Catching Pathways: The Five Realms, Book One

A crown is always heavy, or it is not a crown.

It has been fifteen years since Maeve Almeida stood beneath the twin suns and foreign moon of The Five Realms, and she believes she has left magic and adventure far behind her. On Earth, though she publishes the truth of her teenage life in the guise of fiction, she misses the place she once thought of as home.

Rodan, deposed Fae king of the Realms, has been searching. Walking from one world to another, he knows that someday he will find her: the woman who cost him his crown and his empire. When he does, it is not revenge he seeks but her aid in running the official trials.

Sebastian Sekou, the new High King and Maeve’s old friend, has committed atrocities during his rule. The Realms, never safe, are more chaotic than ever. Whisper and rumor say that the High King no longer has a grasp on his territories, or his sanity. Maeve and Rodan must work together to fix what has been broken.

As the two travel together, they find that their connection—first felt on a night fifteen years previous—may be even stronger than they could have imagined.

Catching Embers: The Five Realms, Book Two

“Time is not on our side.”

Maeve has run to Earth, locking the pathways behind her so that Rodan may not follow. Alone and awash with new power, she struggles to control the new magics coursing within her, but she may not be as isolated as she believes.

Rodan must complete the trials, or lose the Realms forever, but without Maeve he is adrift. Filling the power vacuum in Visantium left by the Basu family, he waits in hopes that she returns to him. The Realms need a true ruler as they continue to be beset by shadows from Attica and the ongoing reign of Sebastian the mad king.

Yet there is more at stake than just one empire. Much hangs in the balance, as Maeve and Rodan influence the course of history on worlds beyond counting.

They are rapidly running out of time…

The sequel to Catching Pathways, Catching Embers is the next step in the ongoing Five Realms series.

I’m Danielle Berggren. Writer. Artist. Enviro-Hippy.

I’ve been writing since I was 8 years old, my first story involving eagles, kidnapping, and mountain hideaways.

I have PTSD, a disorder that I developed from decades of intense trauma, as well as ADHD—making me neurodivergent (ah! All these parentheses and em dashes make sense now, don’t they?)—MDD, and GAD. I call it my alphabet soup of psychiatric conditions.

I’ve been married twice, divorced twice, moved 33 times in my life, attended six different colleges, and feel as though the gods of chaos and mischief are quite intent on my fate string.

I turned to writing and to artwork to shelter and soothe and work out demons when I was younger. It turned into something that I became quite good at. Eventually, art and writing morphed into other creative endeavors. Photography, graphic arts, needlework, typography, etc.

In April 2019, my psychiatrist and I hit on the perfect cocktail of medication. Since then, I’ve written every day. In October of 2019, I published Catching Pathways, and the sequel Catching Embers came out the next year in September.

I also contribute to Vocal and write under a pseudonym in the fanfiction community.

Want to know more?

I’ll be sending out newsletters (very) infrequently, filled with all kinds of rambling goodness. Sign up for it here. Otherwise you can always check out the blog on danielleberggren.com.