Kingdoms and Empires Books in Order

The Kingdoms and Empires books take place in a fantasy world that feels both enormous and delightfully peculiar. Pirates, dragons, witches, shadow mages, school tournaments, enchanted wills, and suspiciously important afternoon teas can all share the same map. The books are aimed at younger readers than some of Moriarty's YA work, but they never talk down to the audience.

The series starts with The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, where Bronte is sent across the realms to deliver gifts to ten aunts after her parents are killed by pirates. The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars, also published as The Whispering Wars, shifts to Spindrift, where orphanage children and boarding school children are forced into an uneasy alliance when dark magic and real war arrive on their doorstep.

Later books keep widening the world. The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst follows Esther Mettlestone-Staranise at boarding school as rumors, hidden magic, and shadow mages begin to crowd in. Oscar From Elsewhere brings in a boy from Sydney who slips into the magical world and is swept into a race to save an Elven city. The Secret of Lillian Velvet, published in some places as The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet, follows a lonely girl with a jar of gold coins and a problem much bigger than she understands.

On paper, that sounds like a lot, and it is.

What keeps it from feeling random is the web of family connections, returning characters, and recurring threats. Bronte's wider family keeps echoing through later books. Children who look like side characters in one story matter more in the next. Shadow magic, kidnappers, wars, and buried family histories keep resurfacing, so the world feels linked even when each book has its own main cast and immediate problem.

Setting matters here. Gainsleigh, Spindrift, Cloudburst, Katherine Valley, and the Elven city of Dun-sorey-lo-vay-lo-hey all have their own flavor. Moriarty likes a world where danger and absurdity sit side by side. A child can be tracking a sinister force one moment and dealing with school rules, dragons, or difficult relatives the next. That balance gives the series its particular energy.

These books can stand alone, but they are richer in order because the emotional payoffs and family ties accumulate. The tone is adventurous and funny, but the danger is real. Children have to make brave decisions because adults are often missing, overwhelmed, or wrong. If you like fantasy that is busy, humane, and a little gloriously eccentric, this series has a lot to keep you company.