A Saga of Light and Dark
Set in the fictional world of Komos, A Saga of Light and Dark is a four-part epic fantasy series following sixteen-year-old Nerissa Smith and her younger brother, Poseidon, who are both mages, humans with the ability to cast magic. The world of magic is incredibly segregated, however; in the kingdom of Aether live the Light mages, and across a heavily warded border, in the kingdom of Erebus, are the Dark mages.Although Nerissa and Poseidon live in Aether, their magic is neither Light nor Dark; they are something else entirely, an unheard of mixture of the two. Because of this, they've spent their lives in hiding from the oppressive Aetherian government, but the entity Chaos, which gives all magic, is losing its balance, sending the world slowly but surely into disarray, and it would seem that Nerissa and Poseidon are the only ones anymore with the magic to do anything about it.What's more, civil war is brewing in Aether, just as it has been doing on the other side of border for five centuries. Led by the idealistic ex-noble Adonis Archer, a childhood friend of their mother's, the Aetherian reformists want to wage revolution in their kingdom and open up the border to Erebus, leading to the inevitable revival of a battle between Light and Dark fought five hundred years ago. With Nerissa and Poseidon caught directly in the middle of it, the reformists want them to fight this war with them, no matter the cost.
of storm and ash | of earth and sky | of shadow and flame | of light and dark
+
liberation | assorted side stories
I: Of storm and ash
FOR CENTURIES, the world of Komos has been neatly divided into two categories: Light and Dark, the kingdom of Aether and, beyond the uncrossable border, the kingdom of Erebus. The relic of a great war headed by the royal Evenellis brothers, said to be the first humans blessed with the ability to cast magic, the division between the Light mage Aetherians and the Dark mage Erebusians has been heralded by a long and bloody history of hatred for one other on account of their magical differences.Sixteen-year-old Nerissa Smith and her younger brother, Poseidon, are Grey mages: a perfect and unheard of mix of Light and Dark. Just months after the Heavens have lost their regular hue to an extraordinary, omnipresent grey, Poseidon is dreaming of the angelic diviners described in myth books across the globe, and their secretive mother is acting even more oddly than usual. When her past unexpectedly collides with their present, the three of them are forced out of hiding and wind up under the protection of a dedicated group of political reformists. Led by a childhood friend of their mother’s, the idealistic ex-noble Adonis Archer, these people want a revolution—and they think Nerissa and Poseidon can be the ones to spark it.But it is not only the social order of their kingdom that is falling out of balance; the infinite entity Chaos, giver of all the world’s magic and commander of the twelve mythical angels of Poseidon’s dreams, seems to have something to do with the disturbance of the Heavens. By virtue of their hybrid magic, it is suddenly up to Nerissa and Poseidon to find a way to restore stability to their world, even as they prepare for the war they were born to fight.
You want magical ass-kicking fights? Unreciprocated pining? Teenage trauma? This book is for you. Set in the fictional world of Komos, the journey of Nerissa and Poseidon Smith is made imperative as they may be the ones signaling that the world needs to change. The privileges of the Light mages and political strife against their Dark brethren parallels that of the modern world. - AmThe world-building here is so immersive and contains elements that I’ve never seen in anything in YA or adult fantasy, with extremely realistic characters who all have their own strengths and flaws. Their flaws, especially, are what make these characters so dynamic and memorable. [...] Anyone who likes YA fantasy should give this a read, especially people who are disillusioned with the genre. The characters in Of Storm and Ash are very refreshing and 100% what makes this such an amazing read. - PM...if you like high fantasy and you want something different than all the others that you've read before, something that will stand out and be lots of fun with characters that feel real and who you get attached to, and if you like SUCH deep lore in your worldbuilding, I highly recommend Of Storm and Ash!! - M. GudemanI have been craving some young adult fantasy that transports me to another world in another person's shoes to follow someone coming into their own with magic that I always wished I had growing up. This hit every single spot. Nerissa is 16 and boy does she act it, and I mean that with all of the love I have in my heart. She feels real and the narrative (which is told from her perspective) mirrors her internal biases which makes it so fun and interesting to read. [...] Each character bears their own trauma and is granted the grace to react to it in their individual ways. It is as much a study on individual coping mechanisms, a commentary on what it means to be an adult or to take responsibility; as it is a story about two magical siblings set out to save the world. - Leo
Released September 15, 2020
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II: of earth and sky
WITH THE HEAVENS restored to their natural hue, it seems to all that balance has returned to the world of Komos. As revolution continues to stir in the heart of Aether behind Adonis and his reformists, however, Nerissa Smith and her companions find themselves caught up in a five-hundred-year-old conspiracy about Aether and Erebus Evenellis and the mythical envoys of Chaos, the angels. What’s more, Poseidon has told them that balance has not returned at all; the Heavens are falling, and it is only a matter of time before they drop for good.In surprising accordance with the sea nymph Circe’s guiding wisdom, they find themselves following in the footsteps of the legendary Atlas beyond the uncrossable border into Erebus, to the village Nerissa and Poseidon’s father grew up in. But Chaos’s bond with Poseidon grows more taxing by the day, and so too does the ever-widening distance between him and Nerissa.Lost without her mother’s guidance, she is powerless to help him, and with each passing day she becomes less and less confident that this fight is worth losing her family for, when Poseidon is the only thing she even has left of it. One thing is certain, though: unless they can find a way to stop the Heavens from crashing down upon them, there will be no war to be fought at all.
Released September 15, 2021
Get full access by pledging on Patreon!
Buy the paperback, hardcover, or Kindle edition here!
Add it to your shelves on Goodreads!Trigger warnings for the entire book and individual chapters can be found here.
III: of shadow and flame
TWO WEEKS after the Heavens have been put back in their rightful place beneath Chaos, Nerissa Smith wakes up in her father's ancestral home confused, disoriented, and with a sudden and frightening inability to cast any magic at all. While her companions work to contact the Dark mage Stella of the Erebusian Civil Front, Nerissa must confront the absence of her magic around her brother's fury and her own horrific dreams, all the while left to wonder how or why she even survived bearing Atlas's burden in the first place.But outside the boundaries of their family's village, civil war is rampant within Erebus, and if everything has gone according to Adonis's plan, Aether won't be too far behind them. Wielders of Chaos's angelic Grey magic, Nerissa and Poseidon will be stuck in the middle of it all no matter what, but unless Nerissa can regain control over her magic and they can find out the truth about Aether and Erebus Evenellis's bloody feud, there is little hope that any of them will make it out of this fight alive.
Expected release date: TBD, postponed
STATUS: In Progress
IV: of light and dark
Expected release date: TBD, postponed
STATUS: Plotted
liberation
Eighteen years prior to the events of Of Storm and Ash, nineteen-year-old Adrienne Cherri is deployed as an ambassador on a political mission to Erebus alongside a group of Aetherians, including her childhood friend Amery Archer and her mother, the esteemed Madame Katina Cherri.She is resolute in her mission, the truth of which is a secret she shares with her mother and her mother alone, but Katina is distant and impossible to please, and the Dark mages that have been assigned to guard her are not the horrific monsters she was expecting them to be. The longer she stays, the less certain of King Aether's agenda she becomes. Finding a friend in the Dark mage Ely Smith, she is forced to confront all sorts of horrible truths about her country, her family, and, most of all, herself, but for the first time in her life, she has been given a choice:Does she want to be Adrienne Cherri, her mother's daughter through and through, or can she find the strength to reject what she has come to see is wrong, embrace the uncertainty, and become something else?
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(There are no current plans to release this novel publicly; if such a day comes, it won't be any earlier than 2024 following OLD's release!)
This is a list of triggers by chapter for OSA. Some things may be missing, for which I apologize; I've done my best, but if there's anything else you think I should add here, please do let me know!The most prominent themes are italicized.Entire book: Fantasy violence, blood and gore, minor and major character death, references to racism and homophobia, and references to domestic and child abuse.Chapter 1: Referenced character death/murder
Chapter 2: Fantasy violence, minor character death
Chapter 3: Derealization (Chronos's Gate), referenced character death
Chapter 4: Referenced character death
Chapter 5: N/A
Chapter 6: Mild fantasy violence, referenced domestic violence
Chapter 7: N/A
Chapter 8: N/A
Chapter 9: N/A
Chapter 10: Fantasy violence, referenced character death/murder, classism, derealization (Chronos's Gate)
Chapter 11: Fantasy racism, referenced child abuse
Chapter 12: Fantasy violence, blood and gore, major character death
Chapter 13: Blood and gore
Chapter 14: Referenced homophobia
Chapter 15: N/A
Chapter 16: Derealization (Chronos's Gate)
Chapter 17: Fantasy violence, blood and gore, amputation, referenced child abuse, referenced domestic violence, minor character death, referenced character death, near-drowning, fantasy racism, implied racism
Chapter 18: Derealization (Chronos's Gate), referenced child abuse, referenced domestic violence, referenced character deathI made this list up long after writing, so I couldn't remember all the details of each chapter. If you think I've missed something, please do let me know! I will do my best to update this and make it more thorough over time.
This is a list of triggers by chapter for OES. Some things may be missing, for which I apologize; I've done my best, but if there's anything else you think I should add here, please do let me know!The most prominent themes are italicized.Entire book: Fantasy violence, blood and gore, minor and major character death, references to racism and homophobia, references to domestic and child abuse, references to a past sexual minor/adult relationship, depression, PTSD, disordered eating (solely as a result of depression), and suicidal ideation and suicide.Chapter 1: Referenced character death, referenced domestic violence, referenced child abuse
Chapter 2: Referenced domestic violence, referenced character death
Chapter 3: Disordered eating
Chapter 4: N/A
Chapter 5: Suicidal ideation
Chapter 6: Referenced domestic violence, referenced child abuse
Chapter 7: Fantasy racism
Chapter 8: Referenced domestic violence, referenced child abuse
Chapter 9: Derealization (Chronos's Gate), flashbacks, nightmares, referenced character death, mild fantasy violence
Chapter 10: Referenced character death, referenced homophobia
Chapter 11: Fantasy violence, blood and gore, minor character death, paranoia
Chapter 12: N/A
Chapter 13: Referenced past sexual relationship between a minor and an adult, referenced past terminal illness and character death, fantasy racism, suicidal ideation
Chapter 14: Mild fantasy violence, possession
Chapter 15: Referenced character death, suicidal ideation, paranoia
Chapter 16: Suicidal ideation, paranoia
Chapter 17: Suicide (technically resulting in death, but simultaneously incomplete), injuryI made this list up after writing, so I couldn't remember all the details of each chapter. If you think I've missed something, please do let me know! I will do my best to update this and make it more thorough over time.