Consider The Warden (2023) and its sequel, Necrobane (2024), one continuous novel. In fact, Necrobane picks up right where The Warden leaves off. No Summary or precis, just a continuation of the events of the first novel.

Warden Aelis de Lenti un Tirraval, a young woman who had just graduated from the Magisters’ Lyceum with degrees in various schools of Magic, is assigned to protect the small village of Lone Pine near the dangerous border. Aelis is smart and confident…perhaps too confident. The villagers fear Aelis’s necromancy. Much of The Warden concerns an ancient and powerful wizard who threatens both Aelis and the village she has sworn to protect.

The structure of both books rests on quests. Aelis learns that her city ways and wealthy family can’t help her with some of the threats she faces. While The Warden gets off to a slow start, Necrobane immediately continues the story of the previous book. Aelis accidentally activates an unknown number of animated dead of Mahlgren, necromancy-fueled remnants of the last war. While Aelis defeats the handful of deadly skeletons that attacked her within the secret chamber she was exploring, Aelis learns to her horror that there are far more similar crypts full of deadly skeletons scattered throughout the realm. Now the murderous animated dead are activated and heading in the direction of Lone Pine. 

Aelis finds allies to assist her in the quests. Maurenia, a beautiful half-elf, is a skilled soldier and engineer. Maurenia becomes Aelis’s lover. Timmuk, a clever dwarf merchant and a friend of Maurenia, travels the frontier of Ystain to trade and make money. He’s handy in battle.

My favorite character is Tun, a mysterious half-orc woodsman, who saves Aelis’s life on her previous adventures in The Warden. Tun’s skill as a tracker is invaluable in their quests through the wild frontier as they hope to stop the animated dead before they can swarm Lone Pine and kill all the villagers.

If you’re looking for fantasy novels with a perky lead character and a strong supporting cast, give The Warden and Necrobane a try. A third novel, Advocate, should be out next year. GRADE: B (for both)