Tahn Books in Order

The Tahn books step away from cornfields into a medieval style fantasy world, but they keep many of the same questions about conscience, courage, and grace. At the center is Tahn Dorn, a man trained from childhood to be a killer who is no longer sure he can stomach the work his master demands.

Tahn opens with a brutal assignment: kidnap Lady Netta Trilett, burn her family's estate, and deliver her to the cruel commander Samis. Tahn carries out part of the order, only to balk at handing Netta over. Instead, he hides her in a mountain cave, gathers up a group of children Samis has been hardening for violence, and tries to keep them all alive while enemies close in.

The story weaves together sword fights, narrow escapes, and long conversations in firelit rooms. As the children slowly learn to trust the man who once trained them for evil, Tahn begins to wrestle with a God he barely understands, and Netta struggles to forgive the man who killed her husband.

In Return to Alastair, the focus shifts from flight to reckoning. Tahn has turned toward a new life, but recurring nightmares and unfinished business drag him back to his birthplace, the town of Alastair. There he walks streets filled with people who remember his worst deeds, faces old enemies, and discovers long buried family ties, including a sister whose existence he never knew about.

The Scarlet Trefoil brings the arc to a head. On the eve of Tahn and Netta's wedding, Netta is kidnapped and her escort murdered, and a chilling message summons Tahn to trade his life for hers. He suspects his jealous cousin, Baron Lionel Trent, yet chooses to walk into danger alone, knowing that the cost of protecting those he loves may be everything he has gained.

Readers coming from Leisha Kelly's historical novels will find familiar threads here: damaged people trying to change, a found family of children, and a steady undercurrent of hope. The tone is more adventurous, with battles and peril, but the spiritual questions remain front and center. It works best to read the trilogy straight through from Tahn to The Scarlet Trefoil, since each volume picks up directly where the last one left off.