Realm of the Elderlings
epic fantasy
Series · fantasy
The Elemental Masters
The Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey has 19 known books (19 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Fire Rose (1995). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Cyprian.
- Books
- 19 known books (19 novels)
- Published
- 19
- First published
- 1995
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Fantasy
- Last checked
Start here: The Fire Rose (1995) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Fire Rose
The Fire Rose opened Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series in 1995, establishing the world every later book returns to: Victorian and Edwardian Britain, where gifted Elemental Masters command Fire, Water, Earth, and Air against a backdrop of séances and occult societies, each novel loosely built from a classic fairy tale's bones. It runs 448 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Fire Rose - Book 2:
The Serpent's Shadow
Six years after The Fire Rose, Lackey returned with The Serpent's Shadow in 2001 -- the second, almost entirely standalone entry in a series connected by its Fire/Water/Earth/Air magic system and period setting rather than continuing characters. It runs 400 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Serpent's Shadow - Book 3:
The Gates of Sleep
The Gates of Sleep followed in 2002 as the third Elemental Masters novel, one of the standalone fairy-tale-rooted entries set in Lackey's Victorian/Edwardian world of Elemental magic and occult societies. It runs 389 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Gates of Sleep - Book 4:
Phoenix and Ashes
At 480 pages, Phoenix and Ashes is the longest of the early Elemental Masters books, published in 2004 as the fourth entry -- another standalone novel in Lackey's fairy-tale-rooted, historically-textured series, woven through with period detail the way she often does with the Great War and Edwardian Britain.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Phoenix and Ashes - Book 5:
The Wizard of London
The Wizard of London, Lackey's fifth Elemental Masters novel, appeared in 2005 between Phoenix and Ashes and Reserved for the Cat, running 352 pages -- one more standalone entry in the series' Victorian-set world of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air magic.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Wizard of London - Book 6:
Reserved for the Cat
Reserved for the Cat took the series into its sixth installment in 2007, a 336-page book following The Wizard of London and continuing the standalone, fairy-tale-rooted pattern that defines most of the Elemental Masters series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Reserved for the Cat - Book 7:
Unnatural Issue
A four-year gap separated Reserved for the Cat from Unnatural Issue, which arrived in 2011 as the seventh Elemental Masters book at 361 pages -- still set in Lackey's Edwardian Britain of séances, industrial magic, and Elemental power.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Unnatural Issue - Book 8:
Home from the Sea
Home from the Sea, published 2012, is the eighth entry in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series and one of its shorter volumes at 311 pages, continuing the standalone, fairy-tale-rooted format the series has kept since 1995.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Home from the Sea - Book 9:
Steadfast
Steadfast, the ninth Elemental Masters novel, came out in 2013 at 298 pages, following Home from the Sea -- another largely standalone entry connected to the rest of the series by its Victorian setting and Elemental magic system rather than continuing characters.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Steadfast - Book 10:
Blood Red
Blood Red marked the tenth entry in the series in 2014, a 304-page book preceding From a High Tower and continuing Lackey's run of fairy-tale-rooted historical fantasy set among Elemental Masters commanding Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood Red - Book 11:
From a High Tower
From a High Tower followed in 2015 as the eleventh Elemental Masters installment, running 328 pages -- one more standalone novel in Lackey's long-running blend of cozy period atmosphere and fairy-tale-driven stakes.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of From a High Tower - Book 12:
A Study in Sable
With A Study in Sable in 2016, Lackey brought the series to its twelfth entry and opened a loose Sherlock Holmes-adjacent run that continues through A Scandal in Battersea, The Bartered Brides, and The Case of the Spellbound Child (2016-2019) -- sharing characters and a London setting unlike most standalone entries here. It runs 313 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Study in Sable - Book 13:
A Scandal in Battersea
A Scandal in Battersea, the thirteenth book, appeared in 2017 at 306 pages -- the second of the loose Sherlock Holmes-adjacent cluster that began with A Study in Sable and continues sharing characters and a London setting through The Bartered Brides and The Case of the Spellbound Child.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Scandal in Battersea - Book 14:
The Bartered Brides
The Bartered Brides continued the series in 2018 as its fourteenth entry, following A Scandal in Battersea -- the third book in the Sherlock Holmes-adjacent run that shares characters and a London setting across four connected installments. It runs 314 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Bartered Brides - Book 15:
The Case of the Spellbound Child
The Case of the Spellbound Child, published 2019, is the fifteenth Elemental Masters novel and the fourth and final book in the loose Sherlock Holmes-adjacent cluster that began with A Study in Sable in 2016. It runs 320 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Case of the Spellbound Child - Book 16:
Jolene
Jolene arrived in 2020 as the sixteenth entry, running 336 pages and following The Case of the Spellbound Child -- a return to the series' more usual standalone format after the four-book Sherlock Holmes-adjacent run.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Jolene - Book 17:
The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley
After a two-year gap, The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley became the seventeenth entry in 2022, 305 pages, continuing the series' blend of real historical figures and period texture with its Fire/Water/Earth/Air Elemental magic system, and preceding Miss Amelia's List.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley - Book 18:
Miss Amelia's List
Miss Amelia's List, published in 2024, is currently the eighteenth and most recent entry in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series -- a run of largely standalone, fairy-tale-rooted historical fantasy stretching back to The Fire Rose in 1995. It runs 336 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Miss Amelia's List - Book 19:
The Cyprian
The Cyprian (2025, Astra Publishing House) is the nineteenth Elemental Masters novel, a standalone Regency-set romantasy reimagining Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wild Swans": Elena Whitstone's stepmother, a Water Master, curses her seven brothers into swans and forces Elena into servitude before Elena must break the spell and save herself. It follows Miss Amelia's List.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cyprian
About The Elemental Masters
The Elemental Masters series reimagines classic fairy tales — Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, Snow White, The Snow Queen, and more — as historical fantasy set mostly in Victorian and Edwardian Britain, where certain gifted people can command the classical elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Each novel follows a different Elemental Master or apprentice navigating a plot loosely built from a specific fairy tale's bones, transplanted into a world of séances, industrial magic, occult societies, and real historical texture (Lackey frequently weaves in the Titanic, the Great War, real Edwardian celebrities, and other period detail). The books are almost entirely standalone, connected by setting and magic system rather than continuing characters, though several later entries — particularly the Sherlock Holmes-adjacent run beginning with A Study in Sable — form their own loose continuity.
Across eighteen books published between 1995 and 2024, the series has become one of Lackey's most consistently long-running projects outside Valdemar itself, prized by readers for its blend of cozy, richly-detailed period atmosphere with real fairy-tale-driven stakes.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Elemental Masters series?
This guide lists 18 novels published between 1995 and 2024. A further title, The Cyprian, was referenced on the author's own website with a late-2025 date at the time of this curation but could not be independently verified via Open Library or other bibliographic sources, so it is not yet included.
Do I need to read the Elemental Masters books in order?
No. Almost every book stands entirely alone, connected only by the shared magic system and Edwardian/Victorian setting. The exception is a loosely-connected run of four Sherlock-Holmes-adjacent books (A Study in Sable through The Case of the Spellbound Child) best read together in sequence.
What is the Elemental Masters magic system?
Certain gifted people, called Elemental Masters, can command and work with one of the four classical elements — Fire, Water, Earth, or Air — each with its own associated spirits and disciplines, set against a real historical backdrop of Victorian and Edwardian Britain.
Which fairy tales does the series retell?
Individual books loosely reimagine tales including Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, The Snow Queen, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Swan Lake/The Swan Princess, and others, each transplanted into the series' historical-fantasy setting.
Where's the best place to start the Elemental Masters series?
The Fire Rose (1995), the first published, is the traditional starting point, though because the books are standalone, many readers instead start with whichever fairy tale premise interests them most.
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