Welcome, After the Awakening!

Above: A graphic showing the covers of all four books in The Way of the Wielder series.

It All Ends Now

Happy birthday, After the Awakening!

This fourth and final book in The Way of the Wielder series has everything you can hope for in a series finale: stronger magic, higher stakes, sexier romance (all fade-to-black this time), badass side characters, familiar villains we love to hate, a battle of epic proportions, and no shortage of well-deserved justice.

Paperback, eBook, and KU options are available. Order your copy (or read it on KU) on Amazon now!

The books in this series must be read in order. So, if you’re new here, check out The Way of the Wielder, and begin the journey today.

What It’s About

After the Awakening starts right from the end of Convergence of Connection. Actually, it starts a few days before that—when Lea is expelled from the Material Existence.

I know what you’re thinking. “Ugh, her again?” Trust me, it’s brief. And so very satisfying.

A few weeks ago, I published a blog post with the blurb. As a reminder, I’ve included it below.

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The Great Wielders have succeeded.

The Idol is gone, the Goddess of Connection has returned, and magic is restored. Every living being now has a bond with an Elemental God. All is as it should be, but not all are pleased.

Aggressors are terrorizing the kingdom, spreading lies, instilling fear, and criminalizing the use of magic. But a resistance is forming. One that’s stronger, and wider-reaching, than the aggressor’s know.

The Great Wielders work with the crown to secure allies and support the resistance. Everyone has a part to play, but Jaslan’s strange new ability adds more questions to the mix. While Jack embraces his new role, he supports her need to return to the Forgotten Mountain. There, they seek out answers to their questions—and get a hint to ending the aggression for good.

The aggressor’s leadership will stop at nothing to get the justice they desire, even if it means ripping families apart. Even if it means holding an entire city captive. But when factions collide, truths are revealed—and justice is finally served.

Additional Insights

Usually, when I’m putting together my release day blog post, I know exactly what I want to offer for additional insights. But I’ve been thinking about this one for weeks and… I’ve got nothing.

There are a few reasons for this. First, there’s so much I could say, and because of that, I can’t say anything. It’s funny how that works sometimes. I can write you a 176,000-word novel without any hesitation, but when it comes to a 1,000-word blog post, I come up empty. Maybe it’s because I can’t string together my thoughts coherently enough to do them justice, or maybe it’s because doing so hurts my heart too much. It’s probably a bit of both.

Which leads to the second reason. After the Awakening is the last book in a series that’s very close to my heart. As I’ve mentioned before, there are parts of this series that explore thoughts I’ve had for decades. How can I possibly put into words how I feel about this book, knowing that it’s the last one? Knowing that the last page reads not, “End of Book Four”, but “The End”?

The answer is, I can’t. It hurts too much to say goodbye. The best I’ve got is, “See you later”. That leaves room for potential. That leaves room for hope that I may return to this wonderful world—and to these characters who have become some of my closest companions—someday.

Hope. That leads to the third reason.

Rally Cry

I outlined After the Awakening in December of 2024. As I usually do with outlines, I made a list of what needed to happen (and from whose POV), put that list in chronological order, and filled in any gaps. Normally, I would have started writing after that, but I put the outline aside and spent the following month writing Mission Aboard the Longfin. Which meant I didn’t start writing After the Awakening until late January 2025.

It took me the better part of ten months to write this book, and to say that it happened during a time when our society faced some of the worst hatred, anger, and disrespect I’ve ever known is a gross understatement. I never set out to write stories that address real-world issues so directly, but sometimes, the real world has other plans.

As the story unfolded, it quickly became something more than just its outline. I didn’t deviate from it, but the characters adopted the mentality of society today—both good and bad. The antagonists are arrogant, wealthy, and proud. They put their hate for others on full display, doing whatever is in their power to force their beliefs on society, caring little for the consequences of their actions. Meanwhile, a majority of the citizens of Vastrenar are afraid for their lives. All they want is to live in peace being who they are, without fear of oppression and persecution.

And from that desire—from that basic right for human decency—they rise up together, rallying behind four Great Wielders who stand for everything they believe in, and have the power to do something about it.

The injustices in this book are different from those happening in our world today, but the emotions and actions are quite similar. And because of that, this book is probably the most relatable of the whole series.

Because more than anything, this is a story about truth. It’s a story about strength and resilience. It’s a story about fighting for what’s right. It’s a story about hope for a better future—not just for the select few, but for everyone.

And that’s exactly the kind of story we need today.

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After the Awakening is now available on Amazon. Get your copy now, and join the Great Wielders and their friends in one last battle for a better tomorrow.

Until next time, be well, and stay creative.

~Sarah