After the murder of her child, Brynn of the Istovari wants nothing more than to escape the shackles of her birthright. As a sorceress and the last of a once-great bloodline, many still seek to use her for their own schemes. Brynn will do anything for the chance at freedom, even if it means marrying an upstart warrior from the far north.

Cenric needs a wife—but not just any wife—a sorceress. Having recently reclaimed his inheritance after a youth spent across the sea, a sorceress will bring security and legitimacy in his estranged homeland.

A marriage gives both Brynn and Cenric what they want—for now.

In the far northern reaches lies a land ruled by pride and strict codes of honor. As Brynn and Cenric struggle to navigate the aftermath of their hasty union, they soon realize that rival factions within the kingdom are on the verge of war once again.

Alone, they will be destroyed by the coming storm. Together, they might stand a chance.

A bold new Fantasy Romance from author Elisabeth Wheatley.

A lot of the current romantasy focuses on the sexy side of the relationship and the highlights of the world, the magic fireworks, the high drama, the wars. Sometimes these books commit too heavily and end up feeling slick, with a setting that could be almost interchangeable from one series to the next because it matters so little.

And then there is romantic fantasy that focuses not just on the characters but on how they fit into the world. It has texture. Here love doesn’t strike like a bolt of lightning the moment the characters meet. Rather it grows one kind, considerate moment at a time. The more you read, the more alive and human the characters feel. Before you know it, you like them so much that you get genuinely upset when bad things happen. Fortunately for all of us, books in this niche usually end happily and often become comfort reads.

It’s an interesting pocket of the genre. I don’t know what to call it. It’s a romance at the core, wrapped in a fantasy where dinners still have to be cooked and livestock must be fed and sheared. Slice of life romantic fantasy? Grace Draven’s work fits into this category. Sometimes when you read her books, you feel like you are there, in the world.

Whatever this subgenre is, TEARS OF THE WOLF is a beautiful example of it.

Brynn has been dealt a terrible hand in life. She is trapped in a loveless arranged marriage. Her husband doesn’t hate her. Hate and rage are strong emotions, and all of his emotions were buried with his first wife and their children. He’s broken, and he has nothing to offer as a partner. Somehow they managed to make a child, but now their baby is dead, and Brynn is the only one who mourns him.

The story starts with Brynn seeking a divorce. She’d tried to be a good wife, but the tragedy of losing her son was too much. The wound is too raw, even months later. She has to escape this marriage to survive, or her grief will overwhelm her. Unfortunately for Brynn, she is both a sorceress and of royal blood. That makes her very dangerous to the current monarch. She cannot remain unattached. She must be married and to someone who will not be a threat to succession.

Cenric is a lord on the crossroads of two nations. He carries both the blood of the kingdom’s nobles and that of the raiders who endlessly harass it, and he is very good at fighting both. Cenric rules a small territory to the north that’s frequently raided, and he has been petitioning the king for a sorceress for years. A skilled sorceress isn’t just a dangerous opponent. She is an accomplished healer and a savvy politician, and he needs help in the worst way.

The king puts Brynn and Cenric together and kills all the birds with a single stone. Brynn is attached and removed from the political chessboard. Cenric will never be king. Even with Brynn as his wife, he simply doesn’t have the pedigree. The territory Cenric rules is far enough to give her a break from political pressures and hopefully give her a chance to heal.

Meanwhile, Cenric, who desperately needs assistance, gets a wife who is probably the most powerful sorceress in the kingdom. She is skilled in managing the lands and households. She is the niece of the king. She is beautiful. And something terrible clearly happened to her. Brynn needs to be protected, and Cenric is a protector. He is genuinely kind when he doesn’t have to be.

They marry, travel back to Cenric’s lands, and try to navigate their new lives, surrounded by Cenric’s retainers and an adorable, slightly telepathic pack of dogs. Of course, Brynn is too valuable, and evil people will try to use her to their advantage. But at the core, this is a story of two people who come to deeply love each other. This is not a closed door romance. The book ends well.

I should probably mention the setting. It’s very loosely based on Saxon England with Viking raiders, and it is very well done. It’s kind of unusual to see this particular time period used as the basis of romantic fantasy, and it works beautifully. It’s an excellent book if you want to take a break from the current world.

Anyway, this is going onto the comfort read shelf for me. Your mileage will always vary, so make sure to read an excerpt before you jump in. Unfortunately Elisabeth doesn’t have an excerpt on her site, so I suggest using Kindle’s Read Sample feature on Amazon.

This post is for Elisabeth’s book, so please do not recommend titles from other authors in the comments. We have dedicated book posts for that.

The post Tears of the Wolf by Elisabeth Wheatley first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

THE GRAND GAME

One man. Assassin. Caster. A new world. And a Game that is as brutal as it is complex.

Michael finds himself in the realm of the Forever Kingdom, with no memory of how he got there and who he is. Even so, he must participate in the Grand Game and forge a new destiny for himself.

Dropped into a dungeon of monsters, and strange magics, would you survive in a Game where to lose means death?

Alone, and with little more than his wits to aid him, Michael must advance as a player, slay his foes, and gain experience. All while navigating the intrigues around him and discovering his purpose.

A world of Powers, Forces, and mysterious factions. A Game with endless opportunities for advancement and power.

Join Michael on his epic adventure as he deals with the Game’s challenges, the machinations of the Powers, and the ambitions of his fellow players.

The start of an exciting new portal fantasy epic!

Buy Links.

The series is written by Tom Elliot, who has the coolest website ever. I’ve enjoyed this series. It’s very difficult for me to turn off internal editor that snags on things like what it believes to be unnecessary adverbs and creative dialogue tags, but this story was so engaging that I kept reading right over things that would normally trip me up.

I’m now reading HE WHO FIGHTS WITH MONSTERS by Travis Deverell, and I’m enjoying it a lot. Jason is insufferable at times but so endearing.

HE WHO FIGHTS WITH MONSTERS

Jason wakes up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters.

It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it’s hard to be good when all your powers are evil.

He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters…and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants.

After cementing itself as one of the best-rated serial novels on Royal Road with an astonishing 13 million views, He Who Fights with Monsters is now available on Kindle.

About the series: Experience an isekai culture clash as a laid-back Australian finds himself in a very serious world. See him gain suspiciously evil powers through a unique progression system combining cultivation and traditional LitRPG elements. Enjoy a weak-to-strong story with a main character who earns his power without overshadowing everyone around him, with plenty of loot, adventurers, gods and magic. Rich characters and world-building offer humor, political intrigue and slice-of-life elements alongside lots of monster fighting and adventure.

Amazon and KU link.

Surprisingly, there is quite a bit of an overlap between the character builds. Both are stealth based. Both are using shadow teleport. The books are very different, though.

Michael accepts his reality relatively quickly and becomes very proficient and lethal almost immediately. Jason is the kind of character that has unbelievably high luck stat. He keeps stumbling from one disaster to another, and yet somehow he always triumphs. Not without getting his face bashed in first, but still, he comes out better than he went in and he is genuinely kind. I really liked the subtlety of characterization, because Jason is not well, but he is trying to get a grip.

On a side note, Rufus has morphed into Regé-Jean Page in my head. I blame the D&D movie. He was so good as a paladin and I can absolutely see him in this role.

I would love more recommendations along these lines. Looking for that progression of the character getting stronger in a magical RPG world.

I have a small request: please don’t leave book recommendations on The Inheritance posts. We work very hard on those installments, and we hope you will give us your undivided attention when they are up.

The post The Grand Game and He Who Fights With Monsters first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

Mod R presented me with a list of questions. Let us get to it.

When will the preorder be availlable?

We don’t know. Well, that was easy. The usual MO is to wait until the cover is done because people tend to preorder in higher numbers once the cover is up. Maybe having the cover is proof that the book exists?

When will the cover be available?

We don’t know that either. I’m knocking these out of the park today.

Can you make Tor publish it faster?

Hahahaha. No.

Will there be opportunities for signed books or bookplates?

Absolutely.

Will there be a e-book and audio version or just print?

There will be all the things. Tor is fully behind this release. So here is how this book sold: it went to several publishers on Thursday and on Friday morning Tor came back with an offer so impressive, that our agent called for an emergency zoom meeting to discuss it. They read it that evening, and they really wanted this book. So there will be everything: ebook, print, audio. The whole kaboodle. We’ve discussed maps and extras.

Will there be special editions/ hardcovers/ book boxes, since it’s Tor? We want all the special editions (Fairyloot, Broken Binding, Forbidden Planet and Illumicrate mentioned specifically) 

We don’t know. But our personal feeling is that yes, there likely will be special editions. We are working on some extra scenes, deleted scenes, and so on.

Can you share a cover artist at least? Are you using Luisa Preissler?

We don’t know who the cover artist is. No idea. It probably will not be an object cover, simply because there have been so many of them that it’s hard to come up with a new distinct image. The direction is more toward illustrative rather than graphic. And that’s all I can say.

A note about Luisa Preissler: Luisa recently changed her creative direction. She is taking a break from covers and is working on landscapes instead. She now paints beautiful gouache art. Here is that story in Luisa’s own words and images, and here is how her first gallery went.

(She is teaching a class on her Patreon and I really want to take it. I haven’t yet, because I paint very, very badly. Like hilariously badly. Only my singing is worse.)

So although Hugh 1’s cover is in desperate need of a makeover and we would love her to do both Hugh 1 and 2, we are not sure that she will have an opening in her schedule. We will definitely bring it up, but we might have to go in the new direction.

And now you know why sometimes we do things other than sequels to the beloved series. Artists, writers, and musicians don’t usually stay in one lane. Creativity is a layered, branching expression of one’s inner self. As we go through life, the direction of creativity changes because we are affected by events that happen to us and the world around us. It is the natural evolution of us as human beings.

Will it be translated into French/ German/ Spanish etc?

Probably. Let me tell you a little bit about foreign rights so you will have a cool industry insight.

Twice a year, the publishing world gets together at two major book fairs: London and Frankfurt. The Frankfurt one is held in Germany and it is the largest book fair based on the sheer number of publishers who attend. It usually happens in October. London Book Fair, which is almost as large, is happening this week, March 11-13. It is held in London, to no one’s surprise, and both our agency and Tor will have a presence.

These are not reader-centric events, but rather events where publishers and agents from all over the world get together and talk about upcoming projects and sell and buy foreign (to them) rights.

While we don’t expect to have offers from foreign publishers, because the final edit was just turned in and hasn’t been accepted yet, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, and this was so long to type, let’s call it This Kingdom for short, This Kingdom will be “a topic of conversation.” At least that’s what our agent told us.

To sum up: yes, we expect interest from foreign publishers and we will let you know what is happening with that when we know something ourselves.

Does that mean you are going to London?

No, London Book Fair is not for the authors. But we would love to go to London. And Ireland.

Why are you using comps to announce the book?

We are not. Tor is using comps to announce the book. Comps are mostly for industry insiders to let them quickly identify what the book is about. For some reason, you guys are really concentrating on them, but it is a minor detail.

Will the series be called Maggie the Undying?

Yes. We all loved Maggie as a title, but unfortunately it’s really hard to go to book 2 with it. Something has to beat out the Undying. And then you end up with Maggie the Undaunted or something equally silly.

Is it a series or a standalone?

It is definitely not a standalone. The original plan was for three. The caveat here is that Book 1 ended up being enormous, so Book 2 will likely be equally so, and we may pack the story into two books instead of three. But for now, three is where it is.

Are the 808 pages Word pages or formatted pages and what will be the final length of the book?

So if you take Magic Bites and Magic Burns and put them together, that will be about the right thickness. Typical KD was 90-95K, because the publisher wanted it that way, and this is around 180K.

Is there romance or isn’t there? How spicy is it?

It has strong romantic elements, meaning that you can yank romance out of the book and it would be still make sense. Like Kate books – you can remove Kate and Curran’s relationship and they will still make sense. The romance is slow burn. You will just have to read it.

So is this a twist on the concept from Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint?

Oh good question. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint is a manhwa, a Korean comic, and a webnovel.

The manhwa is available on Webtoon and the official translation of the webnovel might have been up for preorder some time recently. Not sure about that one.

ORV throws the reader into his favorite book as a character. He starts tugging at strings and influencing events. This is a common trope used by a lot of portal (isekai) manhwa and anime.

The variation on that is being thrown into a video game. If you are in the market for an anime with that theme, there are so many, but I want to mention two here just for fun. First, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! The heroine ends up stuck as a villainess in the dating video game with hilarious results. Vegetables! All the vegetables ever.

The trailer, which is below, doesn’t do it justice. This anime is available on Crunchyroll. Although the trailer is subbed, the anime is dubbed and the dub is pretty good. (Link for newsletter readers.)

Once you watch that, there is this gem in Hidive.

From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad’s Been Reincarnated! has the exact same premise, but he is a middle aged dad, which leads to ridiculous moments, such as him telling another girl that her presence in the magical academy could mean only one thing – her parents love her very much and they want her to succeed.

But back to the Omniscient Reader, yes, This Kingdom has the similar premise of a reader being thrown into a book and changing events as they unfold. But Omniscient Reader is structured like a LitRPG, meaning it has a video-game like narrative. The character goes through a sequence of escalating fights with emphasis on classes and skills. It has more in common with Solo Leveling than Maggie.

(That genre is super fun. In fact, we are working on a very derivative novella in that genre on and off in our spare time because it’s been nagging at me and Gordon suggested that we need to download it onto page and out of my brain.)

This Kingdom has zero LitRPG elements. It is all about political intrigue and fantasy kingdoms, which is where the GOT comparison comes from. There are no defined classes or skills, there is no system window, etc. There are heists and murders and to quote Maggie, “Deadly swordmasters, thieves prowling through moonlit streets, dark magicians, ruthless nobles, hideous monsters…” It’s is meant to be an archetypical fantasy.

So a little bit different. A better comp would be the Lout of Count’s Family, which is available on Tapas. Highly recommend. And now we have it in novel form, available on Amazon and presumably everywhere else. Tada!

I haven’t read the novel, but the manhwa is awesome. He is the best dragon dad ever.

Since Maggie is getting sprayed edges, is there any news for a Kate hardcover/sprayed edges, uniform box set release?

We don’t know anything about sprayed edges or where they will go or what they will look like. We first saw it on Tor’s announcement.

We’ve brought up the possibility of reissuing KD in hardcover to Ace, which originally published that series. They are not interested in pursuing that at this time. As much as we all love Kate, it’s an older series.

How are you feeling about all of this?

Cautiously excited. For me there is a little bit of a disconnect, because in my head Maggie was a small weird book, and now This Kingdom reads like a medieval thriller. The book has grown bigger and more vivid. But despite the many editorial passes – or maybe because of them – I love the story. I love the world. I love Maggie and her fierce fandom heart. We both hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it.

The post All the Questions first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.