Barbara Howe

Barbara is currently at work on the Reforging series: a five-book YA high-fantasy epic. She lives in Wellington, in a house overflowing with books, games, and jigsaw puzzles, and when she is not reading or writing, her day job as a software developer in the film industry pays the bills.


Genre:

  • Fantasy

Skills:

  • Novelist
  • Technical Writing

Branch:

Wellington

Location:

Wellington

Publications:


The Locksmith

Book 1 in the high fantasy Reforging series (2017)

Strange that, in a world where membership in one of four magic guilds guarantees respect and wealth, Lucinda Guillierre is terrified of being exposed as a witch. The Fire Warlock finds her attitude puzzling but is not alarmed. Not, that is, until a long-buried secret comes to light.

She has good reasons to be afraid.

As war looms and dangerous romance beckons, who will have the best chance to kill her? Her enemies, her friends, or Lucinda herself?

Engine of Lies

Book 2 in the high fantasy Reforging series (2018)

He never promised happily ever after, but Lucinda is still dismayed by how quickly reality intrudes on her fairy tale. Assassination attempts and lightning strikes disturb her honeymoon, but the return home brings no peace of mind. When the discovery of a magical conspiracy shakes her faith in everything she trusts, she vows to expose the Fire Warlock’s most shameful secret and see justice done.

As a hot summer draws towards a violent end, Lucinda teeters between terror and rage. She’d be less angry about risking her life if she didn’t suspect her husband—her hero!—intends to step aside and let her die.

The Blacksmith

Book 3 in the high fantasy Reforging series (2019)

How is the king like a blacksmith? He has a hammer as well as a sword.

Duncan Archer has heard that riddle many times, but he doesn’t know what it means. No one does, not even the members of the Royal Guild of Swordsmiths. It isn’t Duncan’s business anyway. Good sense tells him to stick to beating iron into shape for the residents of his backwater town, and not worry about the king and his nobles pounding Frankland into the ground.

But good sense never stopped Duncan from poking his nose into everyone else’s business. If it had, he might not be a fugitive, the subject of the biggest manhunt in the country’s history.

With a charge of murder hanging over his head like a sword, understanding that riddle becomes much more urgent.

The Wordsmith

Book 4 in the Reforging series (2021)

The Air Guild will regret spurning its most accomplished witch.

Irene van Gelder’s drudge job is killing her, but how can she earn a living as an air witch when her own guild calls her a fraud?

The Fire Warlock doesn’t ask for her credentials, but with tensions rising between the Fire and Air Guilds, proving her value to him is not a safe move. With the White Duchess and her son intent on revenge, what defences can a failure as an air witch muster? All she has is words. Will that be enough to save herself, and Frankland?

The Forge

Conclusion (book 5) to the high fantasy Reforging series.

Thunder rolls in a continuous barrage, echoing off mountain walls. Lightning blazes across the sky, one jagged flash after another. The bolts that hit their targets leave charred bodies in their wake. The attacks that miss turn spruce and fir into torches, spreading fire until the entire mountain is in flames. Struggling wizards stand out as black silhouettes against the reds and oranges of the forest fire and the white of the deep snow.

In the valley, villagers cower under beds or huddle in cellars. The bravest peek out through gaps in closed shutters and pray for the Fire Warlock to come and save them.

Their prayers go unanswered. There is no Fire Warlock.