--- title: Steven Madonia's debut fantasy novel ties magic to willpower and identity description: In The Tablets of Tetran, a unique magic system fades when the will breaks. Author Steven Madonia on aethra, deadly trials and his fantasy picks. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-12T08:51:20.756Z updated: 2026-11-12T09:07:19.637Z canonical: https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/steven-madonia-s-debut-fantasy-novel-ties-magic-to-willpower-and-identity image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/tablets-of-tetran-landscape.webp categories: Books, Culture content_type: Spotlight publication: Rich Man Magazine schema_type: Article about: - type: Person name: Steven Madonia description: "Writer, music teacher and visual artist from North Babylon, New York, and author of the debut fantasy novel The Tablets of Tetran: The Phantom Labyrinth, published by Sulnir Publications." url: https://sulnirpublications.com jobTitle: Author --- Steven Madonia has spent most of his life making art. He teaches music, works as a visual artist, writes short stories and poetry, and designs Dungeons & Dragons campaigns from his home in North Babylon, New York. By his own account, very little of that work took risks. 'As a lifelong artist and musician, I've always made what I would call "safe art",' he says. 'Here, I decided to tell an honest story involving love, darkness, and the cost of power.' The result is The Tablets of Tetran: The Phantom Labyrinth, his first novel and the opening book of a new fantasy saga, published by Sulnir Publications and available in Kindle, paperback and hardcover editions on [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HPK8RNB4). Madonia says its themes of trauma, trust and the burden of responsibility are deeply resonant in his own life, and he believes readers today connect strongly with those subjects. He is also clear that the book was fun to write and explore. ## Madonia drew the map of Tetran before he wrote the story The novel took about a year to develop. Madonia started with the world map, which he calls essential to his worldbuilding, and built the story across it afterwards. His years designing Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, where the ground has to exist before the players arrive, show in that order of work. His process puts detailed worldbuilding, character development and emotional authenticity first. Fantasy gives him room to write about overcoming personal trauma, understanding other people's perspectives and finding hope in difficult circumstances, all of which run through the book. ## Champions of Tetran's deadly trials win wealth, power and secret land Tetran holds an annual tradition of deadly trials that draws warriors and competitors from different races and backgrounds. Survivors who earn the title of champion gain considerable wealth, political influence and access to secret territories closed to ordinary citizens. Some competitors enter to give their families financial security. Others want forbidden knowledge, legendary artifacts or a route to extraordinary power. The novel follows three strangers, Rin, Yot and Nomir, who arrive with different motives and personal histories. Facing life-threatening challenges, they have to work through conflicting beliefs and learn to trust one another while each carries an emotional burden of their own. Rin brings a second mystery into the competition: a haunting past and a determination to recover the legendary objects that give the book its title. The tournament gives the novel its structure. The magic system is where Madonia has done his most original work. ## Aethra ties a character's power to their psychology Tetran's magic is called aethra, the manifestation of a person's will. Each person's aethra has its own color, which reflects the alignment of their soul, and those who can weave it develop abilities such as phantasmal conjurations, enhanced physical strength and heightened perception. Madonia built the system entirely around human psychology. The more a person's internal convictions come alive, the more depth their abilities gain. The rule also works in reverse: if a weaver's will deteriorates or their personality changes, they can lose control of their powers or lose them altogether. That turns the villains of Tetran into a psychological threat as much as a physical one. Dark weavers attack willpower and identity directly, so in a fight their real target is a person's sense of self. Color shapes the rest of the system, and classes such as conjurers and channelers depend on a weaver's color. Color-coded magic already has a place in the genre, with Lightbringer the best-known recent example, but in Tetran color is tied to the alignment of the soul, and the power behind it rises and falls with a character's state of mind. Because the characters' powers change with their emotional development, their experiences and their decisions, the magic also records who each of them is becoming. Through it, Madonia asks questions about identity, responsibility and what the pursuit of power costs the people who chase it. ## Madonia believes magic needs a cost and has to feel magical Asked what most fantasy books get wrong about their magic, Madonia comes back to two demands that pull against each other. 'I think in general, magic needs a cost and naturally needs to feel magical! Those can be challenging things to juggle. Magic needs to feel surprising yet sensible. It needs to feel sensational and fantastical. Those are difficult things to manage together,' he says. Aethra is his answer to that problem. In Tetran, the price of power is paid in conviction and identity, and a character who loses either one can lose the magic with it. ## The fantasy books that shaped Tetran's magic Madonia's first pick for readers who want an unusual magic system is a manga series rather than a novel. He credits Hunter x Hunter and its nen system with inspiring him through its rules, ideas, structure and depth. His second pick is Harry Potter, which he calls a foundational series for him and describes as rich and expansive, while admitting the choice might be a bit of a cliché. ### Steven Madonia's picks - [Hunter x Hunter, Vol. 1](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9781591167532) by Yoshihiro Togashi - [Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408855658) by J.K. Rowling ## Early readers called the novel 'emotionally gutting' Madonia ran the book past beta readers, who used the words 'evocative', 'emotionally gutting' and 'authentic' to describe it, and he says early readers found it exciting and surprising. Readers who sign up to his email list at [sulnirpublications.com](https://sulnirpublications.com) receive a free high-quality scan of the Tetran world map, early access to his future works and monthly challenges. 'I hope you enjoy the emotional journey of The Tablets of Tetran: The Phantom Labyrinth as much as I enjoyed writing it,' he says. The Tablets of Tetran: The Phantom Labyrinth is available in Kindle, paperback and hardcover editions on [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HPK8RNB4). ### Book: The Tablets of Tetran *The Phantom Labyrinth* By Steven Madonia In the world of Tetran, an annual tradition of deadly trials draws warriors and competitors from different races and backgrounds. Survivors who earn the title of champion win wealth, political influence and access to secret territories closed to ordinary citizens. Three strangers, Rin, Yot and Nomir, enter the trials with their own motives and histories, and must learn to trust one another to survive. Rin also carries a haunting past and a determination to recover the legendary Tablets of Tetran. At the heart of the novel is aethra, a magic system built on human psychology, in which a person's power grows with their convictions and can be lost when their will breaks. The book opens a new fantasy saga. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HPK8RNB4) ## Frequently asked questions **Q: Which fantasy books have the most interesting magic systems?** Reader lists most often cite Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn, Brent Weeks's Lightbringer, R. F. Kuang's Babel, Patrick Rothfuss's The Kingkiller Chronicle, V. E. Schwab's Shades of Magic and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea. What these books share is magic with clear limits and real consequences, so readers can follow how it works and feel what it costs. Newer titles, including independent debuts, keep experimenting with magic tied to emotion, identity or willpower. **Q: Which fantasy series has the best magic system?** There is no single answer, but Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn tops most reader polls and forum threads because its rules are precise and its powers have firm limits. Readers who prefer magic that stays mysterious often choose Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea instead. The best system for any reader depends on whether they want to understand the magic or be surprised by it. **Q: What are some unique fantasy magic powers?** The most distinctive powers usually come from an unusual source or an unusual cost: magic fueled by swallowed metals, by colors of light, by the meaning lost in translation, or by a person's willpower and sense of self. The most memorable ones change the person who uses them, or demand something that cannot easily be won back. **Q: What are some cool magic systems?** Well-loved examples include allomancy in Mistborn, where users burn ingested metals for specific powers; chromaturgy in Lightbringer, where drafters turn colored light into solid matter; the silver-working of Babel, which draws power from what is lost between languages; and true names in Earthsea, where knowing a thing's real name gives power over it. In manga, the nen system of Hunter x Hunter is admired for its strict rules and personal ability types. ### Fantasy books with unique magic systems - [Mistborn](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780765350381) by Brandon Sanderson - [The Black Prism](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780316068130) by Brent Weeks - [Babel](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780063021426) by R. F. Kuang - [The Name of the Wind](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780756404741) by Patrick Rothfuss - [A Darker Shade of Magic](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780765376466) by V. E. Schwab - [A Wizard of Earthsea](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780547773742) by Ursula K. Le Guin