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OUT NOW: The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee

We’re wishing The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee a very happy book birthday!

Méka returns home from exile for an ancient, necessary rite in the first in The Crowns of Ishia novella trilogy, a fantasy western of colonialism and indigeneity from the critically acclaimed author of Warchild.

Méka must capture a king dragon, or die trying.

War between the island states of Kattaka and Mazemoor has left no one unscathed. Méka’s nomadic people, the Ba’Suon, were driven from their homeland by the Kattakans. Those who remained were forced to live under the Kattakan yoke, to serve their greed for gold alongside the dragons with whom the Ba’Suon share an empathic connection.

A decade later and under a fragile truce, Méka returns home from her exile for an ancient, necessary rite: gathering a king dragon of the Crown Mountains to maintain balance in the wild country. But Méka’s act of compassion toward an imprisoned dragon and Lilley, a Kattakan veteran of the war, soon draws the ire of the imperialistic authorities. They order the unwelcome addition of an enigmatic Ba’Suon traitor named Raka to accompany Méka and Lilley to the mountains.

The journey is filled with dangers both within and without. As conflict threatens to reignite, the survival of the Ba’Suon people, their dragons, and the land itself will depend on the decisions – defiant or compliant – that Méka and her companions choose to make. But not even Méka, kin to the great dragons of the North, can anticipate the depth of the consequences to her world.

“A stunning accomplishment.” —Aurealis

“For die-hard fans of dragon-riding books, this is sure to satisfy.” —Publishers Weekly

“This thoughtful, anti-colonial take on dragons—or, rather, suon—and the consequences of greed kept me turning the pages from fierce start to fiery conclusion.” —Kamilah Cole, bestselling author of So Let Them Burn

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Five dragon books to read after House of the Dragon

Whether they’re hoarding treasure, guarding princesses in towers, or being ridden into battle, us fantasy fans just can’t get enough of dragons. If House of the Dragon has left you craving more of the scaliest fantasy staple, here are five books to get you started—whatever your taste!

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Dragons. Art. Revolution.

Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter, or a subversive. They just want to paint.

One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.

But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.

What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…

The Black Coast by Mike Brooks

War Dragons. Fearsome Raiders. A Daemonic Warlord on the Rise.

When the citizens of Black Keep see ships on the horizon, terror takes them because they know who is coming: for generations, the keep has been raided by the fearsome clanspeople of Tjakorsha. Saddling their war dragons, Black Keep’s warriors rush to defend their home only to discover that the clanspeople have not come to pillage at all. Driven from their own land by a daemonic despot who prophesises the end of the world, the raiders come in search of a new home . . .

Meanwhile the wider continent of Narida is lurching toward war. Black Keep is about to be caught in the crossfire – if only its new mismatched society can survive.

Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor

In the world-sized city of Jadzia, magic and ancient science merge into something dark and wondrous.

Koré’s life is consumed by power, politics, sex and vengeance, and as courtesan to the wealthy and powerful, he is privy to all manner of secrets. He knows meddling in politics is dangerous─still, he is willing to risk everything to stop his father from seizing the Imperial Throne of the War District. But Koré soon finds the corruption runs far deeper than just one man.

During a tryst in an ancient tomb─in the pursuit of political influence─Koré encounters a dying god, who imbues him with the powers of one of the city’s sacred dragons. Suddenly Koré finds himself a hunted man, threatened with becoming a pawn by whoever finds him first.

If the wrong person discovers his secret and lays claim to his powers they would plunge their world into war, unleash untold horrors and destroy the city─and the two people he has come to love.

Food of the Gods by Cassandra Khaw

Gods. Gore. Good Food.

By day, Rupert Wong—sorcerer, chef, former triad—prepares delicious meals of human flesh for a dynasty of ghouls in Kuala Lumpur; by night, he’s an administrator for the Ten Chinese Hells. It’s a living, of sorts.

When the Dragon of the South demands that Rupert investigate the murders of his daughter and her mortal husband, Rupert is caught in a war between gods that’s as bewildering as it is bloody.

If he’s going to survive, he’ll need to stay sharp, stay lucky, and always read the fine print…

Infernal by Mark de Jager

PART MAN. PART MONSTER. ALL VENGEANCE…

In the war-torn lands of Krandin, a kingdom fighting against the Worm King of the Penullin Empire and his dark magic, a stranger wakes, knowing only that his name is Stratus.

He possesses great strength and magic, but only fractured memories of his past, and a growing certainty that he is not, in fact, human.

As he explores this new world, disoriented, making few friends and many enemies, the battle for his mind will determine the fate of the world.

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