My Recommendations for Narratess' Indie Sale August 2025

Let's be honest: Narratess' Indie Sale is a magnificent opportunity to get several indie books for the price of a coffee, but seeing 300 books or more can feel overwhelming sometimes. So here's a list of personal recommendations.

Banner for the Narratess Indie Book Sale. A chonky dragon reads a book at the bottom, a pile of skulls with a candle and ghost sit on the left of the text, and a space ship flies by a planet on the right of the text.

Let's go with it! (Handy link to the sale)

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Checks, Balances, and Proper Procedure in Monster Hunter, by Sean O'Boyle

A cynical government clerk must solve the bureaucratic mess created by a careless monster hunter in a fantasy land where rules are everything.

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Goodbye to the Sun, by Jonathan Nevair

A thought-provoking space opera where interstellar colonization and vivid world building form the backdrop for character-driven journeys of transformation, tragedy, and hope.

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Flooded Secrets, by Claudie Arseneault

In which… three friends find their magical Wagon attacked by a highway bandit, only to be forced to cooperate with her to unflood the way forward.

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Digital Extremities, by Adam Bassett

A couple grieves, a woman helps her aging father, a private investigator searches for a missing child. This is a collection of cyberpunk stories set in remote & rural places.

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The Sunset Sovereign, by Laura Huie

When a dragon finds an assassin sneaking into his lair, he tells her of his life's work and his soon to be final chapter.

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Children, by Bjørn Larssen

Defy the Gods. Forge your destiny.

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The Edge of a World, by JD Rivers

Possessed scholar on the hunt for a cure for his possession, finds out the truths of his predicament is more far-reaching than he'd ever imagined.

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The Revenge of Captain Vessia, by Leslie Allen

An undead pirate is after revenge, only to have the perfect opportunity show up in her maker's only daughter.

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The Cradle of Eternal Light, by Ladz

F/F illustrated romantasy horror novel about a bard and a witch on a quest to bring the sun back to their abyssal world

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The House on Utopia Way, by Stefan Mohamed

How do you find the truth when reality itself has broken down? Private detective Johnny Orange thought he knew how to navigate his fractured world, but even he has his limits.

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Credible Threats, by Daniel Meyer

When a designer drug giving ordinary humans magical powers hits the streets, the only one who can keep his city from going up in flames is teenage wizard Sam Adams.

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Jester, by Tim Carter

In a realm ruled by idiots, their only hope is the Fool.

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The Thief and the Wild, by Seann Barbour

Jackson's the finest thief in New Alms, and he just stole a mask from a blasphemous. But that mask was special, and now there's a god in his head, slowly taking him over...

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Wasteland Heart, by Al Hess

Deadly nanobots. Untamed wilds. A missing brother. Sasha's new life on an isolated continent isn’t the clean start he hoped for—but maybe it’s the one he needed.

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The Genesis of Change, by Livia J. Elliot

Lovecraft meets Abercrombie with a side of Stoicism, Sartre, and Kierkegaard.

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The Dragon Next Door, by Vanessa Ricci-Thode

In this sapphic ace romantasy, Tollar’s got a stolen dragon egg & that’s the least of her problems. Join a pair of disaster queers raising a baby dragon amidst growing threats

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Tales of Lunis Aquaria, by Tessa Hastjarjanto

Explore the world of Lunis Aquaria in this collection of cozy fantasy short stories!

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Ocean's Blood, by Thelma Mantey

A voice turned weapon. A bond he never chose. And a choice between freedom—and the one he can’t quite hate.

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The Wickwire Watch, by Jacquelyn Hagen

After stealing a strange pocket watch, Inkwell Featherfield finds himself being hunted by dark spirits, with only a group of eccentric fugitives able to rescue him.

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Smuggler's Fortune, by Angela Boord

Mercenary Kyrra d’Aliente is more than willing to pick up a smuggling job in exchange for a little revenge. But will it be worth venturing back to her dangerous past?

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No Land for Heroes, by Cal Black

When she robs the wrong man, Deputy Mildred must decide how much of her violent past she can face, if she can face it at all.

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Mere Flesh, by Catherine Labadie

Heiress Wynnifred summons a demon to conquer her restrictive, Edwardianesque society & dismiss a beloathed fiancé. Yet the demon refuses to obey, & omens may doom them both...

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Death's Disciple, by Emma L. Adams

A former dragon-riding warrior must unravel a conspiracy linked to the god of death himself to save her former comrades.

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A Bitter Drink, by Azalea Forrest

Rowan reflects the fear and hedonistic apathy that resides within all of us: some need a bit of a nudge to veer those destructive tendencies in a more positive direction.

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Coal Gets In Your Veins, by Cat Rector

Come for the queer M/F friends-to-lovers romance with a vampire, stay for the sentient generational trauma monster that infects the blood of the townsfolk

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Birthright, by M.A. Vice

He must keep the world from falling to corruption. They must help him find his humanity.

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A Gamble of Gods, by Mitriel Faywood

Mission Impossible for fantasy readers

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Z.E.R.O: Zombie Elimination and Rescue Operatives, by Jessica Ungeheuer

When Jennifer rescues Jeff from REAL zombies, he's drafted into a secret world of monsters and hunters. Priority one, save the world…or is it get the girl?

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Trollgrave, by Alex S. Bradshaw

A fellow god-speaker is missing and Alvir Einarson must seek answers in the Forest of Broken Trolls, but within its sinister depths there are dark powers on the rise.

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Aurethia Rising, by Atlas Laika

Achillean arranged marriage space opera a la Captive Prince x Winter's Orbit with a transmasc lead!

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Far Removed, by C. B. Lansdell

For a species shaped by tides, change is the only constant. A rising politician and a masked recluse conspire against their corrupt sovereigns. A human-free dystopian fantasy.

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The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle, by Steve Hugh Westenra

A cryptid-hunting YouTuber follows a video of his presumed-dead mom to an isolated island that was once a gay conversion camp & may house the monsters he swears aren't real.

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Imbued, by Helyna L. Clove

A wounded woman with a missing past must face the cruel origins of her violent magical powers. But will her healing break her war-torn world?

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Grave Cold, by Shannon Knight

In near-future Portland, a necromancer beautician and a man from the past must save the dead from being used as an energy source.

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Ancient as the Stars, by Maya Darjani

A found family time travel adventure with humor, snark, and lots of heart.