In a Renaissance city where guilds enforce magical oaths to hoard knowledge, indentured apprentice Kellen discovers he can mass-produce spellbooks on a printing press — and shatter magic's monopoly forever. Free of the censorship that binds sworn guild members, he turns information into a weapon against the nobles who may have murdered his parents. Reimagining the Gutenberg revolution as historical fantasy, this is class warfare fought with movable type. When anyone can read the spell, no one can own the magic.
The Books
Book 1
The Apprentice
Knowledge is a crime, and power is a secret—until Kellen learns to print it. In the iron-fisted city of Oakhaven, Kellen is just a print shop apprentice, his days spent setting type for the Ministry's lies. But his fingers, stained with ink and grime, hold a dangerous secret: the presses can forge more than paper. He can mass-produce spellbooks, shattering the guilds' monopoly on magic and turning every printed page into a weapon against the state. Now the most dangerous man in a city that crushes dissent, Kellen must decide if his revolution will ignite a new dawn or burn the world to ash. The first move is always the deadliest.
Coming soon
Book 2
The Journey
Knowledge is power. Power is war. After shattering the mages’ monopoly, Kellen’s revolutionary printing press now fuels a rebellion. But every revolution devours its own. Hunted by the shattered guilds and the vengeful aristocracy, Kellen and his companions flee into a world of whispered secrets and ancient dangers. To survive, they must print weapons they’ve never seen, trust allies who would have been enemies, and confront a truth that could ignite a war that consumes kingdoms. The journey to liberation is paved with fire, and the cost of victory might be their very souls.
Coming soon
Book 3
The Broken Indenture
Kellen Weber broke the world by printing magic. Now, the world wants to kill him for it. Hunted by the guilds that declared him an abomination and cornered by the noble family he once served, Kellen and Elara must turn the Blackwood Press into a fortress. But as the city closes in, a more dangerous secret emerges—one that could shatter their revolution before it begins. The presses are hot, the ink is running, and the final page is about to be written.
Coming soon
Book 4
The Imperial Response
The Iron Legion shattered their revolution. The free press is ash, the masters are vanished, and Kelen Varren stands as the lone target of an empire-wide hunt. Branded an outlaw with an impossible secret—the ability to print magic—he flees a city drowning in its own blood. But Kelen isn’t running for his life. He’s building an army, one forbidden book at a time, from the pages of a hidden print shop. The Imperial Response has been swift and brutal, but the Emperor has only one shot to end this. Kelen has an entire revolution. In a war of words and wills, the ink has only begun to run.
Coming soon
Book 5
The Revolutionary War
Kellen can print the power to defeat a king, but at what cost to the soul of magic? As the American Revolution ignites, the British Crown unleashes its most terrifying weapon: mage-knights who erase history to crush rebellion. Kellen’s press becomes the patriots’ secret arsenal, churning out battle scrolls that defy the guilds’ ancient oaths. But every spell he mass-produces weakens the very fabric of enchantment, and his allies grow reckless with newfound power. With the fate of the colonies hanging in the balance, Kellen must choose: press forward and risk unraveling magic forever, or sacrifice his greatest weapon and let the revolution burn.
Coming soon
Book 6
The Guild War
Knowledge is power. For Kellen, it’s also a weapon. Having shattered the guilds’ monopoly on magic by mass-producing spellbooks, his print shop has become a forge of revolution. But the old guard fights back, using their enchanted archives and ancient oaths to wage a war of ink and steel. Kellen must protect his apprentices and the growing rebellion, knowing that every page he prints is a threat to the established order. The city is bleeding, his friends are falling, and the more he fights to spread knowledge, the closer he comes to being erased from history itself. The guilds won’t let their world burn without a fight, and Kellen is the fuel.
Coming soon
Book 7
The Federation
The world is burning. Kellen’s revolution ignited a fire the old powers can’t extinguish, and Lord Alaric Blackwood’s answer is a war waged with history itself. To break the Federation’s stranglehold, Kellen and his allies must venture into the archives of the past, uncovering dangerous secrets that could save them—or shatter the present. But every truth they unearth is a spark in a powder keg, and the blast won’t discriminate between friend and foe. As the noose tightens and the enemy reveals its true face, Kellen must answer a terrifying question: is he a savior of knowledge, or the architect of the world’s final page?
Coming soon
Book 8
The Knowledge
Knowledge is power, and power is worth killing for. As the eighth book in The Printer’s Apprentice series begins, Elara’s revolution has become a terrifying war. The mages’ guilds will stop at nothing to reclaim their monopoly, hunting her allies and burning her presses to ash. But Elara possesses a secret weapon: the ability to mass-produce magic itself. Hunted through the city’s shadowed alleys and gilded halls, she must decide how far she’ll go to spread her forbidden knowledge. Every printed page is a spark, but every spark could ignite an inferno that consumes them all.
Coming soon
Never miss a release
Join the newsletter for new books from The Knowledge and the rest of John Nairn's worlds.
Join the newsletter