#the ashtown burials

[twofoursixohjuan]

i realise this fandom is non-existent and all but i am having tremendous brainrot about dan smith: trans edition

[xtarotdollx]

Hey Jekyll and Hyde moots, can I please interest you in the Dr Jekyll knock off from my childhood

His name is Dr Phoenix and he is the slimiest bastard ever I’m going feral over him again

(I’ll have better art soon take this please)

[kanerallels]

Girl help I just finished the last Ashtown Burials book and I am Not Okay

[book--brackets]

Once & Future by Kieron Gillan (2019-2022)

When a group of Nationalists use an ancient artifact to bring a villain from Arthurian myth back from the dead to gain power, ex-monster hunter Bridgette McGuire escapes her retirement home and pulls her unsuspecting grandson Duncan, a museum curator, into a world of magic and mysticism to defeat a legendary threat.

Ashtown Burials by N. D. Wilson (2011-2013)

For two years, Cyrus and Antigone Smith have run a sagging roadside motel with their older brother, Daniel. Nothing ever seems to happen. Then a strange old man with bone tattoos arrives, demanding a specific room. 

Less than 24 hours later, the old man is dead. The motel has burned, and Daniel is missing. And Cyrus and Antigone are kneeling in a crowded hall, swearing an oath to an order of explorers who have long served as caretakers of the world's secrets, keepers of powerful relics from lost civilizations, and jailers to unkillable criminals who have terrorized the world for millennia.

Zachary Ying by Xiran Jay Zhao (2022)

12-year-old Zack never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open. 

The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers. 

And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.

Lady Sally's by Spider Robinson (1989-1992)

Wife of time traveling bartender Mike Callahan, and employer of some of the most unusual and talented performing artists ever to work in the field of hedonic interface, Her Ladyship has designed her House to be an "equal opportunity enjoyer," discreetly, tastefully and joyfully catering to all erotic tastes and fantasies, however unusual. Like her famous husband, Lady Sally doesn't even insist that her customers be "human."..as long as they have good manners.

Small wonder, then, that she and her staff encounter beings as unique and memorable as the superhuman Colt, whose banner never, ever flags...Diana, the deadly dominatrix who "cannot" be disobeyed...Tony Donuts, the moronic man-monster even the Mafia doesn't want to mess with...or Charles, the werewolf with a distinct difference...

Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner (1990)

A minstrel lives by his words, his tunes, and sometimes by his lies. But when the bold and gifted young Thomas the Rhymer awakens the desire of the powerful Queen of Elfland, he finds that words are not enough to keep him from his fate. As the Queen sweeps him far from the people he has known and loved into her realm of magic, opulence--and captivity--he learns at last what it is to be truly human. When he returns to his home with the Queen's parting gift, his great task will be to seek out the girl he loved and wronged, and offer her at last the tongue that cannot lie.

Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz (2013)

Be careful what you believe in.Rudy's life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family's rickety house.Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can't remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother's life.

SERRAted Edge by Mercedes Lackey (1992-2020)

Seeking to make their fortunes in human society, the elves of the underworld involve themselves in stock car racing, child pornography, and worse, and three runaway kids find themselves in a heap of trouble.

The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood (2016)

Maia and her family raise dragons for the political war machine. As she comes of age, she hopes for a dragon of her own to add to the stable of breeding parents. But the war goes badly, and the needs of the Dragonry dash her hopes. Her peaceful life is shattered when the Summer Dragon—one of the rare and mythical High Dragons—makes an appearance in her quiet valley. The Summer Dragon is an omen of change, but no one knows for certain what kind of change he augurs. Political factions vie to control the implied message, each to further their own agendas.

And so Maia is swept into an adventure that pits her against the deathless Horrors—thralls of the enemy—and a faceless creature drawn from her fears. In her fight to preserve everything she knows and loves, she uncovers secrets that challenge her understanding of her world and of herself.

Klaus by Grant Morrison (2016-2019)

Set in a dark fantastic past of myth and magic, Klaus tells the origin story of Santa Claus. It's the tale of one man and his wolf against a totalitarian state and the ancient evil that sustains it. 

Birthright by Joshua Williamson (2014-2021)

For the Rhodes family, losing their son was the most devastating thing that could have occurred...but it couldn't prepare them for what happened when he returned.

[doyouknowthischaracter]

DO YOU KNOW THIS CHARACTER?

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[dragoneyes618]

The books by N.D. Wilson - Ashtown Burials, 100 Cupboard - prove that books can be written for kids and still be written well. They can have beautiful prose and a fun plot and good character development without dumbing anything down or shoehorning in lessons.

[whispersofjupiter]

"People say you can't run from Death." He shook his head. "People lie. Running's all you can do, kid. Run like Hell's on your heels, because it is. And if you're still running, well, then you're still alive..." "You know what happens when you run too long? Death becomes... a friend, a companion on the road, a destination. Home. Your own bed. The place where your friends are waiting. You stop being afraid. You stop running."

The Dragon's Tooth, page 47, Ashtown Burials, N. D. Wilson

[valiantarcher]

Fortnight of Books: 2023

Day 14:

A book you didn’t read this year that will be your #1 priority in 2024? I'm feeling a strong desire to reread, but not sure what I'll start with. Maybe The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins or The Shadow of the Bear by Regina Doman. (Edit: it was still a reread, but In the Forests of Serre by Patricia McKillip was my first read of 2024)

New book you are most anticipating for 2024? I guess The Silent Bells by N.D. Wilson AKA the fourth Ashtown Burials as it's still in-progress.

The Remaining Alternates:

A book that made you want to learn more about a subject This might not quite fit, but Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont made me spend some time looking up more information on spinning online in hopes that something there would help my head get around it (it didn't).

A book you struggled with but completed RAF by Richard Overy. Very dry, if short, overview of the inter-world-war period, if I recall correctly. Do not recommend.

A book that made you laugh The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork.

[twofoursixohjuan]

had some time with the sticky notes so here's some Nolans

(Nolan AKA Nikales from The Ashtown Burials)

never losing my bigger sticky notes again: that smallest figure is the approximate size of my thumbnail

facing down Gilgamesh - just a sketch - lurking in the vents

[xtarotdollx]

Guys I’m back with a new mini hyperfixation im so sorry

[dragoneyes618]

YES DEFINITELY

go read the ashtown burials series its so good and underrated :)

[kanerallels]

While I recognize there aren't many Ashtown Burials fans on this website (a fact I shall change someday), I still need to inform the world that "Born To Run" by American Authors is Cyrus Smith's theme song

[book--brackets]

Anansi Boys and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, please? Plus the Clocktaur War duology and The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher and In A Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power?

ah, and the Ashtown Burials trilogy by N. D. Wilson?

Added most of them; Anansi Boys and Neverwhere are already on the list

[doyouknowthischaracter]

DYKTC OBSCURE CHAMPION 2023

2023 is over, so it's time to find out which one of our top 12 most obscure characters is the people's champion. The list was put together by taking the last six characters from the "by percentage" section and the last six from the "by number of votes" section, skipping duplicates. This time, vote for whoever you want to win, regardless of whether you know them or not! Make sure you read all options carefully before voting because you can only do so once. Have fun and may the best obscure character win!

[dragoneyes618]

Cyrus stared into the boy's eyes, and the boy's eyes stared into his. What Cyrus saw, he didn't know. What he felt was layer upon layer of ancient. The boy's faint green irises looked like they had been beaten and polished more than the smoothest river rock, like they could see by nothing more than starlight—and they no longer cared to see at all.

— The Dragon's Tooth, N. D. Wilson, page 166