Every week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.

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The Casebook of Patrick Midnight – Arbogast

The 1920s. The Jazz Age. The United States is beaming after its victory in World War I and its new standing as the chief economic engine of the world. But, amidst this good cheer, there lurks evil. This is where Patrick Midnight comes in. He is a secret agent working for the Society of Gentlemen Geographers—a powerful and well-connected private organization of American financiers, European nobility, and former British Army officers. Midnight is their man for any task, from artifact retrieval to espionage.

But Midnight is not alone. He is haunted quite literally by the spirit of an ancestral shade named Reverend Increase Blackstone, a 17th-century Puritan militia captain and preacher who damned his soul by committing especially sanguinary deeds during King Philip’s War. Together, Midnight and Blackstone take on human and inhuman evil armed with a .25 automatic and rapier.

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The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor Volume III – Byron A. Roberts

THE WOLF OF THE NORTH UNLEASHED!

From a time-lost age of arcane legendry, the barbaric warrior-king Caylen-Tor rises once more to hack and hew his way to blood-spattered glory! In this, the third pulse-pounding volume of sword & sorcery tales by renowned Bal-Sagoth vocalist/lyricist Byron A. Roberts, the iron-thewed Lord of Wolves voyages across pirate-thronged seas in search of an ancient treasure, leads a warband of ferocious clansmen into battle against malefic sorcery, and ultimately faces his vengeful nemesis in the blighted depths of the netherworld itself!

All hail Caylen-Tor… the mightiest monarch of a savage, antediluvian epoch!

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Levon’s Scourge (Levon Cade #12) – Chuck Dixon

They came for the Cades and now Levon is coming for them…

A team of professional killers comes to the Cade Idaho ranch on a mission to kill Levon Cade and his entire family, setting Levon on a globe-spanning one-man mission to bring down the men who ordered the hit. The time for running and hiding is over.

Standing in his way is a vast criminal network and international law enforcement. In order to see his family safe, Levon travels from the depths of Mexico to the jungles of Vietnam on a hunt that will leave either him or his enemies standing.

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Mark of the Fool #6 – J. M. Clarke

To preserve the future, Alex must find the secrets of the past.

After a devastating battle, Alex Roth is left with more questions than answers, and—as the Ravener grows more aggressive—he and his companions struggle to learn the truth of Thameland’s Cycle.

But—thanks to an old enemy—they do have one lead, though it will take them into the bowels of the darkest Hells.

To prepare, Alex will have to reveal who he truly is to the other Heroes of Thameland, and deal with the consequences.

On the line are not only truths about Thameland’s endless, bloody cycles…but also the greatest secret of the patron Saint of Alric…

…the Traveller.

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Sewer Skewers (Cooking with Disaster #2) – Dakota Krout

A new challenge is thrown down. The world’s secret is revealed. All Probabilities were wrong.

Nacho had zero intentions to make friends. He certainly had no plans to be put in the unenviable position of being the leader of a guild. But if there’s one thing that he excels at, it certainly isn’t cooking. No, he’s far better at rolling with the punches, and making sure the people around him survive. When literal monsters are everywhere, that’s the kind of person you want in charge.

But this world isn’t what he’s been expecting. Things are different. He is different. By succeeding so much, so fast, Humanity has unlocked the next stage of the Juxtaposition, years before they’re ready for it. A Legendary weapon is up for grabs, and the first guild to grab it will solidify their stranglehold of Kansas City. All Nacho needs to do is find a path to something he’s never heard of before, look for something that shouldn’t exist, and keep his people alive.

Time to hold on tight, and chase that dragon.

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Wolf Legion (The Last Marines #9) – William S. Frisbee, Jr.

Without trust, the human race is doomed.

But even with trust, it might be too late.

Emperor Wolf Mathison has given Feng permission to build a SCBI-equipped legion. Composed of ODT, Guard, and Fleet loyalists, they will follow the Emperor and Stathis in the fight against the vanhat… but is it too little, too late?

The vanhat are about to deploy their elite cohorts—millions of fierce warriors that have been sleeping in tombs, waiting for the call to battle. And they aren’t worried about SCBI-equipped troops, because they have sentient implants of their own.

Outnumbered thousands to one, the legion must defend Earth and the moon against the vanhat hordes, while yet another threat awakens to exterminate them all.

For the glory of the Empire. We are the storm!

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Young Gods Tournament – Cale Plamann and Alex Beaumont

The Young Gods Tournament awaits. Only the victors will break through to the worlds beyond the heavens.

In an unfair world where a single monster can wipe out an entire village, Thomas is not one of the chosen few. He wasn’t gifted with immense power from the moment of his birth, nor does he have a powerful backer to defend him.

By the laws of the world, it’s near impossible for him to rise to the top.

But where the gods themselves have failed him, Thomas will push on and gain the strength to protect his friends, and his home, from the ever-rising dangers of the world.

There is only one true opportunity to break through the shackles of his life — The Young God’s Tournament. After surviving a deadly ambush, he’ll use every ounce of his strength as he faces off against his rival Prospects, a continent-wide conspiracy, and the ever-looming threat from the once-slumbering Empire.

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Jim Breyfogle’s A Bad Case of Dead – a Kickstarter campaign by P. Alexander

Edward has caught a bad case of Dead!

While hurrying to his clerking job in London, Edward is attacked by a strange creature in an alleyway. Feeling ill, Edward consults his apothecary neighbor who informs him he’s been infected with zumbiism, and is now among the Dead!

There is still hope, however! Sent on his way with a potent elixir that will stave off the effects of Dead, Edward must seek out the aid of a Necromancer in the Narrow World, a hidden realm of forgotten magic beyond the sea. But the next ship leaves in only an hour!

Edward is unable to say farewell to his beloved Becca before setting off on the adventure of a lifetime! For her sake, he will find a cure for Dead… Or die trying, if he were not dead already!

Even if he reaches the Narrow World, there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to find a necromancer or convince him to cure his zumbiism. Edward must rely on his wits and determination to triumph over the challenges the Narrow World throws forth, including fickle merfolk, deadly sea monsters, religious zealots, and a plucky guide who is as ready to put him out of his misery as help him!

A Bad Case of Dead is an enchanting fairytale adventure, filled with action, magic, strange creatures, deadly perils, and romance!