Hope and Red
A paranormal swashbuckling adventure built on found family bonds and a ragtag crew of supernatural misfits. The story balances action and humor with genuine emotional stakes between characters. Adventure and romance collide as this team carves out their own path.
Everything You Need to Know About Hope and Red
Hope is the sole survivor of a village slaughtered by the biomancer Teltho Kan. She is taken in by Hurlo, a Vinchen warrior monk who breaks his order's oldest rule by secretly training a girl into one of the deadliest swordfighters alive. Red grows up in the slums of New Laven, a thief and con artist with strange eyes and considerable charm. When their paths collide, revenge and survival tangle together and the two of them start cutting a path toward the empire's rotten heart. Grimy, funny, violent, and built on found family as much as romance.
The dual structure works: Hope's austere warrior upbringing set against Red's criminal chaos, with both given room to breathe before they meet. Skovron's invented street slang gives New Laven real texture, and the side characters, especially the criminals, steal scenes. Violence has actual consequences here, which is rarer than it should be.
Red does not die. The book ends with the pair separated: Red is pulled into the imperial court's orbit, where he ends up working as a spy in the sequels, and Hope sets out on the path that makes her a feared pirate captain in book 2. Her hunt for Teltho Kan and what revenge costs her drive the back half. The romance stays slow and complicated across all three books.
For readers who want swashbuckling fantasy with a romantic thread rather than romantasy proper. Think Scott Lynch energy with more heart and less puzzle-box plotting. Skip it if invented slang annoys you; the book commits hard.
Book 1 of the Empire of Storms trilogy, followed by Bane and Shadow and Blood and Tempest. No relation to the Sarah J. Maas book of the same name. The trilogy completes the story.
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