Rowley’s Ride

Rowley’s Ride is volume three and a half of The Book of Newts, which follows the adventures and trials of a witch that owns a magical book detailing many secrets of science, engineering, magic and most particularly, space travel. However, this shorter volume focuses on a minor character from the first three books, the pirate, Captain Edwina “Roaring” Rowley.

The space pirate, Captain Edwina “Roaring” Rowley wakes in the vacuum of space, in orbit of the old harvest moon, Cakana, despite the fact her body is literally frozen stiff. She’s utterly confused by the fact Nuva, the goddess of death, didn’t come for her soul.

In a mad attempt to puzzle out what’s happened to her, she looks back on her life and the mistakes she made along the way, particularly those that led her to become a pirate, beginning with the loss of her first love, followed by the construction of her mythril guitar and the day she met the queen of the pirates, who made an offer Rowley couldn’t refuse…

Will Rowley continue to orbit Cakana until her orbit decays and she burns up in the atmosphere or will her prayers for relief from the lonely solitude of space be answered with rescue?

Bonus Content: Rowley’s Roar

Rowley’s Roar is a musical album based on this series, telling parts of the story in song, from the perspective of the pirate, “Roaring” Rowley.

The songs that are most relevant to this volume are Twinkle and Spin, Mythril Guitar / Outcast, The Offer (Can’t Refuse), Glass House, Cherry Bombard and Waiting in the Void, which are tracks 1-4, 11, and 14.

The story behind Twinkle and Spin is told in Chapter 1. Mythril Guitar / Outcast covers events from chapters 2-5. The Offer (Can’t Refuse) goes over chapters 6-8. Glass House is connected to chapters 9-11. Cherry Bombard somewhat relates to chapters 12 and 13, which explain the conflict between Rowley and her rival in the pirate hunters, Sakura Grim. Last of all, Waiting in the Void covers the Prologue, as well as Chapters 14 and 15.

Release Schedule and Details

The first chapter will be published to Royal Road on Tuesday, June 9, 2026 and the last on Thursday, July 14, 2026, on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule.

Looking For More?

The next volume in The Book of Newts is Witchhome.