Eskara Helsene is a fifteen-year-old sourcerer who fought on the losing side of a great war. Captured and stripped of her power, she is sent to the Pit — a prison buried so deep the sun is forgotten. Surrounded by thieves, murderers, and demons stalking the tunnels, she must forge alliances and find a way out.

Eskara Helsene is one of fantasy's most compelling antiheroes: brilliant, brutal, and deeply damaged. She is narrating her own story in retrospect, and the gap between the woman she became and the child she was makes every page feel earned. Readers who find her repellent at first often end up loving her most.

Across five books, Eska transforms from a desperate prisoner into the feared Corpse Queen, battling gods, demons, and the horrors carried within herself. The series explores the cost of survival, the burden of power, the nature of vengeance, and how far a person can bend before they break.