Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faerie Wars | 2003 | J.H. Brennan | Buy |
| 2 | The Purple Emperor | 2004 | J.H. Brennan | Buy |
| 3 | Ruler of the Realm | 2006 | J.H. Brennan | Buy |
| 4 | Faerie Lord | 2007 | J.H. Brennan | Buy |
| 5 | The Faeman Quest | 2011 | J.H. Brennan | Buy |
The Faerie Wars Chronicles is J.H. Brennan’s longest and most ambitious work of traditional fiction. Published between 2003 and 2011 under the name Herbie Brennan, the five-book series follows Henry Atherton, a young man who stumbles into the Faerie Realm and becomes entangled in its dangerous politics. The faerie world Brennan created is not the gentle, flower-strewn version from children’s picture books. Instead, it is a place of palace intrigue, civil war, and genuine peril.
Each book raises the stakes as Henry gets pulled deeper into faerie affairs, forming alliances and facing enemies on both sides of the portal between worlds. Brennan brought his experience writing interactive fiction to the series, filling the plot with twists and cliffhangers that keep the pace moving. The books were published internationally and translated into dozens of languages, making them Brennan’s most commercially successful work.
The series appeals to readers who enjoy portal fantasy with a slightly darker edge than typical middle-grade fare. Fans of the genre will find a well-constructed secondary world with its own history, technology, and power structures, all grounded by Henry’s outsider perspective as he tries to survive in a place where nothing works the way he expects.