K M Szpara

K.M. Szpara's First, Become Ashes is a fantasy standalone adventure that explores self-discovery after trauma and outgrowing abusive origins over the course of an American road trip. The Fellowship raised Lark to kill monsters.His partner betrayed them to the Feds.But Lark knows his magic is real, and he'll do anything to complete his quest. For thirty years, the Fellowship of the Anointed isolated its members, conditioning them to believe that pain is power. That magic is suffering. That the world beyond the fence has fallen prey to monsters. But when their leader is arrested, all her teachings come into question. Those touched by the Fellowship face a choice: how will they adjust to the world they were taught to fear, and how will they relate to the cult's last crusader, Lark? For Kane, survival means rejecting the magic he and his lover suffered for. For Deryn, the cult's collapse is an opportunity to prove they are worth as much as their Anointed brother. For Calvin, Lark is the alluring embodiment of the magic he's been seeking his entire life. But for Lark, the Fellowship isn't over. Before he can begin to discover himself and heal a lifetime of traumas, he has a monster to slay.

K. M. Szpara follows Docile, one of the most anticipated science fiction novels of 2020, with First, Become Ashes, a fantastic standalone adventure that blends pain and pleasure and will make readers question what is real, and what is magical. The Fellowship raised Lark to kill monsters. His partner betrayed them to the Feds. But Lark knows his magic is real, and he'll do anything to complete his quest. Lark spent the first twenty-four years, nine months, and three days of his life training for a righteous quest: to rid the world of monsters. Alongside his partner Kane, he wore the cage and endured the scourge in order to develop his innate magic. He never thought that when Kane left, he'd next see him in the company of FBI agents and a SWAT team. He never dreamed that the leader of the Fellowship of the Anointed would be brought up on charges of abuse and assault. He never expected the government would tell him that the monsters aren't real--that there is no magic, and all the pain was for nothing. Lark isn't ready to give up. He is determined to fulfill his quest, to defeat the monsters he was promised. Along the way he will grapple with the past, confront love, and discover his long-buried truth. First, Become Ashes contains explicit sadomasochism and sexual content, as well as abuse and consent violations, including rape.

To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract, to pay your parents' debts and buy your childrens' future. Elisha's family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family's debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug. Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains behind Dociline - but when Elisha refuses the drug, Alex is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it.