Showing results for "Book of Masks" in Dark Fantasy

Masks, the first novel in a mesmerizing new fantasy series, draws readers into a world in which cataclysmic events have left the Autarchy of Aygrima - the one land blessed with magical resources - cut off from its former trading partners across the waters, not knowing if any of those distant peoples still live. Yet under the rule of the Autarch, Aygrima survives. And thanks to the creation of the Masks and the vigilance of the Autarch’s Watchers, no one can threaten the security of the empire.

Sataou wasn't chasing glory. He had a sharp mind, a relaxed spirit, and a place in the Shengu Sect—earned more through quiet dedication than burning ambition. His cultivation was anything but simple: his Void affinity demanded emotional control, even as the world around him refused to let him remain whole. And when that balance is broken, what remains loses what makes it human. The Void is endless. The Void is absence. The Void is all. The Void does not forgive.

Malin Strom has been searching for Kase, her childhood sweetheart, since he was lost at the annual masquerade years ago. With her gift for stealing memories, Malin crosses more than one dangerous line to take secrets from those who know what goes on behind the curtain of the wicked festival. But when her brother is traded into the masquerade as punishment for using magic to hide Malin’s gift, her only chance to save him is to enlist the services of a brutal crook—the Nightrender—and he bears a striking resemblance to a face from the past.

I died. It was supposed to be the end of my story. But after Aon buried me in the Pool of the Ancients, I learned that Under wasn't done with me yet. Even though I escaped death the first time, there's a prophecy predicting my demise, and it's driving Aon mad. His desperation to protect me is dangerous, deadly, and I'm afraid of what he might do. The void that threatens to destroy this world is receding, yet Under is still not safe. I can feel it in my blood, the warning that something terrible is coming. Something bigger and stronger than all of us.

Some call him a madman. Others call him a warlock. Both are true. But if it wasn't for Aon, I'd be dead. I was mere seconds away from dying by Edu's hands when the King of Shadows appeared in a flash of lightning, saving me from Edu's murderous plans. Now I'm under his protection, living in his home. The more time I'm forced to spend with him, the more I start to piece together the puzzle of why Aon and Edu are at war. Despite how everyone else seems to hate Aon, there's something that pulls me towards him - like gravity, refusing to let go.

Everything about my life has been pretty normal working as a forensic autopsy technician. Until the day I woke up with a mysterious symbol tattooed on my arm. Suddenly normal no longer existed. The barrier between Earth and a world called Under, dissolved.... Now I'm trapped with dozens of other people. Held prisoner by the creators of myths and legends, where the realm is ruled by two masked kings who want to turn us into creatures like them.