Author: Holly Schofield

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Epic Fantasy in a Boxed Set

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Two SF Canada members share mysteries and magic in Secrets & Spells, a bundle of six epic fantasy novels. Dive into these fantastic realms of richly drawn characters and become lost in engrossing stories of friendship, adversity, and love.

Krista D. Ball’s The Demons We See (The Dark Abyss of Our Sins #1) is part of an ongoing series. Society was rocked when the Cathedral appointed Allegra, Contessa of Marsina, to negotiate the delicate peace talks between the rebelling mage slaves and the various states. Not only was she a highborn mage, she was a nonbeliever and a vocal objector against the supposed demonic origins of witchcraft.
Demons weren’t real, she’d argued, and therefore the subjection of mages was unlawful. That was all before the first assassination attempt. That was before Allegra heard the demonic shrieks. All before everything changed. Now Allegra and her personal guards race to stabilize the peace before the entire known world explodes into war with not just itself, but with the abyss from beyond.
So much for demons not being real.
Find more of Krista’s work at http://kristadball.com/

Jane Glatt‘s Unguilded (The Mage Guild #1) features Kara Fonti, who, at sixteen, still has no magic. But Mage Guild, the most powerful of all the Guilds in Tregella, has a use for her – they will force her to bear children for men who do have magic. Arabella Fonti, to protect her own status within the guild, pushes her daughter to do the unthinkable – run away to live outside the guild system.
But unguilded are not welcome in Tregella, especially on the magical chain of islands of the capital Rillidi. In increasing danger of being arrested or killed, Kara finds refuge on Old Rillidi, the original island that was neither created by magic nor controlled by one of the guilds.
On Old Rillidi, Kara discovers true friends, makes a home for herself, and learns more about her strange ability to “see” magic. But the Mage Guild will not let her go, and it is here where she feels safest that Kara is betrayed . . .
This novel and the rest of Jane’s series can be found at http://janeglatt.com

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New SF middle grade novel, The Mystery of Croaker’s Island

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SFC member Linda DeMeulemeester’s latest work, The Mystery of Croaker’s Island, is now available! This Heritage House Publishing Co. Ltd. publication features a diverse group of friends who risk their lives getting to the bottom of a sinister supernatural mystery that is plaguing their otherwise sleepy town.

Blending adventure and realism with a speculative twist, The Mystery of Croaker’s Island introduces a group of unlikely friends who discover connections between a haunted island, monstrous sounds in the briny deep, vanishing cats, and teenagers disappearing in the night with no recollection of where they’ve been. Drawn together, the new friends become embroiled in a perilous quest to uncover the mystery. What sinister force shrouds this sleepy town, and will the kids solve the mystery before it’s too late?

Linda is the author of the critically acclaimed Grim Hill series. The Secret of Grim Hill won the Silver Birch award in 2008. Her other books have been nominated or shortlisted for several awards, including the British Columbia Young Readers’ Choice Red Cedar Award, the Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Diamond Willow Award, and the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award. Also a teacher, she enjoys sharing her lifelong love of reading with children.

For more information on this, and on Linda’s Grim Hill series, visit her blog.

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Death Flight launched!

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SF Canada member Melissa Yi’s latest Hope Sze crime Novel, Death Flight, is now available.

When Dr. Hope Sze flies to Los Angeles to reunite with her soul mate, she expects Botoxed blondes with Brazilian wax jobs, not terror at 35,000 feet in the air.

Yet on their way home, with 1000 miles to go and nowhere to land, she and Dr. John Tucker must strive to save one man’s life.

Hope and Tucker have no surgical equipment. No surgeon on board. And, as first year family medicine residents, almost no experience.

But right this second, they’ll try anything.

Especially Hope, because minutes before, she might have accidentally helped to kill the man spasming at her feet.

Find out where to get this exciting novel, and others, at Melissa’s blog.

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New Release, Children of the Bloodlands

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The second book in SF Canada member Samantha Beiko’s YA series The Realms of Ancient, Children of the Bloodlands, is now available through ECW Press, as well as wherever books are sold.

Three months after the battle of Zabor, the five friends that came together to defeat her have been separated. Burdened with the Calamity Stone she acquired in Scion of the Fox, Roan has gone to Scotland to retrace her grandmother’s steps in an attempt to stop further evil from entering the world.

Meanwhile, a wicked monster called Seela has risen from the ashy Bloodlands and is wreaking havoc on the world while children in Edinburgh are afflicted by a strange plague; Eli travels to Seoul to face judgment and is nearly murdered; Natti endures a taxing journey with two polar bears; Phae tries desperately to obtain the key to the Underworld; and Barton joins a Family-wide coalition as the last defense against an enemy that will stop at nothing to undo Ancient’s influence on Earth — before there is no longer an Earth to fight for.

Darkness, death, and the ancient powers that shape the world will collide as our heroes discover that some children collapse under their dark inheritance, and those who don’t are haunted by blood.

“The rewardingly complex mythology is deepened through parallel humanizing themes in the protagonists’ storylines, while game-changing action sequences unleash real consequences in the highly diverse world. A densely-packed, well-crafted sequel that will leave readers eager for the trilogy’s finale.” — Kirkus Reviews

For more information, and a list of cities in Samantha’s book tour this fall, visit her blog.

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Coven at Callington released

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SFC member Shereen Vedam has released her next novel. Coven at Callington is Book 1 of The Cauldron Effect, an exciting new Fantasy Regency romance series.

A kidnapped child. A witch on the warpath. A church guard in crisis.
In the year of our Lord 1815, Thomas Drake Saint-Clair, Earl of Braden, a Guard of the Green Cross, is tasked by his archbishop to rescue a missing boy and return him to his warlock father. The order lands Braden in the middle of an unholy war between witches and warlocks and shoves him headlong past a sacred line he’d sworn never to cross.
Newly confirmed Coven Protectress, Merryn Pendraven, rushes to rescue a witch’s son. She’s convinced the same evil warlock who was responsible for her younger brother’s death is behind this kidnapping, too. She has no intention of letting this vile villain get away with the same crime, twice.
When Merryn discovers Braden is also on the case, she’s tempted to join forces. Yet, how can she truly trust him when her aunt has warned that Braden’s second secret charge is to destroy their coven? Finding love in this cauldron of trouble might prove to be Merryn’s deadliest mission and Braden’s complete undoing.

Find it at Books2Read and find Shereen at her website.

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Swan Song graphic novel

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SF Canada member Bevan Thomas is one of the board members of Cloudscape Comics, and his organization has recently published its latest anthology: Swan Song. This graphic novel features numerous music-themed stories in a wide variety of genres, from autobiographical explorations to emotional dramas to fantasy stories about songs that produce magic. Not only was Bevan one of the book’s editors, but Swan Song also features a story he wrote retelling the Welsh legend The Tale of Taliesin, where the bard Taliesin summons a furious wind storm with his song. Swan Song includes numerous other comic creators as well, including such prominent local artists as Simon Roy (Prophet, Tiger Lung), Angela Melick (Wasted Talent), Renee Nault (comic adaptation of Handmaid’s Tale), and Jonathon Dalton (Mad Tea Party, Lords of Death & Life). You can get your own copy at the Cloudscape store at https://www.cloudscapecomics.com/product-category/anthology/