Ben Galley Books in Order
Browse Ben Galley books in order, with quick summaries, series guides, reading order help, and easy where-to-start tips across his fantasy worlds.
Last updated: July 8, 2026
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
Publication Order
23 books
The Written
by Ben Galley
2010
When an ancient spellbook disappears and scholars turn up dead, the magick council sends battlemage Farden after it. His search across icy Emaneska uncovers political lies, old enemies, and a secret that could unmake the world.
Pale Kings
by Ben Galley
2012
Winter bites harder, war creeps closer, and the Pale Kings begin to rise. While Farden digs into his past, Emaneska's fragile hopes are tested by politics, deception, dragons, and something worse than war.
Dead Stars - Part One
by Ben Galley
2013
Written mages are being hunted and skinned, and a strange girl may be the spark that breaks Emaneska for good. As magick surges and fear spreads, everyone keeps asking the same thing: where is Farden?
Dead Stars - Part Two
by Ben Galley
2013
Farden heads north toward the Spine, where fire, ice, and cataclysm are about to collide. While cities crack from greed and panic behind him, Emaneska's champion must choose what he is willing to sacrifice.
Bloodrush
by Ben Galley
2014
When Prime Lord Hark is murdered, his young son Merion is sent to the brutal frontier town of Fell Falls, Wyoming. There he finds fae, railwraiths, family secrets, and a murder mystery tied to his own blood.
Shelf Help
by Ben Galley
2014
Ben Galley's nonfiction guide walks writers through the DIY side of self-publishing, from editing and design to distribution and marketing. It's practical, beginner-friendly, and built around keeping creative control.
The Written Graphic Novel
by Ben Galley
2014
This graphic retelling of The Written throws Farden into a hunt for a stolen spellbook that could topple Emaneska. It keeps the original's dragons, magick, and betrayals, now in bold visual form.
Bloodmoon
by Ben Galley
2015
Merion Hark heads east across the Endless Land hoping to get home, but old scores and new enemies are hunting him. With his strange found family beside him, everything points toward a reckoning under the Bloodmoon.
Bloodfeud
by Ben Galley
2016
After the Bloodmoon, Merion Hark returns to London with revenge on his mind and the empire hanging in the balance. To bring down Lord Dizali and the Order, he must trust a dangerous ally and finish the fight in blood.
The Heart of Stone
by Ben Galley
2017
Task is a golem built for war, sold yet again to another master and another hopeless conflict. As Hartlund tears itself apart, this ancient killing machine begins to wonder whether even stone can change.
Chasing Graves
by Ben Galley
2018
Master locksmith Caltro Basalt arrives in Araxes and is murdered on his first night. In a city where the rich own ghosts, he must win back his freedom while gods, cults, and rivals fight for the throne.
Breaking Chaos
by Ben Galley
2019
Araxes tips into chaos as the fight for the emperor's throne reaches its end. Caltro, Nilith, and their allies face cults, killers, and a city unraveling while an even darker omen spreads beneath their feet.
Grim Solace
by Ben Galley
2019
Ghost thief Caltro Basalt escapes one master only to land deeper in Araxes' vicious power games. With the dead gods whispering and old enemies circling, freedom starts to look possible, and more dangerous than ever.
No Fairytale
by Ben Galley
2019
Years after the Last War, peace in Emaneska turns out to be mostly a lie. When a young girl with forbidden magick is swept into the violence beneath the empire, the old world's wounds open all over again.
The Forever King
by Ben Galley
2020
When an illegal spellbook washes ashore, young Mithrid Fenn is pulled from a quiet coastal life into rebellion, daemons, and outlaw war. In a land where magick is banned, revenge may be the only thing keeping her alive.
Heavy Lies the Crown
by Ben Galley
2021
Stranded in strange eastern lands, Farden and Mithrid hunt a weapon that might kill a god. Back in Emaneska, survivors search for safety while nightmares, warlords, and old enemies close in.
Demon’s Reign
by Ben Galley
2022
Tarko Terelta is a nobody until a demon invasion binds him to a power he can barely control. To save Shal Gara, he must walk a thin line between hero and monster.
The Iron Keys
by Ben Galley
2022
Before his legend is made, a young Farden marches into the Marshes of Efjar with the Iron Keys regiment. Minotaur clans, murderous bogs, and a brutal first campaign test him fast.
The Weaver & The Wyrm
by Ben Galley
2022
Exiled to Albion, a younger Farden hopes for a quieter life and gets the opposite. A mission to recover a dangerous weapon turns into a chase involving a grifter, a hunter, and a very deadly wyrm.
A Feast For Wolves
by Ben Galley
2023
Long before Farden's story, Written mages Tyrfing and Beleketh race to stop a murder near the Siren border from starting a war. It's a sharp prequel about betrayal, winter, and old tensions in Emaneska.
Demon's Rage
by Ben Galley
2024
After Shal Gara, the war for the Swathe only gets worse. Tarko and Serisi must face spreading lies, fresh demonic danger, and the terrifying pull of the power growing between them.
To Kill a God
by Ben Galley
2024
Peace in Emaneska barely has time to breathe before old shadows return and Ragnarok looms. Mithrid and Farden must gather allies, answer impossible demands, and face a final battle with no room for failure.
Demon's Ruin
by Ben Galley
2026
The Swathe is heading for a final stand as chaos spreads and a new demon king rises. Tarko and Serisi must unite a fractured world before history repeats in the worst possible way.
Where should I start?
If you want the full Emaneska journey: The Written → Pale Kings → Dead Stars - Part One → Dead Stars - Part Two
If you want dark fantasy first: Chasing Graves → Grim Solace → Breaking Chaos
If you want a standalone first: The Heart of Stone
If you want weird west fantasy: Bloodrush → Bloodmoon → Bloodfeud
If you want the later Emaneska sequel arc: The Forever King → Heavy Lies the Crown → To Kill a God
Author bio
Ben Galley grew up around fantasy early. Born in England, he spent part of his childhood in Scotland and later lived on the south coast of England. He has said that writers like Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and the Brothers Grimm were a big part of his reading life, and that mix of myth, monsters, and old stories still turns up all through his work.
He started young, too, writing a trio of unpublished monkey novels before he was even out of his early teens.
Writing was not a straight road. He briefly aimed at the Royal Air Force, quickly realised military life was not for him, and then spent his late teens more focused on music. He studied bass, kept playing it, and only around age twenty came back to the idea that had been waiting for him for years, getting paid to make stories up.
That choice led to The Written, the first Emaneska novel. He wrote it while working regular jobs in bars, restaurants, and even a pasty kiosk, then took the independent route and published it himself in 2010. That practical, figure-it-out-yourself streak became a defining part of his career, both as a novelist and as someone who thinks hard about how books actually reach readers.
A lot of readers first meet him through Emaneska, his cold, dragon-filled fantasy world of Written mages, old gods, and brutal politics. But he has never stayed in one lane for long. Bloodrush leans into weird west fantasy, all dust, fae, railways, and blood magic. The Heart of Stone goes in a different direction, following an immortal war golem who has seen too much violence and would very much like the world to surprise him for once. Then Chasing Graves shifts again, dropping readers into a desert city where ghosts are property and death is only the start of your problems. Later, The Forever King returns to the Emaneska world with a harder, later-age feel and a new lead in Mithrid Fenn.
Across those books, some of Galley's favourite pressure points keep showing up. Power is useful, but it always asks for something back. Empires lie. Old magic never stays tidy. The people who matter most are often thieves, exiles, soldiers, monsters, or half-broken survivors rather than clean-cut heroes. Even when the stories get dark, there is usually a streak of dry humour and a soft spot for found family, uneasy loyalty, and characters trying to stay human while the world gives them every reason not to.
The awards side followed the work. Bloodrush was the bloggers' favourite in the first Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off and also won Library Journal's Indie eBook of the Year for fantasy. The Heart of Stone won the Booknest Fantasy Award for Best Self-Published Novel in 2017.
He also turned his indie experience outward.
Through Shelf Help, Galley has spent years advising other writers on self-publishing and marketing, and he has spoken at book fairs, universities, and writing events in the UK and beyond. He has also worked as a Guardian Masterclass tutor. These days he lives in Victoria, British Columbia, where the outdoor life clearly suits him. When he is not writing, he still plays bass, takes photos and videos, travels, and gets out into the wild whenever he can. That feels fitting for a writer whose books care so much about weather, rough landscapes, and the dangerous things living inside them.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.









































Comments
Did we miss something? Have feedback?
Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts