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UNWRITTEN: The Awakening: A Soul Forged Saga Novel
"One of the best fantasies I've read... Never have I encountered such layered characters."
—Filipa Roque, Developmental Editor
"Appeals to fans of R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War or Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn for magic systems tied to societal corruption."
—Filipa Roque, Developmental Editor
A thousand years ago, mortals murdered love itself.
Now, in the dying twilight of Virelya, the world survives on lies and rewritten history. Beneath frozen skies, the Blood King Houses rule from thrones built on betrayal. The last sparks of faith flicker in the hands of a fading Order sworn to mercy and twisted by doctrine.
When a street thief named Selene wakes in the ruins of a forgotten war, she carries something that should not the echo of a divine heart long thought destroyed. Across the collapsing kingdoms, Nysera, a Paladin bound by oath and fire, feels that same pulse stir within her own soul.
Drawn together by memory, hunted by zealots, and shadowed by a cosmic murder, the two women must unravel the truth buried beneath Virelya's ash before the world's last warmth is extinguished.
Some truths are too dangerous to survive history.
Some loves are too powerful to stay dead.
The Awakening is the first novel in The Soul Forged a dark epic of rebellion, memory, and divine ruin, where mercy is a weapon and love is the final act of defiance.
—Filipa Roque, Developmental Editor
"Appeals to fans of R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War or Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn for magic systems tied to societal corruption."
—Filipa Roque, Developmental Editor
A thousand years ago, mortals murdered love itself.
Now, in the dying twilight of Virelya, the world survives on lies and rewritten history. Beneath frozen skies, the Blood King Houses rule from thrones built on betrayal. The last sparks of faith flicker in the hands of a fading Order sworn to mercy and twisted by doctrine.
When a street thief named Selene wakes in the ruins of a forgotten war, she carries something that should not the echo of a divine heart long thought destroyed. Across the collapsing kingdoms, Nysera, a Paladin bound by oath and fire, feels that same pulse stir within her own soul.
Drawn together by memory, hunted by zealots, and shadowed by a cosmic murder, the two women must unravel the truth buried beneath Virelya's ash before the world's last warmth is extinguished.
Some truths are too dangerous to survive history.
Some loves are too powerful to stay dead.
The Awakening is the first novel in The Soul Forged a dark epic of rebellion, memory, and divine ruin, where mercy is a weapon and love is the final act of defiance.
- GenresFantasy
548 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2025
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Adger R. Matthews II
1 book2 followersAdger R. Matthews II is a world-builder and founder of Soul Forged Studios, where narrative craft meets immersive design. With UNWRITTEN: The Awakening, Matthews delivers an unflinching exploration of power, corruption, forbidden history, and characters who refuse to be written out of existence.
Drawing on themes of institutional corruption, necromancy, and the cost of remembering what the world demands you forget, Matthews creates dark fantasy that challenges readers to question who writes history—and who gets erased from it. When not crafting tales of cosmic rebellion and found family, Matthews can be found building creative ecosystems, designing TTRPGs, or exploring the intersection of storytelling and game design.
UNWRITTEN: The Awakening is the first volume in the Unwritten series.
Drawing on themes of institutional corruption, necromancy, and the cost of remembering what the world demands you forget, Matthews creates dark fantasy that challenges readers to question who writes history—and who gets erased from it. When not crafting tales of cosmic rebellion and found family, Matthews can be found building creative ecosystems, designing TTRPGs, or exploring the intersection of storytelling and game design.
UNWRITTEN: The Awakening is the first volume in the Unwritten series.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 5, 2025
This book took me somewhere I did not expect, into a world where secrets are not only hidden away, but buried so far beneath the surface that when they do come back, everything shakes. I found myself trailing after characters who live in a place caught in a kind of never-ending grey dusk, and as these ancient, cosmic forces begin to stir, the ground beneath their feet shifts in ways neither they nor I could quite predict.
There was a tension to it, quiet but always there, like feeling the air thicken before rain. The place itself feels stripped of comfort, cold in its bones, yet it pulls you forward, always asking what has been forgotten, what is waiting to be found. It is a book that lingers, building itself up one careful layer at a time, letting the pressure mount. It is never rushed; nothing is hurried, but every moment feels earned.
As fantasy goes, the scale here is vast, but it is not just for spectacle. The cosmic and the human are tangled together, every revelation affecting more than just one person. The story touches all the familiar notes, the old bloodlines, the quests, but manages to sidestep the expected, often surprising me just when I thought I had its measure. There are threads of romance too, turning up where I least expected them, drawing the story down from the sky to the people living through it, and that shift made everything feel more grounded, more true. It is clear that in this world, a single choice can affect the whole.
The characters are what stayed with me most. Each begins alone in some way, but the journey changes them, shapes them by what they survive. Selene is sharp-witted, always thinking ahead, while Nysera is steadier, her faith unshakeable, and together they become something greater than they could manage alone. Their friendship and partnership felt real to me, hard-won, built on trust and challenge both. Their story is about loyalty, about finding resilience, and about learning to keep faith with both yourself and someone else. Talia, too, brought a fresh energy, her curiosity lighting up the darker corners of the world. I watched her grow as she learned, adapting as everything shifted around her.
What I appreciated most was how the story dealt with dragons and forgotten histories, not simply retelling old legends, but asking who gets to shape the stories, and what happens when truths are lost. The writing holds all these threads together, quietly raising questions about love as defiance, about faith that is forged through hardship, and about how those in power keep it by deciding which stories survive. It made me think about the cost when whole histories are swept away, and how sometimes, the act of remembering can be a kind of rebellion.
The world itself is carefully built, with small details, such as gaps in family histories, hinting at much deeper troubles. It is easy to see that everything fits together, and that care makes the place feel lived-in. The emotional ties between the characters keep the story moving. There is never a stretch that feels wasted, and as the book went on, I found the world becoming more and more convincing, as if I could reach out and touch it.
Reading this, I was left thinking about justice, about what we owe each other when everything feels broken. The book does not set out to lecture, but it does quietly ask us to notice the ways in which history, when rewritten, changes everything about the present. There is something in the tone that reminded me of old stories told by the fire, intimate and warm even as the world outside is vast and dangerous.
For anyone who loves fantasy that is intricate and thoughtful, with a broad cast and high stakes, this story offers much to linger over. It blends action, love, and questions that stay with you, quietly echoing long after the last page.
There was a tension to it, quiet but always there, like feeling the air thicken before rain. The place itself feels stripped of comfort, cold in its bones, yet it pulls you forward, always asking what has been forgotten, what is waiting to be found. It is a book that lingers, building itself up one careful layer at a time, letting the pressure mount. It is never rushed; nothing is hurried, but every moment feels earned.
As fantasy goes, the scale here is vast, but it is not just for spectacle. The cosmic and the human are tangled together, every revelation affecting more than just one person. The story touches all the familiar notes, the old bloodlines, the quests, but manages to sidestep the expected, often surprising me just when I thought I had its measure. There are threads of romance too, turning up where I least expected them, drawing the story down from the sky to the people living through it, and that shift made everything feel more grounded, more true. It is clear that in this world, a single choice can affect the whole.
The characters are what stayed with me most. Each begins alone in some way, but the journey changes them, shapes them by what they survive. Selene is sharp-witted, always thinking ahead, while Nysera is steadier, her faith unshakeable, and together they become something greater than they could manage alone. Their friendship and partnership felt real to me, hard-won, built on trust and challenge both. Their story is about loyalty, about finding resilience, and about learning to keep faith with both yourself and someone else. Talia, too, brought a fresh energy, her curiosity lighting up the darker corners of the world. I watched her grow as she learned, adapting as everything shifted around her.
What I appreciated most was how the story dealt with dragons and forgotten histories, not simply retelling old legends, but asking who gets to shape the stories, and what happens when truths are lost. The writing holds all these threads together, quietly raising questions about love as defiance, about faith that is forged through hardship, and about how those in power keep it by deciding which stories survive. It made me think about the cost when whole histories are swept away, and how sometimes, the act of remembering can be a kind of rebellion.
The world itself is carefully built, with small details, such as gaps in family histories, hinting at much deeper troubles. It is easy to see that everything fits together, and that care makes the place feel lived-in. The emotional ties between the characters keep the story moving. There is never a stretch that feels wasted, and as the book went on, I found the world becoming more and more convincing, as if I could reach out and touch it.
Reading this, I was left thinking about justice, about what we owe each other when everything feels broken. The book does not set out to lecture, but it does quietly ask us to notice the ways in which history, when rewritten, changes everything about the present. There is something in the tone that reminded me of old stories told by the fire, intimate and warm even as the world outside is vast and dangerous.
For anyone who loves fantasy that is intricate and thoughtful, with a broad cast and high stakes, this story offers much to linger over. It blends action, love, and questions that stay with you, quietly echoing long after the last page.
November 30, 2025
Rarely does a debut novel launch a fantasy world with such immediate confidence and breathtaking depth. UNWRITTEN: The Awakening is not just a book; it is an immersive portal into a sprawling, meticulously crafted universe that instantly cements itself as a cornerstone of modern epic fantasy. This novel is a triumph, blending high-stakes action with deeply emotional character work, and it sets the stage for what promises to be one of the most compelling sagas in years.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews