Published in 2025, Alchemised by SenLinYu is a dark, devastating fantasy about war, survival, and the limits of love. What started as transformative fiction has become one of the most talked-about dark fantasy releases of the year.
Set in the war-ravaged realm of Paladia, the novel follows Helena Marino, once a brilliant healer and now condemned as a war criminal, and Kaine Ferron, the brutal commander who imprisons her after the empire’s collapse.
The book opens in the present, moves into the past during the war, and then returns to the present.
Contents
What Alchemised Is About
The war is over, and the Undying have won. The Order of the Eternal Flame has fallen, the so-called Chosen One Luc Holdfast is dead, and Paladia now belongs to the High Necromancer and his immortal followers.
Helena Marino, a gifted alchemist and healer, wakes in captivity with no memory of the final year of the war. To uncover what she’s hiding, the High Necromancer assigns his second-in-command, High Reeve Kaine Ferron, to study her.
Helena doesn’t remember the secret she’s protecting, but she knows it’s the only thing that matters. The longer she stays under Kaine’s watch, the more her fear turns into something dangerously close to fascination. When her memories return, Helena learns the truth — and the one person she swore to save is still alive.
Magic Systems & World-Building
Alchemised doesn’t do “light and fluffy” magic. Every spell costs something. Every act of creation demands sacrifice.
Alchemy & Resonance
Resonance is the life force that hums through people, metals, and even emotions. Alchemy is the art of manipulating it — bending matter, rewriting memory, or reshaping life and death.
Vivimancy: The magic of life and healing. Paladins look down on it because those who heal with their own life force can also bring someone back as only a shadow of themselves—a practice known as necromancy.
Necromancy: The manipulation of death and decay, feared and forbidden.
Animancy: The control of mind and spirit, influencing memory and will.
The Dead Don’t Rest in Paladia
The ruling regime uses necromancy to reanimate the dead for labor, punishment, and spectacle. Corpses walk the streets while propaganda calls it order — a grotesque reflection of how rotten Paladia’s leadership has become.
Terminology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Necrothralls | Reanimated corpses bound by necromantic control, used for labor or warfare by the Undying. |
| Lich | An Undying who sustains their consciousness within a corpse vessel through forbidden alchemy. |
| Reanimation | The process of reviving and binding a corpse using alchemical resonance and necromantic seals. |
| Undying | Immortal beings created through necromantic alchemy, serving the High Necromancer’s regime. |
People, Power, and Factions in Alchemised
The world of Alchemised is full of rulers, scholars, rebels, and necromancers whose choices shape the fate of Paladia.
Characters
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| Helena Marino | Vivimancer and healer for the Eternal Flame. Once a brilliant medic, now haunted by her past and marked as a war criminal. |
| Kaine Ferron | High Reeve of the Undying. Former guild heir and trained vivimancer, later mastering animancy to serve the necromantic regime. |
| Apollo Holdfast | Principate of Paladia and descendant of Orion Holdfast. |
| Luc Holdfast | Son of Apollo Holdfast, who inherits the role of Principate after the war and tries to rebuild what’s left of Paladia. |
| Orion Holdfast | Founder of the Order of the Eternal Flame and spiritual figurehead of divine alchemy. |
| Falcon Matias | Falcon Matias, the spiritual counsellor of the Eternal Flame’s Council and Helena’s direct superior. |
| Ivy Purnell | A skilled vivimancer and healer within the Eternal Flame, working closely with Crowther. |
| Sofia Purnell | Ivy’s sister, whose assits in the rescue of Luc from the prison. |
| Titus Bayard | Former general of the Eternal Flame’s military forces. Father to Soren and Lila, and husband to Rhea. Suffers from a brain affliction. |
| Vanya Gettrich | Alchemy instructor and secret agent of the resistance, later captured and turned into one of the Undying’s test subjects. |
| Artemon Bennet | Chief alchemist of Morrough’s laboratories, infamous for his cruel experiments on Kaine and other captives. |
| Stroud | A vivimancer who inherits Bennet’s research and continues experimentation on Helena after his death. |
| Ilva Holdfast | Council member and matriarch of the Holdfast family, maintaining their power through diplomacy and lineage. |
| Jan Crowther | Senior member of the Eternal Flame’s council, representing the old political order struggling to remain relevant. |
| Shiseo | Metallurgist from the Far East and creator of Nullium cuffs—restraints designed to suppress resonance and magical power. |
| Morrough | The High Necromancer and leader of the Undying, a visionary who replaces divinity with science to achieve immortality. | Enid Ferron | Kaine Ferron’s mother. |
| Elaine Boyle | Helena’s former apprentice, who later becomes a healer in her own right and carries on her mentor’s legacy. |
| Erik Lancaster | Young aspirant alchemist working under Morrough, whose ambitions lead him into dangerous alliances. Lover of Aurelia Ferron. |
| Atreus Ferron | Kaine’s father and once master of the iron guild. Executed after aligning himself with Morrough’s rebellion. |
| Sebastian Bayard | Paladin to Apollo Holdfast and uncle to Lila and Soren Bayard. |
| Lila Bayard | Paladin sworn to protect Luc Holdfast. Twin to Soren Bayard, known for her courage and precision in battle. |
| Soren Bayard | Lila’s twin brother and fellow Paladin, equally devoted to guarding the Holdfast heir. |
| Rhea Bayard | Mother to Lila and Soren, and wife to Titus Bayard. |
| Aurelia Ferron | Kaine’s wife, raised from birth to preserve the Ferron bloodline. Her life is one of duty, not choice. |
| General Althrone | Commander of the Eternal Flame’s armies. Veteran of countless battles and symbol of the old order’s defiance. |
| Cetus | The first great northern alchemist, whose ancient texts form the basis of Paladia’s modern alchemical science. |
Titels
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Principate | The divinely appointed ruler of Paladia, chosen from the Holdfast lineage and believed to lead under Sol’s divine blessing. |
| Paladin | Sworn protector of the Principate, bound by sacred oaths and alchemical enchantments to serve both body and soul. |
Orders & Factions
| Faction | Description |
|---|---|
| Order of the Eternal Flame | A religious and military order founded to oppose necromancy and preserve divine resonance as sacred truth. |
| Undying | Followers of the High Necromancer, sustained by alchemical immortality and devoted to his new world order. |
| Resistance | A rebel faction fighting against the Undying’s domination, seeking to restore freedom and human sovereignty. |
| Holdfasts | Paladia’s divine ruling bloodline for over five centuries, believed to be chosen by Sol to lead the realm. |
| Ferrons | An influential guild family and industrial power, famed for their mastery of steelwork and mechanical innovation. |
Alchemical and Celestial Terms in Alchemised
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Abeyance | The waning or new moon of Lumithia, when alchemical resonance reaches its weakest point. |
| Ascendence | The waxing or full moon of Lumithia, marking the height of resonance and peak power for alchemists. |
| Alchemy | The manipulation of matter and energy through resonance, practiced by gifted individuals who channel elemental or spiritual forces. |
| Alchemical Resonance | The inner current of power flowing through all living things, enabling alchemists to alter matter, energy, or memory. |
| Alchemisation | The process of transforming one material or substance into another — also known as transmutation. |
| Array | A symbolic diagram or pattern used to channel and direct resonance for complex alchemical operations. |
| Alloy | A fusion of two or more metals designed to alter or amplify resonance reactions. |
| Animancy | A rare and delicate branch of resonance that manipulates thought, memory, and consciousness within the mind. |
| Transmutation | The act of permanently changing the structure or nature of an object, substance, or even a living being through alchemy. |
| Transference | The movement of a soul or consciousness from one vessel or body into another, often at great cost. |
| Resonance | The foundational energy of Alchemised’s world — a living force that connects all matter and fuels alchemical power. |
| Resonant / Without Resonance (Lapse) | Terms describing whether a person possesses the ability to perform alchemy. Those without resonance are considered “Lapsed.” |
| Repertoire | The unique set of materials, elements, or energies an alchemist can control using their personal resonance. |
| Lumithia | The larger of Paladia’s two moons, sacred to alchemists and believed to embody the goddess of creation. |
| Luna | The smaller moon of Paladia, associated with balance, protection, and divine equilibrium. |
| Lumithium | An indestructible, resonance-rich metal that amplifies magical energy. Central to Paladia’s alchemical industry. |
| Mo’lian’shi | A rare Eastern metal known for dampening resonance and suppressing alchemical power. |
| Nullium | An alloy made from Lumithium and Mo’lian’shi. It blocks resonance, prevents regeneration, and is used for weapons and restraints. |
| The Great Disaster | An ancient cataclysm two millennia ago that birthed the second moon and awakened resonance within humanity. |
| Luminescence / Vitality | A condensed form of life energy used by vivimancers and necromancers to heal, animate, or sustain life. |
Religion in Alchemised
Religion in Alchemised centers on the Order of the Eternal Flame, a theocratic institution devoted to the worship of Sol, the god of light. The Order preaches purity, obedience, and sacrifice as paths to divine favor, but its faith has become a tool of control — used to justify violence, censorship, and the subjugation of women and magic users. Those who practice vivimancy or other unsanctioned forms of alchemy are branded as corrupted or heretical. At the height of its power, the Eternal Flame dictated not only spiritual life but scientific progress, suppressing knowledge that threatened its authority. The downfall of the Order and the rise of the Undying, a necromantic regime that rejects divine belief in favor of alchemical immortality, marks a shift from religious domination to scientific tyranny — trading faith for control, but never escaping corruption.
| Deity / Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Sol | The sun god worshipped by the Order of the Eternal Flame, symbolizing life, light, and divine resonance. |
| Luna | The goddess of the smaller moon, representing balance, renewal, and harmony within Paladia’s celestial order. |
| Lumithia | The war goddess linked to the larger moon and the art of alchemy, believed to grant resonance to the gifted. |
| Quintessence | The elemental pantheon of five divine forces, each representing a fundamental aspect of creation and existence. |
| Sacred Faith | The dominant religion of Paladia, centered on Sol’s worship and the Eternal Flame’s authority — deeply opposed to science and alchemy. |
The world of Alchemised is a perfect storm of science, magic, and faith — where every law of alchemy comes with a moral cost. This glossary is meant to help readers explore Paladia’s lore and the dark brilliance of SenLinYu’s world-building.
I wish I’d had this roster of terms, characters, places etc. before I began listening to this exceptional book. When you listen to a book, it’s difficult to discern spellings and meanings.
This fascinating story is so complex and intricate that it can sprain your brain trying to figure out what’s going on. But it’s so compelling at the same time that it keeps sucking you forwards. I’m almost done listening to Alchemized for the third time in a row.
I have never done that before and I have listened to literally thousands of books.
Due to a neuromuscular disorder I spend almost all my life in bed nowadays.
I believe this book is the best book I’ve ever read in my 70+ years!
I had the same struggle when I listened to it. So many names, places, and terms that are hard to catch by ear. The story is amazing, but it can definitely twist your brain into knots while you’re trying to keep track of everything. The way you describe being pulled into the story – even through multiple listens – says so much about how powerful and absorbing it is. It’s really special to hear how strongly it connected with you. Wishing you lots of comfort and many more stories that keep you just as captivated 💛
This was really helpful, it makes reading the novel a lot easier to understand.
Thank you! I’m really glad it helped make the story easier to follow. Enjoy your reading! ✨
What is a chantry, exactly?
A chantry is a sacred place where people [monks, acolytes, clergy members, etc] go to chant. It’s usually a part of the chapel, sometimes a separate room, but sometimes it’s just a section of the larger chapel, sometimes above where the people sit. Sometimes it’s a separate building or area altogether.
Wish you didn’t use AI to make the images.
I’m glad you used what ever means to create those images.
I had read somewhere, not sure where that the original story was set in the Harry Potter universe and all I could think of when reading was Draco Malloy.
So thanks for dispelling that image.
As well as the clarification of the terms in the book. It’s defiantly missing a glossary in the back of the book.