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 and 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’s book as well as a new author or book 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 Tru’s picks for today’s themed spotlight on fantasy:
A Classic Book Spotlight for… The Iron Crown
Fenn’s first and only memory is finding himself in the middle of a forest, face to face with a dragon spirit mocking him, all knowledge gone apart from his own name.
Lost and confused, his only hope for answers is Calidra—a woman living on the edge of the world with her partner. Forced to return home when her father dies, Calidra has put off facing her estranged mother for seven years, and she begrudgingly helps Fenn, forging papers for him so he can avoid the Queen’s Inquisitors.
But her mother is the least of her worries when they discover an ancient enemy is rising again. It should be impossible with the Iron Crown in power—and Fenn is terrified he might unwittingly be playing a part in the war’s resurgence.
Surrounded by vengeful spirits and powerful magic, Fenn’s desperate attempt to find his way home might well alter the fate of Tassar, and every power in it.
A new high fantasy series bursts into life with the DRAGON SPIRITS who reign supreme in the magic-drenched world of Tassar.
The Iron Crown by L. L. MacRae is the first in The Dragon Spirits trilogy, and a SPFBO finalist! This is classic fantasy with a updated modern feel. The final book in the series, The Broken Sword, releases soon! See our review of The Iron Crown.
About the Author
My name is Lauren, and I’m a fantasy author of character-driven stories and epic adventure. My books usually contain dragons, bucket-loads of magic, and are typically fun and hopeful.
I live in a tiny village in the English countryside with my boyfriend and our dog, have a degree in Psychology, and was a professional copywriter before going full-time as an author—swapping corporate copy for magic and dragons!
- Website: www.llmacrae.com
- Twitter: @_LLMacRae
- Instagram: @_llmacrae
- Patreon: llmacrae
A New Book Spotlight for… The Revenge of Captain Vessia
Claire Vessia’s been sentenced to death.
The last survivor of a ship of would-be-pirates captured by the navy, she’s been accused of all of their crimes.
She will die for it. Determined to go out with her head held high, her plans for a stoic execution are thrown out the window when a highborn lady offers her a chance to escape the noose… if she pays in vials of her own blood.
But she is betrayed.
Hung from the gallows and buried at sea, she rises amidst the waves as a Vampyri, an undead monster. Without a clue of where, or even what she is, and only a terrible hunger to guide her, it’s only when she consumes a person trying to help her that she begins to understands what’s been done to her.
Swearing revenge against the noble woman that turned her, the nation that accused her, and its people that killed her, Claire makes an oath that she will hunt down anyone under the navy’s flag, and carve a blood-strewn path on her quest for vengeance.
But when the perfect chance to strike takes the form of the child of her maker – Claire must ask herself how far she’s willing to go for justice.
The Revenge of Captain Vessia by Leslie Allen is a new-to-me book that came out late last year, and is the first fantasy by a new-to-me author! This sounds like an awesome pirate tale that I can’t wait to get stuck into.
About the Author
Leslie Allen is a librarian, sailor, amateur astronomer, and has traveled the world. Yet she somehow found herself back home in small town Nova Scotia.
She is often simultaneously plotting her next tattoo while sipping white hot chocolate and plotting the downfall of her characters. She devours stories in every medium she can find, but her favorites are movies and video games, and being eternally frustrated that they never go far enough.
- Website: LeslieAllen.com
- Bluesky: cozywitch.bsky.social
