Short Stories, Novellas, and Novels Set in the Thieftaker Universe

In addition to the novels of the Thieftaker Chronicles, D.B. Jackson has written a number of short stories set in 1760s and 1770s Boston, all of them connected at least in some way either to Ethan Kaille himself, or to other characters who appear in the books.

What follows is a chronological (by storyline) listing of those short stories as well as the novels, so that readers can see where the stories fit in with Boston’s history and with the narrative arc of the Thieftaker series.

♦ “The Cully,” in BIG BAD II, edited by John Hartness and Emily Leverett (Dark Oak Press, 2015). This is a story about Sephira Pryce as a young girl. It takes place in 1746.

♦ “The Tavern Fire,” in AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR, edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray  (Daw Books, 2011) Ethan isn’t in this one, but Janna Windcatcher is. It takes place in 1760, at the time of the Great Fire.

♦ “A Memory of Freedom,” ORSON SCOTT CARD’S INTERGALACTIC MEDICINE SHOW, March 2012. Also set in 1760, later in the year, when Ethan first returns to Boston after his time as a prison laborer in Barbados.

♦ “The Price of Doing Business,” TOR.COM, February 19, 2014. This story, set in 1761, chronicles Ethan’s first encounter with Sephira Pryce, who would become his arch-rival and nemesis. The encounter didn’t go well . . .

♦”Magick on the Half Shell,” a short story that appears in GALACTIC STEW, edited by Joshua Palmatier and some guy named David B. Coe (Zombies Need Brains, 2020). This story is set in the fall of 1761. Ethan is hired to protect a man’s favorite oyster bed from magickal depredation.

♦ “A Spell of Vengeance,” TOR.COM, June 13, 2012. In this tale, set in December 1763, we meet for the first time Captain Nate Ramsey, who would later play such an important role in the Thieftaker Chronicles.

♦ “The Witch of Dedham,” was originally posted to the D.B. Jackson website and later was included in TALES OF THE THIEFTAKER, the Thieftaker short story collection. In the spring of 1764, Ethan tries to save the life of a young woman fated to be hanged as a witch.

♦♦ THIEFTAKER, book I of the Thieftaker Chronicles (Tor Books, July 2012). Coincides with the Stamp Act riots of August, 1765.

♦ “The Spelled Blade,” in REALMS OF IMAGINATION: AN URBAN FANTASY ANTHOLOGY, edited by Kimberly Richardson (Dark Oak Press, 2014). Ethan and Kannice go out to Boston’s Neck to watch horse races, late in the spring of 1766. They get more than they bargained for.

♦ “Plato and the Apprentice,” in NOIR, edited by David B. Coe and John Zakour (Zombies Need Brains, 2022). Ethan meets up with a young woman who fancies herself the next Sephira Pryce. Together, they hunt a thief who has been breaking into warehouses along the North End shore.

♦ “The Wreck of the Sarah Mohr,” in DERELICT, edited by David B. Coe and Joshua Palmatier (Zombies Need Brains, 2021). In the spring of 1767, Ethan is hired to rid a wrecked ship of ghosts so that its owner can salvage the cargo. But the cargo, and the ghosts, are not what Ethan anticipates.

♦ “A Passing Storm,” at the website of Faith Hunter (July 14, 2014). In the summer of 1767, Ethan and Kannice encounter Sephira Pryce and one of her toughs in a confectionery shop.

♦♦ THIEVES’ QUARRY, book II of the Thieftaker Chronicles (Tor Books, July 2013). Coincides with the occupation of Boston by British troops in September/October 1768.

♦♦ A PLUNDER OF SOULS, book III of the Thieftaker Chronicles (Tor Books, July 2014). Coincides with a small pox outbreak in the summer of 1769.

♦♦ DEAD MAN’S REACH, book IV of the Thieftaker Chronicles (Tor Books July 2015 — forthcoming). Coincides with the shooting of Christopher Seider and the Boston Massacre in February/March 1770.

♦ “Water Witch,” a collaboration with Faith Hunter, author of the New York Times bestselling Jane Yellowrock series. Available in ebook format. (June, 2015). In June 1770, Ethan joins forces with Hannah Everhart, a young witch whose powers are not quite like any he has encountered before.

♦♦ THE LOYALIST WITCH, a trilogy of novellas consisting of “The Witch’s Storm,” “The Cloud Prison,” and “The Adams Gambit.” Set in the fall of 1770, against the backdrop of the trial of the men responsible for the “Bloody Massacre,” Ethan encounters a new and powerful enemy who seeks to prevent justice from being served, and who nearly destroys all of Boston in the process.

♦”The Ruby Blade,” a full-length novella, long-awaited by fans of the series, relating the story of Ethan’s involvement in the Ruby Blade mutiny, for which he was court-martialed and imprisoned. This brand new novella is featured in TALES OF THE THIEFTAKER, the new short fiction collection released in December 2017. It also weaves in a new mystery, and is set in January 1771.

♦”The Woman in Green,” a short story that appeared in THE RAZOR’S EDGE, edited by Troy Carrol Bucher and Joshua Palmatier (Zombies Need Brains, 2018). This story is set in the early days of the Revolutionary War, July 1775, and introduces a new villain to the Thieftaker world.