Twenty Palaces is a novel series blending fantasy and mystery and written by Seattle author Harry Connolly. Ray Lilly, the series' first person narrator, and protagonist recounts his adventures working for the Twenty Palace Society. The novels have taken place in rural areas in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, as well as Los Angeles. Premise Magic is real, along with supernatural creatures such as demons, spirits, and werewolves. Ray Lilly works for a mysterious organization of sorcerers known as the Twenty Palace Society. Their aim appears to be using any means necessary to keep magic out of the hands of anyone other than their own members. Their primary concern is with spell books, which are the source of magic, and with preventing magic users from summoning creatures known as predators from an otherworldly dimension known as the Empty Places. Works in the series Twenty Palaces A prequel to Child of Fire. Ray Lilly, recently released from prison, is attempting to put his life back together when he becomes involved in a mysterious organization's attempt to stop an old friend from summoning predators from beyond reality. Child of Fire Ray Lilly is the wooden man (a decoy expected to die to allow a sorceress to deal with a predator or enemy sorcerer) and driver of Annalise Powliss, and is under a standing death mark from the Twenty Palace Society. Driving her to Hammer Bay, Washington, Ray helps Annalise uncover a sorcerer, the CEO of Hammer Bay Toys, and his enslaved predator, a Wheel of Fire, that allows Hammer to influence the future. The Wheel is slowly eroding its bindings, enough so that it begins to kill the children of Hammer Bay, using their bodies to build an offspring. Ray eventually kills Hammer and isolates the Wheel. Annalise is horribly wounded during this fight, and Ray manages to resurrect her by force feeding her meat. Game of Cages Ray, detached from Annalise and with new knowledge of several of the spells put upon his body prior to Child of Fire by Annalise, is paired with Catherine Little, an investigator of the Society. Sent to investigate rumors of a predator being sold at auction, Ray and Catherine arrive too late to interrupt the sale, and that the sapphire dog, a predator that feeds by forcing victims to kill one another, has escaped. Ray eventually overpowers two other sorcerers who arrive to