The Shape of Monsters | The Crossfades #1

October 29, 2026

Hardcover and Trade Paperback | Tor UK

Fantasy

$50.00

Power is their birthright. But will magic bind them, save them or set them free?

In a world where power is everything, Aleks and Vaira Kercheval rejected their heritage. A magical fire destroyed their family as children, they escaped to safety, and the siblings hadn’t seen each other for years.

Then Vaira inherits Aubrey House, their ancestral home. Forming a reluctant truce, brother and sister travel to the abandoned mansion. But crossing the threshold plunges them into a world of ancient feuds, magic and monsters.

The siblings are drawn deep into a war between rival mages - one Vaira is determined to win. Yet the powerless Aleks accidentally summons and binds a monstrous prince from the Void – a creature of immense power. As the lines between human and monster blur, the siblings must decide how far they’ll go to survive. Magic shattered their family. Now power demands their souls.

The Shape of Monsters is a treasure trove of dark magic and family secrets, where betrayals linger and power corrupts.

Shortlisted for the Speakies Award, science fiction and fantasy category
and in the Best of Audible list for science fiction and fantasy 2025.

Trigger warnings are listed for those that want or need to be aware of certain topics. While we do our best, we cannot confirm the severity, completeness or accuracy of these. We recommend looking at authors website directly, or broader resources such as reader reviews, for more comprehensive information.

About the Author:

CL Hellisen lives somewhere between Scotland and the Hypnagog. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, their stories are influenced by the border places between waking and dreaming, urban and rural, myth and superstition, land and water.

Their stories and poems have appeared in The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Tor.com, Apex, Shimmer, Daily Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, Shoreline of Infinity and others, and their work has been shortlisted for multiple awards.

When they’re not writing, CL Hellisen makes art, and throws themself repeatedly at a large block of ice for fun as a figure skater and ice dancer. They like exploring rivers in cities, and finding new pubs, especially ones with crows carved into the beams and pictures of saints who don’t exist on the walls.