Epic Fantasy Adventures, Books, Lore, and More!

Melinda Kucsera
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Science Fiction
  • Semiweekly

I am Melinda Kucsera, an indie fantasy author, and I narrate chapters from my adventure books, talk about fantasy books with fantasy authors and try my best not to get derailed by the shenanigans of characters who are supposed to be fictional, but they don't stay within the pages of my books. I tell all their secrets and what trouble they get into in between books, and I try to get other fantasy authors to give away spoilers about their books.

  1. 5d ago

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Legends from the Ashes

    Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, Cortney S. Lamar joined me to talk about their fantasy book, Legends from the Ashes. What’s it about? In an empire of animal shifters Zyanya is the lone human-an outsider bound by limits yet driven to break them. Desperate to make a name for herself while trying to save the very village that has shunned her, she becomes an unwilling pawn in the quest for the emperor's high priest to take over the throne. She will have to find a way to help Emperor Cuauhtemoc–who, after the sudden loss of his father, detests his position–find his will and heart to rule over his people all while battling mythological beasts and facing charges of kidnapping, treason, and using outlawed magic.Despite years of tireless dedication to her people, Zyanya is still seen as an outsider after she is denied a hualli–an animal spirit which all citizens of Tamoanchan receive when they are thirteen. When the opportunity presents itself to save her starving village, she seizes the chance to plead with Emperor Cuauhtemoc, unaware that her request will ignite a decades-long conspiracy by the power-hungry high priest to take control of the throne.When she stumbles (literally) upon the nearly dead emperor after the high priest's botched assassination attempt, she is thrust into a dangerous adventure and must navigate a treacherous forest of fierce beasts, escape captivity in a hidden village, and convince the emperor to care more about his people and less about himself. As the lone non-shifter, she will have to draw on every ounce of her strength and ingenuity to save the empire, save her village, and clear her name.Inspired by the strange world of Aztec mythology, Legends from the Ashes plunges you into a world of animal spirits, shapeshifters, mythical beasts, ancient magic, friendship, love, and self-discovery.Where to get the book: Amazon: https://a.co/d/0ehMLuIg BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/legends-from-the-ashes-cortney-s-lamar/1150144492?ean=9781964823041 Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Legends-from-Ashes/Cortney-S-Lamar/9781964823041 Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Legends-from-the-Ashes-Book-One-Paperback-9781964823041/20297165222?classType=REGULAR&from=/search Author website: www.authorcortneyslamar.com Where to find our guest: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CAsHAynT4/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorcortneyslamar?stkn=M2tlcmd3c3JucHQ2 Where to find your host: Melinda’s website: https://melindakucsera.com/ Melinda’s Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed Riders of the Apocalypse Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/melindakucsera/two-riders-of-the-apocalypse-illustrated-epic-fantasy-quests Back now! It ends on Nov. 12, 2026.

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Legends from the Ashes

  2. 6d ago

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites

    Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, L. E. Bendon joined me to talk about his fantasy book, The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites. What’s it about? Melisma Gat had put any ideas of a career in magic and adventure behind her long ago. Now all she wants is to run her inn, entertain locals and tourists, and provide that one final decent night's sleep for adventurers (whether seasoned pros or hopeful trainees) before they head off into the forest for whatever ridiculously dangerous quest some rich idiot from the nearby city of Twunhorm has decided to fund.But Melisma's modest and reasonable ambitions suddenly become a lot less realistic when her nightly performance is interrupted by two large creatures bursting into her inn. The city has declared emergency lockdown and it falls upon her to lead a party of trainees off the script of their final examination quest and halfway up an imposing mountain, so that she can get back to her simple life and, if it's not too much to ask, save most of the city's population from being devoured, torn to shreds, or whatever the unleashed magical hybrid creatures have in mind.Why halfway up a mountain? They'll just have to ask the villain when they get there. Maybe she doesn't believe you can have high fantasy at sea level. To find out, Melisma is first going to have to lead her inexperienced team to overcome obstacles, defeat henchmen, solve riddles and avoid being eaten. All she has at her disposal are distant memories of her incomplete training, knowledge of a few simple spells, a couple of books she barely remembers buying and the unreliable translation skills of her pampered pet cat.Discworld meets Knightmare on a planet with purple plants, a magic system inspired by music theory, and adventure questing as a serious field of academia. The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites has all of the quirky humour you've come to expect from the author of The Weapon and the Fruit series, but with added satire and no murders.Where to get the book: Paperbacks from the Printer: https://www.aneurysmcupcake.com/paperbackpurchase.htm Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/in/en/ebook/the-dungeon-campaign-for-animal-rites Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H26N37S7 From the Publisher: https://store.pothi.com/book/l-e-bendon-dungeon-campaign-animal-rites/ Other stores: Http://mybook.to/DCAR Where to find our guest: @authorbendon (threads/instagram) @L_E_Bendon (twitter) @lebendon.com (BlueSky) http://www.lebendon.com http://www.aneurysmcupcake.com Where to find your host: Melinda’s website: https://melindakucsera.com/ Melinda’s Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites

  3. Oct 17

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Renn

    Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, Andrew Shaw joined me to talk about her fantasy book, Renn. What’s it about? Renn is a tale told against the backdrop of the rise and fall of China’s first empire from the point of view of the two characters at the centre of the story. The first narrator is a princess kidnapped and sold to a brothel, who must seduce a foreign king to gain her freedom. The second narrator is her warrior husband who becomes willing to tear down the empire he helped build to rescue her. Renn can be read as a traditional epic fantasy, as a Grimdark novel, or as a Romantasy. Where to get the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HN7PN7C9 Where to find our guest: Email: 3curzon@gmail.com Author Website: https://andrewshawauthor.com/ Jade Website: https://www.jadefiend.com/ Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@andrewshaw8306 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.j.shaw.9/ Podcast: https://dalu34341.podbean.com/ Instagram: andrewshaw8735 Where to find your host: Melinda’s website: https://melindakucsera.com/ Melinda’s Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embedhttps://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Renn

  4. Oct 17

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: The Bitch Captain and The Lady

    Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, V. Yospe and J. Flynn joined me to talk about their fantasy book, The Bitch Captain and The Lady What’s it about? Izzy’s Story: Bermuda My sister promised to take me on an unforgettable summer vacation. I didn’t realize she meant a trip to the seventeenth century. Izzy St. Germaine is an overachiever with a charmed life – privileged, polished, and perfectly on track. When her adoptive sister, Anne, invites her along for a Sisterly Summer at Sea, it feels like the break she’s long overdue for. There’s just one little thing. Anne, who has been living a double life as a time traveler, doesn’t mention that their true destination is Somers Isles, 1649. Thrust into a world straight from her beloved historical romance novels, Izzy takes on the alias and persona of the silken-clad Lady Isabelle, her only protection in a world of slavers and brigands. Join Izzy on a (mostly) light hearted romp through the Renaissance as she uses her modern knowledge to navigate a world of corsets, seventeenth century table manners, and flirting – all while unearthing Anne’s secrets and connections to the past. Izzy’s Story: Bermuda follows Izzy’s side of this epic tale. Anne: Bermuda How, exactly, does one confess to being a secret time traveler? That’s the question plaguing Anne St. Germaine. By all appearances, Anne is an enigmatic solo sailor, gone for months at a time on her ship. In reality, she is a frequent visitor to the past, where she has acquired a reputation as a pirate as well as a nom de guerre: The Bitch Captain of the Seven Seas. Now that the time has finally come to say goodbye to the 21st century, Anne decides to reveal her secret by taking her sister Izzy back in time to the Somers Isles of 1649 - without informing her of their true destination. But the uninitiated and very modern Izzy proves to be a bigger challenge than Anne expects, thrusting both of them into one perilous situation after another. Will Anne be successful in integrating Izzy into her world? Or will this attempt at unburdening her soul end in disaster for their relationship? Get your copy of Anne: Bermuda to follow Anne’s side of this epic journey through time. Where to get the book: Izzy’s Story: Bermuda: https://mybook.to/2l3A Anne: Bermuda: https://mybook.to/88Td Where to find our guests: https://www.thebitchcaptainandthelady.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theladyisabelle?stkn=MW9hZmRlc3BzM2JldQ== Where to find your host: Melinda’s website: https://melindakucsera.com/ Melinda’s Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embedhttps://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: The Bitch Captain and The Lady

  5. Oct 16

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: The Silence of Deceit

    Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, Jillian Eagan joined me to talk about her fantasy book, The Silence of Deceit. What’s it about? When Eldon Durane executes a noble family and extinguishes all magic, he ignites a war that spans generations. Two decades later, Lady Rosalie Yorke and her best friend, Silence, are uprooted from their comfortable lives to escape the spreading war. But Rosalie's world shatters when ruthless raiders kidnap her—only for her fate to collide with Crowe, the notorious pirate captain of the Deceit.Crowe wants nothing to do with Seity’s political turmoil, but the thirst for revenge leads him to Rosalie. Hoping to change his luck, he decides to extort Rosalie’s father for a ransom.Rosalie refuses to be anyone’s pawn, and Crowe has no patience for nobility. As the two bicker and dodge danger, Seity’s long-buried secrets begin to emerge from the shadows. With Eldon's deadly plan looming, Rosalie and Crowe must set aside their differences. Should they fail, Rosalie may lose everything.Where to get the book: https://books2read.com/u/mVv5dJ https://jillianeaganauthor.com Where to find our guest: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillisbookshelf?igsh=eXl4eGlxc205dDZ0&utm_source=qr Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jilliansbookshelf?_t=ZP-8y56j4WYnJG&_r=1 Newsletter: https://jillianeaganauthor.com Where to find your host: Melinda’s website: https://melindakucsera.com/ Melinda’s Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: The Silence of Deceit

  6. Oct 10

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Splinters of the Soul

    Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, N.R.Farias joined me to talk about her fantasy book, Splinters of the Soul. What’s it about? When Brazilian engineering student Marie leaves the slums of her hometown for a coveted internship in Germany, she believes she’s just choosing her career. Instead, she uncovers a truth long buried: witches are real, and she was meant to be one of them. But her magic never awakened.Now, an entire world is paying the price.Sapiendra, a hidden island bound to Marie’s witchcraft, is collapsing. Its magic perishes, its defenses crumble, and siphons invade, consuming what little remains. And they won’t stop there.Her island isn’t the only thing in danger.In the human world, witches are being hunted.To save her island and stop those hunting her kind, Marie must reclaim her magic and confront memories shaped to break her. Because the deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes: Her power was not lost. It was locked away. And whoever did it is still coming for her. Where to get the book: Sign up to receive an advanced reader copy (ARC): https://forms.gle/grYzVVk3qee1XjAY8 Get the book: https://books2read.com/u/4DLEdA Where to find our guest: Website: https://nrfarias.com/ @nrfarias_author (Instagram, Threads and TikTok) Newsletter: https://prologue.nrfarias.com/ Where to find your host: Melinda’s website: https://melindakucsera.com/ Melinda’s Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Splinters of the Soul

  7. Oct 4

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Channel & Books Update & What’s Next

    Hi I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and today, I give a short channel update, give an update my Riders of the Apocalypse Series and the upcoming Kickstarter, and what I’m writing next (Curse Breaker Unleashed). Follow the kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/melindakucsera/two-riders-of-the-apocalypse-illustrated-epic-fantasy-quests If you want to read Curse Breaker Unleashed as I write it, head over to: my Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/p/curse-breaker-unleashed-toc or my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/melindakucsera/posts/curse-breaker-170076707 and sign up for a paid tier. My newsletter is free and is the best way to stay up-to-date on what I am writing and what the characters are doing since they control it. Sarn’s son from the Curse Breaker Series (Ran) runs the newsletter. Sign up for that on Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed To read the archives going back to 2017 when the newsletter first started, head over to my blog on my website: https://melindakucsera.com/blog/ All previous newsletters are free to read, and I maintain a continuous archive on my blog by adding new issues as they release. There are a few issues that I had to take down because I wrote two full novels in the newsletter, which were later released as novels, and Amazon would not let me publish the books even though they were not in Kindle Unlimited until I unpublished those issues. Other than that, it’s a complete record.

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Channel & Books Update & What’s Next

  8. Sep 28

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Brightest Burning

    Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, Krishna D. Patel joined me to talk about his fantasy book, Brightest Burning. What’s it about? For fans of multi-POV political conspiracy, this epic fantasy features a rules-based, dual magic system with a brutal physical toll, a slow-burn romance, and a "chosen one" epic turned whodunit.The prophecy had a savior. Zeta killed her.Sampi was the “Brightest Born,” the golden child destined to defend the island nation of Aios. Now she is dead, and Zeta, her fellow soldier, sits in a cell awaiting execution for her murder. Zeta claims it was an accident. The government calls it treason.But with the Chosen One gone, the ruthless colonialist X’Os empire is poised to strike, threatening to eradicate Aios’ magic, religion, and freedom. On the eve of her execution, Zeta is offered a shady backroom deal: her life in exchange for smuggling a priceless artifact off the island.A disparate group of outcasts must expose the truth behind the savior's death before the empire closes in. Each perspective is needed to unearth a crucial piece of the puzzle: a fugitive soldier fleeing her own guilt, a brooding rebel hunting rare magic, a cynical sapphic journalist fighting imperial propaganda, a deadly assassin bound by a fatal blood pact, and a patriotic captain torn between duty and state-sanctioned violence.In a world where magic comes with conditions, this found family must solve the murder before an invasion strikes, and the erasure of ancient, vanished gods dooms them all. Where to get the book: https://a.co/d/07yTj9oR Where to find our guest: Website: www.krishnadpatel.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krishnadpatelbooks Newsletter: www.krishnadpatel.com Where to find your host: Melinda’s website: https://melindakucsera.com/ Melinda’s Substack: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed

    Fantasy, Lore, & More: Brightest Burning
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I am Melinda Kucsera, an indie fantasy author, and I narrate chapters from my adventure books, talk about fantasy books with fantasy authors and try my best not to get derailed by the shenanigans of characters who are supposed to be fictional, but they don't stay within the pages of my books. I tell all their secrets and what trouble they get into in between books, and I try to get other fantasy authors to give away spoilers about their books.

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