Melissa Blair Books In Order

Publication Order of The Halfling Saga Books

Melissa Blair
Melissa Blair is an Anishinaabekwe of mixed ancestry that lives in Turtle Island. She splits her time between the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg in Ottawa, Canada and Treaty 9 in Northern Ontario.

Melissa spends far too much time playing board games and spends too much money on books.

Melissa has a graduate degree in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies, hates spoons, and loves movies.

She has a BookTok account where she discusses her favorite types of books including queer and Indigenous fiction, non-fiction, and feminist literature.

She was only seven years old when her mom explained to her that it was somebody’s job to write all of the books that she had been reading. From that moment on she knew that she wanted to tell stories of her own. It began with crayons and paper and has gotten a bit more sophisticated from there. She believes that speculative fiction has always been something that she is drawn to since its function is to allow another point of view or idea to take the center focus, as an Indigenous person she is always comparing Western point of views with Indigenous ones.

Melissa’s biggest inspiration was the storytelling which happened all around her as a kid. Much of it came from her grandma, sometimes her aunties or mother as well. Hearing a story around a campfire can truly make it come to life and those are some of her most vivid memories. She wants to evoke emotion in the exact same way.

Part of the reason to become a storyteller is because she never got to see herself reflected in the media she consumed while she was a child or a teen. There are so few examples of Indigenous characters in popular stories, and if they do exist, they’re often stereotyped and poor portrayals. She believes she writes out of spite in a few ways.

At the start of 2021, she was reading a bunch of paranormal fantasy because of BookTok. Melissa realized that the books had two things in common: the story centered around a sassy female lead character that was good with a blade and she existed in this colonial society however that theme was never addressed thoroughly in the novel.

“A Broken Blade” came to her while she was sitting on her couch wondering what she would write with these tropes and in this same genre. Everything in the novel is informed by her own perspective as an Indigenous person with the knowledge of how colonialism has and continues to impact Turtle Island. The themes of indigeneity and colonialism she explores in book one are just going to continue to develop throughout the rest of “The Halfling Saga”.

“A Broken Blade” is the first novel in the “Halfling Saga” series and was released in 2021. Keera’s body is made of scars, some were done to her, but most she did to herself.

Keera is a murderer. As the King’s Blade, she’s the most talented spy in all the kingdom. And the king’s favored hitman. So when this mysterious figure moves against the Crown, Keera gets called on to hunt down this so-called Shadow. She tracks her target out into the magical lands of the Fae, however Faeland is not quite what it appears to be, and neither is the Shadow. Keera is stunned by what she learns, and cannot help but wonder just who her enemy really is: could it be the King that destroyed her people or the Shadow that threatens the peace?

While she continues searching for answers, she is haunted by this promise that she made a long time ago, one which will test her in every possible way imaginable. In order to keep her word, she has to not only save herself, but a whole kingdom as well.

Fierce and gripping. It’s a much needed fantasy novel with its fangs honed sharp by the power of resistance. Melissa has built a terrific world.

“A Shadow Crown” is the second novel in the “Halfling Saga” series and was released in 2023. Keera is the king’s Blade, his most trusted and feared spy and assassin, to the kingdom. However in the shadows, she is working with Prince Killian and his Shadow, the brooding and dark Fae, Riven, who sets her blood on fire. And together, they are plotting to kill a tyrant king.

In Myrelinth, the secret and lush city of Fae, trees, Elves, and Halflings just like Keera live in harmony and peace. However Keera is unable to escape from her past: her crimes against her own people have been following her all the way to Faeland. There’s a traitor in the midst, and Keera is currently the prime suspect.

Keera finds a bit of comfort in the allies that have become her family. She swore that she would never open up her heart again after a loss that she was barely able to survive. However she will soon find that she has so much more to lose than she had ever imagined.

This is a tour-de-force high fantasy novel with a slow burn enemies to lovers romance and some stunning world building.

“A Vicious Game” is the third novel in the “Halfling Saga” series and was released in 2024. There is a new king on the throne and the rebellion lies in ruins. Keera drinks her days away and her nights are spent avoiding the bizarre dreams which have haunted her since she came back from the capital.

Keera’s family in Myrelinth will not allow her to get away without a fight. With some new intelligence about the magical seals left behind by the Light Fae (Keera’s ancient kin) she rallies to go face to face with her demons and unleash the formidable powers that she inherited from her own people. However there’s a shocking truth hiding right in plain sight, one that’s got the power to unravel the whole entire rebellion.

This pivotal third book in the “Halfling Saga” is going to upend everything that Keera believed she knew about her enemies. As well as her allies.