Dear friends,

Can you believe the Unwanteds series is finally complete? We’ve been through so much together in these 14 books.

Failures and triumphs, deaths and births, battles and personal struggles and growth. I’m finished writing the books and I’ve shed plenty of tears over them—have you, too?

But the story of what happens next doesn’t have to be over. It can live on in your mind as you imagine the next adventures for our beloved friends in Artimé.

The idea for The Unwanteds first came to me when my 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter found out that the arts classes would be eliminated from their school because of budget cuts.

It felt like a punishment to have their favorite classes taken away, and I imagined a world where kids were actually punished for being creative.

My son suggested they not be simply punished, but sent to their deaths! And that was that.

I wrote about kids being labeled “Unwanted,” and how they took that hurtful label and made it a badge of honor.

I wrote about people making bad choices and clawing their way back to society in search of redemption.

I wrote about forgiveness, and I also wrote about standing up for the right to be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect.

For some of you, this series is about Alex, striving to fill shoes that kept growing; setting an example for other mages about what love is and what dedication and loyalty truly mean.

For others, it’s about Aaron, whose constant struggles with his past haunt him and shape his future in a complex way as he seeks and never quite seems to find, or accept, redemption.

Still others believe that twins Fifer and Thisbe, who began as dangerously magical toddlers and grow into the most powerful and competent mages Artimé has ever seen, are the essence of what life in the magical world is like.

All four Stowe siblings shape the world, and without them, we wouldn’t have the story we love.

But the Stowes would be nothing without their friends who, at times, are the reason Artimé survives and thrives.

Meghan, Lani, and Samheed. Mr. Today, Simber, and Florence. Sky, Kaylee, Henry, Thatcher, Sean, Carina, Crow, and Scarlet.

Ms. Octavia, Claire Morning, Mr. Appleblossom, Fox, and Kitten. Seth, Asha, Rohan, Dev, Prindi, Ibrahim, and Clementi. If I missed your favorite, insert their name here, for they are important too.

Just as you are important to me.

I hope you heard that. You truly are the heart of this series.

There wouldn’t be 14 books if you hadn’t picked up that first one years ago and told your teachers and friends about it. There wouldn’t be a beautiful, generous, creative Unwanteds community without you.

I love hearing from you, and even though I can’t answer everyone who reaches out to me, I am always listening. And I am learning from you.

I value your thoughts and ideas and questions. You teach me things—you probably don’t even realize you’re doing it. You are amazing.

I hope that you have found comfort and an escape in these fourteen books, especially over the past very difficult year. I remember the early days of the pandemic, when I was working on Dragon Fury.

I told myself daily to stay inside, to wear my mask if I had to go out, and to be safe and focus on the story, because I had to finish the series. You haven’t let me down. And I couldn’t let you down.

I told myself that you needed the end of the series, and that helped me give this book every bit of my heart.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write this story for you. I love you, and I appreciate you more than you will ever know. I hope you will never forget this epic journey we went on together.

I also hope that someday, in a few years or maybe even tomorrow, you’ll start reading the books all over again and imagine yourself in Artimé, fighting for justice alongside me.

In the meantime, let’s imagine all the new adventures our friends in Artimé will experience. And let’s think of them when we are faced with challenges that seem too hard to handle.

Finally, please never forget—when you feel the most alone, know that I am with you.

Your friend,

Lisa McMann