The strangest link yet between Arcane Elemental Academy and Beyond the Lost
Arcane Elemental Academy and Beyond the Lost may fall into two different genres. But no two book series have stranger connections.
One takes place in a broken America. The other in a magical village straight out of Harry Potter. But under the skin, they’re the same. Sort of.
Not long ago, I was editing Astray Mage, Book II of my dark paranormal Catenarian Chronicles series and Beyond the Lost Assault, Book II in my dystopian survival series. I realized one thing: the two books told the same exact story. They fell into different genres, had a different cast of characters, and took place in a different setting. But the story was eerily similar.
Then I started taking a deep dive into my main character, Quinn Cozens. In Beyond the Lost Horizon, Quinn’s nostalgia is the book’s focal point. He lost everything except for his memories before that cataclysmic terrorist attack on America.
After the attack, he only had a sharp-tongued sidekick who, until that brutal assault, was a world-famous K-pop idol. Quinn knew he needed to protect Yui Kikuchi, but it didn’t stop his longing for the past and for better times.
That nostalgia and idealized life crept into another book series. My young adult academy fantasy, Arcane Elemental Academy.
Quinn Cozens’ longing is Yote Diamondback’s reality
My protagonist in Arcane, Yote Diamondback, is 14 years old, and Quinn, 29, wants nothing more than to return to his teenage years. Yote’s also living in Aurora Village, a town that is a mirror image of Quinn’s favorite village of Wintersville, Ohio. There’s just a massive campus featuring 32 competing schools in the former.
Quinn wants familial stability. And while Yote’s away from her parents, she’s in constant contact and exchanging letters with them. There’s still closeness. I won’t make too many more revelations here, because I don’t want to spoil the fun in either of these books.
But you get it, I’m sure. Yote, despite facing her own problems or else The Arcane Prophecy wouldn’t be a very good book, has what Quinn wants. Heck, if Quinn read The Arcane Prophecy, he’d envy Yote, despite the looming conflict brewing around her.
Beyond the Lost vs. Arcane Elemental Academy
The funny thing is, Beyond the Lost touches on dark, sensitive, and often unspoken topics. It’s the antithesis to Arcane Elemental Academy, which leans more whimsical, almost Harry Potter-like.
But that’s the reality when Beyond is a dystopian survival thriller whose opening chapter after the prologue starts with a carefully-crafted terrorist attack that ends America as we know it. As for Arcane? It’s about escape, in which the Academy and Aurora Village become characters.
It also shows that, even if neither series, nor Catenarian Chronicles, are connected in a shared universe like my Renegades Epic, there are still strings attached. That’s what makes these books special. That and they share the same libertarian themes.
If you’re craving a deeper dive into those themes or even the connections, do yourself a favor. Check out Beyond the Lost Horizon right now, and read the first three chapters of The Arcane Prophecy. You will start seeing the connection build instantly.
