Mitchell Hogan Books in Order

If you want classic coming-of-age epic fantasy: A Crucible of Souls → Blood of Innocents → A Shattered Empire
If you want a darker origin story: Crucible of Lies
If you want a demon-led fantasy: Shadow of the Exile → Dawn of the Exile
If you want knightly orders and necromancy: Incursion → Corruption → Subversion → Conversion
If you want a ruined-world ensemble adventure: Tower of the Forgotten → Revenant Winds

Mitchell Hogan grew up in Sydney, Australia, and he still calls the city home. He has said he was born and raised there, grew up with two sisters, and was largely raised by his mother during some difficult early years.

Fantasy got there first.

When he was eleven, a teacher began reading The Hobbit to his class. Hogan loved it, and his mother followed up with copies of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. That kicked off years of reading fantasy and science fiction, plus the usual side interests that go with it, tabletop games, computer games, and plenty of time spent building a serious personal library.

At university he studied chemical engineering, mostly because maths and science came naturally. Adult life then took him through a few other careers before writing became the main job. He has worked in finance and in the pharmaceutical industry, and for a long time writing was the project he kept meaning to return to when life finally slowed down.

He kept notes on scenes, characters, and story ideas for years. His first attempt at writing fantasy did not go well at all, he has joked that it died after a single page, but the urge to write never really left. Eventually, after a stretch of burnout, stress, and too much overtime, he stepped back and looked hard at what he was doing.

He didn't want to regret never trying.

That decision turned into A Crucible of Souls. Hogan self-published the novel in 2013, followed it with a sequel in 2014, and later saw the series picked up by Harper Voyager. A Crucible of Souls also won the 2013 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel, which is a pretty solid way to announce yourself.

A lot of Hogan's fiction shares the same interests. He likes hidden histories, layered magic systems, damaged institutions, and characters who are forced to choose between duty, survival, and conscience. His worlds often feel old in the best way, full of ruins, forgotten wars, religious power, and consequences nobody has fully escaped.

If you start with A Crucible of Souls, you get Caldan, a monk-raised young sorcerer trying to uncover the truth about his murdered parents, and readers tend to like the mix of coming-of-age fantasy and steadily darkening stakes. Shadow of the Exile shows another side of Hogan, following the demon Tarrik Nal-Valim through exile, service, and a shot at redemption. Incursion leans harder into knightly orders, necromancy, and divided loyalties, while Crucible of Lies goes deeper into morally grey territory with the voice of an immortal emperor telling a story you are never quite sure you should trust. Even when he shifts into science fiction with Inquisitor, the core appeal is familiar, a hunted lead character, dangerous secrets, and a larger system that may be just as threatening as the obvious enemy.

Hogan writes full time now and lives in Sydney with his wife, Angela, and their daughters, Isabelle and Charlotte. In interviews he comes across as practical, funny, and very aware that writing is both art and work. That balance fits the books too, they can get big and dramatic, but they are usually anchored by people trying to make the best call they can in a world that does not make it easy.