BOOK II: LIVES OF A SALVAGER
COMING MAY 2026!
As one of three Salvagers alive, Laurel has the faculty of Hindsight. She sees the past and forgets nothing— powers that are both a tremendous advantage and a terrible burden.
Laurel uses her abilities to weaponize plant magic for the Anima’s army in the ongoing Task to restore ecological Order to the world of Aligaea. Over two thousand years, she witnesses a changing planet, with Animas come and passed, empires rising and falling, and finally, the emergence of the Imperium, the greatest threat to Order Aligaea has ever experienced.
She discovers Deadly Charms and Birch Skin armor. She creates invisibility tinctures and potions for valor. But in her quest for knowledge across space and time, Laurel has yet to answer these questions: Is the Task possible, and more so, is it ethical?
Insanity edges her pursuit for resolution. She may endure centuries of wars and tireless effort—but at what cost?
BOOK I: BIRTH OF THE ANIMA
“BIRTH OF THE ANIMA is a feminist fantasy novel with a serious hook.”
Over millennia, across the seven seterras of Aligaea, twelve women—the Anima—develop powers akin to apex predators. Along with their bestial strength and speed, they inherit the Task to restore ecological Order to the world.
Yet fulfilling the Task seems improbable as the Imperium spreads a plague of ecocide and despotism across the land, ushering in the apocalypse with its infectious Disorder.
Stout and smart Freda Johansson leaves behind a promising career, love, and community to seek the red-capped mushroom capable of turning her into the final Anima.
Whether it’s plant magic or free will guiding her from emerald forests to austere peaks, she doesn’t care. She only needs to find the mushroom before the Imperial Forces can seal the catastrophic fate of the planet.
The sacred balance of Life depends on the birth of the Anima—but even then, she must choose to own her powers as both woman and wild creature.
“Each Anima’s story is deeply compelling, as these complex women see their worlds upended by their new fate,
and as they each find their own ways to lead.”
Hi! I’m Kelsey,
author of the Ancient Language of the Earth series.
The second book in the series, LIVES OF A SALVAGER, is coming May 2026!
Stay tuned for more details and receive exclusive sneak peeks by signing up below for my quarterly journal, Salvaged.
Salvaged also includes a personal note from me about writing and life, recent artwork, conservation success stories, books of interest, and more.
Thank you for visiting my niche in cyberspace. With love,
Kelsey
PLACES OF IMPORT
“Myth and reality weave together until Commoners cannot see fact from fable.
Knowledge morphs into rumors, rumors into lies.
Ultimately, magic belongs solely to those who know of it and believe in it.”