Fantasy Friday

First, from Jeff Inlo, the entire Delver Magic series (Sanctum's Breach, Throne of Vengeance and Balance of Fate) is available as a free download (and in 8 different formats; get the Mobipocket version for your Kindle), as well as one outside the series, Alien Cradle (which is technically Science fiction).

A rolling tremor passes through the land of Uton signaling a return of long absent magic as well as an ancient evil that accompanies it. Ryson Acumen, purebred delver, senses the changes throughout the land. In his investigations, he learns that legends he considered fables hold more truth than fantasy. The delver encounters elves and learns the Sphere of Ingar, a talisman that captured all magical energies long ago, is free from its tomb in Sanctum Mountain. As violent, evil creatures return to shred the very fabric of reality, the sphere gains awareness and chooses to spew corrupted magical energies to obliterate all life.

The sphere must be destroyed, but it rests within Sanctum, a hollow mountain with a single path to its center. The way to the sphere remains defended by devices created long ago, forged by members of each race to thwart entry to the mountain's core. Those that wish to defeat the sphere must not only overcome these barriers, they must conquer the mistrust which has flourished during the long period of separation. Human, elf, dwarf, algor and delver must reunite to defeat the obstacles that now protect the sphere. Magic, though corrupt, is harnessed to fight off strange beasts of evil that once again walk this land. Once inside Sanctum, representatives of each race face the secrets of the ages that once undone will change their lives forever.

The Children of Odin - The Book of Northern Myths ($0.99) by Padraic Colum

Master storyteller Padraic Colum's rich, musical voice captures all the magic and majesty of the Norse sagas in his retellings of the adventures of the gods and goddesses who lived in the Northern paradise of Asgard before the dawn of history.

Here are the matchless tales of All-Father Odin, who crosses the Rainbow Bridge to walk among men in Midgard and sacrifices his right eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom; of Thor, whose mighty hammer defends Asgard; of Loki, whose mischievous cunning leads him to treachery against the gods; of giants, ragons, dwarfs and Valkyries; and of the terrible last battle that destroyed their world.

Blood Will Tell ($3.99) by Jean Lorrah

The change in Brandy Mather's life begins when a corpse of a very old man is discovered on the campus of Jackson Purchase State University. There is no sign of foul play. On the body is the identification of Professor Everett Land, but Land is a young man. Dental records show that the body found on campus is that of Everett Land. It doesn't make sense; Land was a healthy man in his forties, seen by faculty and students looking perfectly normal just hours before his death. The corpse is of a man over 90, maybe over 100, who died of multiple systemic failure due to advanced age. Brandy enlists the help of Dan Martin from the Computer Science department to search records of Everett Land's past. They discover that about thirty years ago he assumed a new identity, and that under his old name he had reached his sixties. Despite the continuing mystery of the age discrepancy -- how could a man actually in his sixties, seventies and eighties possibly pass for a man in his twenties, thirties and forties? -- the police chief declares the case closed and tells Brandy to get on with her other cases. Brandy can't let go of it, though. Other cases require her time and energy, but when she can, she continues to work on the Land case. Meanwhile, she becomes more and more involved with Dan Martin. Soon she falls in love. Martin, though, has his own mysteries -- the most important one to Brandy being why he does not make love to her. Sometimes he seems to have supernatural powers, but she doesn't believe in such nonsense. Besides, nothing he does cannot be accounted for as his being especially strong and healthy, particularly intuitive and persuasive ... can it? Dan Martin is not who he says he is. Blood Will Tell is not just your standard good-guy variation on the worn-out vampire story. This book asks the question: what if the vampire is not at the top of the food chain?

Drops of Crimson is an online fantasy magazine. It's a shame that you can't get a little bit better format to read on tke Kindle (the site uses HTML and each story/article is on it's own page), especially now that the editor has started using a Kindle 2.