The Hurricane Wars is a 2023 new adult romantasy novel by author Thea Guanzon. The novel follows the conflict between the Sardovian Allfold, the Kesathese Night Empire, and the Nenavar Dominion and the relationship between Talasyn, heir to the Nenavarene throne, and Alaric Ossinast, heir to the Night Empire that seeks to conquer Nenavar along with the rest of the known world. The two fight for their respective causes as enemies, until a forced alliance pulls them together to work against greater destruction. Guanzon is a New York Times, USA Today, Indie List, Sunday Times, and international best-selling writer. She was born in Bacolod City in the Philippines and now lives in metro Manila. Guanzon previously worked in electoral management and women’s rights while writing fanfiction as a hobby until she caught the attention of American editors who sought to publish her work in the traditional publishing sphere. Guanzon incorporates her Filipino heritage into her work, crafting a fantastical world with key elements of her upbringing and culture. The Hurricane Wars is the first in a series of the same title, followed by the 2024 novel A Monsoon Rising. A third installment in the series is forthcoming.

This guide refers to the 2023 HarperCollins Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of violence, sexual content, child abuse, and animal cruelty.

Plot Summary

Talasyn attends the wedding of her friends Khaede and Sol, two of her fellow helmsmen, or pilots of small flying ships, in the army of the Sardovian Allfold. She relishes the ceremony, but it’s interrupted by an important meeting, as the Sardovians are fighting an intense war against the Kesathese Night Empire. Twenty years prior, the Lightweavers of Sunstead—part of the Sardovian Allfold—fought the Shadowforged warriors of the Night Empire, trying to stop the Night Empire from building stormships—flying ships capable of mass destruction. The Lightweavers killed the Night Emperor Ozalus Ossinast, but his son Gaheris took control of the Night Empire and used the stormships to annihilate the Lightweavers and Sunstead. He then sought to take over the continent and the other kingdoms of the Sardovian Allfold, starting the Hurricane Wars.

One of the Sardovian generals sought help from the Nenavar Dominion, an island kingdom not far from the Continent. He returns during the wedding and states that Nenavar refuses to send aid. The war is at a tipping point where the Night Empire may win. During the wedding, the Night Empire attacks Frostplum, the city that the Sardovians seek to defend. Talasyn pilots her ship until it crashes, then she fights the Shadowforged soldiers using her Lightweave magic. Talasyn is the last known Lightweaver, and she has kept her powers secret for years. Now, she uses them to defend herself. Alaric Ossinast, the heir to the Night Empire and son of Emperor Gaheris, arrives in the fray. They fight, but Talasyn escapes and retreats with the rest of the Sardovians. Sol is killed in the battle, and Khaede, who is pregnant with his child, is distraught.

The Sardovians retreat, and the Amirante Ideth Vela—the head of the Sardovian forces, who secretly trained Talasyn with her Lightweave abilities—tells Talasyn she must travel to Nenavar to reach the Belian Light Sever in order to train and grow powerful enough to defeat Alaric. Talasyn goes to Nenavar and discovers the Voidfell, a new type of magic unknown to those on the Continent, which has deadly necrotic power.

Meanwhile, Darius, one of the other leaders of the Sardovian forces, defects and sends word of Talasyn’s identity and mission to Alaric. Alaric hurries to Nenavar and intercepts Talasyn at the Light Sever. They fight but are interrupted by Nenavarene soldiers, who take them to be interrogated. Before they are taken, Talasyn and Alaric’s magic combines, forming a protective sphere around them. Talasyn’s captors send for the Crown Prince Elagbi, son of the Dragon Queen Urduja Silim. Elagbi identifies Talasyn as Alusina Ivralis, his long-lost daughter with his wife Hanan Ivralis. This makes Talasyn the Lachis’ka—heir to the Nenavarene throne. Talasyn is shocked. She was raised in an orphanage on the Continent and then lived on the streets alone. She never had a family, and knowing that she comes from royalty stings, as she believes that her family abandoned her. Elagbi explains that there was a Civil War in Nenavarene at the same time as the fighting between Sunstead and the Night Empire, and she and Urduja were sent away for safety, but baby Talasyn’s ship was lost.

Talasyn and Alaric escape, returning to the Continent. When Talasyn tells the Amirante what happened, they know they still cannot count on Nenavar for war aid. They continue their fight against the Night Empire until they lose decisively in a crushing battle. Talasyn distracts the Kesathese Shadowforged Legion while the Amirante and others escape. She fights Alaric again, and again their powers combine. Alaric lets her go without killing her, and Talasyn escapes with the other Sardovians.

The surviving Sardovians venture to Nenavar to seek asylum. Khaede is missing in action, which saddens Talasyn. When they reach the Nenavar Dominion, Talasyn and the Amirante meet with Queen Urduja, whose ship is flanked by dragons, which many thought to be a myth. Urduja offers asylum in exchange for Talasyn serving her role as Lachis’ka and heir to the throne. Talasyn agrees, though she expects her life to become a gilded cage.

Months later, Talasyn is adjusting to life in Nenavar’s capital city Eskaya while the Sardovians are safely hidden in the stormy area of the God’s Eye. Talasyn learns the Nenavarene language and customs, though her manners are still rough around the edges. Kesathese warships approach Nenavar, and they badly injure one of the Nenavarene dragons using the Voidfell magic that Alaric stole after his escape. The Night Empire demands the surrender of Nenavar. Urduja refuses but offers an alliance in the form of a marriage between Alaric and the Lachis’ka. Alaric agrees.

When Alaric meets the Lachis’ka, he is shocked to see it is Talasyn. In marriage negotiations, Urduja explains it’s not a trick; Talasyn truly is the Lachis’ka. The negotiations are challenging, especially when Alaric asks for further access to the Voidfell Sever to improve the Night Empire’s new Voidfell weapons. Urduja refuses, citing the volatility of the Sever that lights the entire sky over Nenavar a violet hue. Urduja explains that every 1,000 years, the Voidfell Sever becomes too powerful and washes over the entirety of Nenavar, killing everything it touches, in an event the Nenavarene call the Night of the World-Eater. This recurring disaster spans a larger area each time, and now the Nenavarene predict it will reach the Continent. Urduja believes that the combination of Talasyn and Alaric’s magic can save Nenavar and Kesath if they work together. Alaric agrees to train Talasyn.

Training does not go to plan, since Talasyn can only forge offensive Lightweave weapons. To maximize their combined protective power, she needs to be able to make a Lightweave shield to match Alaric’s Shadowforge shield. They begin training together after each marriage negotiation meeting, though Talasyn struggles. As they train, they get to know each other. Talasyn describes her traumatic childhood in the orphanage and on the streets of Hornbill’s Head, and Alaric tells her about his mother leaving him and his father behind. They become attracted to each other, though neither acts on their feelings.

Surakwel, the nephew of prominent Nenavarene courtier Lady Lueve, returns and challenges Alaric to a duel to stop the marriage alliance. The sariman cages that the Nenavarene use to suppress the use of magic break, and Alaric beats Surakwel. Talasyn stops Alaric from killing Surakwel, and Surakwel then owes her a life debt. Alaric is angry at Talasyn for putting herself in harm’s way, and he demands they finish the negotiations the next day.

Alaric agrees to marry Talasyn, but at his father Gaheris’s behest, he demands to search the isles for any Sardovian survivors. He finds none, as Urduja gives the Sardovians Nenavarene technology to make themselves temporarily invisible. Taking advantage of the life debt, Talasyn asks Surakwel to fly her to the God’s Eye to see the Amirante, who tells Talasyn to go through with the marriage and destroy the Night Empire from the inside. Alaric also demands to take Talasyn to the Light Sever to train. After the search, they hike to the Lightweaver temple, and Talasyn is able to form a shield. They spar in an amphitheater and kiss, which Talasyn regrets. When they return to Eskaya, they finish the preparations for the wedding and continue training to use their powers to stop the Night of the World-Eater.

Talasyn and Alaric marry in an elaborate ceremony, and Alaric is shocked at how meaningful he finds the verbal vows, even though he’s certain Talasyn doesn’t mean them. They attend the feast before returning to Talasyn’s chambers together. After an argument, they kiss passionately and touch each other intimately, though Talasyn regrets it, feeling that she is betraying the Sardovians by falling for Alaric.

Alaric leaves the next day to return to the Citadel in Kesath, and he promises Talasyn he will try to find Khaede for her. Talasyn is touched by his gesture and finds herself wanting to be intimate with him again. After he leaves, Talasyn resumes her Lachis’ka training, keeping a tenuous alliance with her grandmother in exchange for the continued safety of the Sardovians, though Urduja wants the Sardovians to either launch an attack within the year or leave Nenavar.

When Alaric returns to the Citadel, his father Gaheris reveals that he’s stolen a sariman bird. These birds power the cages in Nenavar that stop Alaric and Talasyn from accessing their powers. Gaheris wants to permanently deprive Talasyn of her Lightweave abilities and take over all of Nenavar, though Alaric seems conflicted because of his feelings for Talasyn.