C.N. Mackey is an epic fantasy author and the founder of Map's Edge Media, an independent publishing imprint. She writes character-driven fiction set in original worlds, with psychological depth, ensemble casts, and prose that moves between poetry and narrative. She is originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, spent nearly twenty years in Los Angeles, and now lives on the Oregon coast.

C.N. Mackey writes epic fantasy. Her work is character-driven and psychologically complex, built for readers who want original worldbuilding, ensemble casts, and prose with literary weight.

The Hearthlight Cycle is a seven-book epic fantasy series set in Aestraea, an original world built from the ground up. It follows an ensemble cast through a story about community, grief, the fear of the unknown, and what it means to become who you are supposed to be. The series is written by C.N. Mackey and published by Map's Edge Media.

Seven. The series begins with A World Reborn and concludes with A New Age. Books two through six are Beneath Stone and Shadow, Sirens of Cinder, and three further volumes currently in development.

Start with A World Reborn. The series is sequential and intended to be read in order, beginning with Book 1.

Aestraea is a fully original fantasy world created by C.N. Mackey. It is not based on any existing mythology or setting. The world is home to vastly different peoples and cultures who come together through community against the greatest threat they have ever faced. Aestraea began in C.N. Mackey's poetry and grew into the foundation for The Hearthlight Cycle and multiple other series in development.

A World Reborn is Book 1 of The Hearthlight Cycle, an epic fantasy series set in the original world of Aestraea. It is a story about an ensemble cast navigating grief, identity, community, and the fear of what cannot be known or controlled. It is character-driven, psychologically complex, and written in prose that reads as poetry.

A World Reborn is written for adult readers who want epic fantasy with genuine psychological depth, original worldbuilding, and literary prose. If you loved the scope of The Wheel of Time, the humanity of The Lord of the Rings, or the layered world of Discworld and you are looking for something new in that tradition, this series was written for you. It is adult epic fantasy, though readers who were reading Tolkien or Jordan at fourteen will find it just as absorbing.

Yes. A World Reborn is Book 1 of The Hearthlight Cycle, a seven-book epic fantasy series. It is the intended entry point to the world of Aestraea.

A World Reborn is written as adult epic fantasy. Younger readers who are already comfortable with the scope and complexity of Tolkien or Robert Jordan will find it accessible, but it is not written for a young adult audience. Parental judgement applies, as it does with any adult fantasy series.

A World Reborn is currently available to back via Kickstarter. The Kickstarter campaign for the special edition launched 1 June 2026 and runs through 30 June 2026. Wider availability will be announced after the campaign closes.

The Kickstarter is funding the publication of A World Reborn as a special edition physical book. Backers can receive exclusive access to an edition that will not be sold anywhere else. The campaign runs through 30 June 2026.

Reward tiers vary, but all backers are supporting the publication of a debut epic fantasy novel and receiving early access to a special edition that will not be available after the campaign ends. Full reward details are on the Kickstarter page.

A standard edition will be available after the campaign closes. The special Kickstarter edition, with its exclusive physical features, will not be sold elsewhere. If you want that edition, the campaign closes 30 June 2026.

Map's Edge Media is an independent publishing imprint founded by C.N. Mackey. It is home to The Hearthlight Cycle and multiple other series in development, including DRAKKENVALT and UnVeiled. Map's Edge Media publishes character-driven epic fantasy and speculative fiction.

The best way is the Map's Edge newsletter on Substack at mapsedgemedia.substack.com. The newsletter is where new work, world-building dispatches, lore, character insights, and project updates live first.

The Map's Edge newsletter is published on Substack and is the primary place C.N. Mackey writes about Aestraea, the writing process, and what is coming next. It is free to subscribe and is where readers get closest to the world between books.