Dark Ages Literature

Moments after Sen stepped through the revenant arch, an inky darkness flooded out across his world. Over the wreckage of a city broken by revolution it surged, engulfing the grand Grammaton tower, smothering the King's Aigle palace and drowning every last caste in the dark. Sen alone escaped; a young man prophesied to raise the Saint and save his world for good. But he failed. Now his world is gone, and his friends are just memories swallowed by the endless dark.

Lia Weaver went against everything she’d ever known when she risked her life to help a Farther fugitive named Gabe escape from the Aeralian soldiers, and her life changed forever. And the Frost changed, too—the Farthers have taken over her village, a new group of vigilantes calling themselves the Blackcoats are making plans to overthrow the Farther occupiers, and the Thorns are seeking for her to join them.

Invisible to the man she loves, Reeve Lennox fights to reclaim him from a dark world. As her wedding day nears in Acarsaid, her betrothed Arden offers only his wayward soul and saucy tongue. At night she desperately tries to reach Bran, the young soldier of nightmarish Tenebris who holds her heart. However, her king insists that the realms of Tenebris and Acarsaid must remain separate, lest the evil wizard Rancore brutally conquer all. But the dark magic of Tenebris defies mere distance.

Danny Firoth is an average 13-year-old who finds himself at the beginning of his eighth-grade year, struggling with some of the more common concerns that plague a boy of his age: Bullies, homework, and his mother. Sabrina Drake is the new girl. She is beautiful and spellbinding but carries a fantastic secret. Accepted into the White Rock Academy of Illumination, a school for young Squires destined to become Knights of the Light and battle the forces of the Dark with magical weapons called Bondeds, Danny joins his five closest friends in the training of their lives.

The trip was supposed to be the perfect holiday. Six friends, reuniting after two decades, spending the weekend in a beautiful riad in Marrakesh. Only, these friends are linked by more than their university days. Together, they've kept a dark secret that changed the course of all their lives forever. And as the truth threatens to surface in the stifling Morrocan heat, they all begin to question what really happened that terrible night 20 years ago.

The strongest of them all. Eyes blacker than the darkness they all fantasize about, but have never seen. An abomination. Hemera Harkibel has spent her life concealing abilities she doesn’t fully understand. She is hated and feared because of her black eyes and inhuman strength. When her people’s underground cave system is attacked, Hemera is thrust above ground into a dangerous world where the sun’s rays can kill in seconds and enemies are tracking her every move.... Hemera comes to learn that her very existence is a threat in the war brewing between humans and Halves.

Logan Ragsdale and his younger sister, Ariana, have been marked, chosen to be unwilling participants in a war between angels and demons. Logan can sense something's not quite right. Like an unexpected chill on a summer's day, he can feel the unseen closing in. He's had these feelings before, and each time, someone close to him died. He's afraid this time it might just be Ariana. Logan's fears are soon confirmed when he discovers their new friends aren't human, but rather representatives from Heaven and Hell sent to Earth to ensure he and Ariana accept their roles.

Death sets the plot in motion: the murder of Nica Baker, beautiful, wild, enigmatic, and only 16. The crime is solved, and quickly--a lonely classmate, unrequited love, a suicide note confession--but memory and instinct won't allow Nica's older sister, Grace, to accept the case as closed.

Alicia Erian's characters are brave, disarming, affectionate, and deeply flawed. They inhabit the not-so-very-wide space between a good intention and a bad outcome. The Brutal Language of Love challenges traditional notions of right and wrong with what has become Erian's signature—an achingly stylish humor and a deep understanding of the brutal truth about human nature. These surprising, provocative, and deeply resonant stories marked the emergence of a major talent.

Victor Standish: Urban legend, abandoned child, mocker of monsters: “I learned to walk on cat-feet by living on the streets of too many hard cities for six years...since I was seven. I know why dogs howl at the dark and why cats prick up their ears after midnight. All too often I hear the beating of black wings and the scratching of half-seen shapes on the pavement hidden by shadow. I have always known I am an outsider, a stranger no matter where I roam among those who are still men".

I’m a witch. My mom, and my aunt, and their mom were also witches. Maybe my dad? There’s just a whole lotta witches in my family. And in this town too. Stormy Josie, off-limits Beck, even cocky-boy Spade all have enchanted abilities. We were supposed to get invites to the High Council Witch Academy… maybe. But, the death of a classmate interrupted our fate. Now, no one’s sure. (You’d think fate would know, after all, it’s fate. But, I digress.) The High Council will only accept the strongest, most magical bonds. So now, we’ve got to do it all again.

Donner Lake is famous for its dazzling waters, dramatic mountains, and the travelers trapped there long ago who did unspeakable things to survive. But for lonely Nora Sharpe, Donner was where a girl named Grace glided into her life one night and exploded her world.

Wrongly accused of her brother’s murder, Sonara’s destiny was to die, sentenced to execution by her own mother. Punished and left for dead, the shadows have cursed her with a second life as a Shadowblood, cast out and hunted by society for her demon-like powers. Now known as the Devil of the Deadlands, Sonara survives as a thief on the edge of society, fighting for survival on a quest to uncover what really happened to her brother and whether he is even dead at all....

It would be easier for Thomas Mullen to move on from what he'd seen if Sarah stopped calling. It would be even better if she stopped appearing to him, and only him, to remind him of what he was powerless to stop. But months later, after Thomas loses his phone and the random woman who recovers it arranges to return it to him, his predicament intensifies. This woman tells him that while she's had his phone, his mother has called. His mother really needs him to call her back. And who is Sarah?

Calidan Darkheart has survived monsters, men and the first years of the Academy, but will he be able to survive a higher power than his own? As a young student at the Academy and freshly dealing with the loss of a dear friend, Calidan must endure a new trial, one that will test every fiber of his being. Alone in the dark, Calidan the Imperator has so far managed to avoid the clutches of a rampaging beast, but now seeks to escape and fulfill his lifelong dream. Intent on saving his best friend Cassius and heading deeper into the wastelands, he seeks a prey that will eclipse all others.

Timothy’s journey into the magical and enchanting world of Mielikuvitus has taken a dark and dangerous turn. Having rescued his younger sister from the labyrinth beneath the Torn Mountains, Timothy emerges to find Mielikuvitus under siege. The Dark Entity holds the world under its dark banner as it amasses an army to destroy everything.

After Del Larouche defeats the Gris-gris man, she struggles to find her place in the adult world. She just wants a normal life. But her horrible "gift" means her life will never be normal. When six-year-old Clara goes missing from the St. Augustine Orphanage - the third child in two weeks - a frantic search begins and Del agrees to use her gift to help find the girl. As the dark layers of New Orleans are peeled back, a terrible truth is exposed. What she finds lurking in the shadows of the old city is unimaginable. But it’s what the lurking shadows find…that is truly deadly.

A land has fallen. An escape was made. It's a victory, but at what price? Shaleigh has made a terrible mistake - one she may not ever be able to fix. Lost and in a strange land with anger and death all around her, she must navigate her way through treacherous lands on her quest for redemption.

The academy killer returns. Underrealm's Academy for Wizards is in mourning after students and instructors alike have been murdered in its halls, but the killer is now far away across the nine kingdoms - or so they believe. When Ebon learns of a new threat within the Academy, he and his friends must work quickly to stop it - for if anyone knows the terrible secret they conceal, they could all be put to death. As the school's danger looms, and Ebon faces increasing suspicion from the new Dean, he must infiltrate the family Yerrin and learn a dark truth if he hopes to survive.

When a demonic parasite turns her classmates into an army of sleepwalkers, 16-year-old Jo must confront her celestial identity and reveal the mystery of existence. With the help of her best friends and a Galactic Compass, Jo unleashes the cosmic powers of creation to prevent the Lord of Darkness from enslaving all of humanity into obscurity. Will she be able to decode the artificial system in time to save her friends and the sacred Light?