sworn to fight. As I navigate this dangerous new reality, I must confront questions about who I truly am and where my loyalties should lie. With...

Everything changed the day I saved his life. I used to hide my magic. Mainly because I didn't want to be persecuted. I mean, even more so than I already was for being human. Humans aren't supposed to have magic. It's what makes us susceptible to the Corrupter's infection. And I don't just have one type of magic. I have all the elements, even Spirit—the element only Wraith Lords control. At best, the other races of Varr would see me as a mutant. At worst, a threat. Then the Corrupter attacked our village. Two Wraith Lords came to defend us, but despite their superior skill with swords and ...

The second sun has returned as our Bone Throwers foresaw—casting the nine realms into war. My name is Ash, and I fell in the battle for Baiseen. But I'm awake now, slowly putting the pieces back together. My Heir has lost his throne. My sailor is gone. And there is an emptiness inside me I can't explain. Amid the chaos, someone must collect the original twelve whistle bones from all corners of the world.

On the day of his dad's funeral, Sam finds a strange, black stone which he senses has supernatural power. But that is just the beginning. Stowed in his pocket, the stone increases Sam's strength and speed at a single touch. And he starts seeing things: two girls dancing, a lone figure on a hilltop summoning ravens, walking with wolves...and his dad too. Could this small black stone really help bring back his dad?

Even delightful flowers are born from dirt. This is one of the many ballads of Dante De Luca. He is, at first glance, simply a poverty-stricken painter in a scruffy sweater and scuffed shoes. A nineteen-year-old boy full of youthful folly and fanciful ideas of love. Those things are true, but Dante has hidden depths that transcend the remarkable, abilities that soar in rampant boasts clear into the stratosphere, elevating him above others in a way almost inconceivable to the human brain. Oh, and he has two hamsters. This novelette adds tantalising detail to events prior to the start of the ...

A new threat arises, stirring the beasts in its wake. A primordial beast so powerful all the gatherers in the nation have little hope of defeating it. Aiden must find a way to stand and prevent the destruction of Craesti City, the capital of the Kingdom.

The battle with the harpies is over, but some believe the harpy threat will never be over until the harpies are exterminated. If the Strix combatants pursue the harpies to their home in the caves of Golpa, can they end the war? Can Jordan and Juer save King Konig, or is devious Prince Diruk’s rise to the throne inevitable? And what of Jordan’s estranged family and her unbreakable promise to Sohne? When the elf princess turns up to collect, Jordan has to give her what she asks for or die. The truth is...she'd really rather die.

Fairies, elves, demons... Secrets and desire... Dark humour, magic, wonder... Twelve stories that will transport you into other worlds, or twisted versions of our own. If you had magic, what would you do with it? If you loved someone, how far would you go?

A ship. A garden. A library. A key. In Kaleidoscope, the incomparable Brian Selznick presents the story of two people bound to each other through time and space, memory and dreams. At the center of their relationship is a mystery about the nature of grief and love which will look different to each listener. Kaleidoscope is a feat of storytelling that illuminates how even the wildest tales can help us in the hardest times.

Deadly ingredients, earth-shattering recipes, and poisoned relationships abound in this tantalizing third installment of the Hex Kitchen series. The culinary magic world is at war with itself. A murderer with a vendetta has taken control of the all-powerful Gourmands. The first step in his recipe for domination: kill all his rivals...beginning with Braxton and Kenzie. New enemies are emerging from all sides, and the future of magic is at stake. Everything hinges on Braxton’s sister and her lover-turned-enemy. The problem is that Sofia is in jail, and Graham is being hunted by the police. ...

This Audible production expertly brings to life Salman Rushdie’s postcolonial masterpiece Midnight’s Children, available for the first time unabridged in audio. Written in the magical-realist style that Rushdie is renowned for, Midnight’s Children follows Saleem Sinai - a child gifted with extraordinary powers after being born at the exact moment India becomes independent. The captivating events that unfold act as an allegory for India’s transition from colonialism to independence as Saleem finds himself 'handcuffed to history', with his fate entwined with that of his newly independent state.

Nobody's supposed to see the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee before her Silver, yet Ben and Georgie do exactly that. Who in their right mind would agree to move into a mansion with their narcissistic ex-boss after stealing his job? Ben, apparently. When he joins Isaac’s Dungeons and Dragons party, the adventures begin in the cellar, but get disturbingly real when the players find a space-age capsule in the attic filled with vintage clothes and artefacts. The gang's first foray into the hermetically-sealed space ends in a mad scramble to escape before the computer initiates evacuation protocols...

Sam Green thinks her life is pretty normal. Almost. She does have a strange affinity for animals, weird dreams, and a mysterious staff in her closet. But Sam’s calm life is shattered when a dragon poisons her father and the mother of her best friend Jake. She is further shocked when a shapeshifting giant cat and powerful faerie ask her to fulfill a prophecy.

"We'd had to be cut free of our mother's womb. Abby and I were fused, you see. But here's the real kicker; Abby had the magic, I didn't." Now adults, Makeda and Abby still share their childhood home. The surgery to separate the two girls left Makeda with what feels like an even worse deformity: no mojo. The daughters of a celestial demigod and a human woman, Makeda and Abby were raised by their magical father. Today, Makeda has decided it's high time to move out and make her own life.