trope: Fantasy city setting

The Hexologists

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The Hexologists
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The first book in a wildly inventive and mesmerizing new fantasy series from acclaimed author Josiah Bancroft where magical mysteries abound and only one team can solve them: The Hexologists. “Bancroft is a magician.” — Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe

“Fantastic! The Hexologists fizzes eloquently with wit and elegance, but also has marvelous worldbuilding and an excellent plot – and a central pair of characters who I quite simply love. A cocktail of a book made with the very best champagne.” — Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.

But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.

Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for a case that will test every spell, skill, and odd magical artifact in their considerable bag of tricks.

“Bancroft has returned to the page in force, deploying his crystal prose and razored wit around a tale that mixes whimsy and threat in equal measure. He’s a gift to the genre.” — Mark Lawrence, author of The Book That Wouldn’t Burn

The Traitor God (The Age of Tyranny)

The Traitor God (The Age of Tyranny)
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A city threatened by unimaginable horrors must trust their most hated outcast—or lose everything—in this crushing epic fantasy debut

After ten years on the run, dodging daemons and debt, reviled magician Edrin Walker returns home to avenge the brutal murder of his friend. Lynas had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened to devour the entire city. He tried to warn the Arcanum, the sorcerers who rule the city . . .

He failed.

Lynas was skinned alive and Walker felt every cut. Now, nothing will stop him from finding the murderer. Magi, mortals, daemons, and even the gods—Walker will burn them all if he has to. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s killed a god

Murder In Absentia: Urban Fantasy in Ancient Rome (Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic)

Murder In Absentia: Urban Fantasy in Ancient Rome (Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic)
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This is a story of Togas, Daggers and Magic – for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.

A young man is found dead in his bed, with a look of extreme agony on his face and strange tattoos all over his body. His distraught senator father suspects a cult death, and knows who to call for discreet resolution.

Enter Felix the Fox, a professional investigator. In the business of ferreting out dark information for his clients, Felix is neither a traditional detective nor a competent magician — but something in between. Drawing on his contacts in shady elements of society and on his aborted education in the magical arts, Felix dons his toga and sets out to discover the young man’s killers.

Murder In Absentia is set in a fantasy world. The city of Egretia borrows elements from a thousand years of ancient Roman culture, from the founding of Rome to the late empire, mixed with a judicious amount of magic. This is a story of a cynical, hardboiled detective dealing with anything from daily life to the old forces roaming the world.

“Mehr creates a vivid cast and an equally vivid setting in which magic just seems to fit in perfectly.”
— Richard Knaak, NYT best-selling author ofauthor of Legends of Huma

“Mehr’s imagined world based on ancient Rome feels at once familiar and dreamlike.”
— Ruth Downie, author of the Medicus series of Roman mysteries

“Hardcore Historical Fantasy – Felix the Fox is Sherlock Holmes in Ancient Times”
— Jonathan Maas, award-winning author ofFlare

City of Dreams & Nightmare: City of a Hundred Rows

City of Dreams & Nightmare: City of a Hundred Rows
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THEY CALL IT “THE CITY OF A HUNDRED ROWS”.

City of Dreams & Nightmare is the first in a series of novels set in one of the most extraordinary fantasy settings since Gormenghast – the ancient vertical city of Thaiburley.

From its towering palatial heights to the dregs who dwell in The City Below, this is a vast, multi-tiered metropolis, and demons are said to dwell in the Upper Heights…

Having witnessed a murder in a part of the city he should never have been in, street thief Tom has to run for his life. Down through the vast city he is pursued by sky-borne assassins, sinister Kite Guards, and agents of a darker force intent on destabilising the whole city.

Accused of the crime, he must use all of his knowledge of this ancient city to flee a certain death; his only ally is Kat, a renegade like him, but she has secrets of her own…

sequel here

Age of Ash (The Kithamar Trilogy)

Age of Ash (The Kithamar Trilogy)
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From Hugo award-winning, and New York Times bestselling co-author of the Expanse, Daniel Abraham, Age of Ash is the first book in an epic fantasy trilogy that unfolds within the walls of a single great city where every story matters —and the fate of the city is woven from them all.

“An atmospheric and fascinating tapestry, woven with skill and patience.” – Joe Abercrombie, New York Times bestselling author of A Little Hatred

Kithamar is a center of trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories unfold.

This is Alys’s.

When her brother is murdered, a petty thief from the slums of Longhill sets out to discover who killed him and why.  But the more she discovers about him, the more she learns about herself, and the truths she finds are more dangerous than knives.

Swept up in an intrigue as deep as the roots of Kithamar, where the secrets of the lowest born can sometimes topple thrones, the story Alys chooses will have the power to change everything.

“An outstanding series debut, which instantly hooks readers with Paul mysteries . . . Readers will eagerly anticipate the sequel.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

River of Thieves (Thieves’ Lyric Book 1)

River of Thieves (Thieves' Lyric Book 1)
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We were the worst kind of people. For the best reasons. After a robbery gone horribly wrong, cursed thief Cord broadens his horizons and plans to execute the heist of a lifetime. With fellow thief and knife connoisseur Nenn in tow, the two build their ragtag crew to target the heart of the kingdom – Midian, the seat of tyrant King Anaxos Mane.

As treachery, horrifying creatures of nightmare, and opposition bar their path at every turn, the gang must depend on skill – intellectual, martial, and magical – to deliver them an endless summer and keep them free from the clutches of evil despotism. If they don’t sh*t the bed first.

“This book is insanely good, insanely funny, and insane.” – Dyrk Ashton, Author of Paternus “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard reading a story in my life… ever.” -Justine Bergman, Whispers & Wonder “If you’ve ever wondered what a Terry Pratchett novel would look like if he got drunk and dabbled in grimdark, well… here you go.” -Luke Tarzian, Author of Vultures “An entertaining and viciously funny heist story.” -Lukas P, Fantasy Book Critic “Hurry up with the sequel, Mr Snyder. I’m deducting a star for the ending, so it’s only 5/5.” -Bjørn Larssen, Author of Storytellers

The Long Moonlight

The Long Moonlight
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MENUVIA

A sparkling gem made rough stone, the seat of political power in the Kingdom of Vale. Revolt foments among the patrician class and open gang war looms on the horizon. As the Argentine Tower plots revolution, a lone thief with a past as dark as Menuvia itself picks the wrong lock and opens the wrong door.

Shadows still cast in the dark of night, underneath THE LONG MOONLIGHT.

Featuring a series of original illustrations.

RAZÖRFIST was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. He produces several web series, including ‘Film Noirchives’, ‘Metal Mythos’, and the popular ‘Rageaholic’ review and commentary series. Prior to that, he studied Journalism and Political Science at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

The Long Moonlight is his first published novel.

Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel Book 1)

Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel Book 1)
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The first book in the word-of-mouth phenomenon debut fantasy series about one man’s dangerous journey through a labyrinthine world.

“One of my favorite books of all time” — Mark Lawrence

The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of luxury and menace, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.

Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.

Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he’ll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassins, and the illusions of the Tower. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.

This quiet man of letters must become a man of action.

Dark Arts (Language of the Sword)

Dark Arts (Language of the Sword)
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The job should have been simple…

Tam Zphinx is a Rat Catcher, a detective of sorts in the decadent city of Derenz. He investigates petty crimes for low pay but when the gorgeous Jessa Valinton walks in offering a hundred times the usual fee, he and his partner Riles jump at the chance for an easy score…

 

But after his partner is murdered and other curious characters turn up wanting the same thing as the dame, things get monstrously complicated…

 

Dark Arts is an action-packed noir fantasy in the vein of classic pulp fiction and sword & sorcery tales. If you like mysterious intrigues, larger-than-life characters, and witty humor, then you’ll love James Alderice’s gritty tale. This is a prologue for The KINSLAYER and the epic fantasy Language of the Sword series.

Buy Dark Arts to get join in a bloody sword and sorcery mystery today!

Down These Mean Streets

Down These Mean Streets
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NEW FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION STORIES WITH A HARDBOILED NOIR TWIST—FOCUSING ON THE MEAN STREETS OF THE CITY

“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.” —Raymond Chandler

Humans have always been fascinated by darkness. Especially the darkness of a city at night, when the black sky is made ever more inky by the pools of illumination dropped under streetlights. We harken to the sound of streetcars in the distance. We are drawn to the garish flash of club signs and marquees. We love the danger of shadowed alleyways, of wealth and poverty living side by side.

We love the city. It’s a part of us.

Whether the mean streets be in an alternate past charmed with dark magic or the dirty alleyways of futuristic crowded space stations, the city—and its darkened streets—will always fascinate us. Here then, an anthology of all new stories of science fiction and fantasy with a hardboiled noir twist that acknowledge that the city is a living, breathing entity…and it isn’t always on our side.

Stories by: Laurell K. Hamilton, Larry Correia, Kacey Ezell, Mike Massa, Steve Diamond, Robert E. Hampson, Chris Kennedy, Marisa Wolf, Griffin Barber, Robert Buettner, Hinkley Correia, Casey Moores, Patrick M. Tracy, and Dan Willis.