[Free Audiobooks] Mark of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse & Easy Prey by Catherine Lo [YA Fantasy & Contemporary Whodunnit Mystery Drama]

AudioFile’s SYNC Summer of Listening 2020 promotion for young adults offers 2 free audiobooks per week—1 classic or non-fiction, 1 modern—available worldwide for a limited time courtesy of participating major publishers, and you can see the planned release schedule here.

This week’s two selected titles, which have a theme of decisions with life-changing consequences, will be available to claim until 11:59 PM Eastern Time on June 17th.

• Mark of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse read by Jaimee Draper from Oasis Audio. 1st novel in The Ravenwood Saga trilogy of YA fantasy with f/m romantic elements, set in a world where one House has a particular family gift which can enter and manipulate people’s dreams and desires. This installment stars the young heiress to the House becoming acquainted with her newly-activated hereditary gift of dreamwalking and its potentially fatal dark side, even as she encounters a young man tormented by his own dubiously harmful ability and its past results.

• Easy Prey by Catherine Lo, read by Nick Mondelli, Elizabeth Cottle, and Jack Meloche from Dreamscape Media. A YA contemporary teen drama whodunnit mystery/thriller addressing social issues, told in time-jumping tripartite POVs providing accounts of what happened (and clues) from the three student suspects accused of leaking a teacher’s risqué sexting photos which went viral.

This year, they’ve switched over to requiring the Overdrive Sora app available for iOS and Android (previously, these were available as DRM-free MP3s with a time-limited download period to your computer/device), but once added to your in-app library, these will remain permanent titles that you can re-download at any time at your leisure.

You’ll need to signup with a valid email address on AudioFile’s front page for the promotion, and then enter the setup code audiobooksync in the Sora app when asked, and then claim each week’s featured title using the Borrow function on its page in the app, more details available on their FAQ page for the promotion.

Offered until just before midnight Eastern Time on Wednesday, June 17th, available worldwide.

[Free Audiobooks] Into White by Randi Pink & Like No Other by Una LaMarche [YA Contemporary Fantasy & Cross-Cultural Romance]

AudioFile’s SYNC Summer of Listening 2020 promotion for young adults offers 2 free audiobooks per week—1 classic or non-fiction, 1 modern—available worldwide for a limited time courtesy of participating major publishers, and you can see the planned release schedule here.

This week’s two selected titles, which have a theme of coming of age while confronting cross-cultural differences, will be available to claim until 11:59 PM Eastern Time on June 10th.

• Into White by Randi Pink, read by Adenrele Ojo, from Listening Library. A gritty YA contemporary fairy tale fantasy novel set in Alabama, starring a black teen attending a mostly white high school where she doesn’t fit in with her fellow students of either race, who in a case of “be careful what you wish for” magically finds herself appearing outwardly white and popular in a new reality which may not be nearly as improved as she had imagined.

• Like No Other by Una LaMarche, read by Phoebe Strole & Leslie Odom Jr., from Listening Library. A YA contemporary coming of age f/m cross-cultural romance novel set in Brooklyn, starring a fun-loving nerd from a Caribbean family and a Hasidic Jewish “good girl”, who meet by chance in a stuck elevator during a hurricane and come to understand each other, finding forbidden love blossoming in the aftermath as they try to navigate societal and cultural obstacles to be together.

This year, they’ve switched over to requiring the Overdrive Sora app available for iOS and Android (previously, these were available as DRM-free MP3s with a time-limited download period to your computer/device), but once added to your in-app library, these will remain permanent titles that you can re-download at any time at your leisure.

You’ll need to signup with a valid email address on AudioFile’s front page for the promotion, and then enter the setup code audiobooksync in the Sora app when asked, and then claim each week’s featured title using the Borrow function on its page in the app, more details available on their FAQ page for the promotion.

Offered until just before midnight Eastern Time on Wednesday, June 10th, available worldwide.

[Free eBook] In Our Own Worlds #2 by Katharine Duckett, Seanan McGuire, Lina Rather, & Kai Ashante [Award-Nominated LGBT SF/Fantasy Omnibus]

In Our Own Worlds #2 by Katharine Duckett, Seanan McGuire, Lina Rather, & Kai Ashante is the 2nd omnibus in the In Our Own Worlds compilations of LGBT-themed science fiction & fantasy, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Macmillan’s Tor Books.

This is their supplementary featured free eBook of the Month Club offer for June to help celebrate Pride Month.

This omnibus contains 4 bestselling Tor.com imprint novellas featuring LGBT characters and relationships, by authors Katharine Duckett (an historical fantasy take on Shakespeare’s classic play The Tempest, set in Milan), Seanan McGuire (in her Nebula Award-winning Wayward Children contemporary portal fantasy series), Lina Rather (a space opera adventure), and Kai Ashante (a Hugo Award-nominated quest fantasy with m/m romantic elements).

Offered through Friday, June 5th until just before midnight Eastern Time, available DRM-free to Canada & US only directly from the publisher.

[Free Audiobooks] Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin & In Search of Us by Ava Dellaira [YA Fantasy with Romance & Family Drama]

AudioFile’s SYNC Summer of Listening 2020 promotion for young adults offers 2 free audiobooks per week—1 classic or non-fiction, 1 modern—available worldwide for a limited time courtesy of participating major publishers, and you can see the planned release schedule here.

This week’s two selected titles, which have a theme of the complicated relationships linking previously separated strangers, will be available to claim until 11:59 PM Eastern Time on June 3rd.

• Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin, read by Holter Graham & Saskia Maarleveld, from HarperAudio. This is the 1st novel in the eponymous YA fantasy duology with strong f/m romantic elements, set in a France-inspired world where the Church persecutes witchcraft covens, starring a hidden witch who has forsaken her magic in favour of survival, and an elite witch hunter, who are forced into a marriage due to circumstances and must learn to deal with their respective prejudices towards each other

• In Search of Us by Ava Dellaira, read by Adenrele Ojo, from Brilliance Audio. A YA contemporary fiction coming of age intergenerational family drama novel with f/m romantic elements, exploring the bonds between a white mother and her mixed-race daughter, as the latter discovers her hidden family history via exploration of her mother’s own teenaged years in the 1990s and the love affair with her absent and possibly deceased African-American father, embarking on a road trip in search of the truth.

This year, they’ve switched over to requiring the Overdrive Sora app available for iOS and Android (previously, these were available as DRM-free MP3s with a time-limited download period to your computer/device), but once added to your in-app library, these will remain permanent titles that you can re-download at any time at your leisure.

You’ll need to signup with a valid email address on AudioFile’s front page for the promotion, and then enter the setup code audiobooksync in the Sora app when asked, and then claim each week’s featured title using the Borrow function on its page in the app, more details available on their FAQ page for the promotion.

Offered until just before midnight Eastern Time on Wednesday, June 3rd, available worldwide.

[Free eBook] Red in Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton [Award-Winning Victorian Pastiche Fantasy]

Red in Tooth and Claw by Welsh-born Canadian author Jo Walton, a recipient of the Hugo, Nebula, Mythopoeic, World Fantasy, and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, is a standalone fantasy with satirical elements, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Macmillan’s Tor Books.

This is their featured free eBook of the Month Club offer for May It won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2004 (and is a fun read and interesting take on both the original human and imitation dragon cultures), and is being made free to help promote Walton’s upcoming book, Or What You Will, expected in July.

The story is a pastiche of a Victorian romantic social drama novel, specifically inspired by 19th century English author Anthony Trollope‘s classic “Chronicles of Barsetshire” series, only set in a Society composed almost entirely of dragons.

Offered through Friday, May 22nd until just before midnight Eastern Time, available DRM-free to Canada & US only directly from the publisher.

[Free eBook] The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson [Award-Nominated Epic Fantasy]

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is the 1st novel in the The Stormlight Archives series of epic fantasy, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Macmillan’s Tor Books.

This is a special 1-day flash giveaway supplement to their usual free eBook of the Month Club offer for Star Wars day (May the 4th be with you!), has been a co-finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Series overall, and is also being offered to promote the upcoming 4th novel, Rhythm of War. This sub-series takes place in the broader fantasy universe of Cosmere, with the premise that this part of it takes place many centuries after the fall of an order of mystic knights whose influence remains in the form of powerful magical artifacts which are still fought over.

The story initially focuses on persons embroiled in yet another war over the artifacts, with hints that the accepted ancient history was not all that it seemed and the truth about the order and the roots of the wars remains yet to be uncovered.

Offered through Monday, May 4th until just before just before midnight Eastern Time, available DRM-free to Canada & US only directly from the publisher.

[Free eBook] The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson [Award-Nominated Fantasy]

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson is the 1st novel in the The Masquerade series of epic political fantasy, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Macmillan’s Tor Books imprint.

This is their supplementary featured free eBook of the Month Club offer for April, placed 6th in the annual Locus Award list for Best First Novel, and is being offered to help promote the upcoming 3rd novel, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, due in August.

The series takes place in a fantasy setting where an invading empire has ruthlessly colonized a small island nation, starring a young woman who becomes involved in political intrigue of increasingly dubious morality in the hopes of freeing her people.

This first book sets the apparent antiheroine up with her backstory and scheme to attempt to suborn the empire from within by reluctantly joining their ranks and rising to a high enough position to help her people, even as she herself may become corrupted by her efforts to save them.

Offered through Thursday, April 30th until just before midnight Eastern Time, available DRM-free directly from the publisher.

[Free eBook] Earth Magic by Alexei & Cory Panshin [Vintage 1970s Adventure Fantasy]

Earth Magic by Alexei Panshin, a recipient of the Nebula and Hugo Awards & Cory Panshin, also a joint recipient of the Hugo Award in the Best Non-Fiction category, is a standalone adventure fantasy novel, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Phoenix Pick Press.

This is their featured Free Book of the Month promotion for January and was originally published in 1978 by Ace Books, after being serialized in Fantastic magazine in 1973 as “The Son of Black Morca” credited as by A. Panshin & C. Panshin.

The story takes place in a traditional sword and sorcery-styled fantasy world, starring the son of an ambitious would-be King, who in the aftermath of a power struggle is forced to flee for his life with an aging wizard through a land turned perilous in search of his ultimate destiny, as you do.

Offered DRM-free worldwide through January, available directly from the publisher.

[Free eBook REPEAT] Truthwitch by Susan Dennard [YA Fantasy]

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard is the 1st novel in her Witchlands series of YA fantasy, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Tor Books’ Tor Teen imprint.

This is their Tor.com eBook of the Month Club selection for January and was also a previous featured giveaway from the now defunct Tor Teen eBook of the Month Club. The series takes place in a world with competing empires where many types of magic are lumped under “witchery” and stars two young women with differing talents who must save their world from war and corruption.

This story sets up their friendship and initial struggles, as the heroine with the titular power of discerning truth from lies—highly sought after and thus kept carefully hidden—becomes friends with her co-heroine whose power is the ability to see the invisible ties surrounding and pulling people, and they make other friends and enemies in the face of oncoming wars and attempts by various ruthless factions to secure the Truthwitch’s valuable ability for their own purposes.

Offered DRM-free through 11:59 PM EST on January 17th, officially available to Canada & the US, directly from the publisher.

[Free eBook] Légende T01: L’enfant loup by Yves Swolfs [Award-Winning French Medieval Fantasy Graphic Novel]

Légende T01: L’enfant loup by Belgian author Yves Swolfs, an award-winning bande dessinée writer and artist, is the 1st album in the Légende series of medieval heroic fantasy adventure, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Soleil.

The French-language bande dessinée series is an heroic fantasy epic in a medieval setting, following a mysterious knight who is only survivor of a family massacre nineteen years ago. This first album won the 2003 Prix Saint-Michel in the “Prix de la presse” category and is apparently being made free as a promo for the upcoming long-delayed 7th volume (2-5 are also currently discounted for a limited time, probably just through the end of the month).

This first volume sets up the origin story and initial adventures as an ambitious Duke and his councilor search for the vanished child while they rule over the war-torn duchy.

Offered in Canada, UK & EU and other regions worldwide (excluding the US), available at multiple retailers.