Chimera Books in Order

The Chimera books are Carol Berg's fantasy-adventure series written under the name Cate Glass. They are set in Cantagna, a lively city where politics, trade, pleasure, and danger all crowd the same streets, and where being discovered as a sorcerer can get you killed. That single fact gives the whole series its snap. Magic is useful, powerful, and everywhere feared.

This is Berg in caper mode.

The central character is Romy, who once escaped poverty by becoming the courtesan of Cantagna's Shadow Lord. When her brother Neri's use of magic blows up the careful life she built, Romy is pushed back toward the streets and the secrets she has spent years managing. She and Neri do not stay alone for long. A swordmaster named Placidio and a metalsmith named Dumond join them, and together the four become the Chimera, a covert little band whose talents make them useful for missions other agents could never survive.

An Illusion of Thieves brings that team together through a plot involving rebellion, theft, and the risk of civil war. A Conjuring of Assassins turns them toward espionage and political conspiracy, with an assassin list that could set whole countries on fire if it reaches the wrong hands. A Summoning of Demons raises the pressure again after an earthquake shakes the city and fear starts feeding older, darker stories. Across the trilogy, Berg keeps widening the stakes without losing the pleasure of watching this odd team learn how to trust each other.

The urban setting makes a real difference. Cantagna is not a backdrop you pass through on the way to some distant quest. It is the point. Alleys, courtyards, noble houses, workshops, hidden rooms, docks, and crowded public spaces all matter because the Chimera's work depends on disguise, timing, and getting close without being seen. The larger Costa Drago politics matter too, but the books never forget street-level consequences.

What makes the series especially fun is the mix of skills inside the team. Romy is clever and socially agile. Neri is reckless in the way younger brothers often are, but he is also indispensable. Placidio brings discipline and muscle. Dumond brings craft, patience, and a quieter kind of courage. Their magic is different from one another's, and because it has to stay hidden, every job comes with real risk.

If you want Berg's love of damaged characters and layered politics, but in a quicker, more urban, more overtly adventurous form, Chimera is a strong pick. It has heists, infiltrations, secret loyalties, and the constant tension of people doing dangerous work with the one thing that could also condemn them.