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Locks & Keys: A Fantasy Anthology
Not yet published
Expected 14 Oct 25Will a persecuted witch give the kingdom's heir what he deserves? Does the squad of plucky rebels find a way out of an infiltration gone wrong? How can a street urchin survive in the shadow of a infamous gang? Can a thief brave the belly of the beast in search of a treasure that will never be hers? How sinister can a bond be between an orphan and her mother?
Pirates raid a fishing island in the sky. A sickly girl pushes past the threshold for Demonsnight. An apprentice gloomsinger comes face to face with what he fears most. With her life on the line, a cook prepares one last dish. A demon girl flies to the city of humans, begging them to change.
Ten unique fantasy stories by ten different authors. Dragons, sky pirates, and even samurai inhabit these pages. Locks, keys, and secrets loom over all.
Pirates raid a fishing island in the sky. A sickly girl pushes past the threshold for Demonsnight. An apprentice gloomsinger comes face to face with what he fears most. With her life on the line, a cook prepares one last dish. A demon girl flies to the city of humans, begging them to change.
Ten unique fantasy stories by ten different authors. Dragons, sky pirates, and even samurai inhabit these pages. Locks, keys, and secrets loom over all.
294 pages, ebook
Expected publication October 14, 2025
8 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 24, 2025
A truly beautiful collection of short stories. Thank you to the Secret Scribes for allowing me to read this as an e-ARC.
This anthology is very well written, all of the stories are at least a 3.5 stars but the stand outs for me are:
- Cold Mutiny by Tom Bookbeard (5-stars)
- Raven’s Rise by L.M. Douglas (5-stars)
- A three-knock problem by R.A. Sandpiper (4.5 stars)
Raven’s Rise in particular was giving Oliver Twist / Lost Boys vibes but in a gruelling and unforgiving setting.
If you’re a fantasy lover, and want to be transported to world after world of magic, mythos, and murder then grab this anthology with both hands!
This anthology is very well written, all of the stories are at least a 3.5 stars but the stand outs for me are:
- Cold Mutiny by Tom Bookbeard (5-stars)
- Raven’s Rise by L.M. Douglas (5-stars)
- A three-knock problem by R.A. Sandpiper (4.5 stars)
Raven’s Rise in particular was giving Oliver Twist / Lost Boys vibes but in a gruelling and unforgiving setting.
If you’re a fantasy lover, and want to be transported to world after world of magic, mythos, and murder then grab this anthology with both hands!
August 29, 2025
Thank you for the arc of this anthology.
It’s unusual for me to read short story collections, so this was a refreshing change of pace. I really enjoyed being able to dip in for half an hour and come away having finished a complete story.
The standout pieces for me were:
• A Three Knock Problem
• The Winter Witch
• Cadreigh’s Penance
All of the stories were engaging, and I loved the variety of fantasy sub genres.
This anthology is a great way to open yourself up to new authors and get an idea of their writing style without diving in to a whole novel.
It’s unusual for me to read short story collections, so this was a refreshing change of pace. I really enjoyed being able to dip in for half an hour and come away having finished a complete story.
The standout pieces for me were:
• A Three Knock Problem
• The Winter Witch
• Cadreigh’s Penance
All of the stories were engaging, and I loved the variety of fantasy sub genres.
This anthology is a great way to open yourself up to new authors and get an idea of their writing style without diving in to a whole novel.
September 13, 2025
Thank you to all the The Secret Scribes for the ARC. It was a refreshing change of pace to read shorter stories from various authors and I loved how different each story was. I never knew what to expect from the new story and some of them truly surprised me! This is a great collection and I appreciate that the stories are written with the author’s native spelling. This is also a great way to get to know each author’s writing style a bit more!
These stories were the highlights for me:
- A Three-Knock Problem by R.A. Sandpiper
- Raven’s Rise by L.M. Douglas
- The Winter Witch by Bella Dunn (my favourite)
- Cadreigh’s Penance by Dave Lawson
These stories were the highlights for me:
- A Three-Knock Problem by R.A. Sandpiper
- Raven’s Rise by L.M. Douglas
- The Winter Witch by Bella Dunn (my favourite)
- Cadreigh’s Penance by Dave Lawson
September 14, 2025
Locks & Keys is one of those pretty books you can just recommend to anyone. There's just a lot of everything, for every taste!
It's a thematic anthology, and it delivers much and varied enjoyment throughout its 250 pages.
In a sense, this anthology feels like unlocking old memories, of the time we were kids and grabbed whatever was at hand to read.
In this book I got to meet old favorites of mine, like GJ Terral, Dave Lawson and Rob Sanders, among others and also allowed me to discover great new others, like Bella Dunn, R. A. Sandpiper or Tom Bookbeard.
The stories all talk about locks and keys, literal and figuratively. And they all have very interesting twists and turns, which I will never reveal in a review. Not even mentioning which of them I think are the best.
These stories serve as perfect examples of what you can get with their books. I now know I want to read Bella's and Tom's works. They left me wanting more.
I rambled enough to say that you should really grab this book and enjoy the many different and diverse trips these amazing authors are proposing to us.
It's a thematic anthology, and it delivers much and varied enjoyment throughout its 250 pages.
In a sense, this anthology feels like unlocking old memories, of the time we were kids and grabbed whatever was at hand to read.
In this book I got to meet old favorites of mine, like GJ Terral, Dave Lawson and Rob Sanders, among others and also allowed me to discover great new others, like Bella Dunn, R. A. Sandpiper or Tom Bookbeard.
The stories all talk about locks and keys, literal and figuratively. And they all have very interesting twists and turns, which I will never reveal in a review. Not even mentioning which of them I think are the best.
These stories serve as perfect examples of what you can get with their books. I now know I want to read Bella's and Tom's works. They left me wanting more.
I rambled enough to say that you should really grab this book and enjoy the many different and diverse trips these amazing authors are proposing to us.
September 4, 2025
I absolutely loved all the stories in this anthology. Each one is vastly different, like stepping into a brand-new adventure every time. My personal favorites were A Three-Knock Problem, Rebels Without A Clue, and The Winter Witch. Each of these left me wanting to know more about their worlds and characters.
It was a lot of fun being able to experience the range of stories and voices from all the authors. I’d happily recommend this anthology to anyone who loves short stories and fantasy.
It was a lot of fun being able to experience the range of stories and voices from all the authors. I’d happily recommend this anthology to anyone who loves short stories and fantasy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews