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Alchemical Green #1
Alchemical Dreamer
Kraghtol Wulfspar has never truly belonged. The only half-orc in a land of humans, he’s spent his life assisting his adoptive father, the healer of Mistpine. Close enough to be useful, never close enough to be accepted. He’s learned to swallow the stares, the silence, the feeling of being tolerated instead of trusted.
When he finds a traveler injured in the woods, a mysterious man who insists Kraghtol be the one to treat him, his life turns upside down. As payment, the stranger leaves behind a potion said to turn him human. For Kraghtol, who’s dreamed of becoming an alchemist all his life, it feels like the first real spark of possibility.
But every miracle has its price. Caught in the currents of guild politics and ancient secrets far larger than himself, Kraghtol crosses paths with the noble sharp-tongued, infuriatingly handsome and desperate for a life no one ever gave him a choice to want. As their fates intertwine, Kraghtol must decide what kind of man he wants to
the one the world accepts, or the one who dares to be free.
Alchemical Dreamer is an emotional fantasy about identity, defiance, and the quiet hope that refuses to die — the beginning of the saga of a half-orc searching for more than humanity.
When he finds a traveler injured in the woods, a mysterious man who insists Kraghtol be the one to treat him, his life turns upside down. As payment, the stranger leaves behind a potion said to turn him human. For Kraghtol, who’s dreamed of becoming an alchemist all his life, it feels like the first real spark of possibility.
But every miracle has its price. Caught in the currents of guild politics and ancient secrets far larger than himself, Kraghtol crosses paths with the noble sharp-tongued, infuriatingly handsome and desperate for a life no one ever gave him a choice to want. As their fates intertwine, Kraghtol must decide what kind of man he wants to
the one the world accepts, or the one who dares to be free.
Alchemical Dreamer is an emotional fantasy about identity, defiance, and the quiet hope that refuses to die — the beginning of the saga of a half-orc searching for more than humanity.
390 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 22, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 22, 2026
This was a fun book to read in the end. I could imagine running a TTRPG in this world.
It started off very slow, and at 40% it started picking up a little speed. At 60% it really found its footing, and by then I had a very good understanding of the characters and a clear understanding of the world.
If you like the author taking their time building out the world and the characters, then this book is for you. The allusion to neurodivergencies was nice, sometimes a little on the nose, and the diversity of the characters made this a very inclusive and cozy read for me.
Thank you to Mike for letting me be an ARC reader for your book, and I look forward to what Kragh, Valir, and Dagna have ahead of them.
It started off very slow, and at 40% it started picking up a little speed. At 60% it really found its footing, and by then I had a very good understanding of the characters and a clear understanding of the world.
If you like the author taking their time building out the world and the characters, then this book is for you. The allusion to neurodivergencies was nice, sometimes a little on the nose, and the diversity of the characters made this a very inclusive and cozy read for me.
Thank you to Mike for letting me be an ARC reader for your book, and I look forward to what Kragh, Valir, and Dagna have ahead of them.
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January 4, 2026I received this book as an ARC.
I'm 10% in and choising to DNF.
This book is about an half Orc who is facing racism in the human society he is living in. One day, someone gift him a potion who will turn him fully human "for a while". With this potion he can then go and study alchemy in the big city.
Some things to know:
- The main character was abandonned at birth by is bio mum. His bio mum was a soldier working on the frontier. When she gave birth she payed the healer to get rid of the child. Said healer decided to raise the child himself. The bio mom then decided to name the child. The healer did not question the name choice. (The name choice was terrible but the healer didn't speak the language the name was in).
- We are told that the main character is the only half orc that exist, there is no other ones.
=> The bio mom was likely assaulted by an Orc.
- The MC resent his bio mom for wanting to kill him and also for giving him a terrible name
________
The author of this book is German. No ethnicity is indicated anywhere. In the aknowledgement, there is no mention of a sensitivity reader being used.
I do not trust this book to talk about racism in a mindfull way. Therefor, I am choosing to stop reading it
I'm 10% in and choising to DNF.
This book is about an half Orc who is facing racism in the human society he is living in. One day, someone gift him a potion who will turn him fully human "for a while". With this potion he can then go and study alchemy in the big city.
Some things to know:
- The main character was abandonned at birth by is bio mum. His bio mum was a soldier working on the frontier. When she gave birth she payed the healer to get rid of the child. Said healer decided to raise the child himself. The bio mom then decided to name the child. The healer did not question the name choice. (The name choice was terrible but the healer didn't speak the language the name was in).
- We are told that the main character is the only half orc that exist, there is no other ones.
=> The bio mom was likely assaulted by an Orc.
- The MC resent his bio mom for wanting to kill him and also for giving him a terrible name
________
The author of this book is German. No ethnicity is indicated anywhere. In the aknowledgement, there is no mention of a sensitivity reader being used.
I do not trust this book to talk about racism in a mindfull way. Therefor, I am choosing to stop reading it
February 22, 2026
Oh wow! The blurb for this book did not do it justice. It started a little slow, but once it got going, look out! I've been very busy lately, and I didn't get this read as fast as I'd like, but I stayed up late and binged it. I can't even think of another fantasy story similar to this one. I'd read a part and think, "Here we go with this trope." Nope, there'd be another plot twist that sends it in a completely new direction. It blew every assumption I made like that out of the water. The world building is stunning! The characters are so well described, you can really see and understand them in your mind. Well, all but Hawke, total nutter. You cannot stop reading when Kraghtol the half-orc is in danger, you have to make sure he gets out of it. Yes, the hero is a half-orc, and you'll love him. I'm sincerely hoping there's a sequel in the works! I read a ton of fantasy, but this will definitely be on the short list of books I take time out to reread. Excellent!!!
Did Not Finish
February 28, 2026ARC received from author.
DNF at chapter 7. I tried on 3 separate days to read this book and I couldn’t care about anything that is happening in the story or about the characters. I clearly misunderstood what this story was going to be about. I thought the book was going to spend more time in the classes where he learning to be an alchemist but instead in almost 40% into the book we have only seen one lesson, we’re told Kragh attended the rest for the quarter and passed all his tests. This is especially disappointing because the book made a point to say passing these were difficult on the first try so it would have been nice to see him take at least one of them. I can’t even recall if he was taking more than 2 classes. Parts of the story seem like they are over explained while others are being told to me rather than shown. Maybe I’ll pick up this book again in the future but as of right now I have no interest in seeing how this book ends.
DNF at chapter 7. I tried on 3 separate days to read this book and I couldn’t care about anything that is happening in the story or about the characters. I clearly misunderstood what this story was going to be about. I thought the book was going to spend more time in the classes where he learning to be an alchemist but instead in almost 40% into the book we have only seen one lesson, we’re told Kragh attended the rest for the quarter and passed all his tests. This is especially disappointing because the book made a point to say passing these were difficult on the first try so it would have been nice to see him take at least one of them. I can’t even recall if he was taking more than 2 classes. Parts of the story seem like they are over explained while others are being told to me rather than shown. Maybe I’ll pick up this book again in the future but as of right now I have no interest in seeing how this book ends.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Join Kragh on their journey to follow their dreams and the friends...and enemies, they make on their way. Kragh experiences various struggles: self-identity, lies and truths, alchemy failures and successes; assassinations and slow burn relationship.
Perfect blend of various: ✨Fantasial beings 🗡️Fight scenes ❤️🔥Slow burn 🧪 Alchemy & other crafts
Perfect blend of various: ✨Fantasial beings 🗡️Fight scenes ❤️🔥Slow burn 🧪 Alchemy & other crafts
April 10, 2026
Kinda D&D meets Les Miserables
A half-orc disguises himself as human to train as an alchemist; but he only has one dose of the transformation potion and no means of making more. Everything that can go, will go wrong and it's really quite heartbreaking in places. New adult fantasy, def worth a read!
A half-orc disguises himself as human to train as an alchemist; but he only has one dose of the transformation potion and no means of making more. Everything that can go, will go wrong and it's really quite heartbreaking in places. New adult fantasy, def worth a read!
April 11, 2026
A fun cozy start
I enjoyed this story very much. The world building and how magic worked was very interesting.
I liked the main character who was half Orc and how he gained confidence in himself.
I thought it was a good beginning and am excited to see where the rest of the story leads.
I enjoyed this story very much. The world building and how magic worked was very interesting.
I liked the main character who was half Orc and how he gained confidence in himself.
I thought it was a good beginning and am excited to see where the rest of the story leads.
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC review, all thoughts are my own. This book is great. Good story, an exciting yet easy to read book. I look forward to reading more from this author!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Thank you to the author for kindly giving me an ARC.
Wow. This was such a fantastic book. The setting and world-building was incredibly well done; the world-building was woven organically into the narrative, so it wasn't too overwhelming or complex to understand. I really liked the concept of the Guild's, it added an additional dimension to the story, and made for a great antagonistic device in their pursuit and enforcement of control. I also thought the magical/alchemy system was really well-written and expanded on. I liked how, as the characters progressed, their understanding of alchemy did as well. They started to understand alchemy better and realised there was much more than what they were being taught.
Kraghtol was the absolute highlight of the book for me (which is saying a lot since there were many, many highlights). His earnestness and commitment to helping others, especially in a society that shunned him for being half-orc and repeatedly judged him time and time again was so admirable. I loved him so much. He was such a sweet character and his dynamics with other people was so lovely to see. I really liked Valir as well; at first, he seemed just a snobby and obnoxious noble, but he went through a lot of character development, and slowly revealed to both Kraghtol and the reader who he actually was. Their relationship progressed really sweetly; it felt natural for them as characters, and I really liked how Kraghtol was repeatedly surprised that Valir was helping him/following him.
My heart broke for Kraghtol so many times in the book. He genuinely just wants to help people and he suffered so many set-backs just because of how he looks. I'm glad he was able to find acceptance among his friends.
I really wasn't expecting the reveal at the end; it was very well-done and surprised me in the best way. I'm inciredibly excited for the next book but also so incredibly worried for Kraghtol and his friends.
Wow. This was such a fantastic book. The setting and world-building was incredibly well done; the world-building was woven organically into the narrative, so it wasn't too overwhelming or complex to understand. I really liked the concept of the Guild's, it added an additional dimension to the story, and made for a great antagonistic device in their pursuit and enforcement of control. I also thought the magical/alchemy system was really well-written and expanded on. I liked how, as the characters progressed, their understanding of alchemy did as well. They started to understand alchemy better and realised there was much more than what they were being taught.
Kraghtol was the absolute highlight of the book for me (which is saying a lot since there were many, many highlights). His earnestness and commitment to helping others, especially in a society that shunned him for being half-orc and repeatedly judged him time and time again was so admirable. I loved him so much. He was such a sweet character and his dynamics with other people was so lovely to see. I really liked Valir as well; at first, he seemed just a snobby and obnoxious noble, but he went through a lot of character development, and slowly revealed to both Kraghtol and the reader who he actually was. Their relationship progressed really sweetly; it felt natural for them as characters, and I really liked how Kraghtol was repeatedly surprised that Valir was helping him/following him.
My heart broke for Kraghtol so many times in the book. He genuinely just wants to help people and he suffered so many set-backs just because of how he looks. I'm glad he was able to find acceptance among his friends.
I really wasn't expecting the reveal at the end; it was very well-done and surprised me in the best way. I'm inciredibly excited for the next book but also so incredibly worried for Kraghtol and his friends.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This was a good read!
Nowhere near the dark side so this would be a breather. I came across this author on threads and wanted to give the book a try
Now as mentioned it’s not dark and I enjoyed I just wasn’t in an utter chokehold.
Now I do recommend people read this because it was good and easy to get a pic in your head. It was also pretty tame
Nowhere near the dark side so this would be a breather. I came across this author on threads and wanted to give the book a try
Now as mentioned it’s not dark and I enjoyed I just wasn’t in an utter chokehold.
Now I do recommend people read this because it was good and easy to get a pic in your head. It was also pretty tame
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews