November New Releases
With plenty of catch-up from October!
It’s a new month coming up, and that means new books as well as new opportunities! On the subject of opportunities, if you miss NaNoWriMo, then LegendFiction has you covered this November with a new challenge. If you are looking for potential Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals, or at least a book that you can get in time to wrap and put under the tree, we here at Upstream have your back! ;)
Should you be seeking gifts for none but yourself, as a reward for not destroying the store’s radio for playing Christmas music on an unending loop before Halloween has even arrived, we have plenty of nice books that you can purchase for just this reason! So kick back, relax, and study this list to see if there is a novel or collection that will hit the spot this season. If you need a pick-me-up, we have those, with a nice side of dragonfire or explosive munitions! Let’s go, readers!
On Tiber’s Edge: LAND&SEA SEASON 2 by Declan Finn
Released: October 17
Welcome to Chicago!
When African Pope Julius III inherited the Throne of Peter, he expected to go to ecclesiastical war with China or Jihadis. Literal war with aliens was not on his bingo card. With humanity at stake, calling for a crusade is only rational.
When the city of Chicago is abandoned to support the East Coast, three people pick up the Crusade. Samuel Weston used to be a spy. Zofia Zelazowska is the only officer of the Guard left behind. And Opus Dei priest James Pham is has his own bureaucrats to battle.
With hostile gangs, Mafia and corrupt politicians in their way, this trinity must build an army of God before the army of darkness emerges from the depths and destroy them all.
Against the Storm (Drift and Dragon Book 4) by D.K. Holmberg
Releasing: November 25
Peace was never meant to last.
Six months after restoring the dragon bond, Callen believes he’s finally built a future worth defending—teaching the next generation of drift users and raising his gifted daughter, Nora. But when the Lord Regent is assassinated with dragonfire and Callen is framed for the crime, everything unravels.
Branded an enemy of the realm, hunted by armies and bounty hunters, Callen’s only hope lies in a forgotten legend: a hidden clutch of dragon eggs, sealed away for centuries. The key to finding them rests with Theraxis, a scarred ancient dragon whose price for the truth could tear Callen’s family apart.
As kingdoms march to war and Baron Selwyn’s corruption spreads, Callen must race against time to reach the Sanctuary before the Convergence. Inside waits a test of worth, a battle for survival, and the choice that will decide whether dragons rise again—or vanish forever.
The storm has broken. The future will be forged in fire.
Thrill Runners: 10 Near-Future, Fast-Paced, Short Stories: Covert Teens on Artifact Rescue Missions
Released: October 12
Thrill Runners is a high-speed collection of missions where teen crews risk everything to stop ancient tech from falling into the wrong hands.
In the year 2125, strange relics are waking up across the world. A dream-altering Aztec altar in the Guiana Basin. A memory-warping artifact hidden in the Irish coast. A glowing arrowhead pulsing with energy deep in the Adirondack mountains.
Each relic is dangerous. Each one can tip the balance of power. Warlords, mercenaries, and mafia networks will do anything to claim them.
That’s why Thrill Runners exist, teen covert crews who move like shadows through cities, casinos, underworld tunnels, and skyscrapers. They race across Morocco, Venice, Singapore, Genoa, and more, dodging cybernetic assassins, corporate traps, and betrayals from within their own teams. One wrong move, and it’s over—not just for them, but for the world.
Every mission is a fight against the clock, 10 near-future short stories by LegendFiction authors.
SGT. THOR The Slayer by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole
Releasing: November 7
Follow SGT, Thor and his crew as they steal their way into a mysterious city seeking the ultimate prize. Where the wrong move means death, a cunning plan may see Thor survive the ultimate edge.
Hypersleep Nightmares (Collection)
Releasing: October 31
They told you space was empty. They were wrong.
In the cold vacuum between stars, humanity has spread its reach across the cosmos, building stations in the void, sending colony ships into the dark, and folding space to touch distant worlds. But with every jump, every transmission, every lonely outpost established in the black, we discover a terrible truth: we are not alone, and we were never meant to leave Earth.
HYPERSLEEP NIGHTMARES presents tales of cosmic dread that will make you question humanity’s place among the stars. These stories explore the darkest possibilities of our spacefaring future—nightmares born from the intersection of cutting-edge technology and primal terror.
Fossil Force by Graham Bradley
Released: October 29
Patrick Keller, new to the dusty trails of Vina Profunda, Utah, moves to his grandpa’s ranch after tough times hit his family. On day one, he uncovers an ancient Indian mask that once belonged to his Uncle Randy. When he slips it on, it sparks a connection to three local boys—Steve, Tyler, and Howie—who guard a jaw-dropping secret.As Patrick battles threats in Utah’s wild landscape, he faces tough choices, wrestling with anger from his family’s past. With his friends by his side and his grandpa’s wisdom guiding him, Patrick discovers courage, teamwork, and the true power of responsibility.
Perfect for boys craving action and parents seeking stories of grit and growth, Fossil Force delivers a thrilling ride through a world of ancient secrets and high-stakes heroics. Join the Fossil Force for an unforgettable quest!
The Dark Age (The First Peacemaker Book 5) by J.N. Chaney, Terry Maggert, and Aaron S. Bunce
Releasing: November 16
The Afterfall was just the beginning.
The Sorcerers struck their killing blow. The galaxy has collapsed.
With communications and logistics crippled, trillions of souls are left adrift in the dark—isolated, abandoned, and desperate. This isn’t just a blackout, it’s a catastrophic reset, intended to tear everything down to its corrupt foundations.
Or is it simply another excuse for blood-soaked war amongst the stars?
Alexander Hawkes, once the idealistic founder of the Galactic Knights Uniformed, now grapples with the unavoidable truth. The galaxy has spun out of control. And the organization built to protect it has been hijacked by the very forces he swore to oppose.
The colonized worlds bleed. And Alexander faces a choice that will define everything.
Fall in line with the system that betrayed him. Or break his own mold and become the leader his people truly need.
Sigils: Serial 3 by Sam Robb (Book 1 is available here, Book 2 is available here.)
Released: October 23
Part 3 of 3
An open door is an invitation... but you may not like what waits on the other side.
James O’Neil is about to learn the hard way that names have power, and his graffiti tags can open doors in the forgotten byways of Pittsburgh. After an accidental summoning of a powerful and malevolent Fae, he only manages to escape by the intervention of other taggers. On the run, James needs allies, and answers, but everything seems to be conspiring against him and his world is falling apart around him. He can’t fight this alone...
The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy) by James Islington
Releasing: November 11
OMNE TRIUM PERFECTUM
The Hierarchy still call me Vis Telimus. Still hail me as Catenicus. They still, as one, believe they know who I am.
But with all that has happened—with what I fear is coming—I am not sure it matters anymore.
I am no longer one. I won the Iudicium, and lost everything—and now, impossibly, the ancient device beyond the Labyrinth has replicated me across three separate worlds. A different version of myself in each of Obiteum, Luceum, and Res. Three different bodies, three different lives. I have to hide; fight; play politics. I have to train; trust; lie. I have to kill; heal; prove myself again, and again, and again.
I am loved, and hated, and entirely alone.
Above all, though, I need to find answers before it’s too late. To understand the nature of what has happened to me, and why.
I need to find a way to stop the coming Cataclysm, because if all I have learned is true, I may be the only one who can.
All Precious Stones and Peoples (Timelines Universe Book 11) by Nathan C. Brindle
Released: October 10
Once, a million years ago, a water world populated with dolphin-like beings, the product of gene-alteration by their Progenitors on the Earth-like world one orbit closer to the sun, was flung into the cold and dark of interstellar space by the passage of a rogue star.
And four thousand years ago, its engineers were awakened from suspended animation to bring the world into a new orbit around a giant, blue-white star, where the waters of the World Ocean could thaw and life could continue to flourish.
This is the story of the A’ka’pa’i’ka’ti, and their Foretold Saintess, Speaker to the Dry Ones, born to communicate with the Progenitors when they finally arrived to reclaim the lost . . .
Maxine Justice: Public Offender (Volume 2) by Daniel Schwabauer
Releasing: November 4
The case she didn’t need. The client she didn’t want. The trial she couldn’t win.
Fresh off her single-handed defense against alien adversaries in a galactic courtroom, Maxine Justice discovers that saving the Earth is not enough to earn a hero’s welcome back home. Once again broke and now looking for revenge, her return to night court as a public defender takes an immediate detour when she’s tasked with defending a Therapod murder suspect.
The case drags her into the quirky theories of her new client, Father Gilbert Barthes, and the corrupt underbelly of corporate robotics. As her defense takes on global significance, Maxine lands squarely in the crosshairs of new enemies determined to conceal their plans for acquiring the planet. Worse, her probably guilty client may be the only one who can expose what’s really happening.
Stripped of all credibility and most of her friends, can Maxine find some way to save humanity when the world is bent on self-destruction? Or will Earth finally succumb to the most unlikely deception?
Fantastic Schools Familiars by Christopher G. Nuttall, Declan Finn, Denton Salle, & 7 more
Released: October 27
Have you ever wanted to go to magic school? To cast spells and brew potions and fly on broomsticks and - perhaps - battle threats both common and supernatural? Come with us into worlds of magic, where students become magicians and teachers do everything in their power to ensure the kids survive long enough to graduate. Welcome to ... Fantastic Schools.
Come explore the world of familiars, and how they help their human to make magic. Meet a young apprentice whose life is changed forever by her familiar, and the treachery of her closest ally. Meet a bonded couple who isn’t sure which is the patron and which the familiar, then follow the adventures of a familiar helping out from beyond the grave. Learn what it takes to have and hold a familiar, and how to take care of them, and then follow the adventures of two students who take each other as familiars, which will either save their educational careers or destroy them beyond repair.
All this, and more, in Fantastic Schools Familiars …
The Guardian Cycle, Vol. 3: Neptune’s Envoys and Other Stories by Caroline Furlong
Released: October 29
There is no need to be afraid of the dark. But what about fearing that which lives in the dark? What if those shadows have teeth and glittering, hungry eyes?
Darkness conceals many Things better avoided. Meet the miner who delved too deep beneath Luna’s surface for treasure, yet lived to return and tell the tale in Despot Hold ‘Em. Follow Damien Fraser as he collects diamond rain from the cloud depths in Neptune’s Envoys – if he can avoid the Devil sharks. But are the Devils the worst things there?
Allan Kearney defeated the demons seeking his soul after escaping death in a Nihanese prison camp. Now, with the help of Michio Oshika and assembled allies, he plans to infiltrate the camp to free the other prisoners. But so much blood has been spilled that the ground is ripe for a Hellmouth to open. The demon priest who branded Allan and killed so many others is dead, yet another may appear, one who could draw a different demon to his aid with the right sacrifice….
The Catholic Cartoon Collection: No. 3
Releasing: November 28
The loveable parish priest returns with loads more laughs in the third collection of The Catholic Cartoon!
Includes COLOR and black & white pages!
The Fae Wars: Harley’s War by ML McIntosh and J. F. Holmes
Releasing: October 31
In the tale of years, counting from the day the Fae returned to Earth, the war was done in six weeks. Fighting stuttered on for two years afterward, as the Great Houses assumed control and built human society into their liking. Or ignored it. The shock troops and great armies of the King were withdrawn, to leave the conquerors, the conquistadors, to send back tribute to the Old World.
The Event, when the Demon Core made its presence known on this world, changed the nature of everything, allowing t he magical Paths of the Way to be accessed by Humans on the level of what they had known of old, before the closing of the portals in 528 CE.
However, throughout the ages between that date and the Event, despite the closing the Ways by the Magus Concilium, there have always been wild magic users. Some haunt humanities legends as heroes, some paid a high price and were burned at the stake. When the Fae returned and our technology failed, they were often the fire that kept our resistance burning. Hereafter is the tale Harely Osman, the woman who was to become famous as The Dragon Rider throughout the war-torn lands of a defeated county.
Wyld Magick: Fantasy Short Stories of Fae, Witches, and Magical Realms (William Joseph Roberts Presents Book 8)
Releasing: November 14
When the ordinary fades… the Wyld awakens.
Step beyond the veil into a world alive with wonder, danger, and untamed magic. Wyld Magick is a spellbinding collection of fantasy short stories where anything can happen—and usually does.
Discover daring adventurers, mischievous fae, rogue wizards, and unexpected heroes caught in the wild currents of destiny. Each tale glimmers with heart, humor, and the thrill of the unknown.
Open the pages. Break the rules. Feel the Wyld Magick calling.
Sky Shielder: An Epic Fantasy Romance (Fire and Fang Book 1) by Lindsay Buroker
Released: October 28
He helped destroy her family. Now he wants to protect her. Dare she trust him?
For generations, magical sky shields have defended the Garden Kingdom from dragons and their savage riders. Now, the shield protecting the capital has been sabotaged, the castle destroyed, and all except the youngest member of the royal family slain.
A healer with a love for books, antiques, and avoiding family gatherings, Princess Syla never thought the future of the kingdom would rely upon her—or that assassins would be hunting her down. With only an aged bodyguard with bad knees to protect her, she’s in way over her head.
Then he shows up.
The powerful and deadly dragon rider Captain Vorik claims to be from a faction that wants peace, not war, and who opposed the attack. Supposedly, he and his dragon ally were sent to protect Syla.
With threats coming from all directions, she has no choice but to accept his help, but she doesn’t trust him—or her attraction to him.
Why is he really there? To kill her? To spy on her? To seduce her?
All Syla knows for certain is that she must get the best of Vorik before he can get the best of her. Her kingdom and her life depend on it.
Warning: Sky Shielder contains sex, violence, and arrogant and opinionated dragons.
Astralbind (The Celestial Path Book 7) by D.K. Holmburg
Releasing: November 18
The voidheart ability once let him filter unstable celestial energy into order. But now the power he carries has been broken—and remade into something far more dangerous.
After Jenarik’s betrayal shatters the plains and corrupts the creatures that roam them, Roran awakens scarred, his voidheart fractured and his gemstones nearly destroyed. Survivors gather, but their powers are unstable, their enemies multiplying, and the Astralin still circle overhead, debating whether to complete their cleansing.
Guided by Serashia and a strange new ally, Roran must push beyond the structure he once mastered, uncovering patterns of power no one has wielded in decades. Collectors are on the move, drawn to awakened relics. The Curator’s influence grows. And amid the devastation, Roran glimpses a trace of someone he thought long lost—his sister.
If he can’t master the transformed voidheart within him, the unleashed energy will consume not only the plains, but everyone he has sworn to protect.
Can Roran adapt before the power tears him apart—or will he become the very weapon the Curator needs?
The Lives of Velnin: Final Life: A fast-paced epic fantasy adventure of swords, love, magic, and battles by Brian Hemming
Released: October 29
Swords. Love. Magic. Epic Battles. Reincarnation.
The recording cut off with the image of a blast of white-blue flame. I sat up from my stasis chamber, looked at the inscription, and read, “Velnin.” So, I was the last—number 9. My other remaining brothers had either died too fast to leave dying words at all, or been killed in stasis before this last one had died.
Velnin awakes in a stasis chamber deep in a hidden cave base, with only the memories of his first brother Velwin, and the dying words of three more. On his ninth and final life, Velnin must unravel the mysteries of what has happened to his missing brothers, retrieve his legendary blade Swelfalster, and decide where his true love and loyalty ultimately lies—whether with the charming Princess Aloree, the swordfighting Dark Empress Soraina, or somewhere else entirely.
Combining ancient history with swords, love, and magic, Final Life is sure to please fans of swords & sorcery, adventure romance, and military fiction alike.
A fast-paced epic fantasy of swords, love, magic, and battles.
If Grace was a Gift Card by C.S. Johnson
Releasing: November 19
If Grace was a Gift Card ... Would following Jesus be Less Hard?
God’s grace is amazing ... and sometimes it is hard for us to see it while we are full of sin.
Thankfully, Jesus provides for our forgiveness, and he gives us mercy, too!
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
Basra and Back: The Memoir of an Unlikely Infantryman in the Iraq War by Matt Okuhara
Released: October 30
Basra and Back follows Salamanca Company, a unit of British infantry deployed to Iraq as part of the peacekeeping effort after the 2003 invasion, known as Operation TELIC.
Drawn from units in southwest England, Salamanca Company wasted no time in assuming its duties, providing security to the coalition’s provisional government and navigating the tense, dusty streets of Basra City. Insurgents had infiltrated the city, sowing discord among the population already grappling with shortages of essential resources like food, water, fuel, and electricity. The soldiers understood the gravity of the situation and braced themselves for civil unrest and worse, knowing their deployment would lead them into even more dangerous territory. For six months in 2004, the officers and men of The Rifle Volunteers found themselves as reservists on the frontline. Now that the war had been won, it was time to win the peace.
Told through the eyes of Matthew Okuhara, a young soldier called into regular service, Basra and Back gives a true and overlooked account of the UK’s military reserve at war. Narrated with an abstract sense of humour, Matthew is initially out of place but eventually discovers his role as the unit medic within ‘3 Platoon’. The book also covers the military history of reserve soldiers during the War on Terror, with the deployment of so many volunteers marking a historic moment for the British Army, as was the first time in nearly half a century that a formed unit of reservists is deployed in a ground holding role since the Suez Crisis: an experiment that created a strategy that continued in military deployments for years to come.
The Fall of Valenna: Book Three of the LEGENDS OF ANDOLIN Fantasy Adventure Series by A. M. Portman
Released: October 1
IN THE HEART OF BATTLE
As tensions between Valenna and Sornia reach their breaking point, Prince Matei unleashes a devastating new power that threatens to change the course of the war. With the Queen missing and the kingdom of Valenna left vulnerable, Lady Adella Grimless and her allies must fight against impossible odds to protect everything they hold dear.
OLD CONFLICTS RESURRECTED
Torn between her past and present, Adella finds her heart caught between her old flame, Captain Declan, and her burgeoning feelings for Kol, her loyal companion on the war front. But when old rivalries and unspoken truths come to light, the two men are set on a collision course—one that will reach its deadly culmination in the midst of battle upon the waves.
TEAR THEIR WORLD APART
With war encroaching on multiple fronts, Adella and her allies must navigate treachery, shifting alliances, and a threat unlike any they have ever faced. But as the final battle looms and the rising sea tears apart the landscape, one thing remains certain:
Nothing will ever be the same again.
There you have it, readers! All the books that came out in October and several new releases scheduled for November. Did we miss any novels that are coming out next month? Are there some coming out in December which you want us to list? Drop us a line in the comments and we will see about adding them to next month’s New Release post!
Until then, have a Happy Halloween and enjoy the books. Remember to leave a review on any of these tomes if you like them, too. Every little bit helps, including something as simple as “I really liked it.” See you next month!
Thank you for the extensive review of so many books. Something for every taste just in time for the holidays!