Antoine Bandele

The sickness was severe… …and there was one known potion that could save him. Was piracy the only chance they had? Zala wasn’t skilled with a sword. She wasn’t blessed with magic. But she knew the Sapphire Seas well. Plundering and raiding was an art of its own, and she got by on her wits. Yet she was running out of time. She needed the big score to save her husband. What was her next move? Before she even knew it… …the game changed. High above them, off the coast of the Ibabi Isles, a strange airship was headed their way. Zala had never seen anything like it. The battle was imminent. And she was going to need more than her bag of tricks. You’ll love this adventure inspired by the West Indies, The Swahili Coast, and Arabia, because Zala will encounter ruthless raiders, arrogant aristocrats, and imperial secrets. It will keep you turning the pages.

The first collection in the ongoing series of shorts, novelettes, and novellas compiling fantasy stories from the world of Esowon.Inside, you'll find dastardly beasts, tortured monks, and unexpected lovers in a set of tales that'll transport you to lands lost to time.The collection includes:Last of My KindWhen the war with the humans started, there were hundreds of us. Then it was just me and Father. Now it's just me.A Servant's WorkAmana has a special gift to see into the future. But one day something goes horribly wrong, something he never foresaw.Hearts in the DarkShe's a princess. He's a demon. They couldn't be any more wrong for each other. But when they find themselves stuck in a cave together they discover an undeniable connection.Delve into these companion novellas to The Kishi, an African fantasy based on Angola folklore.

When the war with the humans started, there were hundreds of us, then it was just me and Father. Now it’s just me.   Uzoma, known throughout the land as the Human’s Savior, the Great and Mighty, the Kishi Killer, has been devastating the demons called the kishi. After Yemi’s father’s becomes his latest casualty, Yemi realizes that he is all that is left of his kind. Set on avenging his father, he must begin a dark journey down a path he’s not ready for. Because taking Uzoma down will not be easy. He has the village of Bajok under his thumb and possesses a weapon not even the humans know about.  But Yemi knows something. A secret known only to him and Uzoma. Will Yemi be able to use that secret to take down such a renowned and mighty warrior? Delve into this companion novelette to The Kishi, an African fantasy based on Angola folklore.

An African fantasy based on the Angola folklore of the kishi! The Kishi—shape-shifting demons who lure young women to gruesome deaths. They can’t be real, can they? Something has slain a villager, and the locals of Bajok point their fingers at Amana, a pacifist monk running from his dark past. But Amana knows there’s something else, something much darker, lurking in the village. Can he save the village, his name, and his principles? To save one would mean the sacrifice of the others, if he has the strength.

***Optioned for motion-picture adapation.***TJ Young has been surrounded by magic his entire life, yet he has never tapped into it... until now.Fourteen-year-old TJ grew up normal in a secret community of gifted diviners in the heart of modern-day Los Angeles. His powerful sister was ordained to lead his people into a new age of prosperity, but her mysterious death in Nigeria threatens to destroy the very foundations of TJ's world. Desperate to pick up where his sister left off and uncover the secrets behind her questionable death, TJ commits himself to unlocking the magical heritage that has always eluded him. So he enrolls in Camp Olosa-a remedial magic school for the divinely less-than-gifted in the humid swamps of New Orleans. But little does he know, TJ is destined to cross paths with powerful spirits of old thought lost to the orishas. Delve into this young adult fantasy based on the mythology of the West African Orishas, where TJ will encounter unlikely allies, tough-as-gatorhide instructors, and the ancient secrets of the orishas.