Books like 'Apex Magazine Issue 122'
Readers who enjoyed Apex Magazine Issue 122 by Jason Sizemore, Sheree Renée Thomas, A.C. Wise, Barton Aikman, Annie Neugebauer, Sam J. Miller, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, Jason Sanford & Z.Z. Claybourne also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy horror low-fantasy dark
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Dragon's Justice 2 by Bruce Sentar
8 ratingsA 2021 Prometheus Award nominee!"Mammon will scratch your itch for cranky libertarian sci-fi. Looking forward to the next part!" - John Carmack, creator of Doom and founder of Armadillo Aerospace"★★★★★ This is a compelling page turner and, once again, Kroese.. -
Dragon's Justice by Bruce Sentar
10 ratingsA new mission. An old rival. The powerful secret that binds them.Since the U.S. collapsed into chaos, Conor Maguire has fought to keep his family and friends safe, turning away attackers who threatened their community, seeking to live off the spoils of theft and murder. Fortunately, Conor is no stranger to fighting. In fact it’s his job... -
Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire
17 ratingsWelcome to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go.If you ever lost a sock, you’ll find it here.If you ever wondered about favorite toy from childhood... it’s probably sitting on a shelf in the back.And the headphones that you swore that this time you’d keep safe? You guessed it….Antoinette has lost her father. Metaphorically. He’s not in the shop, and she’ll never see him again... -
Secrets of the Sword II by Lindsay Buroker
15 ratingsFor ten years, I’ve been using a magical sword that I won in battle to ruthlessly slay enemies, break evil artifacts, and open stubborn pickle jars, but I don’t know much about it.That’s about to change.Thanks to the fact that I’m dating a powerful dragon, I can get a ride to the dwarven home world, and we’re going to research the sword's roots... -
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The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe
16 ratingsTHE PURLOINED LETTER THE THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE OF SCHEHERAZADE A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTRÖM. VON KEMPELEN AND HIS DISCOVERY MESMERIC REVELATION THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR THE BLACK CAT. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER SILENCE—A FABLE THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH. THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO... -
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James
10 ratingsAn outstanding array—52 pieces in all—of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon JamesSpanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy 21st-century action-adventure anthologies audiobook contemporary dark-fantasy -
Wolf Mate by M. Guida
6 ratingsThe final battle is here. I have to prove that I'm worthy of the crown.Everything rests on me.But I'm willing to accept the challenge.I want justice for my parents' murder and my demon wolves' enslavement.My enemy doesn't play fair, and I know it's an ambush.Bring it on, dude. Win or lose, I'm ready... -
Rapunzel and the Billionaire Bear by Sable Sylvan
8 ratingsSince her sixteenth birthday, curvy Zelda “Rapunzel” Woods has been kept in a luxury penthouse in Seattle paid for by her wealthy adoptive mother…but the penthouse starts to feel like a prison tower when Zelda longs for more than a life of leisure, but for a simple life filled love. When polar bear billionaire Lance Asher enters her world, nothing will ever be the same for his princess... -
Monsters and Mistletoe by Cassia Briar, Salem Cross
8 ratingsHot chocolate, snowflakes, jingling bells, and… monsters?That’s what Christmas has in store for you this year!Add a little spice to your holiday festivities by diving into this collection of monster-loving heroines who find love in the most unusual of places.Featuring new, original stories by:Harpie Alexa - USA Today Best Selling AuthorCassia BriarCara BryantRachel CallahanJ.E... -
Shatter Me. Le novelle vol. 2 by Tahereh Mafi
8 ratingsLe esplosive rivelazioni di Defy Me hanno lasciato i lettori sconvolti e alla disperata ricerca di risposte. Grazie alla novella Reveal Me, avranno l’opportunità di tornare nell’universo di Shatter Me e di scoprire attraverso la voce di Kenji cos’è accaduto tra lui e Nazeera prima dell’incredibile finale di Imagine Me... -
Summer Morning, Summer Night by Ray Bradbury
10 ratingsGreen Town, Illinois stands at the very heart of Ray Bradbury Country. A lovingly re-imagined version of the author's native Waukegan, it has served as the setting for such modern classics as Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Farewell Summer...Categorized as:
low-fantasy anthologies classics contemporary fiction historical-fiction horror literary -
Fruiting Bodies: Stories by Kathryn Harlan
12 ratingsIn stories that beckon and haunt, Fruiting Bodies ranges confidently from the fantastical to the gothic to the uncanny as it follows characters—mostly queer, mostly women—on the precipice of change. Echoes of timeless myth and folklore reverberate through urgent narratives of discovery, appetite, and coming-of-age in a time of crisis... -
Angel Fire East by Terry Brooks
24 ratingsAngel Fire East marks the close of Terry Brooks's Word and Void trilogy, which began with 1997's Running with the Demon. In this book, the story returns to Nest's native Hopewell, where once again Nest and John must face off against the Void...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy action-adventure alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook book contemporary -
Necropolis by Anthony Horowitz
24 ratingsHong Kong has been taken over by the Old Ones and has become Necropolis, City of the Dead. Once in, there is no way out… Evil has been unleashed on the world and only five children – with special powers – can save it...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy action-adventure audiobook book children children-books contemporary -
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Love is Madness by Elisabeth
6 ratings"Though they're there, you can't see stars in the light. However, in the darkness, the stars shine bright." Elisabeth He was born bathed in darkness. Darkness is all he knows, all he understands, and all he wants to know. But he made a mistake. It only took one night, one moment, for it all to change. He saved her when he should've left her alone. Saving her changed him, forever... -
Catastrophe: And Other Stories by Dino Buzzati
6 ratingsIn Catastrophe, the renowned Italian short story writer Dino Buzzati brings vividly to life the slow and quietly terrifying collapse of our known, everyday world. In stories touched by the fantastical and the strange, and filled with humor, irony, and menace, Buzzati illuminates the nightmarish side of our ordinary existence... -
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Grave Creatures by John P. Logsdon, Christopher P. Young
8 ratingsHow exactly do you kill someone who's already dead?Playboy Police Chief Ian Dex didn't believe in zombies...until now.An old necromancer has been summoning the dead. His goal is to overrun the world, one city at a time. Too bad he started in Vegas.With the horde of zombies heading in from the old cemeteries, Ian and his crew soon realize they can't handle this threat alone... -
Carousel Seas by Sharon Lee
8 ratingsSequel to National Bestseller Carousel Sun. A gripping contemporary fantasy thriller from master storyteller Sharon Lee, award-winning cocreator of the highly popular Liaden Universe® saga... -
Honeycomb by Joanne M. Harris
10 ratingsA lushly illustrated set of dark, captivating fairy talesThe beauty of stories; you never know where they will take you. Full of dreams and nightmares, Honeycomb is an entrancing mosaic novel of original fairy tales from bestselling author Joanne M. Harris and legendary artist Charles Vess in a collaboration that’s been years in the making... -
Hero Forged by Josh Erikson
10 ratingsstrong>Gabe thought he had covered all the angles, but it’s tough to plan a contingency for accidentally trapping an evil god in your brain.Gabriel Delling might call himself a professional con artist, but when walking superstitions start trying to bite his face off, his charm is shockingly unhelpful. It turns out living nightmares almost never appreciate a good joke... -
The Essential Clive Barker: Selected Fiction by Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin
10 ratings"I wonder if the reverse is not also in some way true. That the artist is constantly working on anelaborate and fantasticated self-portrait, but at the end has drawn, unbeknownst, a picture of the world... -
The Barrens and Others by F. Paul Wilson
10 ratingsThe Barrens and Others is the first new collection of fiction in years by bestselling author F. Paul Wilson. From The Keep, nearly twenty years ago, to this year's Legacies, Wilson has been one of the most dependable names for fine storytelling in whatever genre he chooses... -
Blinding by Mircea Cărtărescu
12 ratingsPart visceral dream-memoir, part fictive journey through a hallucinatory Bucharest, Mircea Cărtărescu's BLINDING was one of the most widely heralded literary sensations in contemporary Romania, and a bestseller from the day of its release... -
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Hell's Horizon by D.B. Shan, Darren Shan
12 ratingsWhen Al Jeery is seconded by The Cardinal from guard duties at Party Central to investigate the murder of a woman at a hotel he little suspects that the dead woman will turn out to be his girlfriend. Soon he is involved in a terrifying mystery... -
I’m Glad You’re Dead by Hunter Blain
12 ratingsAfter helplessly witnessing the execution of his family, John is approached by a strange man that promises the power of revenge, for a price; his life for the ability to walk the mortal plane for eternity. Fast forward several hundred years where John finds himself with an unlikely ally, Father Thomes Philseep... -
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
14 ratingsRen lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading—and forgetting.But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a local myth, Ren is inexorably drawn into her impossible mission... -
Queen of the Dark Things by C. Robert Cargill
14 ratingsIt is half a year since the wizard Colby lost his best friend to an army of fairies from the Limestone Kingdom, a realm of mystery and shadows beyond our own. But in vanquishing these creatures Colby sacrificed the anonymity that protected him. Now, word of his deeds has spread, and powerful enemies from the past - including one Colby considered a friend - have resurfaced to exact their revenge... -
Moonheart by Charles de Lint
18 ratingsWhen Sara and Jamie discovered the seemingly ordinary artifacts, they sensed the pull of a dim and distant place. A world of mists and forests, of ancient magics, mythical beings, ageless bards...and restless evil... -
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
32 ratingsThe Metamorphosis and Other Stories, by Franz Kafka, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras... -
Zero Sight by B. Justin Shier
18 ratingsMeet Dieter Resnick. Dieter is the sole child of an abusive single father, a perennial schoolyard brawler, and Ted Binion High's number one academic prospect. Dieter is terrified of staying poor. He has few friends and is absolutely obsessed with earning a college scholarship. He's also a latent mage--one of the few humans left that can bend the manaflows to their will.Too bad no one told him...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy action-adventure book coming-of-age contemporary dark-fantasy dystopia -
The New Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
18 ratingsWalking the streets of our cities are the Others. These men and women are guardians of the Twilight, a shadowy parallel world that exists alongside our own. Each has sworn allegiance to one side, fighting for the Light, or the Darkness. But now, beyond the continuing struggle comes a peril that threatens their very world... -
Tales From the Hinterland by Melissa Albert
18 ratingsA gorgeously illustrated collection of twelve fairy tales by the author of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country!Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal and beautiful world where a young woman spends a night with Death, brides are wed to a mysterious house in the trees, and an enchantress is killed twice―and still lives...Categorized as:
dark low-fantasy action-adventure anthologies audiobook children-books contemporary dark-fantasy -
Crossed by Eliza Crewe
14 ratingsWar is here. Full-scale war has erupted between the Crusaders and demons and even Chi has to admit isn’t going well. Like any sensible rat, Meda’s eager to abandon the sinking ship but, unfortunately, her friends aren't nearly as pragmatic. Instead, Meda’s forced to try to keep them all alive until the dust settles... -
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The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by Rachel Caine
12 ratingsEve Rosser is turning eighteen. Does she accept the Protection or go without?This novella is found in the anthology Many Bloody Returns.This was my very first Morganville short story, published in Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner’s fantastic collection Many Bloody Returns... -
Chasing Shadows by S.H. Kolee
10 ratingsWarning: Spoilers for Seeing Shadows, Book #1 of the Shadow Series, are contained in the description below. Chasing Shadows is a direct continuation of Seeing Shadows.Caitlin Kile is on the run. Her life was shattered in one terrifying night, and now every decision she makes is a decision between life and death.The only thing she knows for sure is that she's tired of being scared... -
A Tiny Upward Shove by Melissa Chadburn
10 ratings“Wild and ambitious . . . [with] something ablaze at its core. It burns.” ― The New York Times Book ReviewA Tiny Upward Shove is inspired by Melissa Chadburn's Filipino heritage and its folklore, as it traces the too-short life of a young, cast-off woman transformed by death into an agent of justice―or mercy.Marina Salles’s life does not end the day she wakes up dead... -
The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford
8 ratingsMixing the mundane with the metaphysical, the pairings of the everyday and the extraordinary in this collection of short fiction yield supernatural results—a young musician perceives another world while drinking coffee, a fairy chronicles his busy life in a sandcastle during the changing tide, a demonic 16th-century chess set shows up in a New Jersey bar, and Charon, the boatman of hell, takes a... -
The Shadow Pavilion by Liz Williams
8 ratingsDetective Inspector Chen is back! The Snake Agent returns in The Shadow Pavilion, the fourth Detective Inspector Chen novel from Liz Williams. When Chen’s partner, the demon Seneschal Zhu Irzh, disappears, Chen must enlist all of his allies and assets in order to locate him... -
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlepig by Tad Williams
8 ratings"Oh, ho, ho!" the demon Chickenleg said, sounding like your drunk uncle trying to get you to laugh at a dirty joke. "Oh, ho! You'll love this one, Dollar!" Bobby Dollar, Advocate Angel and perpetual thorn in the side of Heaven, is about to save the holidays for a very special someone. Or somewolf... -
In the Penny Arcade by Steven Millhauser
8 ratingsThe seven stories of In the Penny Arcade blend both the real and the fantastic in a seductive mix that illuminates the full range of Steven Millhauser's gifts, from 'August Eschenburg', the story of a clockmaker's son whose extraordinary talent for creating animated figures is lost on a world whose taste for the perverse and crude supersedes that of the refined and beautiful, to 'Cathay', a...Categorized as:
low-fantasy 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary fiction horror literary-fiction -
Goetia by Mel Odom
8 ratingsThe trilogy that began in Exodus continues: 2024: Four years after the Demons opened the planar rift known as the Hellgate, mankind's desperate struggle to survive continues. Simon Cross, expatriate of the secret Templar order, works to find and transport survivors out of the ruined city... -
Quicksilver & Shadow, Volume 2: Collected Early Stories: Contemporary, Dark Fantasy, and Science Fiction Stories by Charles de Lint
6 ratingsQuicksilver & Shadow is the second volume (of a projected three) of Charles de Lint's Collected Early Stories. At nearly 150,000 words it's even larger than volume one, A Handful of Coppers, and includes the very obscure 20,000 word novella, "Berlin," and its over 30,000 word counterpart "Death Leaves an Echo... -
Antediluvian Tales by Poppy Z. Brite
6 ratingsThe work of almost every New Orleans writer has been irrevocably split into two periods: pre-Katrina and post-Katrina. As Poppy Z. Brite writes in the foreword to this new mini-collection, "After the events of 2005, I couldn't see pairing stories I'd written before the flood with those I'd written after; for better or worse, my life, my outlook, and, necessarily, my work has changed forever .. -
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Dragon Fire by Phaedra Weldon
6 ratingsBodies are showing up with their flesh burned to a crisp—but only the skin. Clothing, muscle, bone remain untouched. When the number of these bodies increases in the city of New Orleans, Lt. Crwys Holliard suspects the murderer isn't part of the Material Plane, but from a Plane he believed was destroyed centuries ago. He and his partner, Lt... -
Dark Ladies: Conjure Wife/Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber
6 ratingsConjure WifeWitchcraft. Norman Saylor considered it nothing but superstition, until he learned that his own wife was a practicing sorceress. Even still, he refuses to accept the truth that every woman knows...that in the secret occult warfare that governs our lives, witchcraft is a matter of life and death... -
Weathercock by Glen Duncan
6 ratingsThe confession of Dominic Francis Hood - Roman Catholic, sadist, conspirator to murder, witness to a miracle. His childhood had the usual benefits, but after watching a miracle performed by Father Malone, Dominic realises a part of him is skewed, and that mere fantasy will never be enough... -
The Darkest Heart by Nancy A. Collins
6 ratingsSince exacting revenge on the vampire who introduced her to the world of the undead, Sonja Blue has grown bored with her existence. But it's a short-lived respite, for Sonja discovers that she is the target of another vampire hunter, a mortal named Jack Estes. As she tries to convince Jack that she is not like the others, Sonja grows attached to the mortal... -
Lesser Known Monsters by Rory Michaelson
6 ratingsBeing the chosen one isn’t always a good thing...Oscar Tundale is not a hero. Anxious, indecisive, and awkward, he can barely get through a normal day. Now he’s about to find out monsters are real. Oscar’s friends: brave, stubborn Zara, and hyperactive, paranoid Marcus, might help discover what hunts him, and unravel the truth about the handsome doctor he pines for... -
Crackpot Palace by Jeffrey Ford
6 ratingsEclectic is certainly an adjective that can be used to describe the work of the phenomenal Jeffrey Ford—along with imaginative, provocative, mesmerizing, and brilliant. His powerful dark fantasy, The Physiognomy, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; his novel, The Girl in the Glass, won the Edgar® Award, mystery and crime fiction’s most prestigious prize...
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