Middle-grade Fantasy Adventure: The Baal of Shangisha by O. Mez

Blending atmospheric storytelling, African cultural echoes, and timeless themes, O. Mez delivers a powerful debut novel for young readers who believe that courage is not the absence of fear—but the decision to keep moving forward. How far would you go to save your world when everyone else has stopped believing?

The Baal of Shangisha
by O. Mez 
Genre: Middle-grade fantasy Adventure, fantasy
January 6, 2026
Publisher: MindStir Media
One boy. One impossible dream. One journey that could change his world forever.

When a mysterious force hurls young Chetanna into the home of an enigmatic old bird, he arrives carrying an extraordinary dream: to bring peace to the wicked and divided world around him.

Even Chetanna is unsure such peace is possible.

But when his mother tells him of a distant land of possibilities—a place where hidden answers may be found—Chetanna finally sees a path forward. As darkness spreads across the island he calls home, he begins a dangerous quest armed with only a slingshot, a mysterious name whispered by his mother, and the ancient power of the Eight.

Chetanna believes that courage, hope, and determination will be enough to complete his mission.

He is wrong.

Halfway through the journey, betrayal changes everything. The companions he trusted most abandon him, convinced that the quest is doomed. Left for dead and stranded in an unforgiving wilderness, Chetanna loses nearly everything he depended upon.

He should turn back.

He should surrender.

Instead, he holds tightly to the one thing no enemy can take from him: his dream of creating a better world.

Driven by resilience, courage, kindness, and an unshakable belief in what might still be possible, Chetanna presses forward. But when he finally reaches the legendary land he has risked everything to find, a devastating truth awaits—one powerful enough to destroy his mission and shatter everything he believes.

The Baal of Shangisha is a lyrical middle-grade fantasy adventure filled with mystery, ancient power, dangerous choices, unexpected betrayal, and unforgettable lessons about hope, sacrifice, selflessness, and perseverance.

Perfect for readers who enjoy:

• Courageous young heroes and epic quests
• Magical lands inspired by rich cultural traditions
• Fantasy adventures filled with danger and discovery
• Stories about friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness
• Meaningful lessons about resilience, love, kindness, and hope
• Young characters who discover that even the smallest voice can inspire extraordinary change

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About the Author
O. Mez is a Nigerian-born author whose storytelling is shaped by the rich oral traditions, cultural rhythms, and imaginative tales that surrounded him while growing up. Inspired by stories passed down through generations, he writes lyrical, atmospheric fantasy that explores courage, resilience, hope, and the quiet strength of those who dare to believe in a better world.

Now based in Colorado, Mez brings together African cultural echoes, timeless life lessons, and immersive fantasy adventure to create meaningful stories for young readers. His debut middle-grade fantasy novel, The Baal of Shangisha, follows a young hero on a dangerous quest filled with mystery, betrayal, ancient power, and the unshakable determination to change his world.

Through his writing, Mez hopes to encourage children to embrace kindness, perseverance, selflessness, and the belief that even the smallest voice can make a lasting difference.

When he is not writing, he enjoys watching football, spending time with his wife and daughters, and reading stories about forgotten lands, brave souls, and extraordinary journeys.

5 Sheep➕ Book Review: Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter

Unpredictable Magic
by Faith Hunter
July 14, 2026
Witches Angelina and Evan Everhart-Trueblood take a case that spirals out of control until the whole city is at risk in this exciting new novel from New York Times bestselling author Faith Hunter.

Angelina Everhart-Trueblood and her brother Evan run Everhart Investigations, a PI firm in Chattanooga that solves paranormal crimes committed by supernatural beings. When their new client wants help finding her friend, who supposedly disappeared during a reception at Angie’s aunt Jane’s winter residence, things get . . . complicated.

The client is not who she appears to be, and demons strike the city for the first time since the Witch War. On top of that, evidence is pointing toward the involvement of an overly ambitious vampire—who just happens to be Angie’s ex-husband.

As Angie and Evan team up with CPD, they will have to dig deep into their magical reserves—and rely on some friends in high places—to rid Chattanooga of the danger creeping into their city.

I have not read any of Ms. Hunter's other novels- but that may change. Vampire and Witch novels are not my first choice of reading, but when authors like Ms. Hunter writes with such "flowing" ideas and entertaining words, old ladies will make changes in their choices.

"Unpredictable Magic" was a very enjoyable read- with words that were not familiar to me, but she made them understandable in every paragraph. There were lots of vamp fights and spells, some with humor, but also some with lots of blood and brimstone. If her other novels are as graphic and explosive as this one, you will want to read her next new novel for sure.

I wanted to continue reading, even though I had other things to do and had to put the book down. She made the characters come alive in their interactions with each other, and the story line flowed in all 534 pages. 

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I would positively give this novel 5 Barts ➕

 

 

About the Author:
​Website
Faith Hunter, urban fantasy writer, was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. Hunter fell in love with reading in fifth grade, and best loved SciFi, fantasy, and gothic mystery. She decided to become a writer in high school, when a teacher told her she had talent.

Now, she writes full-time, tries to keep house, and is a workaholic with a passion for RV travel, Japanese maples, orchids, white-water kayaking, and writing. She and her husband love to RV to whitewater rivers all over the Southeast.

The dark urban fantasy Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock, is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling series with multiple books and compilations. Jane Yellowrock is a Cherokee skinwalker who tracks, hunts, and kills rogue-vampires for a living — that is, until she takes a gig working for Leo Pellissier, the Master of the City of New Orleans. The series is set in an alternate reality, modern-day world, one inhabited by humans, vamps, and other things that go bump in the night.

Her Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy series, feature Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a post-apocalyptic, alternate reality, urban fantasy world. These novels are the basis for the Rogue Mage World Book and Role Playing Game, which contains lots of fiction for the readers!

The Soulwood series features Nell Nicholson Ingram, and is a spinoff from the Skinwalker series. Nell is an escapee from a cult, a solitary woman with deadly magic of her own. In book one, Blood of The Earth, she is hired to help PsyLED (a division of Homeland Security) find a missing child.

Faith’s Junkyard Cats series is a “near future” SciFi series of novellas first released as Audible Originals and later as ebooks, and possibly some day as a print onmibus.

Under her pen name Gwen Hunter, she writes action adventure, mysteries, and thrillers.

As Faith and Gwen, she has 40+ books in print in 30+ countries.

Faith can be found on Facebook. Want the latest news? Join her newsletter! 

YA Historical Fantasy: Songbirds of the Veil by Steven McClellen

Songbirds of the Veil
by Steven McClellen
Aug 4, 2026
Genre: Edwardian Historical Fantasy/ Young Adult
· Portal Fantasy / Hidden World
· Labyrinthine Jungle Expedition
· Fierce / Scamp Heroine
· Grandfather-Granddaughter Bond
· Fountain of Youth Mystery
· Ticking Clock
· Survival Quest
· Missing Journal Pages
· Dystopian Resource Control (Tyrannical Authority)
· Enemies to Allies
· Magical Artifact / Talisman
To save her grandfather, she'll have to survive the Amazon. To find the truth, she'll have to cross the Veil.

In 1908, fifteen-year-old Ramona Grey lives a quiet, scamp-like existence in Key West, caring for her dying grandfather. As the legendary explorer who first discovered a miracle serum within the Amazon Rainforest, he now relies on that very medicine to live. But now, the world's supply is gone.

The tyrannical Authority has hoarded the final drops, leaving cities in darkness and the sick in despair. When the U.S. Navy and the Authority launch a covert expedition to find the hidden source-a magical portal buried deep in the labyrinth of the Amazon-they coerce Ramona's grandfather into leading the way. Used as leverage in their deadly bargain, Ramona is thrust headfirst into a perilous journey.

SONGBIRDS OF THE VEIL is an upmarket, lyrical YA crossover historical fantasy combining the rich, atmospheric worldbuilding of Alix E. Harrow's 'The Ten Thousand Doors of January' with the high-stakes survival and dark adventure of G. Willow Wilson's 'The Bird King.' 

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

About the Author:

website

Steven McClellen is an emerging author of fantasy and science fiction. He studied architecture and creative writing at the University of Colorado Boulder, and today he works as an architectural designer. His background in historic preservation directly inspires his storytelling; many of his ideas are born while wandering through old buildings and ancient churches, capturing the echoes of the past to build his fictional worlds. Under the pen name Steven Rudy, he authored the epic fantasy series The Luminance Saga. Songbirds of the Veil is his young adult debut. Steven lives in Colorado with his wife and three children. When he isn’t designing houses or cheering at a Broncos game, he is actively working on his next novel. 

IG: @stevenwritesfiction @rrbooktours

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#rrbooktours #songbirdsoftheveil #yafantasybooks #historicalfantasy

Excerpt: Kill Code by Clive Fleury + giveaway

In a world gone wrong, can one man actually make a difference, or will he die trying?

Kill Code
by Clive Fleury
Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction
WHEN THE OCEANS RISE...THE TRUTH DROWNS

It's the year 2031. Our future. Their present. A world decimated by climate catastrophe, where the sun's heat is deadly and the ocean rises higher every day. A world ruled by the rich, powerful, and corrupt. A world where a good man can’t survive for long.

Hogan Duran was a good man once. He was a cop, forced to resign in disgrace when he couldn't save his partner from a bullet. Now Hogan lives on the fraying edges of society, serving cruel masters and scavenging trash dumps just to survive.

But after four years of living in poverty, Hogan finally gets a chance to get back on his feet. He's invited to join the National Security Council, the powerful paramilitary organization responsible for protecting the rich and powerful from the more unsavory elements of society. All he needs to do is pass their deadly entrance exam, and he'll be rewarded with wealth and opportunity beyond his wildest dreams.

But this ex-cop's path to redemption won't be easy. The NSC are hiding something, and as Hogan descends deeper and deeper into their world, he starts to uncover the terrible truth of how the powerful in this new world maintain their power...and just how far they will go to protect their secrets.

In a world gone wrong, can one man actually make a difference, or will he die trying?

Kill Code is the first novel in an exciting new dystopian science fiction series from the mind of award-winning author, screenwriter, and director Clive Fleury. Fans of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, and Divergent by Veronica Roth will be captivated by Kill Code. You'll also love this book if you enjoy:

* Dystopian novels and stories
* Stories about futuristic societies
* Stories about disgraced cops
* Stories about unlikely heroes
* Stories about conspiracies
* Stories about injustice

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The Station: a seething mass of humanity. Some came with hope in their hearts, ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime. For others, it was the only place they had left to go. They had reached rock bottom. Day or night, the scene was always the same: Transporters arrived and departed constantly, full of people desperate to get away from here, from there, from everywhere. Others wandered around the Station aimlessly. These were the homeless, the addicts, the criminals, the thieves and deadbeats. They spent their time begging or looking for something to steal.

And there was always tension in the air. A fight could break out at any moment as these tired and hungry people reached their wits’ ends and lashed out at the world.

Max and I had been waiting there two hours, which was at least one hour and fifty-nine minutes too long but neither of us minded. I kept reaching into my pocket to pull out the letter and stare at it.

“You’ll wear it out, buddy,” said a smiling Max after I had brought the note out a tenth time. “Just accept it. Next stop: Easy Street.”

I pushed the letter back into my pocket. I still couldn’t believe it. I’d been accepted. That was the good news. The bad news was I knew that this letter only confirmed that I had been chosen for NSC training. It was incredibly difficult to get this far, but even so, only a very few would make it to through to the next stage—to become officers. Frankly, I had grave doubts I could make it that far.

Max tapped me on my shoulder and pointed to a transporter that had just pulled in to Dock 10. It had the word Seattle printed above its windshield. It was Max’s ride. “Okay, Hogan, looks like it’s my time to go.”

I moved behind Max’s wheelchair and pushed it through the seething crowd towards the vehicle. It was, like all public transporters nowadays, driverless. So since there was no one to help, it was up to me to put Max’s ticket into the scanner and to lower him into in his allotted seat. After that, I folded his wheelchair and carried the chair to the luggage rack at the front.

As I finished storing the chair, I spotted an attractive woman in her mid-thirties walk up to Max. I watched as she checked the seat number on her ticket. “That is twenty-two N isn’t it?” I heard the woman say to Max as she pointed to the vacant seat next to him.

Max smiled. “It sure is. And you have the luck to be sitting next to Max Creeling.” He held out his hand. “Great to meet you.”

The woman smiled and sat next to him as I returned.

“Okay, Max, time to go. See if you can get someone to help you with the chair at the other end.”

“I think I can organize that,” the woman said. “I’m Lisa.” She pushed out her hand and I shook it.

“Pleased to meet you, Lisa. Thank you for your kind offer. Now, Max, don’t forget when you get to Seattle to keep out of trouble.”

“Will do.”

I high-fived Max. “Bye. And behave yourself.”

“Always.”

I turned quickly and headed for the transporter’s exit door. Almost as soon as I had stepped down from the vehicle, the door slid shut, the last passenger just managing to squeeze on. As the transporter drove off, Max peered out of the window and winked at me before turning to speak animatedly with Lisa. It looked like he had struck it lucky.

I missed him already.

My transporter would be in next. Dock 20. I started to walk towards the number 20 sign, scanning the crowd for those who were waiting for the NSC Transit transporter like me.

A tall, handsome man in his early twenties stepped in front of me, momentarily blocking my way. I glanced across at him. I knew the type. Dangerous and arrogant but the sort of asshole that women love. In fact, two young beautiful girls were with him: long legs, flowing blonde hair, angelic faces. They were obviously twins.

A commotion came from behind, and a middle-aged, scruffy, worn-down man pushed through the crowd, a rusty shotgun in hand. “Hey, you!” he screamed at the guy with the girls. “Those are my daughters, you son of a bitch.”

The handsome man turned, taking in the man and his gun.

“Really,” he replied. “Then I guess I owe you for raising such lovely pleasure units.”

“They aren’t pleasure units, they’re my girls, and they’re only seventeen.”

“Oh, God…I didn’t know,” the handsome man said, looking shocked. “They swore they were fifteen.” He grabbed one of the teenagers and starting to kiss her passionately.

“You bastard,” the older man said, and raised the shotgun, ready to fire. The handsome man pushed away the girl he was kissing, spun around, and yanked the weapon from the father’s hands in one motion. In an instant, the father was looking down the barrel of his own gun.

“The only reason I don’t shoot you right now is ’cause I’m afraid this rusty piece of shit might blow up in my face.” The younger man cracked the gun open and dumped the shells onto the floor. Then he pulled a gleaming handgun from his trousers and leveled it directly at the father’s head. “This, on the other hand, is in perfect working order. Care to test it?”

The father lunged forward, but I grabbed him, pulling him back. “That’s enough.”

The handsome man stared at me. “Well, thank you,” he said, stuffing his pistol back into his pants. “You should thank him too, Dad,” he said to the girls’ father, “you could have got yourself hurt.” He turned away to look at the girls. “Ladies—it’s been a pleasure. I’m sure you won’t forget your time with Jake Teerman.”

“Bye, Jake,” one of them shouted as she consoled her teary-eyed sister.

The man, Jake, quickly headed towards the transporter that had just pulled up at Dock 20.

“I guess some girls like that kind of thing,” a voice behind me said.

I turned. The woman who’d just spoken was strikingly attractive, with long dark hair, piercing blue eyes, and a button nose. She was dressed in form-fitting jeans and a blue blouse that hugged her shapely body. She carried an antique leather holdall.

She held out her hand. “Ruby Mason.”

“Hogan Duran. Pleased to meet you” I said, shaking her hand and pointing at the NSC Transporter. “You getting on board?”

Ruby smiled proudly. “Yep. And you?”

I nodded and glanced at Jake Teerman, who was climbing up the transporter’s stairs.

“He’s going as well. I thought the NSC was more selective.”

“I guess not,” Ruby said.

***

About a hundred of us were cramped on board. Most were in their late teens and early twenties, mainly young men but with a sprinkling of women. I knew I was an old man by their standards. It was a pretty big handicap, and since Max’s shooting, my confidence had never really returned. Was I up to this? The transporter had been pretty quiet from the start, with only a few talking to one another. That was the sensible thing to do. We didn’t know exactly what our training would involve, and to give too much away about yourself at this stage was not a smart strategy.

Ruby and I hadn’t spoken much, either. I’d told her about me being an ex-cop. She’d told me that she was a waitress who had just been fired from her job. The news of NSC acceptance had been the lifeline she’d needed. To keep the conversation going but avoiding any more personal talk, I pointed at the transporter driver. “Haven’t seen one of those for years.”

“Me neither,” Ruby said.

It was a surprise to both of us. Nowadays, cars and trucks were almost all driverless. When they were first introduced, people had willingly given up their vehicles and relied on driverless taxis to get around. Before long, all trucks had been made driverless, too, and as demand for ‘driven’ cars fell, the industry collapsed: factories closed and workers were made redundant, joining the thousands of professional drivers in the ranks of the unemployed.

The NSC was one of the few employers who kept their drivers on, not trusting the security of driverless vehicles. Onboard computers could be hacked, they reasoned. It was difficult to accomplish, of course, but it was a risk the organization wasn’t prepared to take.

The view from the vehicle was a revelation to me, too, even though as a cop, I had traveled all over the city. In the four years since resigning from the force, the landscape had changed dramatically. I could see the wealthy zones with their well-lit stores, malls, and schools. These were surrounded by rows of affluent suburban homes, some of which had glistening swimming pools in their back yards. Cars shunted along the wide, clean boulevards, and children played happily in the lush green parks. The zones were protected by high steel-mesh fences hung with huge searchlights. Gun-toting guards, walking with vicious-looking dogs on leashes, manned checkpoints along the border.

In contrast, most of the city’s other zones looked like they’d been bombed out. There were no green spaces: the schools were huge, gray, factory-like buildings; the few stores were tiny, temporary structures; and hardly any cars traveled the crumbling roads that often looked impassable anyway. Homes were, for the most part, a mixture of temporary-looking Nissan huts or constructions built out of old wood and corrugated metal sheets.

As the transporter sped on and darkness fell, the signs of decay and dereliction increased. Tents replaced houses and roads became fewer and fewer. When the vehicle finally left what remained of the town and descended from the freeway down onto the open road, the lights inside were dimmed. People slumped back in their chairs, trying to get as comfortable as possible to sleep.

“Night,” said Ruby, shutting her eyes.

“Night,” I said, and did the same.

***

I awoke hours later, my legs aching, my back in pain. I really was getting old.

I stared out and saw that the sun had just started to peek over the horizon. Soon it would be high in the sky, streaming through the transporter’s tinted windows. If I was to die and somehow found myself in purgatory, it would probably look like this: dirty brown wasteland stretching out as far as the eye could see. On the horizon was a mountain range. But these boasted no romantic, snow-covered summits glistening in the sun: just steep, hostile, rocky escarpments layered with brown dust.

Ruby opened her eyes. “Hi,” she said, stretching and pulling herself up.

“Morning.”

Ruby turned to look out the window. She shivered. “Is this Hell?” she asked.

“Sure looks like it.”

“Three more hours,” Ruby said, yawning.

“Yeah, maybe,” I said, peering at the small clock positioned high over the driver’s head. I reached into my pocket for my old flip phone, and then remembered we’d had to leave all electronic gear with the driver. The NSC expressly forbade anyone to carry anything that could be used to reveal where we were going. I doubted if the clock really showed the correct time. It would be too easy to work out where you were from the time traveled.

Ruby gave a start. “Oh my God.” She was staring out the window. I followed her gaze. In the distance, a band of bikers were riding through the wasteland, heading towards the transporter. I recognized them. “Krails,” I said. “I’ve never seen them up close.”

Others on the transporter had seen the Krails, too. They watched fascinated as the gang approached. As they came closer, I could make out the lined, tough faces of the riders. Although all were dressed in the same tight black leathers, some wore black bandanas or had long scarves covering their necks and faces. Many had grown their hair out, letting it fall down to their waist, while others had it shaved off completely. It was hard to tell the women from the men. All looked equally tough, with lined faces browned in the sun.

More than anything else, Krails were proud of their bikes. Despite the dust, each machine had been meticulously cleaned so their chrome and steel handle bars shone. Some riders had bows slung over their shoulders, quivers of arrows hanging from their belts. Others carried long hunting knives stuck into ornate belts, and handguns stuffed into leather holsters. The man on the lead bike looked huge and terrifying. He was bald, and his face was crisscrossed with long scars.

Ruby made a face. “Disgusting. How can anyone live like that?”

“Maybe they ask the same thing about us,” I said as the transporter accelerated away.

Staring back, I saw the big bald man, the Krail leader, raise his hand and indicate the rocky outcrops on the horizon. Pulling his bike around, he started to ride in the direction he’d indicated. The others followed in V-formation.

About the Author:
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Clive Fleury is an award-winning writer of books and screenplays and has worked all over the world as a Film/TV director, writer and producer. He has written six books, most recently 'All Or None', the second novel in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series.

'All Or None' sees Detective Ryan back in the thick of things. His latest investigation into a mysterious death couldn’t come at a worse time. He discovers his mother is hiding a troubling secret and is further sidetracked by a new romance. Fans of who dunnit's, crime thrillers, and cop and detective stories will love this novel.

Clive's other books include 'Off Season' - book one in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series; 'Kill Code' - a dystopian science fiction novel set in a world facing climate change; ‘Scary Lizzy’ - a novel about an eight year old girl, who befriends an African child ghost – and the teen action adventure book; ‘The Boy Next Door ‘ - a story of what happens when a teenage girl has a crush on her next door neighbor, who isn’t all he seems. He also co-wrote ‘Art Pengriffin and The Curse of The Four’ - a young adult fantasy adventure about a teenage boy who discovers his father was Merlin the Magician.

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The Half Kasst by Delilah Belvedere + giveaway

An ancient bloodline.
A forgotten war.
A woman destined to awaken both.

The Half Kasst
by Delilah Belvedere
September 8, 2026 
Genre: Paranormal Vampire Romance, Urban Fantasy
After a charged encounter ignites something ancient in her blood, Sarai Davis becomes entangled in a world of hidden magic where pleasure and danger are inseparable.

A shocking prophecy shatters her reality: Sarai is a Half Kasst, descended from an erased bloodline and born to stand against a secret network of aristocratic vampires.

Now hunted, Sarai must reclaim a legacy meant to be wiped from history, and embrace her power before the forces hunting her finish what they began millennia ago. But power always demands payment.

**Releases Sep 8, 2026 – PreOrder Now!**
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About the Author:
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Delilah Belvedere is a Kenyan-born, Washington, D.C.–based author and keynote speaker whose stories weave together mythology, sensuality, and power. Her writing blends African-inspired mythology with nontraditional vampires, witches, immersive worldbuilding, and unapologetically sensual storytelling, exploring themes of identity, legacy, and self-discovery through bold, unforgettable characters. Drawn to the spaces where ancestral magic, forbidden desire, and hidden histories collide, Delilah creates worlds where passion is transformative, power is inherited, and destiny is written in blood. Through every story, she champions authenticity, body positivity, curiosity, and the courage to embrace one’s truest self. When she’s not writing, Delilah is exploring new cuisines, hosting backyard BBQs, or binge-watching her next favorite series. 

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