YA Sci-fi & Fantasy Authors at Phoenix Fan Fest 2022
- Dani Hoots
- Sep 9, 2022
- 10 min read
This post is a bit late, but I wanted to give a shout out to all the amazing YASFF authors I met at Phoenix Fan Fusion 2022 and tell you about their books! PFF was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of amazing authors. I always love doing events like these as I get to find new author friends and read new spectacular books. So scroll down and meet these amazing authors!
Malice by Heather Walter
Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss.
You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily ever after.
Utter nonsense.
Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care, either.
Until I met her.
Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though a power like mine was responsible for her curse.
But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating—and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps together we could forge a new world.
Nonsense again. Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I—
I am the villain.
Mere Mortals by Erin Jade Lange
This hilarious, fresh take on a classic vampire tale follows a pair of hundred-year-old teenage vampires who are turned mortal and must face the greatest nightmare of all—high school.
Charlie and her brother, Reg, have been vampires for… a very long time. For a century, they enjoyed the glitz and glamour of life as members of the wealthiest vampire clan. But now, after one careless mistake, they’ve been expelled from the vampire community and dumped in the middle of Nowhere, Iowa to live as mortals.
Suddenly Charlie has to deal with zits, tears, and—worst of all—high school. But things start to change when she and Reg find a group of friends, including the deliciously good-looking Dexter. And though Charlie would give anything to be vampire again, she begins to appreciate some of the new experiences that humanity brings too.
But nothing could make them forget the life they’ve left behind. When they’re offered a second shot at immortality, Charlie is desperate to seize it. It’ll just mean a total betrayal of all her new friends, who will have their minds wiped of their memories of her. She can handle that if it means she can live forever… right?
Alpha Dawn by Morgan R.R. Haze
In the far future humanity is in a paradox. The discovery of a dynamic ore has allowed humans to prevent their own extinction by saving their dying world. However, Terra Prime is ultimately consigned to oblivion in an unforeseen cataclysm. A cataclysm which has created the Void. Rather than be curious or fearful of unexplored space, most humans simply perceive the Void at the center of the known universe as the single greatest mystery of the cosmos.
While the human race is preserved, living on colonized planets in outer space, mankind has lost the sense of who they really are. Thus, their understanding of true history is deluded. Facts are viewed as myths and myths as historical events. In such strange circumstances, there are those who seek to belong somewhere more meaningful, opposed to the numerous ideologically flawed organizations, governments, and planets spread across the known universe.
Prepare to go on a journey with Captain Singer and many others as their fates intertwine in various, sometimes unexpected ways. Will they prevent their past from catching up to them, while searching for a better place in this dystopian universe? Or will their past and future collide in unimaginable events?
Lobizona by Romina Garber
Some people ARE illegal.
Lobizonas do NOT exist.
Both of these statements are false.
Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented immigrant who's on the run from her father's Argentine crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida.
Until Manu's protective bubble is shattered.
Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past—a mysterious "Z" emblem—which leads her to a secret world buried within our own. A world connected to her dead father and his criminal past. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong.
As Manu uncovers her own story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina, she learns it's not just her U.S. residency that's illegal. . . .it’s her entire existence.
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.
Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.
Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.
Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.
But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.
Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom, her best friend Seth, her life—everything.
Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
We went past praying to deities and started to build them instead...
The shadow of Godolia's tyrannical rule is spreading, aided by their giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords.
Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a brash young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When one of her missions goes awry and she finds herself in a Godolia prison, Eris meets Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. At first Eris sees Sona as her mortal enemy, but Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within.
As the clock ticks down to their deadliest mission yet, a direct attack to end Godolia's reign once and for all, Eris and Sona grow closer—as comrades, friends, and perhaps something more...
Awakening by Brett Humphrey
He grew four inches in a single day. But when the surprises keep coming, can this firebreather douse the threat?
Alister Drake despises bullies. Determined to stick up for the weak, the soon-to-be thirteen-year-old is happy to make use of his massive overnight growth spurt. But he’s shocked to discover he has a lot more on the line when he learns he’s from a dimension of dragon shifters.
Thrilled to find his two friends are also animal-powered aliens, Alister and company head to an isolated spot with their mysterious teacher to experiment with their powers. But their crash course in dimensional defense ends when they’re thrown into battle with enemy forces intent on their extinction.
Can Alister and his pals protect what’s left of their kind from annihilation?
Phoenix Child by Alica McKenna-Johnson
There should be a law, a Universal Rule, as to how much weirdness can happen to a person.
Fifteen-year-old Sara walks into the San Francisco Center for the Circus Arts determined to ignore the freaky things happening to her. As powers she doesn't want and can't control overwhelm her, Sara must decide if she can trust the strangers who say they are her family ... descended from a common ancestor four thousand years ago.
Sara clings to her contented and well-planned life as a foster kid, successfully working the system, as dreams, powers, and magical creatures drag her towards her destiny. When the ancient evil that killed her parents comes to San Francisco, Sara is forced to choose between her fears and her desire to protect those she loves.
Sometimes great things are thrust upon us. Sara wishes this supposed 'greatness' didn't include a new name, unicorns, and catching on fire.
Carnival of Heaven by Ryan Olson
For weeks Ryan has been feeling fatigued, dizzy, and confused. The doctors say it’s just the flu, but for some reason, his mom isn’t convinced. It’s hard to blame her; he’s been sleeping so often lately that Awesome Waters, the world of his dreams, has become more real than the one in which he lives. Yet, even Awesome Waters isn’t the cheerful escape it once was. Ominous clouds have taken over the luminous skies of his imaginary theme park, ushering in a masked, sinister ringmaster who’s dead set on rendering Awesome Waters to ashes.
Back in reality, Ryan finds himself in a hospital, where he and his family receive a far graver diagnosis than the simple flu—cancer. Ryan has T-cell leukemia. Mom, Dad, his brother, and Grandma: they all do their best to help him through the chemotherapy and operations. But despite their love, Ryan’s light begins to flicker.
The ringmaster explains how he will fall entirely into that darkness unless Ryan can
solve the mystery of the ringmaster’s appearance. If Ryan can before time runs out,
then the strength to fight for his future will be his to command.
Endangered by Dani Hoots
Fall deep into the Underworld with this Amazon Best Selling YA Fantasy Series!
What would you do with the dichotomous power over life and death? For Chrys, apparently, it was to stay cooped up in the Underworld all her life. She wishes she could leave and see what the human world is all about, but her Father, Hades, would never allow it, as she was never supposed to be born. If Zeus found out, she would be sent straight to Tartarus. So she has stayed in Hades’ palace all her life, her only friends being a punk whom she convinced her father was a genius tutor, and a demigod who she may or may not have almost kissed (father would be so mad if he found out).
After a huge fight with her Mother, Persephone, Chrys decides she can’t take it anymore and has to travel to the human world, since her mother loves it so much more than her own husband. With her two best friends, Chrys travels through Oceanus and finds herself in London, England. Ready to experience what it was like to be human, Chrys decides they can stay for a couple of days before having to return.
Nothing could go wrong in that short of time, right?
Gilded by Marissa Meyer
Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.
Or so everyone believes.
When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn't meant to be part of the bargain.
Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.
Into the Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer
The forest is a dangerous place, where siren song lures men and women to their deaths. For centuries, a witch has harvested souls to feed the heartless tree, using its power to grow her domain.
When Owen Merrick is lured into the witch’s wood, one of her tree-siren daughters, Seren, saves his life instead of ending it. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and every night her longing to become human deepens. But a shift in the stars foretells a dangerous curse, and Seren’s quest to become human will lead them into an ancient war raging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering.
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village―and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon―may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.
Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin―as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits―Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.
But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…
Debunked by Dito Abbott
When Alex and Ozzie read their grandfather’s latest “death” letter, they barely blink. Dying six times in two years has to be a record, even for an explorer as incompetent as Sir Quidby Forsythe III.
Faster than you can say “kidnapped by a giant, glowing lizard,” the Forsythe twins are dragged into a world of ancient prophecies, sarcastic swords of legend, mutant slime beasts, and a growing awareness their grandfather might be the greatest explorer in history. With Skhaar the Annihilator hot on their trail, Ozzie and Alex must solve the mystery of Sir Quidby’s disappearance before they become the final victims of the Forsythe Curse.
This article was written by Dani Hoots
Dani Hoots is a YA sci-fi & fantasy author who is best known for her Daughter of Hades series and City of Kaus series. Click the covers below to learn more!
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