Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Executioness | 2011 | Paolo Bacigalupi | N/A |
| 2 | The Alchemist | 2011 | Paolo Bacigalupi | Buy |
| 3 | The Tangled Lands | 2018 | Paolo Bacigalupi | Buy |
The Khaim series takes place in a city where every use of magic causes a deadly plant called bramble to spread and consume the land. The premise creates an impossible dilemma: magic can solve immediate problems, but each spell brings the world closer to being choked out entirely. The Alchemist and The Executioness explore this concept as paired novellas, each telling a different side of the same crisis.
The Tangled Lands, published in 2018, expands the Khaim setting into a full novel co-written with Tobias S. Buckell. The book weaves together multiple storylines across the city, showing how people at every level of society deal with a resource that is both necessary and poisonous. This series shows a different side of Bacigalupi’s work, trading science fiction for fantasy while keeping the same interest in systems and consequences.