Publication date: January 21, 2025. An 8” x 5” novella.

In the glittering city state of Volun, Lorelei Steddart never thought she’d be anything but an office drone—until her family all die under mysterious and likely magical circumstances, leaving her to inherit everything. To figure out what’s happened, her uncle marries her off to the city state’s top War Alchemist, Nephele Corisande, an intimidating older woman who might just be able to save her. But what starts as a marriage of pure convenience becomes something deeper. Soon Lorelei and Nephele must untangle a terrible magic that has metastasized into something new and unstable, born in Lorelei’s blood. 

Cover illustration by Ocean Salazar. Cover design by dave ring.

ISBN: 978-1-952086-93-9

PRAISE

“I consumed The Oblivion Bride in a single sitting—or it consumed me. Caitlin Starling’s novella lovingly reimagines some of my favorite tropes (an arranged marriage! A mysterious curse! A messy found family! Magic! Sapphic desire!) into a new, vibrant shape. The Oblivion Bride is a lighthouse in these benighted times, helping us navigate the reefs of grief and sacrifice, calling us home to each other, to ourselves.”
—Izzy Wasserstein, author of These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart

“I was utterly caught up in Caitlin Starling's The Oblivion Bride. A gorgeous and moving novella about magic, sacrifice, and love—this may be my favorite book from her yet.”
—Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians.

“The Oblivion Bride is grief-stricken and gorgeously severe—I inhaled it.”
—Ursula Whitcher, author of North Continent Ribbon

“A tender, healing novella about two doomed women who will go to any lengths to save one another. You will savor every word of Starling’s gorgeous prose and come away longing for your own Nephele.”
—Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Dark and Drowning Tide