Heirs of Alexandria

About the Heirs of Alexandria series

Co-created by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer, this alternate-history fantasy series reimagines the 16th century in a world where the ancient Library of Alexandria was never destroyed, Byzantium never fell, and the Church wages open magical war against a demon-worshipping Venice. The Shadow of the Lion follows a young Venetian nobleman, an exiled Emperor's heir, and a canal-dwelling thief-turned-hero as political and magical conspiracies converge on the city; This Rough Magic shifts to the besieged island of Corfu, where similar forces threaten a fragile alliance. A Mankind Witch, written solely by Dave Freer, is a lower-stakes side adventure following a Norse-flavored supporting cast between the first two books. Much Fall of Blood and Burdens of the Dead escalate the central Venice-versus-Church-versus-demons conflict toward a continent-spanning climax, and All the Plagues of Hell, written by Flint and Freer without Lackey, closes out the series Lackey helped originate.

The books blend genuine Renaissance-era history and geography with a fully realized magic system, and the rotating author lineup gives later entries a noticeably different flavor from the Lackey/Flint/Freer-credited opening volumes.

How to read this series

Publication order works well, with one branch point. Read The Shadow of the Lion (2002) first, then This Rough Magic (2003). A Mankind Witch (2005) is set between those two books chronologically (hence its common "book 1.5" listing) even though it was published after both; it follows a different, lower-stakes cast and can be read either right after This Rough Magic or skipped entirely without losing the main plot. Continue with Much Fall of Blood (2010) and Burdens of the Dead (2013) for the core trilogy's continuation, and All the Plagues of Hell (2018) — written without Lackey's involvement — to finish the series.