Did you know that Amazon has a list of the top-selling and free sci-fi and fantasy books? The list changes constantly — authors and publishers set their books to free temporarily to promote their work, and, of course, books move up and down in the rankings. Read on to find your fun free read for this weekend! And grab the books quickly because they don’t always stay free for long.
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5. Crown of Earth and Sky by Emberly Ash
This is the first of four books in the Secrets of the Faerie Crown series, a retelling of the King Arthur story. The other books are $5.99 each but they are all in Kindle Unlimited. The author has been on our list before — in fact, we reviewed this same book this past June.
From E.S. Foster:
In this world, Prince Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table possess elemental magic. Protecting non-magic users is everyone’s top priority. But Arthur’s mysterious twin sister Veyka learned long ago that she needed to protect herself, especially after being locked away because she wasn’t heir to the throne.
Now it’s almost time for the royal Court to convene for Arthur’s marriage to one of the non-faeries. Here, both the faerie and non-faerie kingdoms are meant to unite to please the ancient Ancestors.
Veyka is forced to join, but she doesn’t see any point in bringing up all the formalities. She knows that the elementals and the “terrestrials” are just doomed to fight each other forever. Thankfully, she’s safe from any politics and deception since her brother is about to become king.
But during the celebration, Veyka sees a mysterious light floating around the room, though it disappears before she can figure it out. Moments later, the lights go out, and the court erupts into chaos. Veyka is dragged outside for her own safety, but not before hearing the news that her brother has been assassinated.
Now she’s meant to become Queen of the Elemental Fae, but Veyka knows that something is up. The deception in the court clearly goes much deeper than anyone thought, and things are only going to get worse when her new betrothed shows up.
Right off the bat, I thought that this was a cool idea. King Arthur with fire powers sounded amazing, even if he was killed off in the first chapter. I also liked Veyka as a character because of how resourceful and witty she was. It was fun getting into her head, especially when she complained about all of the other characters (for good reason, it turns out). I think I might stick around with this series to see where it goes!
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
4. Court of Ravens and Ruin by Eliza Raine
This is the first of four books in The Shadow Bound Queen romantic fantasy series. The other books are $4.99 each but they are all in Kindle Unlimited. This is the author’s first time on our Free Friday list.
From Sydney Levinson:
I’ll be honest, when I first went to read this book, the title threw me off a little bit. I am a huge fan of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas, and with the title being so similar, and with the description including Fae, magic, and courts of a fantasy land with a human protagonist, I was worried it would be a knock off of that series, and although there are some very strong parallels, it feels different enough to be enjoyable.
The book starts out with a very short chapter that is labeled as chapter one but really seems to be more like a prologue. It is from the perspective of a prince, who I am assuming will be the male main character. He is looking for a girl, after what seems to be a battle with the starving ones, which seem to be zombie-like creatures. It is announced that she has been found, and the chapter ends with the prince basically saying “touch her and you die” which is a very popular trope in the romantacy and BookTok community, so if you like that, this book might be for you.
The next chapter begins with Reyna, a girl who is a slave to the gold court — one of the ruling fae courts — in a tavern trying to make some money gambling. It is explained that she has snuck out and is trying to buy her freedom. This is made difficult by the fact that she is rune-marked, meaning she is very valuable to the gold court because she can make the staffs that they channel their magic through. She is just returning to the gold court after making what she thinks might be enough to buy her freedom when she is called to a ceremony where the ruthless lord of the gold court will select his new concubine. He’s killed the last two, so it’s not a good thing to be selected.
He of course selects her and now she must escape. She makes plans to flee, but it’s not safe in the other courts for her because she is rune-marked and they will kill her. Reyna is especially afraid of the shadow court, because they are apparently the most ruthless, and have telepathic powers. I’m almost certain this is where she will end up meeting the prince and find out he’s not so cruel or something like that.
Okay, so there are a lot of clichés in this book. I can’t say it’s all that different from other books involving Fae, courts, and fantasy, in fact I might even say that some of the parallels are blatantly, obviously similar to another popular romantacy book… That said, it feels like a good popcorn book already. The Norse mythology setting is fun. It’s fast paced, and relatively short for this genre at only three hundred pages. I’m already thirty pages in, so I will probably keep reading.
From E.S. Foster:
This book advertised the enemies-to-lovers trope, which I’m not a fan of, but it also takes inspiration from Norse mythology, so I was intrigued. It starts off with a quick chapter of an unknown character looking for someone. A fae creature kind of like a zombie appears, half its body missing, but the man uses his staff to absorb it.
It then switches to Reyna, a human slave in a fae court. It looks as if all of the humans have been enslaved for a good while. Reyna herself was born into slavery.
She is different from the other humans because of the color of her hair, but she dreams of having enough money to escape the court and using her freedom to become a warrior. One day, after beating one of the other human slaves at a game of chess, she gets the last of the money she needs.
Unfortunately, on the way out of the human town and back into the golden place of the fae, another slave warns her that she is wanted by the king. She’s one of the last few “lucky” female slaves to be a contender to be the king’s concubine. Being bound to the king would effectively make her immortal, and that’s the last thing she wants since the king is known for being sadistic.
Reyna also has runes engraved on her skin, which makes her more valuable as a slave. The runes allow her to construct staffs for the fae, which is the only way they can use magic.
So Reyna and a few other women are made to stand before the King and be surveyed. One of the women tries to fight the king off, but he uses his staff to kill her. He then notices that Reyna has runes along her body and chooses her. It seems like now Reyna has no way out.
I enjoyed the magic aspects of this story. Fae zombies and only being able to use magic through strict limitations were cool ideas. However, I’m not a fan of how Reyna was treated. It doesn’t personally interest me to read about fae characters who are cruel to everyone, so I won’t continue reading. But if you happen to like that trope, check out this series for a weekend read.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
3. A Vow of Dragons and Storms by G. Bailey
This is the first of three books in The Lost Fae Riders Series of romantic fantasy by a USA Today bestselling author. The other books are $3.99 to $4.99 each but they are all in Kindle Unlimited. The third book is due out at the end of January, but is available for preorder. The author has been on our list before.
From Lilivette Domínguez-Torres:
Back in the old days, dragons and dragon-riding fae used to rule the world until the vampires took over power and the dragon dynasty mysteriously disappeared. Twenty-two-year-old Story is a lesser fae who ended up chosen to become a blood slave for the vampires.
At the age of fourteen every fae must undergo a blood test where they will be chosen to either become a breeder, go work on the mines or become a blood slave for the vampires. Usually, blood slaves are fae who have health conditions that make it difficult for them to live and survive as mine workers or breeders and, sadly, Story ended up having lots of health complications come up on her blood test, which is why she was taken from her mom and given away to the vampires…but that’s until the day she escaped.
At the beginning of the story it’s not clear how or why but Story escaped the vampire she used to work for and ran away to the forest. She was being hunted by the vampire until she came across a mysterious abandoned mansion in the middle of the forest. With nowhere else to run, she made her way inside and hoped the vampires wouldn’t find her… but the house ended up being more powerful and mysterious than she anticipated.
Inside, she came across a weird and unexpected statue of what looked like a dragon. And it didn’t take long for a mysterious young man to approach her and keep her from leaving the house—something that was already impossible by the fact that the door handle had mysteriously disappeared the moment she closed the door behind her.
She wakes up in the middle of an auditorium a few hours later surrounded by a group of mysterious yet alluring fae unlike any fae she’d seen before. They were certainly different and it doesn’t take long for Story to discover that they’re descendants of the dragon dynasty that mysteriously disappeared all of those years ago. They’ve been trapped in this house for centuries on end and haven’t been able to figure out a way out, which is why they end up taking an interest in Story since she’s the first person to set foot in the house after five hundred years.
Long story short, the dragons take an interest in Story because she may or may not have dragon blood in her. Because of this, they end up choosing to have her go through the Trials in the Stones. This is a coming-of-age trial where the stone dragons below will chose if she becomes a dragon rider or not. This will shape a new future for Story after working as a blood slave for so long and it honestly makes the story a lot more interesting than it already was.
This book has a fast pace, an interesting world and alluring character that will definitely leave you wanting to continue reading. I will definitely continue reading this story and I can’t wait to see how Story will do in her dragon trials or what will happen to the vampires if the dragons find a way out of their mansion. I totally recommend giving this book a try if you’re looking for a quick-paced and interesting story with powerful beings and lots of secrets.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
2. A Deal with the Shadow King by Anya J Cosgrove
This is the first of three books in the Curse of the Fae romantic fantasy series. The other books are $5.99 to $6.99 each but are in Kindle Unlimited. The third book is not out yet but will be released in February and is available for pre-order. This is the author’s first time on our Free Friday list.
From E.S. Foster:
This story looks like another enemies-to-lovers story, but I jumped right in. It begins with Penelope, a princess with the gift of magic. It’s not clear why she has magic, as fairies are the only ones who have it, it seems. But she uses her powers for good, healing a horse’s broken leg one day before traveling back to the palace. Once there, her tutor, who is a non-magic fae, gifts her a small mirror.
Penelope is hours away from her eighteenth birthday. Back when she was born, her father the king made a deal with the Shadow King, ruler of the fairy realm. To cure his wife, Penelope’s mother, of a disease, he promised Penelope to the King. Unfortunately, while her mother was cured, she eventually died in an accident. Luckily, it looks like Penelope only needs to stay with the Shadow King for a short period, and he’s also not allowed to touch her without consent because she’s still a virgin.
Just before her birthday, Penelope meets with a noble she has been seeing, Sir Isaac. They stop by their favorite willow tree, and he asks her to marry him. Unable to tell him about her father’s deal, Penelope asks him to wait another year.
Now back to the mirror. At first, Penelope is afraid of it. Legend has it that fairies use them as portals to wreak havoc on humans, so mirrors are basically forbidden. There’s also another large mirror that’s been put in place for the Shadow King’s arrival. Penelope can’t help but look at both of them for a moment that night, hours before her birthday. Suddenly the Shadow King appears to take her away and fulfill their deal. Without being able to say goodbye, Penelope is blindfolded and taken through the mirror through magic.
I thought this story started off strongly. I liked Penelope as a character and I kind of want to see what will happen to her. I’m not the biggest fan of romantasy, but I might give this one a try.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
1. The Broken Kingdoms by LJ Andrews
This is a box set of the first three books in the nine-book The Broken Kingdoms romantic fantasy series by a USA Today bestselling author. The other books are $5.99 each but are all in Kindle Unlimited. The author has been on our list before.
From Maria Korolov:
I’m not normally a romantasy fan, but each of the books in the series has thousands of reviews. The first book in the series has nearly 18,000 reviews. Which is a little insane, but then I saw that the author is a USA Today bestseller. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ll like the book, of course. But still… it does make me a little interested.
So, the book opens with Elise, whose uncle is the king, and she’s not supposed to be sneaking off to the game hall to gamble. Wait, this sounds familiar.
I went back and checked the MetaStellar archive and, yup, we’ve reviewed this book before — I’m including the earlier review below. But since I’ve already started reading, I’m going to keep going for a little longer. I’m curious to see what the writing is like for myself.
Elise is in disguise. Her hair is tucked under her cap and she’s rubbed dirt on her face and she’s pitching her voice extra low, to pass for a boy. But also, she’s not really all that important. Why would anyone recognize her?
Then a fight breaks out, she tries to sneak out, and as she’s leaving, she bumps into a wealthy merchant — who notices that she’s a girl. Did he recognize who she really was? She doesn’t know. She runs through back streets, evading patrols, crawls through a loose board in a fence, and sneaks back into her house through a cellar door. And, just when she thinks she’s home safe, she’s caught.
The servants who discover her sneaking in are her two best friends and are upset that she snuck out without them. She promises that next time she goes out, she’ll bring them with her. The timing for this particular escapade was unfortunate, since the king himself is visiting. She’s bathed, gets dressed, and goes down to meet the king — and learns that she’s going to be married off. She’s almost 20, so it’s about time.
The king is going to pick her a husband. And if she refuses, things won’t go well for her family.
Then the king announces that the job is beneath him, and he’s going to delegate it to a merchant who’s experienced in trade negotiations. The same merchant Elise bumped into earlier that night at the gambling hall. The young, handsome merchant she’s got a crush on.
I can see why people like the book. The writing is extremely readable and engaging and Elise is a sympathetic character and a bookworm to boot, and who doesn’t like a bookworm? So also cares a lot about the social inequality in the kingdom and is anxious to do something important and meaningful before she’s married off and her life is over.
The main plot is definitely the romance. If you like romance set in a complicated fantasy setting, with political intrigue — is the king poisoning Elise’s father? Is there a conflict brewing in the kingdom? — then I think you might like this series very much.
From Lilivette Domínguez-Torres:
This book is a young-adult fantasy romance that will have you on the edge of your seat from the very beginning. Not because of how intense and mysterious it is, but because of how fun it is.
At the beginning of the story we’re introduced to Elise, a 19 year-old princess who enjoys escaping from her royal duties every now and then and having fun in the gambling halls in the lower parts of the city. As the second niece of the King, nothing is expected of her besides compliance and silence, which is why she manages to disappear unnoticed… until now.
After a brawl breaks out at the gambling hall she was at and running into the famous — and very attractive — Legion Gray, she makes it back to the castle only to realize that her uncle, the king, has requested her presence at the main hall. At first she thinks there’s nothing out of place about that, until her escort tells her that he’ll be announcing the offering of her hand to his guests.
Which means that her hand is basically up for sale for the highest noble bidder, and to make things worse, Legion Gray himself, a professional at international affairs, is the one who’s going to be in charge of her.
That’s a pretty fun premise for the first three chapters of the book. I do admit that the writing is fun–even if the book needs a few edits here and there–the characters are interesting, and the worldbuilding manages to pique your interest with the fae and the royalty drama, but this wasn’t my cup of tea.
But if you’re a fan of fantasy books and what appears to be an enemies-to-lovers romance then you might want to check this one out.
Get the Kindle ebook free from Amazon here.
See all the Free Friday posts here. Do you have other free books for us to check out? Comment below or email me at maria@metastellar.com.
Have you read any of these books? Are you planning to? Let us know in the comments!
Or watch Maria and Emma discuss all five books in the video below:
MetaStellar editor and publisher Maria Korolov is a science fiction novelist, writing stories set in a future virtual world. And, during the day, she is an award-winning freelance technology journalist who covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enterprise virtual reality. See her Amazon author page here and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and check out her latest videos on the Maria Korolov YouTube channel. Email her at maria@metastellar.com. She is also the editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business, one of the top global sites covering virtual reality.
E. S. Foster is a writer and graduate student at the University of Cambridge. Her work has been featured in a variety of literary journals and small presses. You can find out more about her and what she does on her blog, E. S. Foster and her personal website E. S. Foster - Author
Lilivette Domínguez-Torres is MetaStellar's marketing assistant and an aspiring book editor based in Puerto Rico. You can find her talking about fantasy books or K-dramas on Twitter at @lilivettedt.
Sydney Levinson is a professional artist who specializes in traditional henna and digital art. She has been an avid science fiction and fantasy lover from a very young age.