This page is meant as a resource for anyone who wants to know in advance whether a given book or story of mine contains any of the material commonly found to be either triggering or inappropriate for younger readers.
Note that this page contains spoilers. I have listed the types of material found in a given story; where I feel it necessary to give details (e.g. not just “major character death” but which character dies), I have put the details in rot13 cipher; you can decode this by copying the text to this site. If you would like additional detail on any of these warnings, please feel free to contact me.
The following elements are included in the content warnings:
- Violence
- Non-graphic violence (mention, but little description)
- Graphic violence (detailed description)
- Sexual violence
- Murder
- Suicide
- Major character death
- Profanity
- Mild profanity (i.e. “damn,” “hell,” etc)
- Strong profanity (i.e. “fuck”)
- Mild sexual content (i.e. reference to sex, but no direct depiction)
- Drug abuse or addiction (not including tobacco, but including alcoholism)
- Mental illness (PTSD, depression, etc)
- Psychological abuse
- Domestic abuse
- Harm to children
- Harm to animals
- Parental death
Obviously there are judgement calls involved here; people’s boundaries between “non-graphic” and “graphic” violence differ, etc. I have not listed graphic sexual content, torture, or medical grue because I cannot recall any instances of those in my fiction; if that changes, I will add them to the list. If you know of any errors in this list, please drop me a line and I will update it as soon as possible. (And if you find an error in this list by accidentally stumbling across something very upsetting to you, I sincerely apologize.)
Novels and novellas: Doppelganger | Onyx Court | Wilders | Memoirs of Lady Trent | Varekai | Born to the Blade | Legend of the Five Rings | Driftwood | Rook and Rose
Short fiction collections: Ars Historica | Down a Street That Wasn’t There | Maps to Nowhere | The Nine Lands | Monstrous Beauty | Never After
Uncollected short fiction: Ballads and folksongs | Folklore | Historical | Secondary world | Contemporary fantasy
Novels and novellas
Dancing the Warrior
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
- Psychological abuse (self-inflicted)
- Physical abuse (between teenagers)
- Special note: the protagonist of the story engages in self-destructive behaviors that involve allowing someone else to hurt her.
Warrior
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Mild profanity
Witch
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Harm to children — Vaqren, na ryrira-lrne-byq tvey, xvyyf Funelb, nabgure ryrira-lrne-byq tvey.
- Mild profanity
Midnight Never Come
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Mild profanity
- Psychological abuse of a secondary character — Gverfvnf, Vaivqvnan’f crg
Deeds of Men
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder — Zhpu bs gur abiryyn vf pbaprearq jvgu vairfgvtngvat gur qrngu bs Urael Jner, jub vf erirnyrq gb unir orra tnl; uvf zheqre vf haeryngrq gb uvf frkhnyvgl.
- Mild profanity
In Ashes Lie
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Major character death — Nagbal Jner qvrf bs cynthr, naq vf n cbvag bs ivrj punenpgre qhevat uvf vyyarff.
- Mild profanity
- Special note: this novel covers a period of plague in London, and gets quite grim and detailed about that event.
A Star Shall Fall
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Major character death — Ng gur pyvznk bs gur abiry, Tnyra nyybjf uvzfrys gb or cbffrffrq ol gur fcvevg bs gur Terng Sver fb gung uvf nyyvrf pna xvyy vg.
- Mild profanity
- Special note: one character arguably commits suicide, of the “deliberate self-sacrifice for the greater good” type.
With Fate Conspire
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Strong profanity
- Reference to past sexual violence against a minor character
- Drug use
- Psychological abuse of a main character — Anqergg fgrnyf Qrnq Evpx’f zrzbevrf va n genhzngvp synfuonpx, naq qrfgeblf vaqvivqhny zrzbevrf nf n jnl bs xrrcvat Qrnq Evpx borqvrag.
- Special note: one character suffers ongoing physical torment, but not in the form of torture inflicted by another character — Guebhtubhg gur obbx, gurer ner oevrs qrcvpgvbaf bs gur cnva Yhar fhssref nf fur gevrf gb xrrc gur Balk Unyy gbtrgure.
“Welcome to Welton”
- Mild profanity
Lies and Prophecy
- Non-graphic violence
- Attempted murder
- Strong profanity
Chains and Memory
- Non-graphic violence
- Strong profanity
- Mild sexual content
- Drug use
- Mental illness: PTSD
- Special note: one character arguably commits suicide, of the “self-sacrifice for the greater good” type — Whyvna vagraqf gb fnpevsvpr uvzfrys va guvf snfuvba ng gur raq bs gur abiry, ohg ng gur ynfg vafgnag Arrln gnxrf uvf cynpr.
- Special note: there is discussion of child-rearing methods which are psychologically damaging, though not deliberately so.
The Memoirs of Lady Trent series
A Natural History of Dragons
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
- Mild sexual content
- Reference to risk of sexual violence
- Harm to animals (hunting and for scientific research)
- Murder
- Major character death — Arne gur raq bs gur abiry, Tnrgnab Ebffv fgnof Vfnoryyn’f uhfonaq Wnpbo, jub qvrf frireny qnlf yngre sebz gur jbhaq.
- Special note: Isabella suffers a miscarriage.
The Tropic of Serpents
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
- Mild sexual content
- Harm to animals (hunting and for scientific research)
- Special note: Isabella is grieving during this book.
Voyage of the Basilisk
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
- Mild sexual content
- Harm to animals (hunting and for scientific research)
In the Labyrinth of Drakes
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
- Mild sexual content
- Reference to risk of sexual violence
- Harm to animals (hunting and for scientific research)
Within the Sanctuary of Wings
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
- Mild sexual content
- Harm to animals (hunting and for scientific research)
Turning Darkness Into Light
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Mild profanity
- Psychological abuse (gaslighting)
Cold-Forged Flame
- Graphic violence
- Strong profanity
- Mental illness (non-realistic amnesia)
Lightning in the Blood
- Graphic violence
- Murder
- Strong profanity
- Non-graphic violence (detailed fight scenes but little injury)
- Attempted murder
- Mild profanity
The Night Parade of 100 Demons
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
- Special note: characters arguably commiting suicide, of the “deliberate self-sacrifice for the greater good” type.
The Eternal Knot
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder (mercy killing)
- Mental illness (magically inflicted)
Special note: this entire setting is concerned with the end of multiple worlds.
“Driftwood”
- No warnings
“A Heretic by Degrees”
- Mild profanity
“Into the Wind”
- Major character death
“The Ascent of Unreason”
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
“Remembering Light”
- Mild profanity
“The God of Driftwood”
- Mental illness (suicidal ideation)
- Harm to children
- Parental death
- Murder
“Smiling at the End of the World”
- No warnings
Please see the notes on our M.A. Carrick site.
Short fiction collections
“And Blow Them at the Moon”
- Mild profanity
- Attempted mass murder
“The Deaths of Christopher Marlowe”
- Mild profanity
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Major character death
“Two Pretenders”
- Reference to attempted murder
“The Damnation of St. Teresa of Ávila”
- Mild profanity
- Major character death
- Psychological abuse (self-inflicted)
- Special note: the focus of this story is on St. Teresa’s embrace of suffering when she experiences the presence of God.
“To Rise No More”
- No warnings
“False Colours”
- Mild profanity
- Non-graphic violence
“Dying Old”
- Special note: discussion of the side effects of non-lethal doses of poison.
Down a Street That Wasn’t There
“Coyotaje”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Reference to sexual violence
“Selection”
- Harm to animals (brief)
“Such as Dreams Are Made Of”
- Mild profanity
“La Molejera”
- Special note: dismemberment of the dead as part of a funerary ritual.
“Comparison of Efficacy Rates for Seven Antipathetics as Employed Against Lycanthropes”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Special note: the entire story is about an extremely unethical researcher who gets people killed in the course of her study.
“The Last Wendy”
- Strong profanity
- Non-graphic violence
“The Genius Prize”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder (mass scale)
- Mild profanity
“Once a Goddess”
- No warnings
“The Mirror-City”
- No warnings
“A Mask of Flesh”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Major character death — Aravmn xvyyf gur dhrgmnypbngy, naq vf rkrphgrq sbe ure pevzr.
- Mild sexual content
“But Who Shall Lead the Dance?”
- Attempted murder
“A Thousand Souls”
- Murder
“Beggar’s Blessing”
- Mild profanity
“Nine Sketches, in Charcoal and Blood”
- Mild profanity
“Letter Found in a Chest Belonging to the Marquis de Montseraille Following the Death of That Worthy Individual”
- Major character death
“From the Editorial Page of the Falchester Weekly Review”
- Special note: rampant Victorian British sexism
“Love, Cayce”
- Mild profanity
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
“Calling Into Silence”
- No warnings
“Kingspeaker”
- Non-graphic violence
- Harm to animals (a horse is accidentally injured and must be put down)
“Sing for Me”
- Psychological abuse
- Harm to a child (teenager)
- Major character death
- Suicide — Rzn xvyyf urefrys ng gur raq bs gur fgbel.
“Execution Morning”
- Mild profanity
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Special note: the story revolves around prisoners slated to be drawn and quartered, though the execution itself is not in the story.
“The Legend of Anahata”
- Non-graphic violence and gore
- Warfare
- Major character death
- Special note: a character arguably commits suicide, by allowing himself to be killed. — Xveggv npprcgf uvf qrngu qhevat gur fnpx bs Nanungn.
“Lost Soul”
- Mild profanity
- Mental illness: depression (mild)
“White Shadow”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder (imaginary)
Special note: this entire collection is horror-themed.
“The Snow-White Heart”
- Murder
- Major character death
“Footprints”
- Murder
- Major character death
“Shadows’ Bride”
- Mild sexual content
- Reference to sexual violence
“Tower in Moonlight”
- Harm to animals
- Murder
- Major character death
“The Wood, the Bridge, the House”
- Murder
- Major character death
“Kiss of Life”
- Murder
- Major character death
“Waiting for Beauty”
- Major character death
- Non-graphic violence
- Major character death (suicide and murder)
- Mental illness: suicidal ideation
- Mild sexual content
- Harm to children (fairy-tale style)
- Harm to animals (fairy-tale style)
Uncollected short fiction
“The Twa Corbies”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
“What Still Abides”
- Non-graphic violence
- Attempted murder
- Special note: this is a horror story.
“Mad Maudlin”
- Mental illness (schizophrenia and others) — Gur sbphf bs gur fgbel vf ba Znhq nf gur nepurglcny rzobqvzrag bs zragny vyyarff, naq n cflpuvngevfg’f nggrzcgf gb gerng ure, juvpu hygvzngryl erfhyg va uvz gnxvat ure cynpr nf gur crefbavsvpngvba bs vafnavgl.
“Vis Delendi”
- Major character death
- Special note: Gur znva punenpgre bs gur fgbel vf bofrffviryl svkngrq ba n jbzna jub qbrf abg erghea uvf nssrpgvbaf.
“Cruel Sisters”
- Murder
“And Ask No Leave of Thee”
- Non-graphic violence
- Sexual violence
- Strong profanity
- Sexual content
- Drug use
- Offstage domestic abuse
- Special note: the protagonist is deeply troubled and prone to dysfunctional relationships and self-destructive behavior. One character is temporarily mind-controlled into acting against their will; part of that involves hfvat uvf unaq gb crargengr gur cebgntbavfg va choyvp.
“Then Bide You There”
- Major character death
- Harm to animals
- Special note: one male character is heavily implied to be a sexual predator, though no violence takes place on screen.
“Oh My Cursed Daughter”
- Psychological abuse (mild)
“Salt Feels No Pain”
- Reference to sexual violence
- Major character death (suicide)
“The Gospel of Nachash”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
“The Me of Perfect Sight”
- No warnings
“At the Heart of Each Pearl Lies a Grain of Sand”
- Reference to offstage physical violence
“Silence, Before the Horn”
- Non-graphic violence
“The Waking of Angantyr”
- Non-graphic violence
- Harm to animals
“Serpent, Wolf, and Half-Dead Thing”
- Special note: torture in the form of mythological punishments
“This Is How”
- Murder
- Harm to children
“For the Fairest”
- No warnings
“The Wives of Paris”
- Mild sexual content
- Mild profanity
- Non-graphic violence
“Daughter of Necessity”
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild sexual content
- Reference to risk of sexual violence
“Centuries of Kings”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
“Speak to the Moon”
- Suicide — Na vzzbegny punenpgre jub unf gverq bs yvsr frrxf naq svaqf n jnl gb raq vg.
“The Old Woman and the Tea”
- No warnings
“Ghost and Fox”
- No warnings
“Sankalpa”
- Non-graphic violence
- Suicide
- Major character death
“A Tale of Two Tarōs”
- Brief mention of bullying and violence between children
“Two for the Path”
- Offstage omestic abuse
“Oak Apple Night”
- Mild harm to children (one cuff on the ear)
“This Living Hand”
- Murder — bs n fhcreangheny perngher gung unf xvyyrq bguref
“The Şiret Mask”
- Non-graphic violence
- Mild profanity
“At the Sign of the Crow and Quill”
- Non-graphic violence
- Murder
- Major character death (gur ivyynva)
- Mild profanity
“On the Impurity of Dragon-kind”
- No warnings
“The City of the Tree”
- Special note: aftermath of colonialism
- Special note: N punenpgre vf yrsg gb unat ba n gerr jvgubhg qlvat; gur vzntrel znl or erzvavfprag bs ylapuvat gb fbzr ernqref, gubhtu gung vf abg gur pbagrkg urer.
“As Tight as Any Knot”
“Chrysalis”
- Violence — largely non-graphic, but one instance of uhzna fnpevsvpr jevggra sebz gur crefcrpgvir bs gur xavsr gung cresbezf vg
- Murder
- Major character death
- Dubious sexual consent
- Special note: gur gurzngvp pber bs gur fgbel vf fnpevsvpr, obgu bs frys naq bs bguref, fb onfvpnyyl abobql pbzrf bhg gur bgure fvqr jubyr naq unccl
“Never to Behold Again”
- Harm to children — the narrator’s daughter was raised in seclusion and sold into marriage
“Constant Ivan and Clever Natalya”
“Silver Necklace, Golden Ring”
- Murder
- Major character death
- Special note: Obgu prageny punenpgref qvr zhygvcyr gvzrf naq pbzr onpx gb yvsr.
“The Bottle Tree”
- Harm to children — child-rearing methods which aim to address a problem with a minimum of psychological damage, but not entirely with success.
- Suicidal ideation (brief and plot-induced)
“Fate, Hope, Friendship, Foe”
- No warnings
“Crafting Chimera”
- No warnings
“Guidelines for Using the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library”
- No warnings
“The Memories Rise to Hunt”
- Non-graphic violence
- Reference to sexual violence
- Murder
“A Mighty Huntress”
- Harm to animals
- Reference to an emotionally abusive marriage in the past
Nonfiction
Writing Fight Scenes
- Special note: as the subject matter implies, the entire book is devoted to discussing violence, but none of it is graphically described.
Dice Tales: Essays on Roleplaying Games and Storytelling
- Special note: as this book discusses RPGs, it touches on matters such as combat and the death of player-characters, but in an analytical manner rather than the narrative presentation of a story.
New Worlds, Year One
New Worlds, Year Two
New Worlds, Year Three
New Worlds, Year Four
New Worlds, Year Five
New Worlds, Year Six
- Special note: the essays in the collections touch on many issues including profanity, violence, and treatment of the dead, from the standpoint of how they manifest in different cultures or could manifest in speculative fiction.
