TodHunter Moon Books in Order

The TodHunter Moon trilogy returns to the world of Septimus Heap several years later, shifting the focus to Alice TodHunter Moon, known to everyone as Tod. She grows up in a small PathFinder village on the coast, where families use secret sea lore to guide boats safely through treacherous waters.

On the eve of her formal training, Tod's world falls apart. Her father disappears at sea, her mother has already died, and mysterious creatures called Garmin start kidnapping PathFinders under the orders of a ruthless figure known as the Lady. When her best friend Ferdie vanishes, Tod teams up with Ferdie's twin brother Oskar and heads inland to find him.

Their journey brings them back to the Castle, now a little older and changed since the events of Fyre. Tod meets Queen Jenna, ExtraOrdinary Wizard Septimus Heap and ex ExtraOrdinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand, who all recognise that her mix of PathFinding and Magyk is something new. She becomes Septimus's apprentice, splitting her life between the bustling Wizard Tower and the tidal creeks she still calls home.

In PathFinder the focus is on rescuing missing PathFinders and unpicking the Lady's connection to her brother, the Darke sorcerer Oraton Marr. SandRider sends Tod, Ferdie and Oskar across the Desert of the Singing Sands to reclaim a stolen Orm Egg before it can be twisted to evil. In StarChaser the hatched Orm's power threatens the very foundations of Magyk, forcing Tod to look beyond familiar lands for a new keystone to hold her world together.

Where Septimus Heap often feels like a city based fantasy with occasional journeys, Tod's story is more of a quest, full of travel by river, sea and sand. It keeps the humour, cozy food stops and sprawling cast that readers expect, but puts a slightly sharper focus on Tod's grief, independence and stubborn determination to choose her own path.

Readers can start here without having read the earlier series, but those who already know the Castle will enjoy seeing how old characters have grown into new roles. For many fans, TodHunter Moon feels like a second, more oceanic tour of a favourite world, guided this time by a girl who is equally at home in the depths and the clouds.