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A Practical Guide to Sorcery
1 web novel and 6 books

A series by Azalea Ellis
Royal Road
Author: Azalea Ellis (11 books)
Series status: Ongoing
First published: July 11, 2020
Description: In a world where magic is a science, Siobhan is a genius.
But even geniuses need schooling.

When Siobhan stumbled into the theft of a priceless magical book, she thought her dreams of becoming the world's most powerful sorcerer were destroyed.

But then a mysterious spell changed her life forever...

Siobhan is now wearing the body of a strange man and has a new identity—Sebastien. With a new chance for a new start, she allies herself with a local gang—secretly a revolutionary party funding itself through crime. Now, she is bound by vow to repay them in magic and favors. 

But as Sebastien's reputation begins to bloom, and Siobhan's old enemies still lurk in the shadows, she quickly realizes that the secrets of this world are deeper and darker than she ever could have imagined.

Forced to juggle the two sides of her double life, Siobhan is determined to uncover the truth and take control of the name they gave her - The Raven Queen.
Published Novel
Series: A Practical Guide to Sorcery (book 1 out of 6)
Author: Azalea Ellis (11 books)
Series status: Ongoing
First published: February 11, 2021
Description: In a world where magic is a science, Siobhan Naught is a genius.
But even geniuses need schooling.

Siobhan has just been banned from the country's only magical university. As the unwitting accomplice to the theft of a priceless magical artifact, she has suddenly become a wanted criminal. There are fates worse than death, and if caught, she will face them. Unwilling to give up on her dream of becoming the world's most powerful sorcerer, she resolves to do whatever it takes to change her fate.

Even if it means magically disguising herself as a boy and indebting herself to a gang of criminals to pay for University tuition.

With the coppers after her, the pressure of trying to keep her spot in the devilishly competitive magic classes, and the gang calling in favors to repay her debts, Siobhan will need every drop of magic she can channel.
Published Novel
Series: A Practical Guide to Sorcery (book 2 out of 6)
Author: Azalea Ellis (11 books)
Series status: Ongoing
First published: December 28, 2021
Description: To study magic at the University, Siobhan sacrificed her name.
She sacrificed her body, and her past.

Magically disguised as a boy named Sebastien, she is learning wondrous secrets of the thaumaturgic sciences. As Sebastien, she mingles with the young nobles who will one day rule their country. But danger is closer than ever, and she cannot escape her past.

The coppers investigating the theft of Siobhan’s priceless transformation artifact have given her a new name. The Raven Queen. As Siobhan does favors for the gang that loaned her the University tuition, the Raven Queen’s mystique only grows.

And keeps growing…

…Snowballing out of control until Siobhan’s other identity takes on a life of its own, a fear-inducing bogeyman well beyond the truth of her real capabilities.

With the whole city out to get her and trouble hounding both sides of her double life, how will Siobhan ever survive to become the world’s most powerful sorcerer?
Published Novel
Series: A Practical Guide to Sorcery (book 3 out of 6)
Author: Azalea Ellis (11 books)
Series status: Ongoing
First published: December 28, 2022
Description: Magic requires knowledge...

It requires precision...

But most of all, it requires a sheer force of will strong enough to break reality.

Siobhan still dreams of becoming the world's most powerful sorcerer. But she has once again been forced to face the horrifyingly dark side of their world. When a mis-cast spell can turn you into a city-killing monster out of nightmares, nowhere and nothing is truly safe.

As the Verdant Stag gang grows more powerful, the fearsome reputation of her alter ego, the Raven Queen, blooms with them until it seems to gain a life of its own.

As Sebastien, her magically transformed alternate identity, she has to deal with the fallout of her other self's actions. She needs to keep her two lives separate, but they are melting perilously close together, and she worries that she will lose herself entirely.

Worse, she might not even realize it until she wakes up and sees a stranger in the mirror.

That has happened before, after all.

As Siobhan's grandfather once told her, "Magic always has its price. Beware that you do not sacrifice more than you can bear to lose."

You'll love A Sacrifice of Light because of the compelling characters, detailed magic system, and layer upon layer of mystery.

Get it now.
Published Novel
Series: A Practical Guide to Sorcery (book 4 out of 6)
Author: Azalea Ellis (11 books)
Series status: Ongoing
First published: February 20, 2024
Description: The Raven Queen...

Siobhan didn't choose this name.

But now she will take control of it.

The secrets of this world are deeper and darker than Siobhan knew, and those she once trusted seem strange and sinister. But her Will is as abyssal as the ocean, and she is determined to uncover the truth.

As Sebastien's reputation begins to bloom with its own light, new eyes turn her way. With new magic and old plans come to fruition, she feels the inklings of true power within her grasp.

But there is a storm waiting beneath the placid surface of the ocean...

And old enemies have not forgotten her.

Running has not worked for Siobhan, and so the Raven Queen will stop running, and instead advance. She hopes to strip away any power they hold over her, but as she uncovers secrets and unravels mysteries, things may not go as planned. Will Siobhan and the few allies she has bound to her side be able to stand against the might of their enemies?
Published Novel
Series: A Practical Guide to Sorcery (book 5 out of 6)
Author: Azalea Ellis (11 books)
Series status: Ongoing
First published: April 13, 2025
Description: Magic is a double-edged sword. Siobhan knows this all too well.Old scars have peeled open to spill out the horrors within, and Siobhan has learned to fear her shadow.

Her fearsome reputation—the Raven Queen—has grown until it seems to gain a life of its own. But she would never have survived this long if she let a little setback like that stop her from achieving her goals.

As tensions begin to rend apart the world around Siobhan, she understands the need for power—in all its forms—to control her own fate. Knowledge, magic, and a reputation that will bind others to her will and her cause.

Through power comes freedom.
Published Novel
Series: A Practical Guide to Sorcery (book 6 out of 6)
Author: Azalea Ellis (11 books)
Series status: Ongoing
First published: September 27, 2025
Description: Dreams are coming true in Siobhan Naught's village—and it's killing them all.

Siobhan is struggling with loneliness after her mother's death, but even though her grandfather is the only one she has left, he’s more interested in his secretive research than his granddaughter. But when a mysterious stranger arrives to help him with his work, nightmarish phenomena begin to plague their village.As her neighbors are bewitched by vivid dreams, the town seems to teeter on the brink of madness. Siobhan is the only one who notices.With her grandfather growing more secretive by the day, Siobhan is determined to uncover the truth before it's too late.But some doors are locked for a reason.

When dreams become real, nightmares come to life. A Builder of Dreams is a prequel novel set seven years before the events of the main story, but should be read in sequence with the other books in the series to avoid spoilers.