The Healers series (formerly the 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; more on that below), taking time to unpack the characters’ journeys and lives.
…But is it cozy?
No, but it has some things in common. The most important factor is that the characters in the Healers series are imperfect. They make mistakes. There may be situations in the books that make some readers uncomfortable. They are not perfectly soothing throughout, and the goal is catharsis rather than pure escapism.
What’s in common? There are a lot of quiet, domestic moments in these books, and they have a small, personal scale. The world is not in peril. They have happy endings and are optimistic overall. There is no extreme violence (though there are violent incidents in books 1 and 3), and no sexual assault.
What’s not in common? It’s a type of optimism that starts somewhere imperfect and moves toward the light. The stories do not avoid the darkness entirely. The characters deal with depression, PTSD, disagreements, doubt, and burnout, and have experiences in their backstories that include homelessness and substance abuse. There are some heavy themes, the world isn’t perfect, and there are some strong emotions along the way.
Please heed the content warnings linked on the book pages above, and take care of yourselves.
Extras
Notes, lore, trivia, etc.
Cover Art Credit
Current covers: MiblArt
Past cover versions: Road / Home / Purpose
Road Map
- A clarified roadmap (Short answer: Another book in this world is in the works for mid to late 2025.)