A young woman with long black hair and pale skin stands at the edge of a dark lake at dusk, holding a sword. Across the water, a castle-like university glows faintly under a cloudy sky, while faint ghostly shapes ripple beneath the surface.
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Kaarina Taivalkoski: The Catenarian Chronicles’ silent rebel

ByTC Marti

The Catenarian Chronicles is full of dissidents, and Kaarina Taivalkoski may be the most notorious. But in a good way that’ll make her a fan favorite.

  • Element: Spirit
  • Fun Fact: Kaarina makes a cameo in Deceived Mage.
  • Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
  • Named After: Careen Catecher in Tracy Lawson’s Resistance Series. Her last name holds a celestial tilt, signifying her ties with the Spirit Element

Have you ever met someone who looks like your ally, but betrays you at the worst moment? That’s Kaarina Taivalkoski—except she betrays the right people.

Kaarina comes across as nothing more than a foot soldier for the regime, one who’s a master in her respective element and a gifted officer who never seems to rise above a quiet mid-level post in the Vimsinewian military.

But Kaarina’s rank is a disguise. She uses her position to uncover the secrets the State buries—disappearances, hidden experiments, and revelations too dangerous to release.

And while Kaarina knows she can’t risk releasing that info all at once, or to the wrong people, she’ll confide in those she trusts, slowly building a dissident network.

Once Astray Mage rolls around, Kaarina is no longer deployed but working as a fitness instructor at Linna Yliopisto, a vast castle on the shores of a manmade lake.

But there’s a buried history surrounding that lake, and it’s linked to Kaarina’s unwavering desire to, when the time is right, unleash that harsh truth. One that involves our fearless protagonist, Kaija Jokiharju.

Kaarina is the Catenarian Chronicles’ version of, “Don’t mistake my obedience for loyalty”

Astray Mage, a dark paranormal fantasy by TC MartiKaarina’s my favorite supporting character in Astray Mage, because she’s clever and cunning enough to fool some of the most arrogant, self-righteous power-grabbers in the book. Yet, she does it in an intelligent, methodical way, which is why she’d be a ‘Ravenclaw’ if she ever stepped into Hogwarts.

She reminds me of Mina Hirai (Chronicles of Rondure: Book I), a girl who put on the facade of holding her expansive government and superpower nation above everything else. But behind the scenes, Kaarina, like Mina, is working on finding and spreading just one thing: the truth.

Meet her in Deceived Mage, and watch her character expand in Astray Mage.

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