Novels

Sheine Lende

Darcie Little Badger’s Elatsoe launched her career and in the years since has become a beloved favorite. This prequel to Elatsoe, centered on Ellie’s grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie’s one-of-a-kind world and introduces us to another cast of characters that will wend their way around readers’ hearts.

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can’t afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood – and the loss of Shane’s father and her grandparents. They don’t think they’ll ever get their home back.

Then Shane’s mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent – who isn’t to be trusted – set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world – or this place in time.

Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.

A Snake Falls To Earth

Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories. Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.

Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries. And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.

A Snake Falls to Earth is a breathtaking work of Indigenous futurism. Darcie Little Badger draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. It is not to be missed.

Elatsoe

My debut novel, Elatsoe, is here!!! Elatsoe has received 5 starred reviews (Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, BookPage, and Shelf Awareness) and is a New England Book Award (Young Adult) finalist. It was also listed by Time Magazine as one of the 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME and by Publishers Weekly as one of the BEST BOOKS OF 2020 – wow!!! Thank you for the support!

Elatsoe—Ellie for short—lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by the ancestral magics and knowledge of its Indigenous and immigrant groups. She can raise the spirits of dead animals—most importantly, her ghost dog Kirby. When her beloved cousin dies, all signs point to a car crash, but his ghost tells her otherwise: He was murdered.

Who killed him and how did he die? With the help of her family, her best friend Jay, and the memory great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother, Elatsoe, must track down the killer and unravel the mystery of this creepy town and it’s dark past. But will the nefarious townsfolk and a mysterious Doctor stop her before she gets started?

A breathtaking debut novel featuring an asexual, Apache teen protagonist, Elatsoe combines mystery, horror, noir, ancestral knowledge, haunting illustrations, fantasy elements, and is one of the most-talked about debuts of the year.

Comics

Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Shapeshifters #2 "The Dancers"

Celebrated writer Darcie Little Badger (A Snake Falls to Earth, Marvel’s Indigenous Voices) pens the latest shapeshifter story! Experience the moving tale of a Lipan Apache girl named Rose through four pivotal stages in her from a lonely child, to a ballet prodigy, her struggles as an adult, and finally her time as an older woman. This touching and lyrical love letter to family, heritage, and finding your true self is sure to delight readers of all ages.

Superman: Red & Blue #6 "Son of Farmers"

It’s the final issue of this free-form anthology, featuring the Metropolis Marvel in new stories, bedazzled in his signature colors. It’s the only place to see Superman chasing down headlines in a classic style and taking pause to reflect on growing up on a farm in Smallville. Not to mention, the return of Streaky the Supercat by superstar cartoonist Sophie Campbell (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)!

Marvel Voices: Indigenous Voices #1

 I wrote the Dani Moonstar story “Multifaceted” with art by Kyle Charles!

Today’s hottest Native American and Indigenous talent make their Marvel Comics debuts with a collection of super-charged stories as Marvel celebrates National Native American Heritage Month! Celebrated writer and artist Jeffrey Veregge explores the legacy of Marvel’s incredible cast of Indigenous characters! Hugo, Nebula, and Locus-award winning Black/Ohkay Owingeh writer Rebecca Roanhorse and Tongva artist Weshoyot Alvitre tell an Echo tale like none you’ve heard before. Geoscientist and Lipan Apache writer Darcie Little Badger joins acclaimed Whitefish Lake First Nation artist Kyle Charles for a Dani Moonstar story that’s out of this world! And Bram Stoker-winning horror writer Stephen Graham Jones of the Blackfeet Nation teams up with Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation artist David Cutler to revisit one of the darkest spots of X-Men history!

Strangelands Vol.1

Opposites attract? Elakshi and Adam Land aren’t married. In fact, a month ago, they were perfect strangers, dwelling in lands foreign to one another. But now, they’re forced to remain by one another’s side, for their separation could mean the planet’s demise. Their greatest challenge is to stay together — even if they have to tear the world apart to do so.

Short Fiction

Behold: strange short fiction by DLB!

  1. “The Scientist’s Horror Story” in Never Whistle at Night
  2. “The Liar” – The Book of Witches (edited by Jonathan Strahan, Published August 1, 2023 by Harper Voyager)
  3. 5 AM – The Grimoire of Grave Fates (edited by Hanna Alkaf and Margaret Owen, Published June 6, 2023 by Delacorte Press)
  4. “Juan” – New Suns 2 (edited by Nisi Shawl, Published March 14, 2023 by Solaris)
  5. “Those Hitchhiking Kids” in The Sunday Morning Transport, April 2 2023
  6. “Endosymbiosis” – Lost Worlds and Mythological Kingdoms (edited by John Joseph Adams, Published March 8, 2022 by Grim Oak Press)
  7. “The Homebody” – Death in the Mouth (edited by Sloane Leong and Cassie Hart, published January 1, 2022)
  8. Story for a Bottle” in Love After the End ed. by Joshua Whitehead (2020)
  9. Venom and Bite” in Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn’t Die ed. by dave ring (2020)
  10. “The Orphan of Greenridge (Water)” in The Dystopia Triptych (book 1; Ignorance is Strength), ed. by John Joseph Adams, Hugh Howey, and Christine Yant (2020)
  11. “How to Use Your Visor Evacuation Helper to Escape an Active Warzone (Fire)” in The Dystopia Triptych (book 2; Burn the Ashes), ed. by John Joseph Adams, Hugh Howey, and Christine Yant (2020)
  12. “Making Faces (Earth)” in The Dystopia Triptych (book 3; Or Else the Light), ed. by John Joseph Adams, Hugh Howey, and Christine Yant (2020)
  13. Unlike Most Tides” in Drabblecast 425 (2020) Listen/read online here!
  14. Litmus Flowers” in Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume Three
  15. “Grace” and “Homecoming” (Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance, ed. Bethany C. Morrow, Scholastic).
  16. Robo-Liopleurodon!” ROBOT DINOSAURS (2018)!!! Read online here!
  17. Kelsey and the Burdened Breath” New Suns. Check it out!
  18. The Whalebone Parrot” in The Dark Magazine (October 2017). Read online here!
  19. Worst Bargain in Town” in Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume Two. Check it out!
  20. Owl vs. The Neighborhood Watch”  in Strange Horizons (2017). Read online here!
  21. “The Famine King” in Mythic Delirium 3.3 (2017) Warning: Horror! Read online here!
  22. “Black, Their Regalia” in Lightspeed Magazine’s POC Destroy Fantasy! (2016) Read online here! SIPPY AWARD WINNER! 😀
  23. “Skinwalker, Fast-Talker” in No Sh!t, There I Was, an anthology of short speculative fiction. (2017) Goodreads page!
  24. “Their Laughing Gale” in Spirit’s Tincture Inaugural Issue (2016)
  25. “Né łe!” in Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time (2016) – Read online!
  26. “When Whales Fall” The Colored Lens (2016) – Read online here
  27. “The Girl Turns West” Mirror Dance Magazine (2015)
  28. “The Sea Under Texas” Quantum Fairy Tales Issue #11 (2015) –
  29. “Nkásht íí” in Strange Horizons (2014) – Read online here!
  30. “Siren Song” in Dark Eclipse #34 (2014)
  31. “First Ride of the Day” in Vignettes from the End of the World (2013)
  32. To Sleep in Fiction 365 (2012) – Read online here!