Heartwood Books in Order

The Heartwood series opens a new corner of Marillier's world, one where an ancient forest is as much a character as any human being. These books follow Stasya, a young woman with an uncanny way with animals, who lives on the edge of the vast Heartwood Forest in a northern farming village.

Stasya is considered odd by her neighbours, tolerated more for her gift with sick livestock and wayward dogs than for her ability to make small talk. Her closest companion is an unusual dog who moves like a shadow, and her one real human friend is Lukas, a goatherd who shares her love of old stories. Together they grow up listening to tales of the Hermit who walks the deep forest and of treasures hidden where no one has ever returned safely.

In The Amber Owl, that uneasy peace is shattered when soldiers arrive under orders from the ruthless Ruler of the Northlands. Their task is to hack a road through Heartwood itself in search of fabled riches, including a mysterious amber artefact in the shape of an owl. The project is both politically driven and practically impossible: the forest is full of bears and wolves, the trees seem to close in around intruders, and the villagers quickly realise that failure will be blamed on them.

Stasya refuses to stay silent. When she challenges the plan in front of the soldiers, she is torn from her home and taken to the Ruler's court, a place of polished manners, veiled threats and constant watchfulness. Lady Elisabeta, the ruler, intends to use Stasya's skills with animals and her link to Heartwood to bend the forest to human will. Stasya must find a way to endure that pressure, protect the people she left behind and keep her vow not to betray the forest that has sheltered her.

As the story unfolds, Stasya gathers a small band of unlikely allies, human and otherwise, and begins to uncover the truth behind the legend of the Hermit and the amber owl. Questions of power, responsibility and what it means to care for a living landscape sit alongside moments of quiet companionship with animals and flashes of wild, uncanny magic.

The result feels like an eco fantasy rooted in folktale, suited to readers who enjoy deep forests, loyal animal companions and heroines whose courage shows up in stubborn, everyday acts of protection.