Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Blood Ladders Box Set | - | M.C.A. Hogarth | N/A |
| 2 | An Heir to Thorns and Steel | 2015 | M.C.A. Hogarth | Buy |
| 3 | By Vow and Royal Bloodshed | 2015 | M.C.A. Hogarth | Buy |
| 4 | On Wings of Bone and Glass | 2015 | M.C.A. Hogarth | Buy |
The Blood Ladders Trilogy by M.C.A. Hogarth is a portal fantasy that begins with An Heir to Thorns and Steel. The story follows a graduate student whose chronic illness turns out to have a supernatural cause: he has elven ancestry, and his body is reacting to dormant magical blood. When he is drawn into the elven world, he finds himself caught up in royal politics and ancient obligations.
The trilogy moves through By Vow and Royal Bloodshed and On Wings of Bone and Glass, with each book expanding the magical world and its rules. The series blends modern-day settings with a secondary fantasy world, and Hogarth’s background in worldbuilding gives the elven society a distinct culture and history. A box set edition collects all three books together.
This is one of Hogarth’s works outside the Peltedverse, and it shows a different side of her writing. Where her sci-fi tends toward aliens and space, the Blood Ladders Trilogy is rooted in fairy tale traditions and the tension between ordinary life and a hidden magical heritage.