Of Metal and Wishes Books in Order
Part ofSarah Fine Books in OrderSee the Of Metal and Wishes books by Sarah Fine in order, with short summaries, series background, and clear advice on where to start.
Last updated: July 12, 2026
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Of Metal and Wishes books in publication order
3 books
Of Metal and Wishes
by Sarah Fine
2014
Wen helps her father in a brutal slaughterhouse where an eerie Ghost seems to hear every desperate wish. Caught between the haunted Bo and the Noor leader Melik, she must choose whom to trust before the factory explodes.
Of Dreams and Rust
by Sarah Fine
2015
A year after the slaughterhouse collapse, Wen works in a weapons-factory clinic while the Noor rebellion grows. To warn Melik's people of what is coming, she must walk into war and face what it has done to them all.
Of Shadows and Obsession
by Sarah Fine
2015
This prequel turns to Bo, the Ghost of Gochan slaughterhouse, before Wen's story begins. One night outside his hidden world gives him a glimpse of the living and leads to the moment that changes everything.
Of Metal and Wishes books in chronological order
Of Metal and Wishes
by Sarah Fine
2014Of Metal and Wishes, Book 1
Of Shadows and Obsession
by Sarah Fine
2015Of Metal and Wishes, Book 2
Of Dreams and Rust
by Sarah Fine
2015Of Metal and Wishes, Book 3
Series background & context
Of Metal and Wishes is one of Sarah Fine's most atmospheric worlds. The series begins with a loose retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, but it is not just dressing up the old story and stopping there. Fine sets it in an industrial, Asian-inspired world of slaughterhouses, factory labor, class tension, and war, which gives the books a grimy, physical feel from the first pages.
The central character is Wen, a doctor's daughter who works as his assistant in a slaughterhouse staffed by the Noor, an oppressed labor force treated as disposable by the people in power. Wen stands in an uncomfortable middle. She has access others do not, but she also sees more than most people want to admit. Then there is the Ghost, known as Bo, a scarred and half-mythic presence inside the slaughterhouse who seems to grant wishes and protect Wen in ways that are not always gentle.
That triangle drives the first novel, Of Metal and Wishes. Wen is pulled between Melik, an outspoken Noor leader furious at the cruelty surrounding him, and Bo, whose obsession with her can look like devotion or danger depending on the moment. The book's tension comes from more than romance. It is about exploitation, guilt, violence, and the cost of wanting safety in a place built on suffering.
Of Shadows and Obsession turns the camera toward Bo, which helps the series feel fuller rather than simply longer. Then Of Dreams and Rust widens the story again. Wen is working in a weapons-factory clinic, the Noor rebellion is active, and the conflict moves outward into a war zone. The question stops being just whom Wen trusts. It becomes what she is willing to risk for people caught in a much larger fight.
Expect dark YA fantasy with strong gothic energy, but also a surprisingly grounded interest in labor, power, and bodies under strain. These books can be romantic, but they are never soft-focus. They are best for readers who like their fantasy a little haunted, a little brutal, and very interested in the human cost behind every grand machine.
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