Matthew Schick

Swashbuckling Museum heists Hot air balloons Lake monsters The crown prince of Pithdai has been kidnapped, and the ransom is a trove of magical paintings - any one of which could destroy the fragile political and cultural balance of the nascent Flecterran Union. Luckily, the king's daughter, Arrina, leads the indefatigable Senserte - the Eyes of Justice, who are traveling players by day and ruthless crime-fighters by night. The Senserte must orchestrate a plan to make the dangerous exchange to save the prince and bring the kidnappers to justice. But it's hard to plan for everything. Territorial air elementals, voracious lake monsters, and a rainforest of living nightmares are all in a day's work, but this caper has a catch: Arrina's brother might not want to be rescued.

As a newly graduated wizard, Sven Takraf served poor villages in Marrishland because he wanted a peaceful place to raise his young family away from magocrats - wizards who used magic to enforce their reign. When a powerful magocrat sought to annex the villages under his protection, though, Sven fought back ruthlessly in their defense. Fought back but lost. Devastated by the deaths of the people he had sworn to protect, Sven devotes himself to breaking the power of the magocrats. His vision wins many loyal disciples but also makes countless powerful enemies, and soon he finds himself presiding over the bloodiest civil war in living memory. Beyond the nation's borders, an ancient enemy gathers its forces to invade, and Marrishland is not prepared. If Sven cannot unite the nation he has divided, all his plans will come to naught but the extinction of his race.

In the desert land of Turuna, every child possesses powerful magic, and only an ancient treaty prevents the clans from recruiting them as soldiers. Now, rumors swirl that an artifact has appeared that grants childlike magic to an adult, and some clans will stop at nothing to seize its power. In the tiny Ahjea clan, Butu has had no time to listen to rumors. His childhood sweetheart has caught the eye of the most powerful man in Turuna. Even worse, his magic has suddenly become unreliable, failing him at the most embarrassing moments. The only good news he's had all day is he's being allowed to join his clan's army despite his youth. When his squad of young recruits is sent on a mission they can't complete without magic, Butu begins to grow suspicious. It soon becomes clear that if he doesn't figure out the truth and find the artifact first, an all-powerful tyrant will rise up and conquer Turuna.