Category Archives: Fantasy & Paranormal

Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk

A magical detective dives into the affairs of Chicago’s divine monsters to secure a future with the love of her life. This sapphic period piece will dazzle anyone looking for mystery, intrigue, romance, magic, or all of the above. An exiled auspex who sold her soul to save her brother’s life is offered one last job before serving an eternity in hell. When she turns it down, her client sweetens the pot by offering up the one payment she can’t resist―the chance to have a future where she grows old with the woman she loves. To succeed, she is given three days to track down the White City Vampire, Chicago’s most notorious serial killer. If… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical homophobia, specifically lesbophobia, & misogyny, including incarceration, institutionalisation of disabled and queer women, and mentions of electroshock therapy (as conversion therapy)
  • Graphic alcohol consumption & smoking (on-page)
  • Blood & gore depiction and mentions of emesis
  • Death of parents in a car accident recounted
  • Murder & mentions of human sacrifice
  • Gun violence
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

Two rival conquerors have divided the Peninsula of the Palm. As the provinces in the peninsula were falling one by one, the sorcerer Brandin made a fateful decision, sending his beloved son to capture the last one. But when that son is killed on the battlefield, Brandin, blinded by grief, avenges his death by ruthlessly vanquishing the resistance and then cursing the people of this province with a dark sorcery–so that the very name of their home cannot be spoken or remembered. Years after that devastation, a handful of… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Slavery
  • Rape & incest
  • Genocide

Big Machine by Victor LaValle

Ricky Rice is a middling hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. A survivor of a suicide cult, he scrapes by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York, until one day a mysterious letter arrives, summoning him to enlist in a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard what may have been the voice of God.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & misogyny
  • Child abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn’t there. Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father’s head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic and earns the attention of things best left sleeping… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Police brutality

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear. The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism, classism & homophobia
  • Transphobia, misgendering & gender dysphoria
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Graphic blood & injury depiction
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Animal death

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

When Apollo Kagwa’s father disappeared, all he left his son were strange recurring dreams and a box of books stamped with the word IMPROBABILIA. Now Apollo is a father himself–and as he and his wife, Emma, are settling into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Apollo’s old dreams return and Emma begins acting odd. Irritable and disconnected from their new baby boy, at first Emma seems to be exhibiting signs of postpartum depression, but it quickly becomes clear that her troubles go even deeper. Before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act–beyond any… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Domestic abuse
  • Child abuse
  • Suicide
  • Post-partum depression discussed (on-page)
  • Graphic pregnancy & childbirth scenes
  • Death of a child
  • Murder

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman

It is bedlam on the eighth floor. As management reels from the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, the surviving crawlers stumble onto the eighth and find themselves scattered. It’s a map based on Earth’s final days before the collapse, where ethereal, intangible ghosts of humanity go about their lives, oblivious of the impending doom. Living amongst these ghosts are monsters based in Earth lore. “Legendary” creatures tied to the geographical location they inhabit. Each team of crawlers is given a task: find and capture six of these beasts. The captured monsters will be turned into cards. Cards that can be summoned into… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse recounted
  • Self-sacrifice & suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption, smoking & drug use
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & mass death
  • Gun violence
  • Explosions & fire
  • Animal death (turkeys)

The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman

A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade.” The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds. As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are here and ready to hunt. Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career. But their prey is far from harmless, and this season they are fighting back.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse recounted
  • Alcohol consumption, smoking & drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction and emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & mass death
  • Explosions & fire
  • Car accident recounted
  • Animal death (dog)

The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps. It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked. Here’s the thing. It’s never easy. Carl and his team can’t go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can’t-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted? Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse recounted
  • Infidelity by an ex-partner mentioned (protagonist)
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Murder & mass death
  • Explosions & fire
  • Animal death

The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face. The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world’s subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away. But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse recounted
  • Self-sacrifice & mentions of suicide
  • Infidelity by an ex-partner mentioned (protagonist)
  • Alcohol consumption, drug use & mention of addiction and withdrawal
  • Blood & gore depiction and emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & mass death
  • Torture