One Small Fire At A Time

One Small Fire At A Time is set in Overture, a city where magic can cure every disease except those of the mind. People with incurable conditions are called “lunatics” and kept in madhouses until they recover, if they ever do. Thirteen-year-old Janis has lived in one since childhood because she cannot use magic, a condition called “Magic Deficiency Disorder.” Bullied because of it, she fights back even though she always loses.

Janis and Woolf

Janis’s life changes when Aidan Woolf saves her from her bullies. A powerful mage and commander of the Overture police’s most elite special forces unit, Woolf has come to the madhouse on a mission from the king. Janis sees him as a father figure, while he sees in her a reminder of the daughter he lost years ago in an incident that made him a hardened warrior who puts duty first.

Life in the madhouse

Janis’s best friend, Candela Carroll, is three years older and will have to leave the children’s ward before Janis does. Candela’s sketchbook is the only thing that holds her attention for more than five minutes, and the two may be separated sooner than they expect. Drake Perrault and his friends target Janis because they think she cannot defend herself, though his bullying is also a way of coping with his own condition.

Ena Polidori, a somewhat clumsy nurse and favorite among the children, volunteers to teach Janis magic, despite Janis’s displeasure, and encourages her to keep trying. Ena’s relationship with Joff Godwin gets off to an awkward start when she mistakes the young lord for a new patient. Joff recently founded Magical Mechanical, a company that researches and manufactures magic machines; he helps Woolf’s investigation by approaching the madhouse’s owner with a business proposal.

The investigation

Magical scientist Professor Johann Poe uses his extensive knowledge of magic to help Woolf investigate, though his time at the madhouse may teach him something as well. Poe considers Alanis Blyton one of his brightest students, but she questions whether magical science is right for her and often reads psychology textbooks instead.

The madhouse’s owner, Colton Sherwood, believes it should not be a correctional facility. He built it as a safe place where people called lunatics can be themselves without having to be “normal.” His wife, Oriel Sherwood, is also a magical scientist and helps run the madhouse. Since the couple have no children, they care for the children there as if they were their own.