Martha Wells Books In Order

The Element of Fire

The Element of Fire was first published in the US by Tor Books in 1993, and has been published in six languages. It was a finalist for the 1993 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Award and a runner up for the 1994 Crawford Award. This new edition has been revised by the author.

The kingdom of Ile Rien is in peril, menaced by magical threats and court intrigue. As the weak King Roland, misled by treacherous companions, rules the country, only his ruthless mother, the Dowager Queen Ravenna, truly guards the safety of the realm. But now Urbain Grandier, the dark master of scientific sorcery, has arrived to plot against the throne and Kade, bast*ard sister of the king, has appeared unexpectedly at court. The illegitimate daughter of the old king and the Queen of Air and Darkness herself, Kade’s true goals are cloaked in mystery. Is she in league with the wizard Grandier? Or is she laying claim to the throne? It falls to Thomas Boniface, Captain of the Queen’s Guard and Ravenna’s former lover, to sort out who is friend and who is foe in a deadly game to keep the Dowager Queen and the kingdom she loves from harm.

The Death of the Necromancer

Nicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman with an enigmatic past. Consumed by thoughts of vengeance, he is consoled only by thoughts of the beautiful, dangerous Madeline. He is also the greatest thief in all of Ile Rien…
On the gas light streets of the city, he assumes the guise of a master criminal, stealing jewels from wealthy nobles to finance his quest for vengeance the murder of Count Montesq. Montesq orchestrated the wrongful execution of Nicholas’s beloved godfather on false charges of necromancy the art of divination through communion with spirits of the dead a practice long outlawed in the kingdom of Ile Rein. But now Nicholas’s murderous mission is being interrupted by a series of eerie, unexplainable, even fatal events. Someone with tremendous magical powers is opposing him. Children vanish, corpses assume the visage of real people, mortal spells are cast, and traces of necromantic power that hasn’t been used for centuries are found. And when a spiritualist unwittingly leads Nicholas to a decrepit mansion, the monstrous nature of his peril finally emerges in harrowing detail. Nicholas and his compatriots must destroy an ancient and awesome evil. even teh help of Ile Rien’s greatest sorcerer may not be enough, for Nicholas faces a woefully mismatched battle and unthinkable horrors await the loser.

The Wizard Hunters

Once a fertile and prosperous land, Ile Rien is under attack by the Gardier, a mysterious army whose storm black airships appear from nowhere to strike without warning. Every weapon in the arsenal of Ile Rien’s revered wizards has proven useless. And now the last hope of a magical realm under siege rests within a child’s plaything.

The Ships of Air

Known for her lush, intricate worlds and complex characters, acclaimed author Martha Wells has delighted readers with her extraordinary fantasy novels of daring and wit. With The Wizard Hunters she launched her most ambitious undertaking yet the return to the beloved world of the Nebula Award nominated The Death of the Necromancer and The Fall of Ile Rien. Now the saga continues in a triumph of suspense and imagination. Despite a valiant struggle against superior forces, the country of Ile Rien has fallen to the onslaught of the relentless Gardier, a faceless army of sorcerers determined to conquer all civilization. To save the remnants of her country, former playwright Tremaine Valiarde undertakes an epic journey to stop the Gardier. Rescuing the proud ship Queen Ravenna from destruction, Tremaine and a resolute band of sorcerers and warriors set sail across magical seas on a voyage of danger and discovery. For the secret to defeating the enemy and to rescuing the world from the Gardier’s inimitable hatred lies far beyond the walls of the world, and only the tenuous ties of friendship and honor will keep the band together. But the Gardier are not the only evil in this tumultuous world, and an ancient terror stalks the ornate rooms and shadowy decks of the Queen Ravenna a force so malevolent and enigmatic that even the growing power of the sorcerer’s sphere may not be enough to save Ile Rien from utter ruin.

The Gate of Gods

Tremaine Valiarde and a small, brave band of heroes ventured into a wondrous new realm on their desperate mission to save Ile-Rien from the conquering Gardier. Now, as a relentless enemy creates chaos and destruction — with the fate of the magical city of Lodun hanging in the balance — the last hope of a land besieged may rest on the far side of a secret portal.

But the doorway leads to a mysterious ruin hidden behind the awesome Gate of Gods — and to perils that dwarf anything Tremaine and her allies could have possibly imagined…
.

The Cloud Roads

Moon has spent his life hiding what he is a shape shifter able to transform himself into a winged creature of flight. An orphan with only vague memories of his own kind, Moon tries to fit in among the tribes of his river valley, with mixed success. Just as Moon is once again cast out by his adopted tribe, he discovers a shape shifter like himself…
someone who seems to know exactly what he is, who promises that Moon will be welcomed into his community. What this stranger doesn’t tell Moon is that his presence will tip the balance of power…
that his extraordinary lineage is crucial to the colony’s survival…
and that his people face extinction at the hands of the dreaded Fell! Now Moon must overcome a lifetime of conditioning in order to save himself…
and his newfound kin.

City of Bones

Khat, a member of a humanoid race created by the Ancients to survive in the Waste, and Sagai, his human partner, are relic dealers working on the edge of society, trying to stay one step ahead of the Trade Inspectors and to support Sagai’s family. When Khat is hired to find relics believed to be part of one of the Ancients’ arcane engines, they are both reluctant to become involved. But the request comes from the Warders, powerful mages who serve Charisat’s Elector. Khat soon discovers that the deadly politics of Charisat’s upper tiers aren’t the only danger. The relics the Warders want are be the key to an Ancient magic of unknown power, and, as all the inhabitants of Charisat know, no one understands the Ancients’ magic. First published by Tor Books in 1995.

Wheel of the Infinite

Every year, the Wheel of the Infinite must be painstakingly remade to ensure peace and harmony. And every hundred years, the Wheel and the world become one. But now a black storm ravages the beautiful mandala, and a woman with a shadowy past an exile, murderer, and traitor has been summoned back to put the world right. For if Maskelle and the swordsman Rian cannot stop the Wheel’s accelerating disintegration then all that is what and will be…
will end.

Reliquary

While exploring the unused sections of the Ancient city of Atlantis, Major John Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay stumble on a recording device that contains a new Stargate address. The address leads them to a world with a mysterious ruined city that may be part of an Ancient repository, or it may just be yet another trap for the unwary.

Entanglement

When Dr. Rodney McKay unlocks an Ancient mystery on a distant moon, he discovers a terrifying threat to the Pegasus galaxy. Determined to disable the device before it’s discovered by the Wraith, Colonel John Sheppard and his team navigate the treacherous ruins of an Ancient outpost. But attempts to destroy the technology are complicated by the arrival of a stranger.