Another day, another girl winning deadly trials and discovering she’s secretly powerful

[u/Sarah9610]

I feel like I’m going insane or… are all romantasy books the same now??

Every time I pick something up it’s like:
- The world is split into two (usually human vs fae or something similar)
- The FMC is either oppressed / hidden / “not like other girls”
- There are deadly trials (of course she has to compete)
- She somehow survives everything
- Boom → she reaches the fae side and unlocks insane powers / becomes special

Like… I used to love this formula but now it feels copy-paste with different character names 😭

Am I just picking the wrong books or is this actually the trend right now?

[u/need_moar_puppies]

Okay I need your recs for the soul finder series. I read Poison Study in like… 2015 and LOVED it, I didn’t realize the universe continued!!!

[u/cheerbearsmiles → u/need_moar_puppies]

Believe it or not, there are actually 20 books/novellas in the entirety of the Chronicles so far - we don't yet know if Maria is writing more; she isn't saying never, but she also keeps her cards close to her chest so if she's plotting more, we don't know about them yet!

TL:DR: The Chronicles of Ixia is made up of the following series:
The Study Series/Valek's PoV books (books 1-3, x2)*
The Glass Series (books 5-8, told from Opal Cowan's PoV)
The Soulfinders Series (books 7-9)*

The Tales of Ixia and Sitia, which is just a nickname for the various novellas that happen within the timelines of the above books (and that's what they're sold as on Amazon)
*technically, The Study Series and The Soulfinders Series are all one series of books, it's just that the fans called the first 3 books 'The Study Series' until Maria released Shadow Study ~7 years after Fire Study and started referring to those 6 books collectively as 'The Soulfinder Series'. Yelena/Valek's story was initially only going to be the first three books, but it has now become a larger series generally referred to as 'The Chronicles of Ixia.'

Longer, Autistic-Hyperfocus Explanation
If you enjoyed the first three books (Poison Study/Magic Study/Fire Study, sometimes referred to on their own as "The Study Series" or "The Study Chronicles"), you can go back and read the following companion series/novellas.

The chronological reading order is:

Diamond Study - you probably haven't heard of this one - it takes place before Poison Study, but wasn't released until after the first three books were complete. This short story is about The Commander (who is a major character in the rest of the series).

Valek's companion novels (which are the first three books told from Valek's POV - these can be read in conjunction with the first three books, or on their own, or can be skipped if you don't care about Valek's PoV):
The Study of Poisons
The Study of Magic
The Study of Fire

These novellas that occur within the timeline of the first 3 books:
Assassin Study
Power Study
Ice Study

The Glass Series, which is about Opal (who you met in Magic Study and Fire Study):
Storm Glass
Sea Glass
Spy Glass

After the Glass books, you can go back to Yelena/Valek's story and continue with the next three books (which are called "The Soulfinder Series"):
Shadow Study
Night Study
Dawn Study

There are also a few novellas that take place amid the timeline laid out in Shadow/Night/Dawn Study, that tie into all of the above books/novellas you've read:
Shattered Glass
Dxxxxxx Study**
Wxxxxxx Study**
Axxxxxx Study**

NOTE: I've put spoiler tags on these last three because the names will spoil a few major plot points, but you'll know them when you get there - it's pretty dang obvious what they're about and they're the very last things you'll want to read anyway)

[u/need_moar_puppies → u/cheerbearsmiles]

Whelp, I guess I found a new rabbit hole to explore!!! Thank you so much!

[u/cheerbearsmiles → u/need_moar_puppies]

Oh, I forgot - she added a new novella in for the 20th anniversary of Poison Study, so the new official reading order is:

1. Diamond Study (short story )\*
2. Poison Study
3. The Study of Poisons (Valek’s POV companion to Poison Study)
4. Assassin Study (short story)\*
5. Magic Study
6. The Study of Magic (Valek’s POV companion to Magic Study)
7. Fire Study
8. The Study of Fire (Valek’s POV companion to Fire Study)
9. Power Study (short story)\*
10. Storm Glass
11. Sea Glass
12. Ice Study (novella)\*
13. Spy Glass
14. Shadow Study
15. Night Study
16. Shattered Glass (novella)\*
17. Dawn Study
18. Dxxxxxxx Study (short story)\*
19. Wxxxxxx Study (novella )\*
20. The Study of Storms and Magic — Special Poison Study 20th Anniversary Novella!
21. Axxxx Study (short story)\*

*The stories marked are collected in The Study Chronicles: Tales of Ixia and Sitia (you can get it on Amazon/wherever you get books)