Tombtown

A Librarians-and-Necromancy Fantasy Novel with Small Town Charm in a City of the Dead The others believe in blood and bone. Ree believes in books. She manages the libraries and draws maps for the denizens of her hometown, a secret society of necromancers hiding in a sprawling underground crypt. Though they look down on her for not practicing their craft, Ree has bigger ambitions than raising the dead. She's going to resurrect therianthropy, the ancient magic of shapeshifting. Or at least -- she'll do it if it really exists. And if she can find the books that prove it. But Smythe, a chatty historian from the world above, stumbles into the crypt and takes a curse meant for Ree. Now she has to find a way to save him, keep the townsfolk off her back, and convince her necromancer parents that shapeshifting is a viable career path. Ree is certain that if she and Smythe combine their scholarly skill sets, they'll find the right books to solve their problems. But Ree's search for power might put the entire town in danger, and her father and the other townsfolk want Smythe dead lest he reveal their home to a world that hates them. A dark and sweet story with an asexual protagonist and a touch of romance.

This short story takes place after BOOKS AND BONE. Veritas is special. He's a visionary, a necromancer-on-the-rise with scientific principals. But his latest experiment is failing, and he'll need more help than his scuttling skull minion can provide. Perhaps the travelling tinker passing through town will prove useful ⁠- he can always use another pair of hands, after all …

What do the dead have to fear?Something strange is happening in sleepy subterranean Tombtown. Necromancers are disappearing. The crypt is changing. And crimson fungi are spreading.Usther is seeking purpose, so when the goddess of undying calls on her to investigate an unknown threat to the crypt, she jumps at the chance. She is lost and lonely and determined to do something.Ree is searching for her missing mentor. An archivist and shapeshifter, she knows the crypt better than anyone, but she soon discovers that it is fast becoming unfamiliar to her-and dangerous to everyone she loves.For Tombtown to survive, Usther and Ree will have to face nightmarish mushrooms, self-righteous paladins, and their own traumatic pasts. Because whatever is happening has something to do with the traitorous friend they've both been trying to forget for eight years.Chandrian Smythe.