SFINCS, pronounced “sphinx, is a yearly competition to recognize, honor, and celebrate the talent and creativity present in the indie community. It’s a sister competition to both SPFBO and SPSFC, and it highlights greatness in the novella format in all areas of speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc.).
To see more information on team Behind the Musings check out this post!
A plucky underdog. A powerful necromancer. And the idiot heroes bent on killing them.
Kobolds are supposed to run away—it’s what they’re best at. But Jack? Born with a club foot, he’s had to adapt. Resilient and clever, he clawed his way to respectability as majordomo of a premiere subterranean estate. He even found a father figure in the famed necromancer who owns the place.
Life was perfect… until a superband of overpowered do-gooders arrived bent on burglary and murder. These mercilessly righteous warriors of light cannot be beaten, or at least that’s how it looks on paper.
Jack must choose between survival and the people he loves… unless he can somehow defy the stats and find an unconventional solution.
If you like Terry Pratchett, J. Zachary Pike, or Nicholas Eames, you’ll love Majordomo. Buy now, before the price goes up or the murderhobos descend.
Afro Samurai meets The Sword of Kaigen in this anime-inspired novella
This is no revenge story. I ain’t got time for that. I’ve got errands to run and things to do and barely enough time to make it home before sundown. I don’t care why folks are going around stealing ink. I don’t care why the monks are acting kinda strange. I don’t care that everybody is expecting me to save them. I might be a Sistah Samurai but those days playing hero were back when my knees didn’t ache, and I wasn’t the only one left. So leave me alone.
All I want to do is get home, drink some green tea lemonade, and enjoy my peace. I’m not asking for much, so why are all these demons daring to get in my way?
I am not the one. Not today.
Sistah Samurai is an Action Fantasy novella that is an homage to the anime, Afro Samurai. Both works feature a feudal Japan-inspired setting that is rife with anachronisms. In the words of Samuel L. Jackson, “Is that a motherf—ing RPG?”
One night. One blade. One chance at infamy.
Homeless without a coin to her name, the runaway Princess Amikharlia tries to make a living for herself in the old capital of Ciraselo.
Shunned by the mercenary guilds and failing as a serving girl, Amika yearns for something more—something dangerous.
When a travelling hunter comes to town, Amika discovers just a plot to capture a rare and deadly monster from the realm adjacent.
With her blade in hand, Amika joins the hunt, ready to make her mark on the world.
But as blood begins to spill, she discovers she’s in too deep—and that there is more of her to fear than the sharp edge of her sword…
A dark, dramatic story of the supernatural inspired by the Wagon Box Fight of 1867 in the Wyoming Territory. Lewis Tanner has run from his home in Tennessee and, after a series of crimes and misadventures, finds himself on a woodcutting crew at an Army fort in the middle of Indian country. After his crew is ambushed by Native forces, Lewis is forced into a group that rides out for revenge. But the woods are bad. Strange forces are at work there, and soon, his fellow fighters are found eviscerated. Lewis must fight for survival as otherworldly forces hunt him and his companions through a place they were never meant to enter.
The Urdahl believe pain is inevitable. But if one can lean into that suffering they can achieve anything.
Beneath the desert sands, Bas has spent his entire life training to become a fully-fledged Urdahl. And now his time has come to prove his worth. First, he must drink from the Seeing Bowl to clear his clouded mind and witness visions bestowed to him by ancient deities. Next, he must prove strength of body with the Passage of the High Pass. But destiny is shrouded in red and strength of arm will not be enough to survive its true tests.
Will he ascend to a full Urdahl or will his visions of blood come to pass?
The turning season has begun.
Taking place before the events of the Shadowbinders trilogy, “Silence is Silver” is a novella for both old and new readers.
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