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A Land of Mist and Loss
When Kharis crossed the veil, she intended to break her curse and save her sister. Instead, she wakes up in a forest cabin with memory fragments and the urge to go north. Her challenge? She’s bound to a man who refuses to go.
Leógham never expected her to upend his quiet life—or his heart. Or cast her into danger. When ancient magic, powerful enough to defy the gods, binds them, nothing will ever be the same.
Assassins close in, their sights set on Leógham. Hegra, it turns out, is a cauldron of political intrigue, power struggles, and betrayals.
A Land of Mist and Loss is an epic, character-driven fantasy about duty, fate, and choice. Ideal for readers who crave emotionally immersive epic fantasy with romantic tension where he falls first, morally burdened characters, found family, and a slow-burn epic story with a thousand-year echo. Perfect for fans of epic fantasy steeped in danger, emotional depth, and moral cost, such as The Priory of the Orange Tree, The Poppy War, and Mistborn.
502 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 10, 2026
3 people are currently reading
1245 people want to read
About the author
A.S.R. Gelpi
7 books42 followersA.S.R. Gelpi was writing fantasy stories since twelve (mainly to entertain friends and scare teachers) but put her writing aside to pursue her academic dreams, including a Ph.D. But she's back, better than ever, putting her love of literature and her lifelong passion for fantasy into creating the worlds where "The Dandelion Chronicles" stories take place. With her love of the fantastic shining through in her work, she has created complex characters, worlds with depth and lore, and stories that grab readers and don’t let go. She hopes to inspire a new generation of fantasy lovers with her unique and realistic epic fantasy stories.
Find her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asrgelpi_au...
Find her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asrgelpi_au...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 12, 2026
I would like to thank NetGalley, Silver River Publishing, and the author for the copy of this book and the chance to provide my honest review. Please note that this is my opinion after completing this book.
If you belong to the Fourth Wing or Red Rising camp, this won’t be a book for you. If you loved The Priory of the Orange Tree, or Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, you’ll love this book. The language, structure, lyricism, and tone are similar.
“A Land of Mist and Loss” is a masterclass in emotionally-driven epic fantasy. It’s lyrical, devastating, and relentlessly purposeful.
This book does not rush. Instead, it builds tension the way weather builds before a storm: slowly, inexorably, every quiet moment weighted by consequence. The result is a story that feels vast in scope yet intimate in execution, where personal choices ripple outward until they threaten kingdoms, magic, and the world itself.
At its heart is Kharis, one of the most compelling protagonists I’ve read in recent fantasy. Stripped of memory yet not of agency, she moves through the narrative with a dangerous clarity. Her amnesia is not a gimmick to move the plot, but a structural necessity, freeing her from the paralysis of trauma while forcing her to confront the truth of who she is through action rather than recollection. If you have read the previous three books, you know how much she has suffered for being a magical being. Had she entered this world with all that trauma, the story would be quite different.
Watching Kharis enact mercy, defiance, and love—often at great personal cost—becomes both exhilarating and terrifying, because the book never lets us forget that her power is annihilatory, not heroic by default. She’s the anti-hero, born to destroy the world, not save it, and we see her fight her fate every step of the way. That moral core captivated me.
The supporting cast is equally strong. Leógham is a crown prince shaped by duty and loss, whose love becomes both his strength and his undoing. Sahrit emerges as the quiet moral backbone of the story, holding a fractured family and realm together while slowly breaking apart in private. Darragh embodies restraint and endurance, a man who understands the rot of the system yet stays within it out of love for Sahrit. Even antagonists like Saigham and Cuileagh are not evil for the sake of being villains. Their misbelief is believable, adding layers to how they see the world.
What sets Mist and Loss apart is its refusal to let moments exist without consequence. Mercy reshapes political reality. Love triggers binding magic. A single touch can steal power, heal land, or doom a soul. The pacing reflects this philosophy perfectly: moments of tenderness are not relief but vulnerability, and every quiet chapter tightens the noose rather than loosening it.
Thematically, the novel grapples with fate versus choice, the cost of restraint, and the danger of systems that prize purity over humanity. Like The Priory of the Orange Tree, it balances mythic scale with personal stakes, but where Priory luxuriates in breadth, Mist and Loss sharpens its focus, using character pressure as the engine that drives the epic forward. It reminds me of Sanderson, Abercrombie, and Collins, emphasizing inevitability, long-seeded convergence, and delayed payoff.
By the end, I was standing at the edge of catastrophe, watching it come. The journey north has not yet begun, but the fuse has been lit. Every promise, every betrayal, every act of love is now poised to detonate.
This is not fantasy for readers who want comfort or adrenaline spikes on every page. It is a fantasy for readers who want meaning and heart—and are willing to feel the cost.
If you belong to the Fourth Wing or Red Rising camp, this won’t be a book for you. If you loved The Priory of the Orange Tree, or Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, you’ll love this book. The language, structure, lyricism, and tone are similar.
“A Land of Mist and Loss” is a masterclass in emotionally-driven epic fantasy. It’s lyrical, devastating, and relentlessly purposeful.
This book does not rush. Instead, it builds tension the way weather builds before a storm: slowly, inexorably, every quiet moment weighted by consequence. The result is a story that feels vast in scope yet intimate in execution, where personal choices ripple outward until they threaten kingdoms, magic, and the world itself.
At its heart is Kharis, one of the most compelling protagonists I’ve read in recent fantasy. Stripped of memory yet not of agency, she moves through the narrative with a dangerous clarity. Her amnesia is not a gimmick to move the plot, but a structural necessity, freeing her from the paralysis of trauma while forcing her to confront the truth of who she is through action rather than recollection. If you have read the previous three books, you know how much she has suffered for being a magical being. Had she entered this world with all that trauma, the story would be quite different.
Watching Kharis enact mercy, defiance, and love—often at great personal cost—becomes both exhilarating and terrifying, because the book never lets us forget that her power is annihilatory, not heroic by default. She’s the anti-hero, born to destroy the world, not save it, and we see her fight her fate every step of the way. That moral core captivated me.
The supporting cast is equally strong. Leógham is a crown prince shaped by duty and loss, whose love becomes both his strength and his undoing. Sahrit emerges as the quiet moral backbone of the story, holding a fractured family and realm together while slowly breaking apart in private. Darragh embodies restraint and endurance, a man who understands the rot of the system yet stays within it out of love for Sahrit. Even antagonists like Saigham and Cuileagh are not evil for the sake of being villains. Their misbelief is believable, adding layers to how they see the world.
What sets Mist and Loss apart is its refusal to let moments exist without consequence. Mercy reshapes political reality. Love triggers binding magic. A single touch can steal power, heal land, or doom a soul. The pacing reflects this philosophy perfectly: moments of tenderness are not relief but vulnerability, and every quiet chapter tightens the noose rather than loosening it.
Thematically, the novel grapples with fate versus choice, the cost of restraint, and the danger of systems that prize purity over humanity. Like The Priory of the Orange Tree, it balances mythic scale with personal stakes, but where Priory luxuriates in breadth, Mist and Loss sharpens its focus, using character pressure as the engine that drives the epic forward. It reminds me of Sanderson, Abercrombie, and Collins, emphasizing inevitability, long-seeded convergence, and delayed payoff.
By the end, I was standing at the edge of catastrophe, watching it come. The journey north has not yet begun, but the fuse has been lit. Every promise, every betrayal, every act of love is now poised to detonate.
This is not fantasy for readers who want comfort or adrenaline spikes on every page. It is a fantasy for readers who want meaning and heart—and are willing to feel the cost.
February 21, 2026
⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ A Land of Mist and Loss by A.S.R. Gelpi
A.S.R. Gelpi continues to prove that epic fantasy doesn’t need spectacle to feel monumental. A Land of Mist and Loss is emotionally immersive, morally weighty, and written with a quiet confidence that trusts the reader to sit with grief, consequence, and the cost of power.
This installment leans fully into character and emotional resonance. Kharis’s journey feels less like a quest for strength and more like an excavation of identity — what remains when memory fractures, trauma lingers, and duty refuses to release its grip. Her bond with Leógham adds a slow-burn tenderness threaded with tension and inevitability, grounding the story’s mythic stakes in deeply human choices. Their connection is not simply romantic; it is shaped by loss, responsibility, and the dangerous pull of fate.
Gelpi’s prose is lyrical without being indulgent, and the pacing is deliberate in a way that feels purposeful rather than slow. The world unfolds through atmosphere and consequence rather than exposition, allowing political intrigue, shifting loyalties, and ancient magic to surface organically.
Mercy, restraint, and love are treated not as soft virtues but as forces capable of reshaping power and destiny — a thematic throughline that gives the narrative its emotional gravity.
If there is a small drawback, it lies in how measured the pacing can feel for readers seeking constant momentum. This is not a story meant to be rushed; it asks you to inhabit its silences and absorb the weight of each decision. But for readers willing to surrender to its rhythm, the payoff is profound.
By the final chapters, the scope widens, the tension tightens, and the sense of impending reckoning is unmistakable. Gelpi leaves us not with comfort, but with inevitability — and the quiet dread of knowing the hardest choices still lie ahead.
A haunting, emotionally rich continuation that deepens both the mythology and the heart of the series.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC, I apologize for my delayed review.
A.S.R. Gelpi continues to prove that epic fantasy doesn’t need spectacle to feel monumental. A Land of Mist and Loss is emotionally immersive, morally weighty, and written with a quiet confidence that trusts the reader to sit with grief, consequence, and the cost of power.
This installment leans fully into character and emotional resonance. Kharis’s journey feels less like a quest for strength and more like an excavation of identity — what remains when memory fractures, trauma lingers, and duty refuses to release its grip. Her bond with Leógham adds a slow-burn tenderness threaded with tension and inevitability, grounding the story’s mythic stakes in deeply human choices. Their connection is not simply romantic; it is shaped by loss, responsibility, and the dangerous pull of fate.
Gelpi’s prose is lyrical without being indulgent, and the pacing is deliberate in a way that feels purposeful rather than slow. The world unfolds through atmosphere and consequence rather than exposition, allowing political intrigue, shifting loyalties, and ancient magic to surface organically.
Mercy, restraint, and love are treated not as soft virtues but as forces capable of reshaping power and destiny — a thematic throughline that gives the narrative its emotional gravity.
If there is a small drawback, it lies in how measured the pacing can feel for readers seeking constant momentum. This is not a story meant to be rushed; it asks you to inhabit its silences and absorb the weight of each decision. But for readers willing to surrender to its rhythm, the payoff is profound.
By the final chapters, the scope widens, the tension tightens, and the sense of impending reckoning is unmistakable. Gelpi leaves us not with comfort, but with inevitability — and the quiet dread of knowing the hardest choices still lie ahead.
A haunting, emotionally rich continuation that deepens both the mythology and the heart of the series.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC, I apologize for my delayed review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was a difficult review to write because I have such mixed feelings. Let’s start with the positives. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and what felt like a mystery we were all solving together, who Kharis was, where she came from, and the nature of her magic. I also enjoyed the banter and the relationship developing between Kharis and Leogham. While it leaned a bit toward insta-love for my taste, it was something I could accept.
However, I did have a significant issue with the ending. It didn’t feel like a cliffhanger so much as an abrupt stop. When I went to look up the next book, I discovered that this isn’t actually the first book in the series—it appears to be the third or fourth, depending on the source. This wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the description or ARC request. As a result, what I thought was an unfolding mystery was actually information the reader was already supposed to know, which was frustrating.
Thank you too the publisher for this advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
However, I did have a significant issue with the ending. It didn’t feel like a cliffhanger so much as an abrupt stop. When I went to look up the next book, I discovered that this isn’t actually the first book in the series—it appears to be the third or fourth, depending on the source. This wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the description or ARC request. As a result, what I thought was an unfolding mystery was actually information the reader was already supposed to know, which was frustrating.
Thank you too the publisher for this advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is still one of my favourite series of all time - and I am glad to see that Gelpi is re-releasing it with a bit of change. The depth of emotions in this series is unbelievable. It is easy to fall into the well=crafted world and walk along side the multi-layered characters as they change and develop. The emotions roll off the pages and seep into the bones. And who can't appreciate the way each book seemlessly flows into the next without hesitation, without interruption. My only complaint? Now I have to wait again for the next "new" book. I have to wait in anticipation to see what our FMC will be doing next. And all the while I am stuck re-reading my favourite scenes to hold me over.
I strongly, strongly suggest investing in this moving series - it does not disappoint.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this beautiful crafted story.
I strongly, strongly suggest investing in this moving series - it does not disappoint.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this beautiful crafted story.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This has been such a wonderful series to read and it just continues to amaze me with A Land Of Mist and Loss. It takes place in such a beautifully crafted world and all of the characters are multidimensional. There was not a single part of this story that fell flat for me. Be prepared to read your way through a fantastic emotional story.
It’s a very immersive read and I highly suggest grabbing it for yourself.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one.
It’s a very immersive read and I highly suggest grabbing it for yourself.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews