This week is Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week, an entire week dedicated to appreciating self-published authors! This special week is taking place between July 21st to July 27th and was started by Jodie over at the Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub blog. You can find out more about SPAAW on Jodie’s blog, as well as ways to take part.
Naturally, at Read Indie Fantasy, we’re big fans of self-published authors, so we couldn’t help but get involved! Every day this week, Nils and Trudie will be making a spotlight post (like this one!) to highlight a classic self-published author/book/series as well as a new author/book/series we think needs the spotlight across SFF genres and book types.
Want to take part? You can support self-published authors by leaving a book review or shouting about your favourite self-published books on social media. Don’t forget these hashtags: SPAAW #SelfPublishedAuthorsAppreciationWeek
Here are Nils’ picks for today’s themed spotlight on fantasy:
Above text shamelessly copied (and only slightly edited) from Tru’s original post.
For these spotlights, I decided to define “classic” as:
A book or series that I’ve read and enjoyed, that’s not new but not necessarily ancient, that I see people talking about, and that I’d be happy to recommend as a great example of excellence in indie books.
A Classic Series Spotlight for…
The Keeper Chronicles
When Mallon the Undying threatened the land years ago, the elves stopped him—and then disappeared.
Now Mallon’s followers seek to bring him back to finish what he started.
Only the Keepers—storytellers, historians, and magic-wielders—are left to stand against them.
Alaric, who betrayed everything he believed to save his wife — and still failed.
Will, a storyteller who’s convinced his weak magic makes him useless.
And Sini, a former slave girl with unimaginable power but no way to wield it.
Can they survive being hunted by dragons, attacked by frost goblins, and betrayed by traitors in their midst?
Or will Mallon’s minions overwhelm them and plunge the land into darkness?
The Keeper Chronicles, by JA Andrews, is the first series from the author, and the first taking place in the world of the Keepers. The second series, Keeper Origins, tells of how the Keepers came to be, and Runelight, the first book in the author’s latest series, was one of the finalists in SPFBO X.
Our review of The Keeper Chronicles (the entire series) can be found here.
Find The Keeper Chronicles on Goodreads.
About the Author
JA Andrews lives deep in the Rocky Mountains of Montana with her husband and three children.
She is eternally grateful to CS Lewis for showing her the luminous world of Narnia.
She wishes Jane Austen had lived 200 years later so they could be pen pals.
She is furious at JK Rowling for introducing her to house elves, then not providing her a way to actually employ one.
And she is constantly jealous of her future-self who, she is sure, has everything figured out.
A New-Part-in-Series Spotlight for…
Val-de-Mer
Most recently released book in the series:
Clémence Voyer’s one and only priority is Alain, ols five-year-old brother. Ol had been ready to kill countless witches to keep him safe. With Montrant Industries’ crimes exposed, Clémence is freed from their clutches and under witness protection, granting ol a rare opportunity to give the boy a sense of normalcy and indulge his bird obsession.
The city of Val-de-mer is left with one obvious problem, however: over a thousand witches trapped in exocores need to be transferred safely into new bodies, and ols involvement in the creation of exocores is not so easily forgotten—not by the lovely Emmanuelle Duclos, the scientist in charge of devising the exocore transfer, not by the witch community ol betrayed, and not by Montrant Industries, who needs ol dead to protect itself.
Mired in the middle of the exocore restoration project, Clémence is forced to face the people ol harmed. Ol will need to learn to trust again determine what it means to be accountable if ol wants to move forward and finally give Alain the idyllic life he deserves.
Painted Flock is the second fantasy novel in a series meant to reframe romance tropes within non-romantic relationships and centering aromantic characters. Those who enjoy quiet healing, tricky redemptions, and unusual families should enjoy this story.
Find book #1, Baker Thief, and Painted Flock on Goodreads.
About the Author
Claudie Arseneault is an asexual and aromantic-spectrum writer hailing from the very-French Québec City. Her long studies in biochemistry and immunology often sneak back into her science-fiction, and her love for sprawling casts invariably turns her novels into multi-storylined wonders. The most recent, City of Strife, came out on February 22, 2017! Claudie is a founding member of The Kraken Collective and is well-known for her involvement in solarpunk, her database of aro and ace characters in speculative fiction, and her unending love of squids. Find out more on her website!
