Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Helm of Midnight | 2021 | Marina J. Lostetter | Buy |
| 2 | The Cage of Dark Hours | 2023 | Marina J. Lostetter | Buy |
| 3 | The Teeth of Dawn | 2025 | Marina J. Lostetter | Buy |
The Five Penalties takes its name from the five costs that magic use carries in the series’ world. The Helm of Midnight, the first book (2021), introduces the system through the story of a killer who wears a dead enchanter’s helm to channel forbidden magic, and the constable tracking a series of murders that seem connected to it. The magic-as-transaction concept gives the series an unusually grounded feel for dark fantasy: nothing is free, and the penalties have real weight.
The Cage of Dark Hours (2023) and The Teeth of Dawn (2025) continue to expand the world and its rules, following different characters whose lives intersect with the same underlying magical economy. The trilogy is complete as of 2025, making this a good time to read it from beginning to end.