Margaret Owen Books in Order

Margaret Owen was born and raised at the end of the Oregon Trail, where books got to her early. In fourth grade, she met an author for the first time and quickly decided she wanted that job too. As a kid, she spent plenty of time wandering the aisles of Powell's Books, even as her idea of a future career changed more than once.

Writing was the thread that kept coming back.

Owen went on to earn a degree in Japanese. Her love of espresso later pulled her north to Seattle, where she took a wide range of jobs, including work in thrift stores and on presidential campaigns. Those experiences gave her plenty to observe before she settled into the long, stubborn work of getting characters out of her head and onto the page.

Her first published novel, The Merciful Crow, introduced Fie, a Crow chief-in-training in a kingdom built on a brutal caste system. Fie's people handle the dead during a deadly plague, yet are treated as disposable by the society that depends on them. When Fie makes a bargain with a fugitive prince, the story becomes a road-bound fantasy about survival, loyalty, magic, and who gets protected by power. The Faithless Hawk continues Fie's fight for the Crows and raises the stakes inside Sabor's royal struggle.

Then Owen took a sharp turn into fairy-tale crime.

Little Thieves reworks The Goose Girl from the point of view of Vanja Schmidt, a maid and thief who steals a princess's life with enchanted pearls. Vanja is funny, defensive, reckless, and usually several steps into a scheme before she has a safe way out. The series follows her through curses, gods, investigations, and the messy work of deciding what she owes other people. Painted Devils and Holy Terrors build on that setup, keeping Vanja at the center while widening the story into cults, royal politics, and a bigger reckoning with her past.

Across these books, Owen returns to people who have been pushed aside, underestimated, or branded as trouble. Her characters tend to be survivors rather than spotless heroes. They make bad calls, tell lies, carry old hurts, and still try to show up for the people they love. The fantasy settings are full of old rules, powerful families, dangerous bargains, and institutions that need someone to challenge them.

Her upcoming Rootbound, a novel set after Disney's Tangled, brings Rapunzel and Eugene into a new adventure involving a guarded neighboring kingdom, political secrets, and magic. It fits neatly beside Owen's earlier work, where a fast-moving plot leaves room for complicated loyalties and characters trying to find their place.

Owen lives and writes in Seattle with two cats she has jokingly described as monstrous. When she isn't writing, she makes illustrations and uses that art to raise money for social justice nonprofits. She also enjoys visiting destinations that may not be the wisest travel choice, which feels very much in keeping with the people she sends into trouble on the page.