For as long as anyone can remember, humans have been preyed upon by Harbingers, living nightmares which devour dreams and passions and souls, and defended by Keepers. These children alone hold the gift of magic, the wild and wondrous ability to impose emotions over reality and empower their frail bodies with the splendor of their souls. Under their protection, humanity was able to survive and thrive.
While modern Keepers have come to enjoy a social position somewhere between celebrities and religious idols, very few accept the mantle simply to be a hero. The Messengers of the Goddess Claiasya, spirits charged with awakening the magic in suitable souls, promise that Keepers who consume and purify enough Harbingers will obtain the power to change themselves or the world in nearly any way they wish.
It’s for this purpose that Liadain Shiel, a young girl born terminally ill, throws herself into life as a Keeper when her opportunity comes, hoping against hope to rewrite her fate and save her life while she still can.
But magic wants its wielders to grow and change, not simply continue living, and the secrets swimming beneath the sea and behind the sky have lives and designs of their own.
Nowhere Stars is an ongoing fantasy-horror web novel about traumacore magical girls, nightmares clothed in ribbons and lace, alienation from reality, and broken children twisting the world into whatever shape they must to make their dreams come true.
This is a mirror of Nowhere Stars' home site, located here: https://nowherestars.net/
Updates will be posted at the same time, currently every other Wednesday.
Please be aware that my writing trends quite dark and disturbing. If you're looking for more detailed content warnings, there's a list that should be considered to apply to the story as a whole here: https://nowherestars.net/content-warnings/
Discord: https://discord.gg/UPYYpcvfqX
Topwebfiction: https://topwebfiction.com/listings/nowhere-stars/
Nowhere Stars is an excellent psychological horror experience, and one of my favorite takes on the monster-of-the-week and magical girl genres to date. The main character is troubled and shy in a very particular way that makes her ideal to explore the nature of the world through, and I really enjoy our encounters with the particular 'wounds' left behind by the Harbingers-- the antagonists of the series. The writing is strong and very unsettling, and you'll be thinking about this novel for months if not years to come. I am very excited to see where this story leads, and I hope you give it a try too.
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This story has easily the most visceral and unique descriptions of the beings the main character is fighting and the fights themselves of any story I have read, period. And I have read a lot of stories. The way the Harbingers (the creatures/concepts which act as the antagonists of the story) are written into being leaves a deeply unsettling feeling and keeps the reader constantly on the tip of their toes wondering how the fights will develop. I would 100% recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a good dark magical girl or psychological horror book.
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