Portal and epic fantasy action and adventure, with strong threads of mystery and found family, for teens, young adults and adults.
Main character representation includes LGBTQIA+ identities; nonbinary, aromantic and asexual (aro-ace).
Neurodivergent main character representation includes multiple autistic and ADHD, or AuDHD traits.
Content Warnings are at the bottom (below prequel). (For Sythe Series see this page.)
Manipulator’s War (#1)
Nonbinary Ruarnon is determined to prove their worth as heir to Tarlah’s perfect King. Things get complicated when their parents are abducted and they’re left ruling Tarlah in the shadow of impending war, with absent allies.
Neighbouring King Kyura has no intention of invading Tarlah. But his warmongering subjects long for the glory of expansion. When Kyura rejects their calls for war, assassins threaten his family and mutiny threatens his reign.
Stranded Aussie Linh is desperate to return to her family in Australia. But the only transport to her gateway home is Ruarnon’s absent allies, sailing to Tarlah’s aid.
Monsters at sea threaten everyone. Linh’s monster observations could save Kyura’s people, and clear her homeward path, if she risks her life aiding Ruarnon. But to secure peace with Kyura’s unruly subjects, Ruarnon’s ultimate test as heir risks betrayal and Tarlah’s bloody defeat.
Secrets of the Sorcery War (#2)
In book 2, Nartzeer’s monsters return to the eastern seas and so does magic. In pursuing allies to aid recovering their abducted family, Ruarnon, and in seeking confirmation of her way home, Linh, discover dangerous secrets from the Sorcery War lie across the seas. Nartzeer seems to know and have plans for these secrets. His motives remain a mystery. And his monsters appear to be evolving, as Ruarnon and Linh discover when said monsters come between them and Ruarnon’s allies…
War in Sorcery’s Shadow (#3)
In book 3, Ruarnon and Linh sail to Nartzeer’s homeland to recover Ruarnon’s family and transport Linh home. They seek allegiance with an underground resistance in occupied territory, undertake a quest, discover secret sorcerer organisations, and a continent on the brink of a second sorcery war.
Nartzeer is more complex than anyone anticipated. He is as terrible as they feared, more wonderful than they imagined, and about to destroy his world…
Add Trilogy to Your TBR
Available At…
Trilogy bundle exclusive to direct.
Complete Trilogy is on Kobo Plus.
Next Series: Sythe
3,000 years later, in the same world, Sythe has evolved into an international centre of law enforcement, healing, Search & Rescue and Monster Containment. A troubled young teenager has just begun studying at Sythe School and organised crime is about to re-write its rules of engagement with Sythe.
Readers Are Saying
“…the representation of Ruarnon as nonbinary was amazing.”
“…took me on an emotional roller coaster with every twist and turn.”
“…captivating, immersive and thrilling. I loved the echoes to other great fantasy reads.”
“This book takes many unexpected twists and turns and keeps you wanting more of the storyline.”
“…continues to paint elaborate lands, vivid imagery, and rich character portrayals…. Overall very well written and easy to lose yourself in the storyline! Cannot wait for the 3rd.”
Prequel
Everywhere he looks, 15-year-old Urmillian sees his people suffering under brutal foreign occupation. High taxes drive poverty and malnutrition, while the execution of anyone suspected of resistance brings the people of Tarlah to their knees. Urmillian longs to join his father’s uprising and free his people, despite father’s orders to protect the family home. When occupying soldiers turn on all Tarlahans, Urmillian’s younger brother calls for aid. But the streets are filling with soldiers. If Urmillian doesn’t help cut them off, the city will be overrun. So he risks both their lives by abandoning his household’s defence and joining his older sister on the front line.
An action-packed YA Fantasy short story (7500 words), set before Manipulator’s War, free with my newsletter.
Trilogy Content Warnings
Book 1: off-page suicide, miscarriage, death, family grief, moderate fantasy battle violence.
Book 2: mental health themes (paranoia), moderate fantasy battle violence.
Book 3: mental health themes (paranoia and PTSD), death, grief, moderate fantasy battle violence.
My Gen ai Policy
Get in the bin.
(Yes, that’s all. For more details on my concerns about how gen ai is destroying the planet and is, in my opinion, a serious threat to both our cognitive skills and our mental health, see my blog ‘Resisting Enshitification in 2026.’)
Scrapping Note:
All authors and artists featured on elisecarlson.com DO NOT consent to their work being used to train gen ai/ language learning models.
