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Nocturne
458 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 14, 2026
About the author
Tricia D. Wagner
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As a young reader, writers were like gods and goddesses to author Tricia D. Wagner. She never could have imagined weaving tales like her favorite storytellers, until at a fateful April dinner conversation with her husband, she learned about a lecture he attended, and it got her mind whirling. By the end of that summer, she’d written 400,000 words: a speculative fiction trilogy. Wagner felt as if she’d emerged from a cocoon as some new sort of creature. She was hooked.
It was important to Tricia to sharpen her skills, and she immersed herself in workshops, engaged with coaches, and dove into writing communities, learning from great teachers how to hone her craft. She did this for years, and the result has been five independently published literary adventure novels, including Sun Child of the Moor, a literary fantasy and 2023 winner of the 2023 Royal Dragonfly Book Award. She has also published novelettes, origin stories, children's books, and poetry chapbooks, and to date, she is developing seven new novels. She has found writing to be a method for becoming the person she feels she was born to be, with the act and joy of writing serving to inspire her to be a better person, truer to herself.
Often, when Wagner has completed a story, she feels as if she’s been to her story world, whether it’s on the map or not. She likes to believe all the places she writes about exist somewhere, somehow. And writing for her is all about her characters. In her early experiences writing stories, she was surprised and delighted to discover how real were the characters, that her characters were becoming her most treasured friends. She developed a strong ambition to tell their stories with the excellence they deserve.
Wagner believes revision is magical in its power to make a good book great, and early drafts are only the beginning of a story’s journey. Any idea can wind up a good story, but with reflection, and time, and improvement, it can become art. She hopes her readers feel enchanted when they read her stories; that after completing one, they feel they’re drifting out from under a spell. Because this is how she feels when she places down the pen, she hopes that her writing might expand their worlds, that readers will fall in love with her characters and will be moved by the artistry of language.
When she isn’t writing poignant literary adventures, Wagner works in cardiovascular research, a career that she loves, with a team she profoundly admires. In her spare time, she enjoys studying writing craft, learning languages, and exploring the natural sciences to refine her skills to discover new angles and landscapes that might enrich her writing palette. One such example is a course she took in learning to read and write ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, something that’s sure to end up in a story at some point. Wagner lives in Illinois with her husband and darling cats.
As a young reader, writers were like gods and goddesses to author Tricia D. Wagner. She never could have imagined weaving tales like her favorite storytellers, until at a fateful April dinner conversation with her husband, she learned about a lecture he attended, and it got her mind whirling. By the end of that summer, she’d written 400,000 words: a speculative fiction trilogy. Wagner felt as if she’d emerged from a cocoon as some new sort of creature. She was hooked.
It was important to Tricia to sharpen her skills, and she immersed herself in workshops, engaged with coaches, and dove into writing communities, learning from great teachers how to hone her craft. She did this for years, and the result has been five independently published literary adventure novels, including Sun Child of the Moor, a literary fantasy and 2023 winner of the 2023 Royal Dragonfly Book Award. She has also published novelettes, origin stories, children's books, and poetry chapbooks, and to date, she is developing seven new novels. She has found writing to be a method for becoming the person she feels she was born to be, with the act and joy of writing serving to inspire her to be a better person, truer to herself.
Often, when Wagner has completed a story, she feels as if she’s been to her story world, whether it’s on the map or not. She likes to believe all the places she writes about exist somewhere, somehow. And writing for her is all about her characters. In her early experiences writing stories, she was surprised and delighted to discover how real were the characters, that her characters were becoming her most treasured friends. She developed a strong ambition to tell their stories with the excellence they deserve.
Wagner believes revision is magical in its power to make a good book great, and early drafts are only the beginning of a story’s journey. Any idea can wind up a good story, but with reflection, and time, and improvement, it can become art. She hopes her readers feel enchanted when they read her stories; that after completing one, they feel they’re drifting out from under a spell. Because this is how she feels when she places down the pen, she hopes that her writing might expand their worlds, that readers will fall in love with her characters and will be moved by the artistry of language.
When she isn’t writing poignant literary adventures, Wagner works in cardiovascular research, a career that she loves, with a team she profoundly admires. In her spare time, she enjoys studying writing craft, learning languages, and exploring the natural sciences to refine her skills to discover new angles and landscapes that might enrich her writing palette. One such example is a course she took in learning to read and write ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, something that’s sure to end up in a story at some point. Wagner lives in Illinois with her husband and darling cats.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 25, 2026
Livi cares deeply for her mother, whose suffering seems to be unending despite the efforts of the local physician. Somehow, Livi knows exactly what will help her ailing mother, but rules and limitations prevent her from accessing the remedy. All around her town of Merritaine, rumors abound about Sirens, enigmatic creatures who supposedly threaten the lives of the humans who live on land. But there is more truth than fiction in these stories, and Livi is more intrinsically and dangerously bound to them than she ever realized. This deeply atmospheric novel is told through the voices of several characters, each of which adds a unique and important quality to the story. Through these perspectives, readers are able to get a clearer understanding of the circumstances surrounding them, and the narrative unfolds with more dramatic tension as a result. Rich, descriptive language immerses readers in this fantasy setting, and increasingly high stakes keep readers invested in the outcome of the novel. Light romance appears alongside detailed action sequences and scenes of descriptive violence, making the book best suited to mature young adult readers who prefer more advanced storytelling. Incorporating a blend of folklore and an examination of the darker side of human nature, this story uniquely considers the implications of attempting to restrain and restrict things that are unfamiliar. This is a good selection for readers who appreciate descriptive storytelling and a reflection of the human experience within a lightly fantastic setting.
June 2, 2026
Thank you, NetGalley, for the free book in exchange for my honest and personal opinion.
It was hard to get into the story.
The first half was dedicated almost entirely to descriptions, which, in itself, isn’t a problem. It became a problem when those descriptions were difficult to understand.
I understand that the author wanted to create suspense and let us discover things at the same time as Livi, but for me, it made it difficult to understand the world I was in.
The second half was more adventurous, but even then, we didn’t know enough about what was happening to fully understand the conflict.
For me, it would have been better to receive more details so that I could have appreciated the story more.
However, the book wasn’t all bad.
I liked that the author effectively described the atrocities that some human beings are capable of committing.
I also appreciated that it made me reflect on the current state of the world and the wars we are currently facing.
The plot was original, and the vocabulary was rich.
I would recommend it to readers who enjoy slower, more introspective fantasy and who have a good command of English, as the language and sentence structure can be somewhat advanced
It was hard to get into the story.
The first half was dedicated almost entirely to descriptions, which, in itself, isn’t a problem. It became a problem when those descriptions were difficult to understand.
I understand that the author wanted to create suspense and let us discover things at the same time as Livi, but for me, it made it difficult to understand the world I was in.
The second half was more adventurous, but even then, we didn’t know enough about what was happening to fully understand the conflict.
For me, it would have been better to receive more details so that I could have appreciated the story more.
However, the book wasn’t all bad.
I liked that the author effectively described the atrocities that some human beings are capable of committing.
I also appreciated that it made me reflect on the current state of the world and the wars we are currently facing.
The plot was original, and the vocabulary was rich.
I would recommend it to readers who enjoy slower, more introspective fantasy and who have a good command of English, as the language and sentence structure can be somewhat advanced
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
*Review of an arc received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
This novel was magical and captivating; the way it was written just spoke to me. The sadness of this story broke my heart in many ways about how evil some humans can be. I laughed, I smiled, and I cried. I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions while I read this book.
Livi and her friends were such enjoyable characters. The plot was so unique that I was hooked. The storyline was so intriguing that it kept me reading each chapter. It starts out a bit slowly, giving some background information to who all the characters are, which I really appreciate. Around the middle of the book, things start getting interesting.
Overall, an enjoyable, adventurous read! I am looking forward to reading more books from this author.
This novel was magical and captivating; the way it was written just spoke to me. The sadness of this story broke my heart in many ways about how evil some humans can be. I laughed, I smiled, and I cried. I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions while I read this book.
Livi and her friends were such enjoyable characters. The plot was so unique that I was hooked. The storyline was so intriguing that it kept me reading each chapter. It starts out a bit slowly, giving some background information to who all the characters are, which I really appreciate. Around the middle of the book, things start getting interesting.
Overall, an enjoyable, adventurous read! I am looking forward to reading more books from this author.
April 21, 2026
Book Review
Nocturne
by Tricia D. Wagner
⭐⭐⭐⭐
ARC provided by Xpresso Book Tours | Lyridae Books, thank you for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This book was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions, the way the author wrote about how evil humans can be was so sad and heartbreaking and yet so inherently true; Because we as humans can be very evil.
But the book was a magically captivating read that I just couldn't put down!!
This book spoke to me in many ways, and the author did such an amazing job writing this book. I hope to read more by this author.
#Nocturne #NetGalley
Nocturne
by Tricia D. Wagner
⭐⭐⭐⭐
ARC provided by Xpresso Book Tours | Lyridae Books, thank you for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This book was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions, the way the author wrote about how evil humans can be was so sad and heartbreaking and yet so inherently true; Because we as humans can be very evil.
But the book was a magically captivating read that I just couldn't put down!!
This book spoke to me in many ways, and the author did such an amazing job writing this book. I hope to read more by this author.
#Nocturne #NetGalley
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews