Love magic, creatures, and mystery? Look no further. Max is a Marshal who protects the city from beings that stray in from the Wild and also tries to stop Arkus, the lord of the underworld, from breaking free from the underworld.
In a world like our own, a large, sprawling city is home to non-magical humans alongside a variety of supernatural beings. The city’s resources are limited, and it’s under pressure from the Wild – a great, sprawling mass that no sensible human would venture into.
Max wasn’t always a Marshal, though, and as much as she doesn’t want to deal with her past, she can’t avoid it. Although most residents of the city are content to live their lives, there are some who want to stir up trouble, including reaching into the world below.
Title: The Grey Gates
Author: Vanessa Nelson
Genres: Fantasy > Urban Fantasy > Magic / Vampires / Demons
Read Format: Kindle Edition
Total Pages: 1,291
Reading Date: 18th January 2026 – 05th February 2026
The reading order – How to Read The Grey Gates Series by Vanessa Nelson
- 0.5 Unexpected Meeting
- 1 Outcast
- 2 Called
- 3 Hunted
- 4 Forged
- 5 Chosen
Unexpected Meeting
Prequel To The Grey Gates series.
Explore how Max met her two shadow-hounds, Cas and Pol, and also get a glimpse into Max’s earlier service with the Marshals. No spoilers.
My thoughts…
Aww… this prequel is so cute. I’m so glad that I subscribed to Vanessa’s newsletter and got this prequel in return, plus all the tidbits on her other series! If you haven’t, please do so! This short story helps me understand what I’m getting myself into and gives a glimpse into Max’s earlier mission as a Marshal.
Most importantly, Max’s first meeting with her two shadow-hounds! It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I already love Cas and Pol, and I cannot wait to read all their adventure in the main books. I’m sure they will be fiercely protective of Max and help her in her duties.
Ben and Aurora remind me of the goblin couple Thort and Brea from the Hundred series. As for the protagonist, I can already see Max acting a bit like Thea from the Ageless Mysteries. Brave, headstrong, and stubborn. We see that in this short story when she stands her ground and insists on working alone.
I wonder what sort of organisation the Order is, and what it is that she failed during her time with the Order 🤔.
Outcast
If no one knows that you saved the world, does it really count?
Eight years ago the world almost ended, and Max lost everything, accused of betrayal and failure.
Now working as a Marshal, keeping the city and its people safe from supernatural dangers, Max thinks she’s broken all ties to her past. She’s just trying to do her job and live her life.
Asked to help local law enforcement with a series of vicious murders, Max is willing to assist but soon realises that she might be next. Can she keep her secret while finding the killer?
My thoughts…
I got the answers about the Order and a little more! It is intriguing to learn there is rot within the organisation, and I cannot wait to see how Max will prove herself worthy of the Lady of Light.
On the question about sidekick, those two shadow-hounds, Cas and Pol, are gems, and I have a lot of fun reading about them helping Max. What about the romantic interest? Well, I still cannot decide. Bryce, Lord Kolbyr, or someone else? At the moment, it’s non-existent!
If you have read the Ageless Mysteries series, you may notice that the head Marshal, Faddei Lobanov, resembles Ware Handerson, the captain of the Watch. Both lead the department where the protagonists work, and both sustained permanent physical injuries while on duty.
Of course, if you look at the profession, Max reminds me of Thea, but she also brings to mind Arrow from the Taellaneth series in the way she was rejected by the Order.
In the meantime, I want to learn more about Queran and his agenda. I also want to see the Order finally acknowledge Max’s competence, even if that recognition takes time; please let someone in the Order learn the truth so Max can gain an ally.
Overall, it is still early, but Max is growing on me. She is a capable woman with a brutal, demanding job who has been hurt more than once, and I look forward to seeing the tougher challenges she will face in the next book.
Called
In a city full of rising tension, with people going missing or turning up dead, can Max resist the call to help?
When Max tries to intervene to prevent an assault, and it goes horribly wrong, she wants nothing more than to keep her head down and get on with her job. She does not want to answer calls for help, not even from Bryce, the Order warrior who seems willing to give her a second chance.
Despite telling herself she just wants to live her quiet life, Max finds herself delving into parts of the city where no one apart from the desperate wants to go, facing terrifying supernatural creatures and ghosts from her past.
Max never wanted to be a hero, but no one else is going to do the job.
My thoughts…
“Now that life was growing, expanding and the possibilities filled her with hope. She was looking forward to seeing what might happen next.” – Max
Yes, me too! I am excited to see what challenges Max will face in the next book 😁.
I finally have a clearer picture of the romantic interest in this instalment. His actions in protecting Max and believing in her are more than enough, and I don’t blame Max for her growing feelings. I’m eager to read more of their encounters and watch them work together, and I’m not forgetting that promised drink!
As with most of Vanessa’s books, romance remains subtle here. But that’s fine, because there’s plenty of action and adventure. I particularly loved their expedition into the Wild, which also answers the question about Queran’s agenda.
Speaking of the Demon, Queran raises even more questions that pique my curiosity. What is Max’s heritage? What exactly is she? I’m also thrilled by the prospect of her coming into her magic! I want Max to be strong enough to put the arrogant apprentices, Guardians, especially Kitris, head of the Order, in his place.
The way they behave strongly reminds me of the Erith from the Taellaneth series! Unbearably arrogant and easy to despise. 🤬 I hate how they treat Max and how she hasn’t yet stood up to all the crap. I hope things improve for her in the third book, Hunted.
Hunted
Unsolved murders, supernatural creatures and civil unrest. Just another day.
Problems keep piling up around Max. No sooner has she dealt with one set of supernatural creatures than she’s called to the city’s mortuary to an unusual death. The city’s most senior spiritual leader is also trying to get hold of her. On top of that, Bryce cancelled their date and hasn’t been seen for days.
Her week gets worse when one of her friends is attacked and left for dead, and she is dragged out of the city into the middle of someone else’s fight. Max finds herself running for her life, with no idea of how she got there or what’s going on around her.
Trapped in a strange place with only Bryce for company, she will need to rely on him and her own hard-won skills and courage to survive.
My thoughts…
This third book also takes us far beyond the place where Max lives, into a place she did not even know existed. If this happened to someone in our world, the first instinct would be to take photos as proof. 😆
We know that Max’s phone ends up ruined, but had she taken it, who knows? The technician could have repaired it and given them the proof! But that’s not on the agenda as they have a bigger fish to fry! I’m just saying 😉. I loved seeing her venture outside the familiar city.
Max also stands up for herself a little more in this story. Even so, she still has not told anyone the truth about saving the world from Arkus eight years ago. I hope someone in a higher position (other than the person she had already told, who took the credit from her) finally learns about it in the next book.
With the subtle hints we are given, especially with the appearance of Arkus’s descendant, I am starting to think Max might be descended from the Lady of Light. This theory would explain why she can use light magic and knows nothing about her parents. I am wondering who they could be🤔 .
I am eager to discover more about her origins and her full power once she reaches her full potential. She is so busy with her duties that she has not even had time to study the book she borrowed from Audhilde.
One more thing, the mention of the person she keeps forgetting, the right hand of Kitris, is it significant? It reminds me of Thea’s encounters with the Fiander in the Ageless Mysteries, the night‑kind who could obscure memory. I can’t help but notice all these little details 😁.
Well, speculation is part of the fun of reading, and I am having a great time with Vanessa’s world. The plot directions are unpredictable, the villains and killers keep me guessing, and my mind is constantly forming new theories. It is exactly the kind of reading experience I enjoy.❤️
Forged
Blood may be thicker than water, but not all families are meant to stay together.
Struggling to maintain her independence and the life she has fought so hard to build, Max finally learns the truth about her own origins and her family.
Max has no time to absorb the shocking news. There are dead bodies missing from the mortuary, a demon on the loose somewhere in the city, and terrifying supernatural creatures on the loose that she and her fellow Marshals must contain somehow.
Max is used to working alone – can she put aside her past fears and work with her allies to keep the city safe?
My thoughts…
Let me start with OMG, we finally learn the truth about Max’s parents, and it was shocking! I am sure Max found it just as unexpected. I do not like their identities, but it is what it is.
This fourth book is packed with the usual: plenty of action, demons, magic, and terrifying creatures, exactly what I love. Max grows more confident in her light power as she travels with a group of Warriors.
At times, she feels more like a Guardian than a Marshal. She still has a lot to learn about her power, and for now, she is experimenting and finding her footing.
I love how her relationship with Bryce develops. The slow burn is believable, and in this book, she even meets Bryce’s family, if only briefly. Romance is not the focus here, so do not expect it to take over the story. 😆
Max is not used to people and tends to be a loner, but that is changing, albeit slowly. She is beginning to like her colleagues, and some she even considers friends. Occasionally, her thoughts drift back to her old, simpler life, but with demons on the loose, she has no time to dwell.
Max, being Max, shoulders the responsibilities with a fierce determination to set things right. Once the demons are dealt with, perhaps they will finally get to that promised drink. But, before the story ends, I do want to know why no one remembers the rest of the world, and maybe get to see the team venture beyond the island and stop being boxed in by the Wild.🤞
Off I go to read the final book. Hopefully, Max remembers to write a letter to Cira, the Armourer, or better still, visit her!
Chosen
Demons on the loose. Ritual murders. An ancient vampire breathing down her neck.
Some days, Max just doesn’t know where to start. The problems facing her city are piling up, and there seems no end or solution in sight.
Max’s job used to be dealing with supernatural creatures. Now she’s got to tackle demons from the underworld who are far more powerful than anything she’s come across before, and who seem intent on bringing an end to the daylight world.
Part of Max would love to sit this one out. Let someone else save the world for a change. But was it ever really a choice?
My thoughts…
Love magic, creatures, and mystery? Look no further.
The Grey Gatesis another satisfying series, and Chosen, the last book, tied everything up in the end. The world‑building is fantastic, and there are many memorable characters: Max, Bryce, Faddei, Therese, Ruutti, Kitris, Malik, Kolbyr, and last but not least, Audhilde.
You may like some characters and find others irritating, but that is part of the fun. Each one has a distinct personality that brings the story to life.
There is plenty of action and several breath‑stopping moments when the future looks bleak, only for our protagonist to save the day. Romance gets a tiny bit more attention compared to the previous series, but it still will not satisfy readers who prefer stories driven primarily by love.
A few questions still niggle at me. What did Kolbyr regret? Was it about asking Arkus whether he was a direct descendant, which Max had already answered? And Arkus’s final threat, does that mean there will be a sequel to this series? The way it ends opens up the possibility of another continuation!
If that’s the case, I would not mind at all because I cannot get enough of Vanessa Nelson’s unique world creation. I have finished all the completed series, and Fractured Conclave is not yet complete (the final book is scheduled for late May 2026). In the meantime, what am I going to read?😢
