David Anthony Durham

“David Anthony Durham has serious chops. I can’t wait to read whatever he writes next."
—George R. R. Martin
Welcome to Acacia . . .
 
Born into generations of prosperity, the four royal children of the Akaran dynasty know little of the world outside their opulent island paradise. But when an assassin strikes at the heart of their power, their lives are changed forever.
 
Forced to flee

...

Ash has never known his parents or a life outside his small desert town. For years, he's been training for some mysterious purpose, though his mentor has never divulged what that might be. Then Ash's twelfth birthday comes with an incredible reveal: he is one of very few children raised to audition to be the prince's Shadow, a lifelong bodyguard, confidante, and friend. Ash has to survive five days of grueling physical tests proctored by various Egyptian...

Officer Francis, vigilante joker "The Infamous Black Tongue, " and ace thief Tesseract are forced by a cold-blooded Baba Yaga into an illegal fight ring as part of her effort to placate a vicious monster from another dimension.

An alien virus ravages the world, its results as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw an ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and are bizarrely mutated. Nevertheless, human nature reigns supreme. And one of the most enduring human drives is the search for love. Aces and jokers alike both want to find it, or have lost it . . . or perhaps just want to use it for personal gain. Crazy, unconventional,...