Today is Day 5 of Self-published Authors Appreciation Week and I am going to showcase five of my favourite female authors of fantasy. Firstly I hope nobody takes offense at being referred to as a feisty female of fantasy. It’s meant as a compliment…and because I like alliteration. Anyway let’s meet these fabulously fantastic feisty females (in no particular order). Each of these authors embraces diversity in their work and writes immersive, magical fantasy fiction. They also each have particularly beautiful and striking book covers. Hopefully you might find a new favourite here too.
L.L. MacRae
Lauren is a fantasy author of character-driven stories and epic adventure.
Her DRAGON SPIRITS epic fantasy series explores the magic-drenched world of Tassar, where powerful guardian spirits reign supreme.
Her WORLD OF LINARIA epic fantasy series is a light-hearted, fast-paced fantasy adventure with bucket-loads of magic, dragons, sky pirates, and airships.
The KOUZLO SAGA marks her first foray into urban fantasy, with demon-hunting and kick-ass characters set in the London area.
She lives in a tiny village in the UK, has a degree in Psychology, and was a professional copywriter before going full-time as an author – swapping corporate copy for magic and dragons!
For signed paperbacks, visit http://www.llmacrae.com
Here are the books I have read and reviewed:
The Citrine Key – A Dragon Spirits Novella
A stolen artefact.
An ancient dragon.
One man’s final chance.
Life-long thief Apollo Tamlin has been marked for execution. When the mage Queen Surayo offers him a pardon, he doesn’t ask questions – any task she has is better than a walk to the gallows.
Succeed, and not only will it preserve peace in his homeland, but Apollo can rebuild the life he’s ruined.
Sent to a distant continent to feed a stolen artefact to an ancient and powerful dragon spirit sounds simple, but things quickly start going wrong. His companions are not what they seem, the dragon would rather eat him, and the artefact displays its own magic – throwing the entire mission into peril.
My Review | Amazon | goodreads
The Iron Crown (Dragon Spirits #1)
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.
My Review | Amazon | goodreads
E.G. Radcliffe
E.G. Radcliff is a part-time pooka and native of the Unseelie Court. She collects acorns, glass beads, and pretty rocks, and the crows outside her house know her as She Who Has Bread.
Her fantasy novels are crafted in the dead of night after offering sacrifices of almonds and red wine to the writing-block deities.
You can reach her by scrying bowl, carrier pigeon, or @egradcliff on social media.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Here are her books:
The Hidden King (The Coming of Áed trilogy #1)
Hidden truths. Hidden power. Hidden destiny.
On the shores of a rusty sea, in the streets of a starving city, a young man named Áed scraps to build a life for himself and the makeshift family he loves. Scarred by a trauma he cannot remember, and haunted by the brutal damage it left behind, he has no idea of the courage his future will demand.
When tragedy strikes, a desperate Áed risks a treacherous, life-changing journey in his last chance to save the only family he has left – but an ancient legacy smoldering within him is about to turn deadly. Neither he – nor a kingdom – will ever be the same.
My Review of The Hidden King | Amazon | goodreads
The Last Prince (The Coming of Áed trilogy #2)
In a hellish city, the fate of a young boy rests on the very thing he fears most…
Robbed of his childhood by tragedy and betrayal and forced onto the streets, only fury makes young Ninian feel whole – and in a world of gangs and fae, Ninian is more than willing to fight for his life.
But it doesn’t take much to topple a life which is already balanced on the edge of a knife. And by the time a desperate Ninian realizes he’s crossed the wrong person, it is much, much too late.
In his frantic struggle to right his collapsing world, Ninian’s furious, bloody efforts are dredging up history he’d rather forget – the past is tired of being held at bay, and even fighting cannot protect Ninian from himself.
So when he meets a crimson-eyed stranger, a boy so broken he refuses even to speak, Ninian does not believe he has the capacity to care.
He is wrong.
And that will change everything…
(A full-length prequel to The Hidden King)
My Review of The Last Prince | Amazon | goodreads
The Wild Court (The Coming of Áed trilogy #3)
What perils await on the other side of the veil?
It’s the seventh year of Áed’s reign. While Ronan, full of restless wanderlust, dreams of a world outside the protective walls of the palace, and Éamon, Áed’s closest friend, struggles quietly with his growing feelings for the King, the world of The Gut is at peace. Until on one cold, autumn festival night, faerie and human worlds collide. With the calm of the kingdom suddenly ablaze, Áed, Eamon, and Ronan find themselves catapulted into a realm as unfamiliar as it is dangerous, where magic is king and wild courts vie for supremacy.
As a tenuous alliance raises questions about Áed’s connection to the mysterious Bone Court, and with a manipulative queen’s missing consort holding the key to life and death, survival hinges on cunning as much as illusion.
In this otherworldly war, only one thing is certain: no one will survive unscathed.
My Review of The Wild Court | Amazon | goodreads
Sarah Chorn
Sarah has been a compulsive reader her whole life. At a young age, she found her reading niche in the fantastic genre of Speculative Fiction. She blames her active imagination for the hobbies that threaten to consume her life. She is a freelance writer and editor, a semi-pro nature photographer, world traveler, three-time cancer survivor with hEDS, and mom to two. In her ideal world, she’d do nothing but drink lots of tea and read from a never-ending pile of speculative fiction books. She has been running the review blog Bookworm Blues for over ten years, has been editing books for four, and has been a published author since 2019.
I recently read and reviewed Of Honey and Wildfires. For information about Sarah’s other books please visit her goodreads page.
Of Honey and Wildfires
From the moment the first settler dug a well and struck a lode of shine, the world changed. Now, everything revolves around that magical oil.
What began as a simple scouting expedition becomes a life-changing ordeal for Arlen Esco. The son of a powerful mogul, Arlen is kidnapped and forced to confront uncomfortable truths his father has kept hidden. In his hands lies a decision that will determine the fate of everyone he loves—and impact the lives of every person in Shine Territory.
The daughter of an infamous saboteur and outlaw, Cassandra has her own dangerous secrets to protect. When the lives of those she loves are threatened, she realizes that she is uniquely placed to change the balance of power in Shine Territory once and for all.
Secrets breed more secrets. Somehow, Arlen and Cassandra must find their own truths in the middle of a garden of lies.
My Review | Amazon US | Amazon UK | goodreads
Virginia McClain
Virginia McClain is an author who masqueraded as a language teacher for a decade or so. When she’s not reading or writing she can generally be found playing outside with her four legged adventure buddy and the tiny human she helped to build from scratch. She enjoys climbing to the top of tall rocks, running through deserts, mountains, and woodlands, and carrying a foldable home on her back whenever she gets a chance. She’s also fond of word games, and writing descriptions of herself that are needlessly vague.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
I recently read and reviewed Sairō’s Claw. For information about Virginia’s other books please visit her goodreads page.
Sairō’s Claw
An action-adventure fantasy romp featuring sword lesbians, sea battles, and a grumpy wolf spirit.
Torako has done many things to protect the valley that she calls home, but she’s never looted a corpse before. So when the katana she steals off the still-cooling body of a bandit turns out to be possessed by a grumpy wolf kami, she can only assume it’s because she’s somehow angered the spirits. An impression that’s only reinforced when she returns home to find her wife abducted and her daughter in hiding. But angry spirits or no, Torako isn’t about to let bandits run off with the love of her life, even if it means taking their 3 year old on a rescue mission.
In all Kaiyo’s years as Captain of the Wind Serpent she has never once questioned her admiral’s orders. So when she receives the command to abduct a civilian scribe with the help of fifteen felons, she registers her objections, but does as she is bid. Yet, as the mission unfolds, Kaiyo finds herself questioning everything from her loyalties to her convictions.
As Torako and Kaiyo’s fates cross like dueling blades, their persistence is matched only by their fury, until they uncover a series of truths they may never be ready to accept.
My Review | Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop (Hardcover) | Bookshop (Paperback)
Lyra Wolf
Lyra Wolf is a Swiss-American author of fantasy and mythic fiction.
Raised in Indiana, home to a billion corn mazes, she now lives in Central Florida, home to a billion mosquitoes. She enjoys drinking espresso, wandering through old city streets, and being tragically drawn to 18th century rogues.
When Lyra isn’t fulfilling the wishes of her overly demanding Chihuahua, you can find her writing about other worlds and the complicated people who live there.
Lyra has earned a B.A. in History and M.A. in English.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | goodreads
Here are her books:
Truth & Other Lies (The Nine Worlds Rising, Book 1)
NOTHING IS TRICKIER THAN THE TRUTH.
All Loki the trickster god of Asgard wants is a quiet, peaceful life where he’s free to needle Balder, occasionally stir up the inter-realm porridge pot, and get Thor to dress in women’s garments (for all the best reasons).
Getting beset by sudden, painful, and terribly inconvenient visions of blood, ash, and death are definitely not on his to-do list. But, because of some small, ridiculous remnant of caring that refuses to be extinguished, Loki feels he must save Asgard…and that means warning Odin, his least favorite god (next to Thor).
But getting the gods to believe the boy who cried Fenrir is harder than it looks, and time is running out, not just for Asgard, but also for a mortal woman named Sigyn who may just hold the key to Loki’s future.
Loki is about to find out the hard way that the only thing crueler than truth are the lies behind it all.
My Review | Goodreads | Amazon
The Order of Chaos (The Nine Worlds Rising, Book 2)
Let’s start Ragnarok, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
Nothing pisses off a trickster god more than being imprisoned for five hundred years and not being able to annoy Thor. There are other reasons, secrets, and promises behind Loki’s rage, but that’s for Loki to know and the gods to find out—preferably painfully.
When the chance to start Ragnarok presents itself, Loki feels the apocalypse is as good a way as any to burn Asgard to the ground. And, it is, until the gods reveal their own teensy, tiny little surprise for Loki.
Suddenly, Loki has every reason in the worlds to stop them from ending. But this is Ragnarok, and one does not simply stop the apocalypse.
Chaos is all well and good, so long as Loki is in charge of it. Except chaos isn’t about to start taking orders from anyone, not even the god of pot-stirring himself, and it has a universe to destroy.
Originally published as “Chaos Rising.”
My Review | Amazon US | Amazon UK | goodreads
That Good Mischief (The Nine Worlds Rising, Book 3)
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Loki and Sigyn had gone full Midgardian, settling down in California, with Loki going off to toil for their daily bread. So what if his nine-to-five is actually working as a knife-for-hire? Ocean views aren’t cheap, and neither are engagement rings.
When Sigyn collapses, Loki senses a darkness growing within her, and he knows only one god who may be able to stop it before it possesses her completely. However, asking for help from the man you swore to never see again carries its own price.
Even with Ragnarok on the table again (and, again, not Loki’s fault…really), it’s the least of Loki’s problems, especially when buried secrets start surfacing.
Lies are unraveling, the truth is spinning, and consequences are flying faster than Loki can run and he might lose Sigyn forever.
Either to the darkness, or to his own lies.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | goodreads
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