WANTED: Gainful employment of an adventurous nature but without risk of personal physical harm. (Can supply own time travel machine if required.) When Horace Tweed places an advertisement in a national magazine, the last thing he expects is to be commissioned to travel back through time in search of the long extinct Holey* Snail. But this isn’t just any old snail. The helix pertusa is possessed of an extraordinary and highly desirable property, and Horace’s quest leads him and his co-adventurers to Ancient Greece and a variety of near-death encounters with beings both mythological and not so mythological. Meanwhile, Detective Chief Inspector Harper Collins has her hands full trying to track down a secret order of fundamentalist monks whom she suspects of committing a series of murders – the same monks who are determined to thwart Horace in his... ...Quest for the Holey Snail.
Fantasy
The Mighty
Award: Awesome Indies: APPROVED
Categories: Contemporary Fantasy, YA Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: The Druid’s Guise
Author: Michael J Sanford
He's not crazy. Honest, he's not. He's just Wyatt. Wyatt the Mighty. Fifteen-year-old Wyatt has been sent to a treatment center for "disturbed youth." No one understands him. He wants nothing more than to escape from it all. And he does. Through a magic he doesn't understand, he finds himself in Hagion, a realm of fantastical creatures and immense wonder. He quickly finds himself in the company of a runaway warrior and two Children--a strange race of underground creatures that seem forever joyful. They claim Wyatt is a Druid, a powerful figure of myth and legend, sent to restore peace to all of the Realms. He doesn't bother correcting them. Finally, he can be the hero he's always dreamed of. But claiming to be a hero and actually being a hero are two different things. And it's a lesson Wyatt may have to pay dearly for.
Assessed for
Indiana Belle
Award: Awesome Indies: APPROVED
Categories: Fantasy, Historical, Mystery, Thrillers and Suspense
Series: American Journey
Author: John A. Heldt
Providence, Rhode Island, 2017. When doctoral student Cameron Coelho, 28, opens a package from Indiana, he finds more than private papers that will help him with his dissertation. He finds a photograph of a beautiful society editor murdered in 1925 and clues to a century-old mystery. Within days, he meets Geoffrey Bell, the "time-travel professor," and begins an unlikely journey through the Roaring Twenties. Filled with history, romance, and intrigue, INDIANA BELLE follows a lonely soul on the adventure of a lifetime as he searches for love and answers in the age of Prohibition, flappers, and jazz.
Assessed for
Core of Stone
Award: Awesome Indies: APPROVED
Categories: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Series: Alastair Stone Chronicles
Publisher: Magespace Press
Author: R. L. King
Stone’s answer to nearly every problem has always been magic — but that’s off the table now. All he’s got are his wits and his courage to keep himself and his friends alive. Can he put aside his pride and bitterness long enough to prove there’s more to him than magic? Alastair Stone knew it would take a big sacrifice to end the Evil’s hold over our world. He was ready to make that sacrifice — but he expected it to be his life. Never in his worst nightmares did he think it would be his magic. He’s on the fast track to self-destruction when a friend convinces him to take a desperate last chance. He heads to Las Vegas to find the only man who might be able to help him, but instead finds some old allies in dire need of his own help with a deadly — and very magical — threat.
Assessed for
Prophet of Chaos
Award: Awesome Indies: APPROVED
Categories: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Series: Chaos Theology
Author: J. Hamlet
Nathaniel is a man of many gifts. First and foremost is the power of Prophecy. Whenever he sleeps, he dreams of possible futures. With that knowledge, he’s thwarted the world-shaking schemes of Angels and Demons alike. Not surprisingly, all of Heaven and Hell’s agents are always hunting him, eager to take down the notorious figure known as The Prophet. He’s spent most of his life as a homeless drifter, hiding. Recently, a series of visions has plagued him, threatening to force him out the shadows. A Senator with presidential aspirations is on one side, backed by Heaven’s forces and seeking to transform the world into a brutal theocracy. Demon-worshipping terrorists also stand ready to launch a bloody revolution through mass murders, demonic possession, and civil war. Nathaniel stands in the middle, struggling to prevent humanity from slipping into a new dark age. And he can’t do it alone.
Assessed for
The Misadventures of Martin Hathaway
Award: Awesome Indies: APPROVED
Categories: Fantasy, Historical, Science Fiction, Steampunk
Series: Misadventures Trilogy
Publisher: Kathryn Clare Glen
Author: Kathryn Clare Glen
In this lighthearted adventure, hapless history teacher Martin Hathaway falls through Space and Time to land upon Airship Captain Daisy Fitzgerald McNamara’s coffee table and into the middle of an adventure larger than he could ever dream. In the first installment of the Misadventures Trilogy, hapless history teacher Martin Hathaway falls through Space and Time to land upon Airship Captain Daisy Fitzgerald McNamara’s coffee table and into the middle of an adventure larger than he could ever dream. Martin Hathaway awakens to discover that he is the center of a battle between the Free People of the Lost Valley and the Clockwork Men of Anatamenwar. Together with the eccentric crew of the A.S. Nephthys, Martin must explore the world of Arnica to discover his origins and ultimate destiny, all while reminding himself not to fall in love with the beautiful but deadly Captain McNamara. His journey is a lighthearted, humorous romp through time-honored fantasy conventions, proving that nothing, drama included, should be taken too seriously.
Assessed
The Last of the Firedrakes
Award: Awesome Indies: APPROVED
Categories: Contemporary Fantasy, YA Fantasy
Series: The Avalonia Chronicles
Publisher: Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Author: Farah Oomerbhoy
16-year-old Aurora Darlington is an orphan. Mistreated by her adopted family and bullied at school, she dreams of running away and being free. But when she is kidnapped and dragged through a portal into a magical world, suddenly her old life doesn’t seem so bad. Avalonia is a dangerous land ruled by powerful mages and a cruel, selfish queen who will do anything to control all seven kingdoms–including killing anyone who stands in her way. Thrust headlong into this new, magical world, Aurora’s arrival sets plans in motion that threaten to destroy all she holds dear. With the help of a young fae, a magical pegasus, and a handsome mage, Aurora journeys across Avalonia to learn the truth about her past and unleash the power within herself. Kingdoms collide as a complicated web of political intrigue and ancient magic lead Aurora to unravel a shocking secret that will change her life forever.
Assessed for Awesome Indies
Gifted Thief
Award: Awesome Indies: APPROVED
Categories: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Series: Highland Magic
Author: Helen Harper
Orphan. Runaway. Thief. Since the moment I was ripped from my mother’s womb, I’ve been an outcast amongst my own kind. The Sidhe might possess magical Gifts, unbelievable wealth and unfathomable power but I don’t want a thing to do with them. I ran away from their lands in the Highlands of Scotland when I was eleven years old and I’ve never looked back. I don’t need a Clan. I’ve got my own family of highly skilled thieves who mean more to me than any Sidhe ever could. Unfortunately for me, the playboy heir to the Moncrieffe Clan has something I desperately need. To get it back, I’m going to have to plunge myself back into that world, no matter what the consequences may be. I suppose it’s just as well I have sense of humour. I think I’m going to need it.
Assessed for Awesome Indies
The Dragons’ Chosen
Categories: Fantasy, YA Fantasy
Tags: dragons, fantasy, time travel
Publisher: Hickory Tree Publishing
Author: Gwen Dandridge
The dragons came from beyond the Crystal Mountains, demanding a virgin sacrifice… and Princess Genevieve learns she’s it when she’s handed a golden token – the mark of the chosen. Genevieve accepts her fate. She must, in order to save her kingdom. But the journey to her final destiny is complicated by the arrival of Chris, a 1970s Berkeley co-ed. To Chris, the whole scenario reeks of deception. Where she comes from, corsets are for burning and virgins are hard to find. She’s sure the dragons are out for more than innocent blood, but the only way to find out what they really want is to accompany Genevieve on her journey. Not what she had planned for her sophomore year of college. Genevieve is duty-bound–unless Chris is right. Then her sacrifice would mean nothing. Other than woe to those who duped her…