Practical Guide to Sorcery

Siobhan has just been banned from the country's only magical university. As the unwitting accomplice to the theft of a priceless magical artifact, she has suddenly become a wanted criminal. There are fates worse than death, and if caught, she will face them. Unwilling to give up on her dream of becoming the world's most powerful sorcerer, she resolves to do whatever it takes to change her fate. Even if it means magically disguising herself as a boy and indebting herself to a gang of criminals to pay for university tuition.

To study magic at the university, Siobhan sacrificed her name. She sacrificed her body and her past. Magically disguised as a boy named Sebastien, she is learning wondrous secrets of the thaumaturgic sciences. As Sebastien, she mingles with the young nobles who will one day rule their country. But danger is closer than ever, and she cannot escape her past.

Siobhan still dreams of becoming the world's most powerful sorcerer. But she has once again been forced to face the horrifyingly dark side of their world. When a miscast spell can turn you into a city-killing monster out of nightmares, nowhere and nothing is truly safe. As the Verdant Stag gang grows more powerful, the fearsome reputation of her alter ego, the Raven Queen, blooms with them until it seems to gain a life of its own.

The secrets of this world are deeper and darker than Siobhan knew, and those she once trusted seem strange and sinister. But her Will is as abyssal as the ocean, and she is determined to uncover the truth. As Sebastien's reputation begins to bloom with its own light, new eyes turn her way. With new magic and old plans come to fruition, she feels the inklings of true power within her grasp. But there is a storm waiting beneath the placid surface of the ocean...

Magic is a double-edged sword, and Siobhan knows the sting of its blade better than most. Old scars have peeled open to spill out the horrors within, and Siobhan has learned to fear her shadow. When the Red Guard comes to assess the Raven Queen as a threat, she must convince them she's worth more alive than dead. They want the truth behind her secrets, and she wants access to forbidden knowledge. Fortunately, she knows that sometimes the best defense is a dangerous reputation—even one built on deception.