J.M. Hofer Books In Order

Publication Order of Islands in the Mist Books

J. M. Hofer is an award-winning American writer, who is famous for writing fantasy, mythology, and fiction novels. He is known to have written page-turning stories of power, sorcery, and lust. Author Hofer is particularly famous for writing the Islands in the Mist book series. She has set this series in the post-Roman Britain with a little bit of Welsh legend. Through the stories of this series Hofer has tried to bring to life the period before King Arthur arrived. Hofer resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to being an author, she is employed in the travel industry.

Hofer loves to travel a lot and enjoys learning new languages. She has a deep interest in studying ancient history and Celtic lore. Her first book was selected as one of the top 5 semi-finalists from the 2000 entries for the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Prize competition in the fantasy/horror/sci-fi genre. Hofer is highly active on various social media platforms. She can be contacted through her personal website in relation to her novels. Besides, she also keeps giving up updates about and the latest happenings in her writing career as well as in her life. While growing up, Hofer was always inspired and influenced by the works of authors like Marion Zimmer Bradley, Evangeline Walton, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, John Matthews, and Caitlin Matthews.

The Islands in the Mist series written by author J. M. Hofer is comprised of a total of four books published between 2014 and 2018. Each of the books in this series features the central characters in the form of Lucia and Bran. The series describes Bran as a great warrior. While on the battlefield, he learns that his mother is on deathbed. Bran returns home to see her for the last time and vows to honor her dying wish. Bran sets himself on the course of trying to solve the mystery behind his mother’s death and find out who attacked her fatally. The people around Bran believe that the attack was the work of a wolf. But, Bran’s mother had insisted before dying that it was someone from the people around her and not a wolf. In order to get to the truth, Bran is told to seek Talhaiarn’s counsel. Talhaiarn is a trustworthy druid advisor of Bran’s Clan.

The debut book of this series is entitled ‘Islands in the Mist’. It was released by the Createspace Independent publication in 2014. The story starts by showing that Bran is on the journey of finding the truth behind the fatal attack on his mother. He comes across a fiery woman named Lucia. She is introduced in the story as a Roman widow. Bran also meets the stable boy of Lucia named Gwion. He is described as an enigmatic child with the strange gift of having the ability to understand the business of adults. Lucia also possesses a gift called ‘the Sight’. With this gift, she is able to see the events that are invariably about to happen. The gift has plagued Lucia since she was a small child and has tormented her with many disturbing visions. Her fate leads Lucia to discover that a number of her maternal female ancestors were gifted with different psychic abilities. She also learns that many of those ancestors have been keeping a watch on her from the Shadows for many years.

When Bran returns back to the village, he and Aelhaearn get at odds with each other. Aelhaearn is a hot-tempered man, who wishes to become the next chieftain of the clan, the post left vacant after the death of Bran’s mother. But, he becomes disappointed to find that Bran’s sister has convinced the clan in choosing Bran as the chieftain instead of Aelhaearn. As a result, Bran and Aelhaearn indulge in a conflict that ends in the discovery of a shocking secret about Aelhaearn that makes Bran rue the decision of his sister. It appears that the most important thing at the moment is that all of them keep the differences aside and work together to defeat a greater enemy. This nocturnal enemy is killing one by one all those who pose as an obstacle in her way of becoming the most powerful.

Another mind-blowing book written in this series is called ‘Rise of the Pendragon’. It was also released by Createspace publishers in 2016. Once again, the lead characters are shown as Lucia, Bran, and a few others, such as Emrys, Uthrys, Myrthin, etc. The book begins by showing that the last inhabitants of Rome leave Britannia and move out. After they leave, ruthless and greedy men start fighting among themselves to seize power and take control. The widespread violence causes a lot of destruction to rip off the land. As there is no Roman discipline in the people, the relentless Pictii sees it as an opportunity to raid the settlements and take away boatloads of slaves for pillaging her the northern shores. As the people of Brython have become soft due to the ruling of the Romans for nearly 5 generations, they are not able to defend themselves and their people against the numerous threats coming from outside and within. But, they don’t lose hope. Uthyr and Emrys are Constantine’s 2 youngest sons. They grow old enough to return to their homeland Brython and avenge Constantine, and we claim The usurped Throne of their father, the last of the greatest leaders of Rome in Britannia.

The brothers are joined in their effort by their strange advisor named Myrthin. The three begin a campaign for uniting Britain’s Clans against the tyrannical enemies. They take a vow of restoring peace and order that were once there. Bran knows that the Brython war is too large to be fought alone with the hope of winning. Therefore, he chooses to side with Emrys and fight the war. He feels that is compassion, loyalty, and strength are continually tested as a struggles to fulfill the mounting demands of his country, family, and wife. And while Bran is gone, Lucia finds it difficult to portray herself as a strong leader. She also finds it difficult to mentor her kids and her clan. But, she does not lose hard determination in keeping the ones she cares for and loves united in Spirit and mind. Several unlikely alliances get forged while older enemies give rise to new grievances. In such difficult times, every relationship’s limit gets tested. People struggle to carry out their responsibilities amidst the chaos. However, the hope of a peaceful future free of tyrannical rule and terror does not die.