The Light of Arunzi: Well Written, Imaginative, and Packed with Action

(By Gaius Konstantine / for Just Reading Nook)

“Behind their haughty superiority, they were afraid. Just as terrified of him as he was of them. Bad enough that they’d lost their parents, but now they were all alone in a new country with a complete stranger.”

It isn’t just a new country in The Light of Arunzi, a novel by Katelyn Peterson. It’s a new world, shaped by both magic and technology. For Greg Ryder, an elite Toronto policeman who has seen better days, that world is dangerous even on a good day. Then one day upends his life entirely when he encounters an alatean—a cast-out, discarded non-magical child of magic users—holding two young children hostage.

Greg rescues the siblings, but that is only the beginning. Soon after, a haughty Magois (magic user) appears at his door with the same two children and informs him that he is now their guardian. The boy and his sister are not only distant relatives; they are Magois themselves. Raising two children who could crush him with a thought would be difficult enough. Worse, they rank high in Magois society, and that society is far from pleased that a commoner has been given charge of two of their own.

Well written, imaginative, and packed with action, The Light of Arunzi blends high-magic fantasy with contemporary urban fiction. Its multilayered plot follows a weary cop trying to care for his young cousins amid power-play politics while keeping himself and his squad alive through dangerous encounters with villains and rogues. World-building is lean and efficient: the setting is our familiar present, except that society is ruled by magic users who are, for the most part, utter assholes. Peterson also weaves in multiple real-world mythologies, a clever and economical choice that deepens themes of social exclusion, family, and friendship.

Character work is strong to excellent. The two siblings are especially well drawn—powerful and vulnerable at once—and the supporting cast is fleshed out with distinct backstories and arcs. The pace is brisk. The only real criticism is the occasional break in narrative flow caused by footnotes and invented terminology, a spoonful of salt in a bag of sugar: barely noticeable, but there.

Overall, The Light of Arunzi is a strong fit for fans of the genre—a darker, more adult cousin of Harry Potter.

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Rating: ★★★★★ Exceptional
The Light of Arunzi (The Magois Chronicles Book 1) (2026)
Supernatural Mysteries
Available in Kindle and Paperback

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Gaius Konstantine is the author of Fading Away: Dark Bay and a literary critic known for honest, no-nonsense takes on literature. He writes. He critiques. He calls it as he sees it.

Connect with him on X at @GaiusKonstantin.

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