Author: Alex Acks

Kaikeyi is the only daughter to the kingdom of Kekaya, and she watches as her mother is banished and her own worth is set at whatever her marriage can secure. She prays to the gods whose stories she was raised on, but none seem to hear. So instead she turns her efforts inward, taking up the books she once read with her mother and using them to unlock a magic that is hers alone, one that lets her transform herself into a warrior, diplomat, and queen… and perhaps make herself strong enough to vanquish her own destiny.

Nick Prasad is the last survivor of Earth; seven years ago, he crashed through uncountable dimensions to the strange new world in which he lives–and became the prophet to the ruling family in the process. The ruling family, who serves the Ancient Ones who destroyed Earth. But now Nick has a chance to destroy the Ancient Ones for good, and all it will take is a little bit of betrayal…

Five sentient digital beings have been given the unpleasant task of crewing a small survey ship for 300 years by the Company, and their mission yields excellent results–a mysterious black sphere that, once its coordinates are delivered to the home office, will no doubt earn them a lot of praise. But the ship immediately malfunctions and the digital crew must explore their find themselves… and discover something that will change all of existence.

The Key Corporation has kept the city of Westfall safe–from pandemics, from crime, from freedom–for almost fifty years. But a nurse named Elodie and a misfit named Aiden have discovered a terrible truth behind the company that everyone trusts, and they have made their escape from Westfall, searching for the Eos resistance movement. But the world is no more trustworthy outside of Westfall, and the corporation has a long, long arm…

Marra is the third-born royal daughter, so she was able to escape the traditional fate of a princess, sent away to a convent to be raised there. But her older sister wasn’t so fortunate, and Marra has decided to rescue her from the abusive prince she’s been given to. For her quest to have a hope of succeeding, Marra has three tasks before her: build a dog of bones, sew a cloak of nettles, and capture moonlight in a jar.

After 100 years of a peaceful partnership between corporations and governments to colonize the solar system, a terrorist attack destroys the biggest solar array on Earth and alters the world’s economic balance. Soon Mars, Ceres, and Europa are facing their own problems with insurgents, with runaway and deeply unethical science experiments, with mutinies raging and alliances strained to the breaking point.

Another wayward child finds her way to a magical doorway that takes her to a land of centaurs, kelpies, and unicorns–a land where she’s expected to be a hero, though heroism comes in many forms. And is her path to heroism ordained, necessary, or even right?

The fourth daughter of a queen tries to save her people from a demon by asking for help from the Elder sorcerer who has always watched over her people from a massive tower. But the tower isn’t quite a tower, and the sorcerer isn’t actually a sorcerer–he’s an anthropologist, and a junior one at that–and he’s forbidden from interfering with the people he’s supposed to be observing. He’s also fairly certain that this demon is no demon at all.

Princess Thanh spent most of her childhood as a hostage in the kingdom of Ephteria, which hasn’t moved to colonize her homeland… though it’s only a matter of time. While there, she had her first romance–with the daughter of Ephteria’s ruler–and survived a devastating fire that destroyed much of the royal palace. Now back home, she must navigate between that first love, her conflicted relationship with her disapproving mother, and her loyalty to her home country–and herself.

The world has drowned, left hot and terrible by the fossil-fuel guzzlers of the past. There is now just floating patches of refuse on the water that humans call home, one of which is Garbagetown. Tetley is one resident of Garbagetown, its secretly most beloved resident, and she’s about to find out a terrible secret–and make a new friend.

Centuries ago, the robots used as mindless workers in Panga became self-aware and walked out into the wilderness, never to be seen again. Until one day, a tea monk having a crisis of purpose meets one of the robots who has returned. The robot has a very specific mission: to find out the answer to the question, “What do people need?”

Zinnia’s twenty-first birthday is rapidly approaching, and it’s going to be her last. While no one understands the nature of the medical condition a strange industrial accident left her with, no one in her situation has ever lived to see their twenty-second birthday. When her best friend decides to throw her a Sleeping Beauty-themed party, Zinnia pricks her finger and finds herself falling through worlds, where she meets another sleeping beauty who also needs to escape her unlucky fate.

This is a collection of stories by Janelle Monáe and collaborators expanding upon her landmark album Dirty Computer, telling the stories of a world where thoughts and memories can be controlled or erased by a few elites who believe they have the right to control the fate of everyone.

After Virgil stumbled into the center of Merritt claiming he’d been attacked by a monster, everyone is sure he’d been drinking and gotten in a fight with a wild animal. As the new kid in town, he’s extremely easy to dismiss. But Virgil knows what he saw, and he holds on to that truth even as he tries to keep a low profile, afraid that he’ll be attacked again… or maybe he’ll turn into the monster next.

This is the sequel to Black Sun. After the Crow God’s eclipse, the great city of Tova has been shattered, and a comet that heralds death is about to make its appearance in the skies. Ordinary people and living avatars struggle for survival and self as enemies no longer held by empire prepare for war.

Two best friends since high school are finally splitting up, pulled apart by adult life and jobs. Bertie, a failed cartoonist who hates her job, doesn’t want Katie to move away. Eventually she suggests a final hurrah trip to Paris; there, a stranger offers them an after-hours private tour of the Louvre that is not all that it seems. Soon, they are trapped in a time loop… but even that cannot stop them from being separated.

Shizuka made a literal deal with the devil to escape damnation. The price? She has to convince seven of her fellow violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She’s managed to swindle sixth, but in her pursuit of the final soul, she runs into complications she could have never imagined: a retried starship captain who she can’t help but love and a runaway with a wild talent who all too quickly feels like family.

The sequel to A Memory Called Empire sees Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass leaving the heart of the Teixcalaanli empire to go to the edge of space, where an alien species that no one knows how to communicate with has begun slaughtering Teixcalaanli colonies. Together, they must figure out how to talk to a species whose language quite literally makes them ill… and also how to talk to each other.

Fatma is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities in 1912 Cairo, and she’s already prevented the destruction of the universe once. Now she’s called on to investigate a mysterious murder, one committed by someone who claims to be the famous al-Jahiz, who pierced the veil between magical and mundane realms 40 years ago, now returned to judge the world for its societal sins.

The planet Gora doesn’t have anything going for it–not even an atmosphere–but it is relatively close to a lot of other, more popular worlds, which makes it basically the truck stop of the galaxy. The Five-Hop One-Top is one truck stop on the planet of truck stops, but when a freak accident halts all traffic through the planet, three strangers find it to be their new, temporary home.

When a bandit attack leaves an eighth-born son destined for greatness and his second-born sister destined for nothing orphaned, it’s another trick of fate that the son dies. The daughter takes on her brother’s name, Zhu, and in an attempt to escape her own fate, enters a monastery masquerading as a male novice. But when the monastery, too, is destroyed, Zhu must fully take her brother’s fate of greatness and make it her own.

Ryland Grace doesn’t remember who he is or why he’s hurtling through space, having just woken up with two corpses for company. This is a problem, since he’s actually the only survivor of a last-ditch attempt to save humanity, and if he doesn’t complete his mission, that’s curtains for us all. He’s got to figure out who he is and what he’s doing and fast, without help… or maybe there is someone out there for him.

A short story collection where all of the stories are interconnected, this follows the Dominican diaspora Beléns family across multiple generations. Stylistically realist but also magical, this mosaic story explores mental health, identity, machismo… and of course family

Lanie Stones has a complicated life, to say the least. As the daughter of the Royal Assassin and Chief Executioner of Liriat, her career path should seem clear… except she has an unusual gift for necromancy and an even more unusual, quite literal allergy to violence that has kept her isolated to her family’s manor. When her parents are murdered, she might be about to lose that crumbling wreck of a home as well… and that’s just the beginning of her problems.

Lydia longs to try nearly every food under the sun, but particularly the ones her Japanese father liked to eat. Unfortunately for her, she inherited her British mother’s vampirism and can only digest blood… and trying to source fresh pig’s blood in London is proving to be more of a challenge than she expected. She wants to be an artist, not a hunter of men, but she is lonely in her windowless flat… and always hungry.

A plague has swept over the world, one that affects how its victims perceive reality itself. To them, the world has monsters lurking around every corner, and packs of armed survivors roam… and those things may or may not be true. Spencer has been cured of the disease, but he would rather stay inside the rehabilitation facility than face how the world has changed. But when a fellow inmate wants help finding her old crew, he has a chance at redemption… or finding out that he’s just made things worse.

While Hunter Yee’s aim is perfect when he has a bow in his hands, everything else in his life is decidedly not, thanks to the past mistakes of his family. He longs to run away, but stays for his little brother… and the new girl at his high school–Luna Chang. Struggling against her parents’ expectations, Luna falls for Hunter hard, though their families are bitter enemies, and magic is afoot…

Eddie Morales is a low-level R&D guy at an agricultural biotech form based in Boise, Idaho. The last thing he’s expecting is to be dispatched to a tiny town in South America because the press is claiming that the experimental potatoes they’ve developed are causing some very weird medical issues. Eddie’s hopes for a quick and simple resolution are quickly dashed, and soon he stumbles across a conspiracy that reveals the dark side of his company and what they’ll do to make their potato supreme…

So, I cannot actually tell you how mermaids (or more broadly, magical sea-ladies) are involved in this series without it being a giant spoiler, so you’re just going to have to read it and trust me. It’s an awesome epic fantasy with a unique world!

And also, the second book is coming very soon: Fevered Star.

Mermaids, but what if they were truly monstrous and they liked eating people? A film crew trying to shoot a documentary is about to find out how rough the seas can get when they go searching for the last ship these murderous beings took down.

Though if you want something less horror-adjacent from the same author, check out Where the Drowned Girls Go.

Based on an amazing song of the same name by the experimental hip-hop group clipping.–which if you haven’t listened to it, you should–this tells the story of a race of mermaids descended from enslaved African women who were thrown overboard by their abductors during the middle passage. They live a life without memory… except for one of their number who remembers all of their traumas.

This book isn’t solely about mermaids–it’s a short story collection–but one of the tales within is about Caribbean mermaids and it’s a good one! Also, the other sixteen stories are really good as well.

Mermaids are the servants of the gods, traveling the seas to collect the souls of those who die on the water and making sure they make it home. When one mermaid saves the life of a boy who was thrown overboard, she faces a punishment from the gods if she doesn’t make amends. But the boy she rescued isn’t just anyone…

And a sequel is coming! Soul of the Deep

Sirens exist, but they have to keep their powers hidden if they want to continue to live among normal humans. But a siren is accused of murder and her trial becomes a public, horrifying circus… and while that’s going on, a high school junior named Tavia loses control of her magical voice at the worst possible moment.

And there’s a sequel! A Chorus Rises

The Sleeper will gain access to the nectar of immortality–and therefore infinite power–on the next full moon. Worse, he’s far ahead of the Pandavas, already in the labyrinth that the sisters can’t even gain entrance to. The Pandavas must work together to win this race against time… but at the end, it’s up to Aru to decide who will have immortality. (Continuation of the series that starts with Aru Shah and the End of Time.)

Rachael, Elza, and Tina have all left Earth to go to the stars, each with her own dreams and mission in the galaxy. Rachael is an artist who can no longer make art after an encounter with an alien artifact. Elza wants to compete for the chance to be a princess in the Palace of Scented Tears. And Tina has gone to the Royal Space Academy to study with her friends. Though their goals are different, their lives remain intertwined… (Sequel to Victories Greater Than Death.)

Before his unexpected and early death in 2006, author John M. Ford wrote a fantasy novel of politics, ancient empires, romance, divine fate, and magical machine guns. Follow three characters–Varic, Archmage Birch, and Palion Silvern–as they explore a fantastical world in a rich 18th century setting.

A once renowned and feared band of mercenaries has retired, the former members becoming some combination of old, drunk, and out of shape–and mostly pretty content with it. But then one of the old guard shows up at the former leader, Clay’s, door and desperately needs help. Clay must get the band back together for one last job that could be the death of them all.

A struggling stand-up comedian gets a new gig by becoming a Genrenaut, a member of a secret organization of interdimensional travelers who seek out broken story archetypes and fix them. If they don’t correct the narrative dysfunction of the worlds they go to? The ripples will bring destruction to their homes.

This is the start of a rip-roaring series about Evie, the personal assistant to a superhero who also happens to be her childhood best friend. Their friendship occasionally makes things a bit awkward as she navigates her super boss’s diva tantrums and demon-blood-stained leather pants. But then Evie has to pose as her boss for one night, and her secret gets out–she also has super powers, and her job’s about to get a lot more difficult.

Becoming a feared–and effective–dark lord is a lot more difficult than it sounds. There are a lot of details one has to constantly worry about, and those villain speeches don’t simply write themselves. Thankfully, there’s the Dark Lord’s Handbook to help all the fledgling subjugators… and Morden, the product of a randy dragon’s chance encounter, had better read quickly.

Sal Vidon has the power to reach through time and space so he can find anything he might want, intentionally or not… and on the unintentional side is his mother, who is no longer alive in his home universe. Sal is also, notably, a close up magician in training. When he comes to a new school and meets Gabi, he discovers he has a new friend, whether he wants one or not, and good thing–because he needs all the help he can get fixing the universe they’ve unintentionally broken.

Elisabeth was raised in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, monitoring the sorcerous grimoires guarded within its walls, each one capable of wreaking terrible havoc on the world–and transforming into monsters made of ink and leather if provoked. But when the most dangerous grimoire is released, Elisabeth is framed for the crime. If she wants to save the world from the grimoire, she must ally herself with a sorcerer–and learn about the power she possesses.

Losing one’s mother is hard enough, but Ning has to live with the guilt of having killed hers, however accidentally; she brewed the poison tea that took her life. The same poison tea may soon also claim her little sister. Her only chance to save her sister is to travel to the imperial city to compete in a competition of tea-masters vying to win a favor from the princess. But a competition in the imperial court is anything but simple… or safe.

Annie Mason has come to Crow Island to settle her father’s estate–and she hopes to reconnect with her best friend, Beatrice. But the island is one where magic lurks just below the surface, and rumors of witch craft have long haunted the locale–and particularly a resident named Emmeline Delacroix. When Annie sees Beatrice and Emeline have a confrontation at a party, she finds herself drawn into the haunted underworld of the island–and its illicit magic.

An aspiring journalist named Jamal Lawson heads into Baltimore to report on a protest against police brutality that occurs after the murder of another Black man. But before the rally gets going, the city implements a “safety” protocol called “the Dome” that surrounds the city and forces those within into a militarized shutdown. Trapped, Jamal makes new allies and works with them to take the fight to the chief of police who masterminded this horrifying tactic.

For twenty years, Alex has been obsessively trying to develop–and convince others to invest in–a gene-edited super algae that he believes will reverse climate change. The takers he finally finds are a pair of hyper rich sisters, who will fund him… if he does his research on the luxury space station being built for billionaires as a beta tester. But the space station is not what it’s sold to be, and conditions on earth are only worsening.

Jacob has only taken a temp job in the mailroom of Delphi Enterprises because he’s so absolutely desperate for work. But on his first day, a cloud of poison gas descends on an all-hands meeting and kills all of the regular employees. He’s now stranded in the office complex with a few other survivors who were also hired as temps. Together, they create their own world that isn’t so bad–it’s almost like spring break–until they find out just why the disaster happened.

Kaikeyi is the only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, and she was raised on tales of the gods and their fantastic powers that allowed them to vanquish evil. But the stories she hears don’t match the reality she sees, where her mother is exiled and Kaikeyi herself is nothing but a pawn to be married off. She turns to the books that taught her the stories and discovers a magic that allows her to transform from a princess to a warrior–and queen.

Sequel to Black Sun.

With the city of Tova shattered by the Crow God’s eclipse and the social order falling to pieces, Xiala and the former Priest of Knives must find a way to survive as allies–and try to help two living avatars find their way to remain human.

Loulie al-Nazari is a criminal who sells illegal magic, guarded by a jinn. After she inadvertently saves the life of a cowardly prince, his father blackmails her into finding a magical lamp that will sacrifice all of the jinn to revive the barren land. She and her bodyguard must survive an epic quest–and at the end waits more truth than Loulie could ever imagine.

Sequel to The Jasmine Throne.

Malini has been declared the rightful empress and is determined to claim that throne, but deposing her brother will be no easy task, no matter how great the army that follows her. And Priya wants nothing more than to free her country from that empire’s rule, even if her soul is intertwined with Malini’s. Their coming together may be the only way to save both of their people, though it will cost them dearly.

Sylah grew up in the resistance, training for the day she would lead her people to topple the ruling class… until her entire family was murdered. But when she meets Anoor, daughter of the most powerful ruler in the empire, the heat that sparks between them is undeniable. When the empire begins a new series of trial by combat that will find its newest cohort of leaders, they team up with Hassa, a girl who has survived by being socially invisible, to set events in motion that will burn the entire order to the ground.

After his family dies to cholera in Canton, Robin Swift comes to London at the behest of a mysterious professor. There, his days are devoted to the linguistic studies that will get him into Oxford University’s Royal Institute of Translation, which is also called Babel. But beyond languages, Babel is a center for the magic that’s made the British Empire a world-dominating power. Soon Robin realizes that his residence in this academic utopia comes at the cost of betraying his motherland.