Study Chronicles: Valek's Adventures Books in Order

Study Chronicles: Valek’s Adventures is a companion sequence to the main Study novels, written for readers who ever wondered what the commander’s chief of security was doing when he was off stage. Instead of following Yelena, these books shift into Valek’s point of view, tracing the same major crises from the angle of the man responsible for keeping Ixia intact. They bring spy rings, assassination attempts, and Valek’s complicated loyalties into sharper focus while still crossing paths with the scenes fans know well.

The Study of Poisons runs in parallel with Poison Study. It opens with Valek already deeply embedded as the commander’s spymaster, juggling informants, covert missions, and the daily risk that an enemy might get close enough to strike. When Yelena is dragged from the dungeon to face execution for killing a general’s son, Valek’s instincts tell him there is more to her story. He maneuvers her into the role of food taster, trains her in the art of detecting poisons, and keeps digging into the conspiracy that might topple the new regime. Seeing these events through his eyes adds weight to choices that, in the original book, Yelena only guessed at.

The Study of Magic covers the period when Yelena travels south to Sitia in Magic Study and the center of gravity shifts back to Ixia. With his heartmate far away, Valek is left to handle the lingering pieces of the Brazell and Mogkan plot, new unrest among the generals, and rumors that someone at the highest levels is planning a coup. The novel shows how he navigates competing factions inside the army, keeps the commander alive, and tries to balance cold strategic thinking with the warmer feelings he would rather keep hidden.

The Study of Fire continues that pattern for the events of Fire Study. Valek begins by investigating a string of unsettling incidents in Castletown, only to uncover threats that stretch far beyond local troublemakers. As attempts on the commander’s life escalate, he has to decide when to stay in Ixia and when to risk traveling into Sitia himself, even though many there would like to see him dead. The story fills in how he prepares for the final confrontations that the main trilogy shows from Yelena’s side.

All three novels keep Valek’s dry humor, ruthless efficiency, and surprising tenderness at the center of the page.

The novella The Study of Storms and Magic widens the lens to Valek’s family. Set after the original trilogy, it follows his younger siblings Zethan and Zohav as they travel to Ixia’s Northern Ice Pack to work with a Stormdancer named Heli. What should be a challenging but routine mission, helping tame deadly blizzards and channel their energy, turns into a fight for survival when both the weather and human enemies prove more dangerous than expected. The story connects the glass and Stormdancer magic readers have seen before with the next generation of characters linked to Valek.

Taken together, Valek’s Adventures is less an entry point and more an expansion pack. It is best read after or alongside the main Study books, when you already care about the characters and want to see how different choices and secrets look from inside the assassin’s head. For readers who have always been curious about the shadowy corners of Ixia’s politics and the people who keep that system running, these stories fill in a lot of satisfying blanks.