About The Geomagician: When a Victorian fossil hunter discovers a baby pterodactyl, she vows to protect him, with the help of a fellow scholar—her former fiancé—in this enchanting and transporting historical fantasy. Out March 31st 2026.

I went on a quest when I was eight. I wrapped an apple, string cheese, and a piece of bread into a tea towel, tossed it over my shoulder, and called for Sammy the cat to follow.

Sammy, scrappy and thin, with short, black fur, trotted gamely after me. Together we walked, oh, about twenty feet from the house, sat under the kumquat tree, and ate our victuals. I felt wild and brave, venturing away from home all on my own. But it was even sweeter because I wasn’t really alone. I had Sammy to share the adventure with me.

The animal companion trope is as much a staple of fantasy as that bundle of apple, cheese, and bread. They can be non-speaking, telepathic, or capable of speech. Mundane or magical. Scaled, furred, winged, pawed, or hooved. And just like pets in the real world, fictional animal friends tend to bring out the best in their humans, helping characters grow kinder and braver than if they were alone.

I’m sure you will likely have a list of your own favorites, but here are seven of my favorite animal companions, plus one adorable pterodactyl you’ll meet in my historical fantasy, THE GEOMAGICIAN.  

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

Talat (Horse)

I imprinted deeply on this lyrical story of a girl-and-her-horse hunting dragons. Talat is an aggressive, retired warhorse who slowly comes to trust the outcast princess who seeks to ride him. Talat and Aerin were the blueprint for fantasy horse girlies born in the 80s and 90s.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Nighteyes (Wolf)

In Robin Hobb’s epic Realm of the Elderlings series some people possess a magic called ‘Wit’ that allows them to bond with animals. The main character, Fitz, bonds to a wolf named Nighteyes, and their relationship is genuinely one of the most moving depictions of friendship I’ve ever read. But prepare yourself if you pick this one up—you’re going to cry.

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

Temeraire (Dragon)

This delightful series by Naomi Novik reimagines the Napoleonic Wars—with dragons. After Temeraire imprints on Captain Will Laurence, an English naval officer, the pair join the ranks of the British Aerial Corps. Clever and inquisitive, Temeraire the dragon slowly breaks down Laurence’s defenses, as the pair get themselves in and out of various military, interpersonal, and political hijinks.

Emily Wilde Series by Heather Fawcett

Shadow (Dog?)

Emily Wilde is a no-nonsense scholar researching the fae. She is accompanied (and protected) on fieldwork by her enormous gentle giant of a dog named Shadow. Shadow doesn’t speak, but he is a steady, constant friend to Emily, and I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say he is more than he appears. As a bonus, you also get to meet Orga—a cat who is also more than meets the eye—as the series continues.

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

Mephi (Ossalen)

When Jovis, a smuggler, sees a tiny, fluffy animal swimming behind his ship, he pulls the creature aboard. Mephi, described as something like an otter-kitten, grows rapidly into an otter-dragon called an ossalen and learns to speak. If an otter-dragon companion isn’t enough to sell you on it, this series has one of my favorite magic systems in which coding on pieces of bone can control animal constructs.   

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Bone Dog (Bone dog)

It was difficult to choose my favorite T. Kingfisher animal because she often includes pets or animal friends in her work and they’re all wonderful (honorable mention to the sarcastic armadillo from Minor Mage.) But Bone Dog stole my heart from the first ghost lick he gives heroine Mara after she assembles him in a charnel pit. Bone Dog becomes Mara’s loyal companion as she sets out to kill a prince and save her sister in this funny, dark, sweet fairytale.

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgkins

Sol (Not-Quite-A-Raven)

Admittedly Sol—short for Solitary Raven—is more of a metaphysical concept than an animal, but he is the reluctant companion of Neema, a scribe forced to compete to become Emperor. Sol is as histrionic as Neema is practical, but I adored watching their unwanted bond transform into mutual respect and friendship.

The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula

Ajax (Pterosaur)

When a fossilized egg miraculously hatches in her hands to reveal a baby pterodactyl, fossil hunter Mary Anning names him Ajax. She immediately starts scheming how to use him to further her career and become a geomagician, a magical paleontologist. But spirited little Ajax—who looks like a puffin if it were also a gargoyle—slowly thaws her heart, and will hopefully win yours, too.  

The post Seven Fantasy Books with Animal Companions appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Andrea Stewart’s The Gods Below, which is out now.

A divine war shattered the world leaving humanity in ruins. Desperate for hope, they struck a deal with the devious god Kluehnn: He would restore the world to its former glory, but at a price so steep it would keep the mortals indebted to him for eternity. And as each land was transformed, so too were its people changed into strange new forms – if they survived at all.

Hakara is not willing to pay such a price. Desperate to protect herself and her sister, Rasha, she flees her homeland for the safety of a neighboring kingdom. But when tragedy separates them, Hakara is forced to abandon her beloved sister to an unknown fate.

Alone and desperate for answers on the wrong side of the world, Hakara discovers she can channel the magic from the mysterious gems they are forced to mine for Kluehnn. With that discovery comes another: her sister is alive, and the rebels plotting to destroy the God Pact can help rescue her.

But only if Hakara goes to war against a god. 

Hakara

10 years after the restoration of Kashan and 571 years after the Shattering

Langzu – the Otangu clan mulberry orchard

The oral histories of the Aqqila peoples have been passed from one generation to the next, through barriers into new realms, though with each restoration, their numbers become fewer. Their stories say that the god Irael once had dalliances with mortals. But oral histories are flawed and we must rely on what is written – in ink, in charcoal and in stone.

Thassir was right. The den sent godkillers. I counted four.

In one sense, their early arrival was a blessing – the guards converged at the entrance to the orchard to greet them, and we were able to rush to the wall opposite, climbing and sitting atop it like a ghastly set of statues. The orchard trees were lush, the leaves shielding us from view. Thassir had to crouch so low he was nearly lying down.

In another sense, it meant we were behind in our plans.

“Shit,” Alifra muttered into the darkness. “We won’t get to it before they do. We didn’t finish laying out the traps.”

They would find the corestone and they would converge upon it before we could set up a distraction. “I counted four godkillers,” I said. “There are eight of us.”

“And five Otangu guards with more probably in reserve. Plus godkillers move in packs of three, meaning there are at least six,” Dashu reminded me, smoothing a hand over his goatee. “Eight against at least eleven isn’t good odds, Hakara. And I can guarantee you, in spite of your most fervent wishes, the godkillers are not stupid.”

He was right. They weren’t good odds. “We can be quick. Thassir can fly. We go in, kill the godkiller with the corestone, and Thassir flies it out.”

Thassir’s voice was a rumble in his chest. “That leaves everyone else scrambling to escape a walled orchard while there are godkillers on their heels. I won’t do it.”

I bit my lip. The corestone was right there, somewhere in this orchard. We were too close. “What’s better? Getting it now, or trying to retrieve it from a den filled with godkillers? This is our chance.”

Dashu let out a sharp breath. “You’re right. Much as I don’t like to admit it, we won’t have many better opportunities. We’ve been lucky to hear of two corestones in so little time. And restoration is getting closer. The whole of Langzu can feel it. It’s worth my life if you all agree it’s worth yours.”

Everyone gave grim little nods, and a part of me sank, curling within myself. I wasn’t fighting for their cause. I was fighting for one person. But wasn’t that enough? Didn’t that still mean something?

Thassir, next to me, tensed. He always seemed tense, but he’d gone from log to boulder. I followed his gaze and saw a slim black cat picking its way through the orchard. “It’s close to the trap.”

Alifra let out a soft groan. “It’s going to spring it.”

“Let it,” Dashu said. “It’s just a cat. We go down there now, we risk being seen.”

Thassir was already pushing himself up.

“Thassir,” I said, my voice low and filled with warning. I knew that look in his eye. I’d seen it each time he’d grimly picked up one of his cats and taken it to the doctor, unheeding of the needle-like claws latched into his forearm. “We are not stopping to save a cat. We are not.”

“We stopped,” he said simply, dropping his legs over the side of the wall. “We are saving the cat.”

And then he was gone, and I had only the soft slip of feathers against my grasping palm before my hand was empty. I cursed beneath my breath. I cursed Kluehnn, I cursed every elder god whose name I could remember, I cursed Thassir’s mother, his father, all his ancestors and all his possible future children.

We were two steps off track and quickly careening into the unknown.

Dashu held out a hand to forestall any of the rest of us from creeping into the orchard. He gestured at the walls. “Stick to the plan. Keep watch. Spread out. Whoever sees the corestone uncovered, go in for the attack. The rest of us will do our best to pull the other godkillers and the guards away. Hakara. Keep an eye on Thassir.”

Everyone else moved, creeping away from the spot we’d climbed to. I was rooted to my place on the wall, watching Thassir as he ducked beneath the branches, silently moving toward the cat, moonlight limning his rolling shoulders. Something about them captivated me, and I had to tear my gaze away to watch the godkillers below conduct their search.

My lips went numb. Dashu was right, there were six godkillers. One must have been crowded in with the others, short enough to escape notice. Another appeared out of the darkness, finished with whatever business had taken her away from her brethren. And they didn’t split up to canvass the orchards. They were measuring the green grass on the ground with their hands, one of them writing notes on a piece of parchment, another holding a lamp to provide light.

They weren’t moving about haphazardly. They would uncover the corestone together. Which meant our odds had worsened considerably.

I couldn’t see Dashu through the darkness and the trees. We had no further direction. Brush rustled as the godkillers strode toward Thassir. Thassir moved unerringly toward the cat.

By all rights, I should have just sat there, let the scene play out. Would the cat spring the trap or would one of the godkillers do it?

And then I was down the wall, the grass brushing my shins as I crept after Thassir, doing my best, in vain, to be just as quiet as he was. The cat was lingering near the trap Alifra had placed, tail lashing, crouched in the grass. I’d nearly reached Thassir’s side when it pounced on something.

Both Thassir and I froze. It had come very close to the pressure plate Alifra had covered with a thin layer of dirt. That thing was meant to hurt godkillers. The little beastie wouldn’t stand a chance. Neither would we.

The grass nearby rustled. We both hit the ground right before the godkillers appeared out of the darkness, one of them carrying a lantern. Blades of grass partially obscured the view, but they stopped at a nearby tree. One of them began to dig. I reached out and touched Thassir’s ankle, squeezing so he’d know I was there. He glanced back at me before focusing not on the godkillers, but on that damned cat.

It wandered closer to the pressure plate.

“Thassir,” I hissed, risking the sound. I knew he’d heard me, but he didn’t even flinch. “It’s a cat. Don’t even—”

For the second time that night, he slipped out of my grasp. He was surging out of the grass, he was darting forward, he was sweeping up the cat beneath one arm. The beast yowled and all six godkiller heads whipped in our direction.

At least we were no longer careening into the unknown. We were knee-deep in a shit-filled creek with no obvious way to get to shore.

Without even speaking, two of the godkillers peeled off and drew their knives.

I pushed myself to my feet. No use trying to hide anymore. My hand went to the pouch with the god gems, but I stopped myself before I could clutch it. Thassir had saved the cat from the trap. Which meant no one had tripped it yet.

As though he could sense exactly where my mind had wandered, he cast me a glance. He lifted the cat to his mouth and kissed its head as it growled.

Gross. The thing was probably absolutely covered with fleas.

But I knew from the look Thassir had given me that he was thinking exactly what I was. They might have drawn their knives, they might know we were up to no good, but these godkillers didn’t know who or what we were yet, and there was no reason to let them know until we’d seized the advantage.

“Cat jumped the wall,” I said with my best wobbly smile. “Had to get it back. Sorry.”

They stalked toward us, giving no indication they’d heard me at all. Thassir took a couple steps back, his wings down as he tried to shrink himself into something a little less imposing. I took his arm as he came abreast of me, adjusting his stance, making sure the pressure plate was right between us and the godkillers.

I held up my hands. Had to look real pathetic so they’d just come straight at us instead of circling for a better position. “We’re just nearby farmers.”

One of them looked at the short sword strapped to my belt, hesitated, a frown pulling at the brown scales on his cheeks.

Only one thing for it. I pulled a gem from one of my pouches, tossed it back, and turned to run at the same time Thassir did. And the godkillers, like dogs watching fleeing prey, did what came naturally to them. They pursued.

Aether surrounded me, and I took in a deep, sharp breath of it.

I heard a soft click as one of them stepped on the pressure plate. White powder burst from the tree above, dusting the air around them.

And then it exploded.

I stepped to the side to protect Thassir, letting the brunt of the explosion hit me. I’d taken one of the invincibility god gems. For a split second, the heat of it seared my back. And then I felt only warmth, like a spring breeze. Thassir was next to me as soon as the heat and light died away, leaning down to let the cat free. His mouth stopped near my ear. “Are you—”

“I’m not hurt, thanks to you. Quick thinking.”

“Only following your lead.” Was that quirk to the corner of his mouth a smile, or just a trick of the light? Not important. I turned to see one godkiller falling to the ground, engulfed in flames. The second one was patting out a fire on her arm.

Behind them, I caught the first glow of the corestone from the hole the other four godkillers were digging. Quickly, I tossed two more gems into my mouth. And then I was hurtling forward, unable to reverse my momentum. The corestone was there and I would have it in my hands if it killed me. I would have it in my hands and I would give it to Mitoran and I’d find Rasha.

One of the godkillers was lifting the corestone out of the ground. Another peeled off to confront the guards. The penalty for smuggling god gems was death. The Sovereign might not have cared to always prosecute the smugglers, but Kluehnn was different. The guards might not have had anything to do with it. They might not have known. But that godkiller would find a way to make them give up the names of those who had known.

Four. That meant I was only facing four, and one of those still nursing a burned arm. For now, at least. It wasn’t what we’d planned on, but it was better than six.

The aether surrounded me – Thassir doing his part, no matter how much he disapproved. I took a couple quick breaths and then sucked in the bitter taste of seawater and held it. My ribs and hips begin to itch. The god limbs sprouted, their strength flooding through my veins. I plucked the sword from the scabbard at my side and darted forward.

The godkiller with the gem tried to dodge, but she was too slow. She screamed when I hamstrung her. I felt Thassir take flight behind me, heard rustling in the distance as the others rushed in.

The corestone fell from her limp fingers and I caught it.

Eight Unanointed against four godkillers and five guards? Time to find out how shit those odds really were.

The post Read An Excerpt From ‘The Gods Below’ by Andrea Stewart appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

In a crumbling empire, an emperor relies on bone shard magic that requires each citizen to give up a piece of their bones to fuel the horrifying constructs that run the empire. Spread out across the lands, four individuals begin their search for what they need most: the return of their memories, their long lost love, an end to the classism destroying their city and relationships. However, rebellion against the emperor is brewing, and revelations about their place in the world will shake them to their core. Meanwhile, off on a small, remote island, a mysterious woman is starting to gain memories of an impossible life and may uncover the empire’s darkest secret.

There is no denying that the fantasy market is saturated with European-centric stories. Although some readers may find parts of the story predictable (more on this in a minute), The Bone Shard Daughter gives us an Asian inspired fantasy story that we desperately want and need. Stewart’s novel is a breath of fresh air and sets up a fantastic series to enthral readers for years to come.

So, let’s talk about my previous mention of predictability. Seasoned fantasy readers will recognise some twists and turns in the plot, but if we are all honest with ourselves, no story can really escape that. What makes The Bone Shard Daughter stand out is Stewart’s style and her world building. Yes, you might find some predictability in the overall plot, but I dare you to tell me you don’t find the story completely entrancing.

Stewart builds the story’s world in a way that feels effortless. From the first page, you can feel the atmosphere of mystery and dread and rebellion that saturates the world. The magic system in particular is fascinating and horrifying in equal measures. With the constructs, Stewart brings out the worst nightmare fuel, but they are never used for shock value and become an integral part of the overall mystery that will play out over the course of the series.

Outside of the fascinating world that she creates, where Stewart truly shines is with the characters and their relationships. Lin, the emperor’s daughter, is isolated for much of the story and you can feel her frustration and drive to prove herself worthy to be the heir to her father’s empire and recover her lost memories. Phalue and Ranami’s relationship is an established queer couple that proves you don’t have to incorporate homophobia or misogyny into your fantasy world to create tension. Then there is the breakout star of the novel, Jovis and his mysterious creature friend, Mephi. If Lin is the brain of the story, and Phalue and Ranami are the heart, Jovis and Mephi would be the soul. There is never a moment when Jovis won’t make the reader laugh, cry, or cheer. And though she only gets about five chapters, there is Sand, whose small presence in the story still packs one heck of a mysterious punch.

This is where we need to discuss the multiple points of view storytelling style in The Bone Shard Daughter. Multiple POVs stories can be very hit or miss, and often it really depends on the reader’s personal preference, regardless of how well the author handles differences in voice. While Stewart writes a unique voice to each POV character, she does add the extra layer of “love it or hate it” styling with some POVs being in first person narration and the others in third person. This isn’t necessarily a criticism, because Stewart handles her stylistic choices well, but more of an informational item, because the synopsis for the story only mentions Lin. Readers may get thrown off by expecting a single POV story, but actually getting five POVs. However, each POV is necessary and it helps round out the plot. It may just take readers a few chapters to acclimate to the changing narrations.

At the end of the day, The Bone Shard Daughter is a fantastic novel from a debut author. Though there are some slight imperfections in the storytelling, none of it can overshadow the actual story itself. I believe Andrea Stewart will soon find herself one of the great fantasy writers in this era and I personally look forward to reading more of the wonderful worlds and characters she creates.

The Bone Shard Daughter is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up The Bone Shard Daughter? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

In an empire controlled by bone shard magic, Lin, the former heir to the emperor will fight to reclaim her magic and her place on the throne. The Bone Shard Daughter marks the debut of a major new voice in epic fantasy.

The emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.

Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people.

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