Welcome to A Month of Rain and Reads, a celebration of self-published and indie SFF throughout the entire month of November. To find out how you can take part and view the whole list of content, visit our introduction post.
Today we’re hosting a list of recommended indie books by Marie Sinadjan, co-author of The Prophecies of Ragnarok series.
I grew up with my parents’ folktales, reading Star Wars and fantasy books, watching anime, playing Playstation RPGs, and singing and performing in musicals. In all of those, I found myself drawn to the ensemble stories. Maybe it’s the Filipino thing of extended families. Maybe I just read too much Star Wars (Expanded Universe girlie here). Maybe it was Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete or Suikoden 2, my great JRPG loves. Whatever it was, many of my favorite books feature a medium to large cast of awesome characters that I love like my own (disaster) children. I will go to war for them. I will die for them. You know how it goes.
Some of my indie favorites, in no particular order:
A Touch of Light by Thiago Abdalla
The worthy are immortal. To die is a sin. But in a tide of madness and ruin, life is a fragile thing.
Lynn, a rogue griffin rider, has uncovered a deadly madness that threatens to destroy the Domain. She can’t escape this enemy, but to fight it, Lynn must risk being found and branded a traitor by her old order.
Prince Adrian has never been pious or on good terms with his father. After losing those closest to him, however, he must either work with the king or convince the Church to deem his loved ones worthy if they are to have a chance at resurrection.
In the clanlands, where death is considered a necessity, Nasha fights to prove she belongs. A cursed hunter and a lifelong outcast, she has always struggled. But when the land itself begins to wither away, Nasha might be the only answer.
The Ashes of Avarin is a sprawling epic fantasy series where religion and politics are one, griffin riders roam the skies, and a looming blight threatens to tear everything down.
Heretical by Emma Whitehall
Ignatia Heretical isn’t shaping up to be much of a Hero.
The daughter of the most famous Villain in the country, Ig is finding that no matter how hard she tries, no one at her illustrious Hero academy seems to trust her. Or, you know. Like her. At all. Her only friend is Pisces – the beautiful, popular girl she’s been hopelessly in love with since she started school at the Lunalist Academy For The Gifted and Talented.
However, Ig’s chance to prove herself comes when she’s signed up for a secret reconnaissance mission; infiltrate Shackleton School for Villains and work out their nefarious plans.
Pretend to be a Villain.
Make friends with an unhinged botanist, a mad scientist, and his insufferable clone/lab assistant.
Find out their secrets.
Go home a Hero.
What could possibly go wrong?
Skylark in the Fog by Helyna L Clove
So when the universe falls to pieces, it doesn’t mean your life has to, right? That comes later.
Jeane Blake, captain of the spaceship Skylark, makes her living by looting dead worlds, planets fallen prey to naturally occurring wormhole-like rifts plaguing the cosmos. She survives the only way she knows: avoiding commitment and arguing with her dead foster father’s ghost. But when her crew stumbles upon an alien device that could collapse the wormhole network and wipe out all sentient life, they catch the hungry eyes of the Union, a tyrannical empire hunting the sinister tech.
As she flees the Union’s brainwashed agents, Jeane is forced to take on a shady mission and gets stuck assisting the runaway monarch of a technocrat planet. Queen Maura Tholis is seeking the aid of an interstellar resistance to reclaim her war-torn world, with another trouble-magnet device as her bargaining: a glove that allows her to command AI systems. Jeane couldn’t care less about the whole deal, but things become personal when the Union annexes the place she calls home. And it might be her fault.
Reluctant to become weapons in the hands of power-hungry militants and desperate rebels, smuggler and queen join forces. But to save their homes, they must redefine themselves, work with the enemy, and face personal traumas they’d buried long ago—and only stars know which challenge might break them in the end.
The Time Trials by Jon and Dayna McConnell
After the deaths of his parents in a horrific car accident — one that he considers his own fault — Walkman-toting, guitar-playing Finn Mallory would do anything to turn back time…to press “rewind.” When he’s admitted on full scholarship to an elite boarding school, things get more complicated: he becomes an “Unfortunate” in a sea of rich kids whose shoes cost more than his late parents made in a week. An invitation to a boring-sounding history club changes everything, as this team does much more than research and field trips.
Well….they do take field trips. Just not the kind you’re thinking. For Finn, the present was already enough to deal with, but now he finds that he also must reckon with the past, in more ways than one.
The Templar Sword by Sam Clarke
Noah is a typical teenager with a very atypical dream – becoming a modern-day Knight Templar. His estranged father, a senior commander within the Order, is dead set against it.
An ancient sword has been missing for centuries. Recovering it would prove Noah’s worth to his father and earn him a place at the Clearview Templar Academy.
When he stumbles across a Renaissance painting that holds a clue to the sword’s location, Noah’s dream seems within reach. As the death toll quickly mounts, it becomes apparent that others are hunting the sword – for far more evil ends. The future of the Templars, very much like Noah’s, is at stake.
Together with his friend Viggo and mischievously attractive Isabelle, Noah embarks on the deadliest quest of his life. The sword’s dangerous trail will take them from the canals of Venice, to the spires of Seville, to a gripping showdown in the underwater caves of the Caribbean.
**A fresh, original adventure story. Can be read as a standalone novel or as the sequel to The Twelfth Ring. Ideal for fans of Indiana Jones and Uncharted. A Page Turner finalist and Wishing Shelf Award finalist.
Blood of Midgard by Baptiste Pinson Wu
The end is near. The war is just beginning.
Ragnarök’s shadow looms over Asgard. The gods grow fearful, and Odin, in a desperate attempt to fill the benches of Valhöll with more slain heroes, sends his elite warriors to Midgard to spark conflicts. Drake, their leader, would rather fight to prevent the end of the world before it began, for Muninn, Odin’s daughter, is fated to die during the last great battle.
But as Drake and his brothers strive to accomplish Odin’s will on Midgard, a plan born in the darkness of Loki’s cell—and acted upon by someone close to Drake—is set in motion. The snare tightens around Drake, and every step the warrior takes toward the woman he loves in secret brings Ragnarök closer.
The Heron Kings’ Flight by Eric Lewis
The Heron Kings have been betrayed. A century after their formation from a gang of desperate peasant insurgents, the shadowy band of forest rangers suffers a rare defeat when a skirmish turns into a bloody ambush. Their shaky truce with the crown is tested as young members Linet and Aerrus work to track down their enemies. When reluctant peacetime soldier Eyvind reveals a conspiracy to welcome the charismatic invader Phynagoras, the trio must convince a weak king and pitifully few allies to stand against the storm.
Their only hope lies in the forgotten tactics of their own guerrilla past, and a terrifying new alchemical weapon the likes of which the world had never imagined. The only question is which side will be destroyed by it first…
Heir of Amber and Fire by Rachanee Lumayno
They’re only huge, scary, fire breathing creatures. Seriously, is that any reason to be afraid of a dragon?
When my father the king announced my upcoming political wedding, it uncovered family secrets I never knew existed and forced me to go on the run. Now I, Princess Jennica of Calia, am not only trying to escape my arranged marriage, but am hoping to figure out the truth of my heritage.
Because my dear father may not be what he seems.
To learn the mysteries of my past, I’ll have to team up with a group of ragtag mercenaries. Including a handsome dragon Seeker whose surliness can’t stop me from being drawn to him despite myself.
They’re taking me to the dragon who once kidnapped my mother, and who hopefully has the answers I seek.
Because I’m running out of time to save my kingdom.
And in order to save my kingdom, I might have to betray my new friends.
Journey to the Gifted Lands, a fantasy world of seven kingdoms, each known for their own unique power or ability. Heir of Amber and Fire is the first book in the Kingdom Legacy series set in this magical world.
The Herald by Shawn McGee
The future of Earth depends on unwanted misfits.
Argrenn and his wife were saved from Earth’s destruction by the Vrelth and transported to Geoe, a world run with gaming rules. They need to get a message out to other human planets but the Vrelth turned Geoe into a war zone.
The only protection they have is their new friends and the rules of the game – none of which they know.
Either they learn to play the game or Earth is doomed.
Talia: Heir to the Fairy Realm by Joel C. Flanagan-Grannemann
♥Talia, the young Iridescent-winged Heir to the Fairy Realm, and Prince Bastile, the Heir to the Human Realm, have embarked on a forbidden love affair, and their choice will have consequences for both their worlds.
After a stunning betrayal, Talia, her 8 Ladies, and her Heir’s Guard (9 female Fairy soldiers) bravely set off on a journey through the Fairy Realm in search of answers about the Exile Queen, a reviled ancestor.
⚠However, Talia’s evil Aunts, the Three Sisters, and others in both the Fairy and Human courts stand in her way, not understanding the ancient prophecy that Talia is destined to fulfill.
★★★Will Talia be able to save both the Fairy and Human Realms from the devastations of another war?★★★
If you enjoyed The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, you will be captivated by this exciting story of Talia and Prince Bastile’s forbidden love affair and the stirrings of horrible hostilities between these two vastly disparate Realms.But be these are neither your little sister’s happy romantic fairies nor your weird uncle’s dark patriarchal they’re something altogether new!
About Marie Sinadjan
Marie Sinadjan is a Filipino speculative fiction author and book reviewer. She is the co-author of The Prophecies of Ragnarok series, and her short stories have appeared in various literary journals and anthologies. She loves all things mythology/folklore, and time travel. She lives in the UK with her husband and daughter.
- Website: linktr.ee/quillandcrib
- Bluesky: @quillandcrib.bsky.social
