The Metalwood Saga

The Metalwood Saga is a dystopian science-fantasy epic created by Jeremy Thomas Fuller. Blending elements of sci-fi, high fantasy, thriller, and post-apocalyptic survival, the series chronicles a universe-spanning conflict involving ancient elven factions, floating sky cities, apocalyptic threats, and a devastating magic system fueled by Primewood (often referred to as Metalwood or Darkprime).

The saga spans tens of thousands of years, exploring themes of found family, forgotten history, trauma, betrayal, and the heavy cost of survival. It is divided into two primary "Seasons," each consisting of five pulse-pounding books, followed by the Metalwood Adventures spinoff series.

Premise

The story begins on Earth (known to the ancients as Mar) roughly three hundred years after a devastating, near-extinction event known as The Sundering. To escape the ruined surface, millions of humans live in sky cities—a network of seven massive, floating metropolises such as New San Francisco.

While the privileged Citizens live in the gleaming, sunlit Topside, the forgotten lower classes survive in the mechanical depths of The Under. Here, rebel outlaws like the Gearheads and Shock Crew race stolen cars and battle for resources. Unbeknownst to humanity, the sky cities are actually a prison, masking a colossal planetary device called Fennas Elenathon, controlled by a ruthless, technologically advanced faction of elves known as the Cothellon (the Planners).

As dormant magic awakens across the planet, a cosmic, extinction-level force known as The Fall (Guruthos/Xyclami) accelerates toward the solar system. A ragged crew of misfits—including a former assassin, a rebellious bookseller, an elven archer, and a young mage—are swept into a brutal war between humanity, the traditional Eldrim elves, and the wrathful, godlike beings known as The Twins.

Series Structure

Season One

Season One focuses primarily on Earth, the oppression of the floating sky cities, the brutal survival of the underkids, and the escalating war against the Cothellon.

• Book 1: The Metal Wood – Phoenix, a magically gifted assassin (killgirl) is betrayed by her Crew and cast into the deepest parts of the Under. She joins the Gearheads and begins to uncover the terrifying truth behind the Planners and the Metalwood that fuels her magic.
• Book 2: The Stone Flame – Phoenix and Beam are captured by the marauding human Remnant and dragged into a vicious surface war against the traditional Eldrim. As the mysterious Remnant leader Segena attempts to use stolen elven magic to trigger an apocalyptic supervolcano, Phoenix must push her corrupted magic to its absolute limits to save the planet.
• Book 3: The Death Edge – Desperate to save his wife from Civil Service, bookseller Trey gets caught in a violent Under rebellion and plummets three thousand feet from the sky city to the ruined Earth. Saved by the young mage Rylan, Trey encounters the elven archer Arra and discovers he holds the legendary, world-altering powers of a Prime Mage just as a deadly new conflict ignites.
• Book 4: The Fatal Cure – As the Eldrim prepare to execute the apocalyptic Soulsundering ritual to wipe out humanity and save the planet, a human mother named Jessica and an elven mentor named Kythaela race against time to stop the genocide.
• Book 5: The Prime Trees – The explosive finale to Season One. The Cothellon initiate The Ascension and The Conjunction to move the Earth itself. Earth's only chance rests on a daring rebellion led by Phoenix's son, Rylan, Trey, and Arra to destroy the Cothellon’s ultimate weapon.

Season Two

Season Two expands the scope of the universe, shifting the battle to the ancient elven homeworld of Valaralda, exploring the origins of magic, and dealing with the cataclysmic return of the universe's oldest threats.

• Book 6: The Absent Memory – Trey awakens on Valaralda with fractured memories of his past life as Tarathiel. He and Arra must hunt for his ancient research to stop the impending Fall, while the broken, enslaved elf Cariel rises to power on the distant jungle planet of Eryn.
• Book 7: The Crystal Curse – Trey leads a dangerous expedition into the cursed Tomb of Akhenaten in the Thesserin Desert to find Edrafen (The Key), an artifact meant to unlock the ancient Defense Mechanism.
• Book 8: The Silent Binds – Trey's soul is bound to the Key, and the wildly powerful Prime Mage Cariel begins a terrifying campaign of soulbinding and vengeance, culminating in a massive battle at the Palace of Memory.
• Book 9: The Twin Fury – The Anubis Twins, Nelenor and Velion—long-banished operators of Xyclami and gods of destruction—are unleashed upon the universe. As cities fall and timelines collide, the surviving heroes must find a way to stop their apocalyptic wrath.
• Book 10: The Splinter Soul – The epic conclusion to the saga. Rylan, Trey, and Arra must confront their deepest fears, their splintered souls, and the terrifying truth of Starmist Prime as they fight to deactivate Xyclami and save the remaining species from total annihilation.

The Metalwood Adventures

A spinoff series expanding on the lore, secondary characters, and uncharted territories of the Metalwood universe.

• AMA 1: The Drowned Below

Four years after the events of The Metal Wood, the flying city of Newfris is dying from a failing water supply. Phoenix and her three-year-old son, Rylan, must find the source fast. Guided by the half-mad Glint, they journey across a vast, black underground lake to reach an impossible, drowned machine-city sealed beneath The Under known as The Below. What they find is a world of wet stone, hollow-eyed workers, and a strange religion built around keeping the water flowing at any cost (the Wavelight Church). As ancient defenses wake, Phoenix is forced deeper into the city's secrets—and must choose what kind of mother she is willing to become, and what kind of city deserves to keep drinking.

• AMA 2: The Savage Wild

Set fifty years after the finale in The Splinter Soul. On the brutal jungle planet of Eryn, dragons carve fire from the canopy and fierce rylak packs rule by tooth and blood. Lysa, an elf enslaved by the rylak for ten years with almost no memory of her past, escapes a violent dragon attack and stumbles into Aldaron, a hidden elven city buried beneath the vines. But Aldaron is not a sanctuary. Something ancient is stirring beneath the ruins—something that does not care whether its victims have fur, flame, or flesh. Unless sworn enemies learn to stand together, every soul on Eryn will be swept into a war far more savage than the jungle itself.

Key Factions & Species

• Humans: Divided between the oblivious Citizens of Topside, the scrappy underkids of the Under Crews, the secretive True People of Gondor, and the warring Remnant left on the ruined surface.
• Eldrim: The traditional, nature-dwelling elves who practice the legal, highly-disciplined Woodways (Lightprime magic).
• Cothellon: The technologically advanced, ruthless elven "Planners" who rule the sky cities and utilize corrupted Darkprime magic.
• The Eglaria: An ancient, secretive order of priests and shadowmages on Valaralda who worship the soul's journey.
• Rylak: A fierce, wolf-like sentient species native to the jungles of Eryn, ruled by the brutal Hunt Code.
• Phylax: Highly intelligent dragons native to Eryn with vast genetic memories.

The Magic System

All magic in the saga stems from a highly advanced, ancient alien device called Xyclami (Guruthos), operated by the Twins. The energy is funneled through the ethereal dimension of Ambarhal into the physical world via Prime Trees. Mages must possess a genetic Talent, have a specific soul Alignment, and use chips of Primewood to cast magic.

Magic is divided into the Seven Aspects of the soul, featuring fourteen specific disciplines split between uncorrupted Lightprime (requiring physical Investment) and highly addictive Darkprime (bypassing Investment). Beneath these standard ways lie the horrifying, mind-breaking powers of The Fourteen Gifts (Soulmagic).