A fantasy series by Effie Calvin. It has five main books along with a collection of short stories in the same universe. The series starts out with a focus on Princesses Esofi and Adale, who have been betrothed to each other for making an alliance between their two countries. However, other protagonists are introduced later, with the action switching between them in the subsequent books.
The books are as follows:
- The Queen of Ieflaria (2018)
- Daughter of the Sun (2018)
- The Queen of Rhodia (2019)
- The Empress of Xytae (2019)
- Daughter of the Moon (2020)
- Gods of Inthya (2023), a short story collection
Tropes in the series overall include:
- Action Girl: There are many warrior women as characters.
- In The Queen of Ieflaria:
- Esofi it turns out is quite skilled with magic, and the sword that she makes with it. She easily beats Theodoar using it during their duel.
- Lisette, Esofi's bodyguard, is a fierce petite woman whom no one doubts is extremely dangerous.
- In Daughter of the Sun the protagonist Orsina is a female knight. She's the titular character, which marks her as a paladin from the Order of the Sun. She's trained to fight with a sword, and has minor magical powers too.
- In The Queen of Ieflaria:
- But Not Too Bi:
- The Queen of Ieflaria: Esofi reflects that, like most people, she's bisexual. In the book she only shows attraction to Adale, another woman, however.
- Daughter of the Sun: Orsina is bisexual, but only shows attraction to other women in the book.
- Fantasy Pantheon: In Rhodia, Ieflaria and Ioshara the people believe in eleven gods whom they worship. Vesolda numbers the gods as ten. Most countries have an eleventh, but they usually disagree on which god it is. Ieflarians, and people on the continent of Ioshara, believe that Cyre, God of Animals is the Eleventh. However, in Rhodia Nara, Goddess of the Sky, is the Eleventh. Ioshara though has Cyne as the Eleventh.
- Cyre is the son of Eyvindr, God of the Harvest. In Vesolda, he is Third of the Ten.
- Eran is the God of Dreams.
- Talcia is the Goddess of Magic.
- Talcia is also the wife of Iolar, God of Law and Civilization. The paladins' Order of the Sun serves him.
- Dayluue is the Goddess of Romantic Love, mostly depicted with scant clothing. She is also the Goddess of fertility in Vasolda, being prayed to for conception. Dayluue also has "companions" who serve as prostitutes in her name.
- Reygmadra is the Goddess of War. It's implied from The Empress Of Xytae onward that she is becoming a chaos goddess and may need to be replaced in the Ten
- Adranus is the God of Death. However in Ieflaria he also has dominion over healing, whereas Rhodia ascribes this to his daughter Adalia.
- Ethi is the God of Knowledge.
- Avala, the Goddess of Winter, is viewed as Eleventh in Siabaeld.
- Inthi is the God of fire, metal work and smiths. Being neutroi as well, Inthi appears to de facto be the neutrois' deity. Most of the people who they bless with their magical gifts are neutroi.
- Pemela it appears is the Goddess of marriage, though her domain is not explicitly stated.
- Merla is the Goddess of music and the ocean.
- Zeneen is the Goddess of the desert, sun and fire in Masim, depicted with very curly hair and massive feathered wings.
- Ridon is the God of Art.
- The chaos gods are considered dangerous and even evil, standing outside of the others.
- Rikilda is the Goddess of Alchemy. She's extremely powerful and people associate her with dark practices.
- Cytha is the Goddess of Revenge.
- Aelia is the Goddess of Caprice. Eventually she becomes the Goddess of inspiration.
- Iius is the God of Gluttony. He is in the form of a huge fish, and has followers bring him human beings to eat.
- Xera is the Goddess of Melancholy. Her presence can increase a nearby person's grief to the point it manifests as a wraith wholly separate from their body.
- Edan is the God of wrath.
- Living Lie Detector: Truthsayers, rare magic users, are capable of telling if anyone lies. They are mentioned several times before Crown Princess Ioanna of Xytan is revealed to have the gift in Daughter of the Sun.
- Magic Knight:
- In The Queen of Ieflaria Esofi is skilled with magic, and can instantly create a sword to fight with too.
- In Daughter of the Sun Orsina is a paladin with a magical sword and also magic aside from this, using both to fight.
- Non-Heteronormative Society: The series' world overall is this.
- The Queen of Ieflaria: In Rhodia and Ieflaria nearly everyone is bisexual, therefore same-sex marriages are quite acceptable. Gauslen, Adale's friend, turns out to be "neutroi" as well (apparently a nonbinary gender) and uses the title "Noble" instead of Lord or Lady. A same-sex couple can switch sexes to have a child, which trans people use as well who desire it. Several other minor neutroi characters are also shown, and unremarkable. One of the gods is neutroi as well, along with their clergy overall.
- Daughter of the Sun: Vesoldan culture is shown as finding same-sex relationship wholly unremarkable. Orsina, one of the protagonists, is openly bisexual, with her mentally thinking she's like most people in not having a preference. Her past Childhood Friend Romance with another woman was forbidden by her lover's father not due to them being two women, but as Orsina's a commoner. Orsina is the child of two fathers herself, and same-sex parenting is discussed as common through either adoption or one temporarily changing sex. Some minor characters are also neutroi, nonbinary people who use they/them pronouns, which is wholly accepted too.
- It's shown that using magic to change sex at least once is encouraged. In ''Daughter Of The Moon, Netheia recalls how uncomfortable her time in a male body was. It's also not stigmatised to permanently change gender, as it's a minor note that Klavida, the other heroine of the book, was a recipient of a permanent change of sex as soon as she was old enough.
- The Order: All the gods have their own clergy and followers, with different focuses that depend on their domains. The Order of the Sun is an organization sworn to protect people, in service of Iolar, God of Law and Civilization. While their most prominent component is the paladins, they have justices and magistrates in their ranks as well.
- The Paladin: The Order of the Sun has these, knights sworn to never tell lies, drink alcohol or gamble while protecting people against evil gods and monsters. They have light-based, mostly protective magic.
- Patron God: It's universal in the setting's world that the gods require prayer, and reward devotion by granting their worshipers gifts of magic or other things. All the gods not only have their clergy but devotees, and seek to get more.
- Religion is Magic: Magic is considered a gift from the Goddess of Magic, Talcia. Its lack in Ieflaria is a result of Ieflarians worshiping Talcia less, since she grants it through kissing people personally (usually as babies, but sometimes adults too). Some more specific magical gifts though are from Inthi (fire or metal work) and Adranus (healing) however. Paladins from the Order of the Sun also work magic by praying to Iolar, the god which they serve.
- Switching P.O.V.:
- The Queen of Ieflaria: Each chapter shows things from either Esofi or Adale's perspective.
- Daughter of the Sun: The book shows things alternately from Aelia and Orsina's views, though Orsina has more POV segments.
