One of my favorite things about building the world of the Magian Series is that I got to draw inspiration from places that almost never appear in fantasy. We all know the chilly castles and rolling green plains. They’re fine. But after a while? A little tired.
So when I sat down to build Magia, I went looking for places that actually stopped me in my tracks. Places with color, history, and a kind of beauty that felt like it belonged in a story. Here’s a peek at the real places behind the world.
The Majestic Isles: Santorini, Greece
Santorini is in my top three places I have to visit. The cliffs. The hydrangeas everywhere. Crystal blue water and those iconic white buildings winding up the hillside, blue domes catching the sun. I could spend an entire season there and not get bored.
Since I haven’t made it there yet, I did the next best thing. I kicked off a pirate adventure in it instead. The Majestic Isles is where the whole series begins, and every time I write a scene there, I’m basically making myself jealous of my own characters.
The Aerian Palace in the Griffin Vales: The Malaysian Royal Palace
I didn’t want Jabari living in a traditional medieval castle. He’s too fun for that. I needed a palace that matched his energy – colorful, bold, full of life.
The Malaysian Royal Palace gave me exactly that. The arched hallways, the intricate wall treatments, the open-air feel. That’s my idea of royal living. And the royal wardrobe? High collar tunics, rich embroidery, colors that don’t apologize for themselves. Jabari would absolutely wear all of it.
The Mebrian Kingdom in the Griffin Vales: South Africa and Zimbabwe
When I started researching how to build Zuri’s home for The Spell Keeper, I fell hard for the traditional homes of the Ndebele people in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The geometric exterior paintings are something else. Those bold, bright, intricate murals painted by women who pass the techniques down to the next generation.
That detail hit me.
Celebrating ancestors and preserving culture through art matters deeply to me, and I wanted that to live in the world I built for Zuri. The Mebrian Kingdom carries that spirit in every wall.
The Bridge in the Jungle of the Secret Library: The Bridge of Immortals, China
Here’s something I discovered while writing The Secret Library: Mari is afraid of heights.
In Macario’s Scepter, she faced everything without blinking. Fire-breathing serpents. Cursed jungles. Man-eating flowers. Completely unbothered. But dig a little deeper into her character, and there it is. Heights. So obviously, I had to put her on the most terrifying bridge I could find.
The Bridge of Immortals in China fits the bill perfectly. When Mari, Seraphina, and Luis had to cross a bridge suspended between mountains to find the secret library, this was the image in my head the entire time. She hated every second. I loved writing every second of it.
The Enchanted Cape: Port Royal, Jamaica
What better place to build a haven for swashbuckling pirates than one of the most notorious pirate havens in actual history?
I first fell in love with Port Royal watching Black Sails back when this whole series was still just a seed of an idea. When I wrote Baz’s opening chapter, I was completely hooked on this setting. And now I get to go back to it in a big way.
The Enchanted Cape takes place there exclusively.
Every bit of pirate chaos I’ve been building toward gets to live in this one location, and I cannot wait to get this book in your hands.
One of the things I believe pretty deeply is that fantasy worlds are more interesting when they’re built from the whole world, not just one corner of it. These places gave the Magian Series its heart, and honestly, they make me want to travel a lot more than my writing schedule allows.
If you haven’t started the series yet, grab the free short story here and see where the adventure begins.
