The Healers/Balance Academy series takes place in a fantasy world where magic has always existed, to the point where it is considered no more fantastical than engineering or ballet: a difficult skill that many learn, based on a number of competing philosophies or traditions. The Academy of the Divine Balance is one such institution of magic, training magical healers as well as priests and temple guards to staff its pantheist shrines.
The three books so far follow the story of Agna Despana, a recent healing-magic graduate of the Academy, the scion of an influential art-dealing family, and a general know-it-all who is wildly out of her depth when the story begins. Her deuteragonist / worst enemy / best frienemy / ride-or-die friend is Keifon the Medic, who has just crawled out of a nasty breakup yet again when the story begins, and tries to protect his bruised heart with rigid self-righteousness. Which, as you might guess, does not work very well.
The series maintains a personal scope, focusing closely on character development and on relationships of various kinds. It happens to dovetail in some ways with the cozy fantasy movement (though not in others), taking time to unpack the characters’ journeys and lives.
On purchasing options: As of November 2023, this series is in Kindle Unlimited, which means it’s free to KU subscribers and paid on Amazon, and not available anywhere else as an ebook. (It’s actually not available anywhere else in print right now, but that’s due to my own lack of time/energy rather than an intentional omission.)
I have plenty of issues with Amazon, and understand completely if someone doesn’t want to patronize them. It’s not a perfect decision. But so far, I’ve been able to reach more readers through KU than I was through the other storefronts. And while I acknowledge that it isn’t an uncomplicated or ideal situation, I’d still rather reach more people than not, if I can.
Down the road, maybe that will change. And I don’t mind at all hearing from people who would rather not use Amazon. It’s good to know. But for the time being, that’s the situation.
Book 1: The Healers’ Road
The unexpected magic of friendship
Ambitious, opinionated, and the child of wealthy parents, Agna Despana commits to a year of service as a magical healer in a traveling caravan. Having spent half her life training as a healer, she’s out to prove herself and do good for the world.
After losing everything, former army medic Keifon throws himself on the gods’ mercy. Maybe helping people as a medic in a merchant caravan will give him direction, and a start toward rebuilding his life yet again.
Assigned as partners, these two strangers have two years on the road to find common purpose and bring healing to remote corners of an unfamiliar land — and to themselves.
The Healers’ Road is a low-stakes queernorm fantasy road trip featuring campfires and hot tea, good books, shared adventures, and a journey to discover the power of connection.
On Amazon – print and ebook; Kindle Unlimited where available
On Goodreads – rate and review
Published: Nov. 2014
Book 2: The Healers’ Home
Sometimes home is a place, sometimes it’s a person
At the conclusion of their travels, friends Agna and Keifon have found the perfect spot: a frontier town with a new hospital, a friendly community, and a short route to Keifon’s homeland for visits with his daughter. And it lacks an art gallery, leaving Agna the opportunity to stake her claim.
Keifon has always dreamed of establishing a life with someone, but sharing an apartment with his friend is a purely practical arrangement… right? And when someone from Keifon’s past shows up, Agna finds her doubts are too much to bear. Maybe hopping on the next carriage out of town isn’t the most mature solution, but she has business to settle with her family back home…
The Healers’ Home is a cozy fantasy about establishing a life, navigating the lines between friendship and commitment, and finding where you belong.
On Amazon – print and ebook; Kindle Unlimited where available
On Goodreads – rate and review
Published: Oct. 2016
Book 3: The Healers’ Purpose
Some burdens can’t be carried alone
After her disastrous trip back home, Agna could use a win. A promotion to a position of authority over her team of healers seems like the perfect chance to turn things around. But the kind of leader who relies on meticulous planning and complete control can only stretch herself so thin for so long.
Keifon has settled into his new life: a mentor he respects, a circle of friends, and even a chance to give back to his community. He has confessed his feelings to his dearest friend, or so he thinks, and waits for her reply. But questions rise along the way: could he keep the next lost soul from making the same mistakes he did?
Something has to give when the pressure builds. The only way through is to work together with those they love — if they can figure out what that means.
The Healers’ Purpose is a medium-stakes fantasy about building community, finding balance, and defining your own path.
On Amazon – print and ebook; Kindle Unlimited where available
On Goodreads – rate and review
Published: Aug. 2022
…But is it cozy?
No, but it has some things in common. In terms of basic facts: The first book was released in 2014, several years before cozy fantasy was created as a genre. It was inspired by LeGuin’s Tehanu, the character-driven focus of the romance genre, and iyashikei anime, not genre source Legends and Lattes (which didn’t exist yet). It is not recommended by the r/cozyfantasy subreddit’s official list. I am not considered a “cozy author” by sanctioned cozy authors.
In terms of tone, there are a lot of quiet, domestic moments in these books, and they have a small, personal scale. The world is not in peril. However, unlike the ideal cozy story, where nothing that could make anyone uncomfortable could ever happen, uncomfortable or even bad things sometimes happen in these books. The characters make mistakes, they say things they later regret, and they change over time, which means that they are particularly imperfect at the start of the story. Some uncomfortable things happen to them externally, as well, which are detailed in the content warnings linked above.
Perhaps most importantly, The primary goal of the story is not to make you, the reader, feel safe and soothed. You might, while reading it, and that’s great. However, the goal of the story is to tell a story of these particular characters and what they’re going through, rather than to soothe the reader’s anxiety about the real world. These stories are about empathy, which is sometimes difficult. They’re about optimism, which in my view, needs to be challenged sometimes in order to have any meaning. They’re about overcoming trauma and personal shortcomings, which means that those traumas and personal shortcomings exist. This is a kind of light that exists in contrast to darkness. The focus is on the light, but there is room in the story for darkness to exist.
There’s nothing wrong with a soothing story where everything is nice, the characters don’t have any serious flaws, and everything goes well for them. If that’s what you like, the cozy fantasy genre exists for you, and I wish you all the joy in the world from it. These books are not really like that, though.
So there’s a lot of tea and ride-or-die friendship, but it may not be the story you’re looking for. Please heed the content warnings above, read reviews first for a second opinion, and take care of yourselves.