The Extraordinaries (Melissa McShane) Books in Order

The Extraordinaries is Melissa McShane's take on historical fantasy, and it has a very clear hook. In this world, a plague in 1665 left some survivors with strange powers. Generations later, by the time of the Napoleonic Wars, those gifts are woven into English society. Some people can communicate mind to mind, some can move instantly from place to place, and a few have much rarer and more powerful abilities.

Those rare people are the Extraordinaries.

The series is set in the early nineteenth century and follows different women whose powers place them in the middle of war, politics, and social expectation. That shifting viewpoint is one of the strengths of the books. Rather than staying with a single heroine, McShane uses the shared setting to show several corners of the same world, from government offices and naval ships to India, Peru, and London. The result feels broad without losing its personal focus.

The Napoleonic setting matters a lot. Napoleon himself is reimagined here as an Extraordinary Coercer, someone able to manipulate emotion on a terrifying scale, so the war becomes magical as well as military. But these are not only battlefield stories. McShane is just as interested in what happens when talented women live inside a society that values them for their gifts while still trying to control them. That tension gives the books much of their bite.

The tone balances adventure and restraint nicely. You get sea battles, espionage, bombings, political schemes, long-distance travel, and big magical set pieces, but you also get careful attention to manners, reputation, class, and the practical limits placed on women in the period. The heroines are often competent long before the world fully trusts them, and part of the fun is watching them force the world to adjust.

Even though the protagonists change, the books still feel connected. Characters recur, the war continues, and each installment adds another angle on the same magical society. Readers who like linked standalone fantasies tend to do well here, because every book tells a distinct story while contributing to the larger picture of a country at war and a generation of gifted women finding their place inside it.

If you enjoy Regency atmosphere, alternate history, and fantasy that lets women step into public danger as well as private feeling, The Extraordinaries is a strong fit. It is one of McShane's most expansive worlds, and one of her most entertaining ones too.