Vicious Valentine Books in Order

Vicious Valentine currently works like a doorway into one of Feener's newer dark sci-fi college settings. The key title here is Distant Heart, a shorter novella set around Sacred Cor University and its feared, privileged Black Harts. Rather than trying to build a huge epic in one go, Feener uses this entry to show what the atmosphere of the place is like when the masks come off.

And they come off fast.

The story is built around Cor Night, a yearly event that actively encourages the Black Harts to indulge the ugliest parts of themselves. That gives the novella a clean, predatory shape. Illya Carmine spots Rexton Xiphus, decides he wants him, and the book becomes a power game about who is hunting whom, who is bluffing, and how much either of them is willing to risk for control.

What makes the setting memorable is the mix of money, status, and ritualized menace. This is a university story, yes, but not a casual one. Sacred Cor feels like a place where the rich and dangerous have been told for years that consequences are optional. Feener leans into that in a very direct way.

So think of Vicious Valentine as a concentrated sample of a darker campus world. If you want a short, sharp introduction to the Black Harts and the tone they bring, this is the page to start with.