Melissa McPhail Books In Order

Publication Order of Pattern Of Shadow & Light Books

Publication Order of Pattern Of Shadow & Light Collections

Melissa McPhail is a bestselling fantasy fiction author that is best known for the “Pattern of Shadow & Light” series of novels. McPhail grew up in a household of musicians as she was the granddaughter of a music professor and daughter of a string orchestra director.
As such, she was taught to appreciate and play music from a very early age and this would develop into a love for all things creative. Melissa has since been involved in anything from writing, music, poetry, art, acting, and dance.

Her love for the fantasy genre might have started at that age too when she would spend every afternoon listening to the “Chronicles of Narnia” read to her by her grandmother.

She has always been excited by the grandeur of her world, even if she sometimes felt disconnected from it. Melissa McPhail grew up looking for fairies and nymphs in the trees believing that every rainstorm would perhaps reveal a secret island behind the family house.
By the time she turned 10, she had penned several poems, even though she spent most of her afternoons walking the woods engaging her own imagination.

McPhail’s love for composing and writing found expression when she was attending a boarding school in Oregon. She had begged her mother to send her to school where she could exercise her independent-mindedness and freedom.

Moreover, she did not mind getting away from the childhood bullies that had made her life in junior high too rough. She was sent to the Oregon-based Delphian School which was a haven, a wonder, and a marvel for the creative and intelligent child.
She flourished from the moment she stepped foot in it as she began playing ports and writing short stories during the weekends. Her evenings were spent writing songs on the grand piano at the chapel where she would listen to the echo of her notes from the stone and stained glass and the carved wooden beams of the vaulted ceiling.

Melissa McPhail penned countless songs and stories, most of the former inspired by some handsome but ultimately worthless boys. She also performed some of the songs, read Ayn Rand, Dickens, Shakespeare, and even chapters from the Talmud, Baghavad Gita the Bible, and the Koran.

She also studied philosophy from Plato and the likes of Payne. It was from all this that she began getting the background of the “A Pattern of Shadow and Light” series.

While walking on the path toward becoming a published author, Melissa worked all manner of jobs. He had performed in countless plays and musicals, worked for Big 5 consulting firms, spend ten years as a yoga instructor and marketing director, became an event planner sold jewelry door to door and sold advertising for several nightclubs.

Along the way, she got married to the love of her life and moved from Atlanta to live in the quiet countryside of Oregon. It was in Oregon that she finally began writing the manuscript for “Cephrael’s Hand,” which was finally published in 2010.
It was this novel that would eventually spawn the “Pattern of Shadow and Light” series which has more than half a dozen novels.

“Cephrael’s Hand” by Melissa McPhail is set in Alorin, three centuries following the genocidal Adept Wars. the realm is now in its death throes and the blessed Adept race is sure to die with it.

Bjorn van Gelderan is an enigmatic but dangerous man who has the knowledge that could reverse the decline. But he is deemed a traitor ever since his shocking betrayal and now no one will associate with him.
It is only Raine D’Lacourte who is determined to find what Bjorn knows so that she can salvage the race. However, they will first need to locate the man.

Meanwhile, Ean val Lorian the Dannym kingdom’s prince is facing a tenuous future given that he is the last living heir to the kingdom’s throne. When there is a failed assassination, his blood brother is slain and Ean goes on a desperate hunt to find the killers.
But it does seem that his advisors have their own agenda. Soon, he finds himself entangled in a sinuous plot of a powerful and mysterious man nicknamed the First Lord.

Meanwhile, a soldier named Trell who is in the Nadori desert is haunted by how little he knows of his life. When he is struck by a disaster he is saved by Wildlings who owe their allegiance to the First Lord. Soon enough, he begins to suspect that they are being motivated by a dark and deadly secret.

Melissa McPhail’s novel “The Dagger of Adendigaeth” sees some good news at last. The reason for the decline of the Adept race has been discovered.

It does seem that it stems from Malorin’athgul, some powerful beings that have been disrupting the balance and this has made it difficult and even impossible for the Adepts in Alorin to awaken their gifts.

Meanwhile, Ean val Lorian the Prince of T’khendar has abandoned his companions in battle and blood, as he has become a member of the Fifth Vestal. He hopes that by doing so he can gain some insights into the strategies plaguing his return.
But then she has to face the man he believed was his name but is now his ally as they confront the darkly magnificent game of the First Lord.

Meanwhile, Raine D’Lacourte is working with Bjorn his traitorous brother as they traverse the six kingdoms. They soon find that T’khendar realm is harboring some shocking secrets. Raine then comes to realize that Bjorn is not his greatest enemy and in fact, it is the truth that is to be feared.

“Paths of Alir” by Melissa McPhail opens with the Alorin realm having to deal with powerful beings that have invaded it from the fringe of Chaos. They are determined to destroy Alorin and it does seem fate always bends to their will.

Bjorn val Gelderan is the only man that understands the threat posed by the powerful beings. As the Fifth Vestal of the Alorin, he comes up with a master plan to stop them.

Meanwhile, Tanis d’Giverney who lives in the Agasan on the lush Cakladrian coast has gone back to his hometown hoping for a joyful reunion. But he is warned of ominous events ahead and starts wondering if he can stay alive even with his mother’s magical lessons handy.
In the meantime, Prince Ean val Lorina is unable to leave the Castle of Tyr’kharta and is facing a difficult choice of saving either his loyal men or Sebastien his brother. Choosing his men means his brother will forever live in slavery while rescuing him means that he will lose honor among his friends for abandoning them.