Fiction that lives in the shadow

Max
Varrow

Dark stories for those who know the magic was always real.

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Published Works

The Books

Remember the Shadow by Max Varrow
Novel · 2026

Remember the Shadow

In Coralyn Bay, something ancient has awakened. An old man who never forgot. A group of friends who wish they could. And a darkness that feeds on what the world chooses not to believe.

Kindle Edition — $4.99 Paperback — $13.99
The Angler: Expanded Edition by Max Varrow
Anthology · 2026

The Angler: Expanded Edition

Seven tales of cosmic horror and quiet menace. The night drive that started it all — now joined by six more stories where the wrong kindness, the wrong curiosity, or the wrong shortcut leads somewhere you don't come back from.

Kindle Edition — $2.99 Paperback — $18.99
Shadows of Veldrath by Max Varrow
Adventures of Zero · Book One

Shadows of Veldrath

The warlord Varkalon has taken over the country of Veldrath. He seeks to mine a forbidden element to make a weapon that can destroy magic. Enter Zero the impossible wizard. Zero will help a deposed heir reclaim her country before it's too late.

Kindle Edition — $2.99 Paperback — $19.99
Max Varrow, author

The Author

Max Varrow

Published by

Obsidian Ember Press

Max Varrow writes dark fiction rooted in the belief that magic was always real — we just forgot how to look for it.

His stories live at the edge of the familiar: the small coastal city where something old has awakened, the back road where stopping to help a stranger changes everything, the cave system that the map insists is just geology. They are tales of ordinary people who discover, too late or just in time, that the warnings were never just stories.

Max Varrow is an author, researcher, and lifelong reader based in Austin, Texas. He publishes through Obsidian Ember Press, an independent imprint dedicated to fiction that doesn't flinch.

When he isn't writing, he's probably reading something that will haunt him later — and taking notes.

What's Next

Coming Soon

I

Adventures of Zero · Book Two

The Crimson Blade

Zero makes his way to Summervale. The Summerish are beseeched by a dragon and an army of Troglins. To make things worse, their chief has possession of a weapon that can destroy magic instantly.

II

A Torchbearer Novel

Light Tracer

Two AI probes, Torchy and Nerali, are making their way in the galaxy when they stumble upon a lost civilization and a dying planet. By accident, they create a new life form that they name Light Tracer, or Tracy for short. However, her birth draws the attention of the sinister Omega AI, who is determined to study Tracy at any costs.

III

A Short Story Collection

Digital Echoes

A collection of stories involving AI characters: what happens if someone commits the perfect crime and the only witness is an AI drone? A man is obsessed with continuing the work of a missing scientist, only to find out some things are best left alone. All this and more in this thrilling new collection.

IV

A Standalone Novel

Serena and the Ajax

Serena always wanted to go to space, but a health condition and bad luck kept her planet-bound. Inspired by her father's words, Serena works hard and gets an opportunity to travel with the crew of the Ajax as they respond to an emergency at the frontier of friendly space.

V

An Angler Anthology

The Angler 2

Continuing the anthology series, The Angler 2 brings back familiar faces and new threats. An angler, hunted by her own kind, seeks help from the very beings she once terrorized. A detective tracks down a new threat that worships pure evil, and a man cursed from birth decides to help as many people as possible before going to his doom.

VI

A Remember the Shadow Anthology

Beyond the Shadow: Stories from the Silver Thread

An anthology based on the events around Remember the Shadow. Find out what happened when the Atrox Stone was discovered in ancient times. Two wizards have a world-shattering duel, and a kind gnome seeks to complete his friend's dying wish.

Pre-Production Art

Zero — pre-production character art

Meet Zero

A midnight-blue jaguar with yellow eyes that have seen too much. A staff carved from the Forbidden Forests of Virethra, its stone now glowing with something ancient and borrowed. Money in every bank on the continent. Loyalty to no one — until he meets a one-foot-tall field mouse who refuses to be saved.

Pre-production art · The Crimson Blade

Obsidian Ember Press

The Merch Store

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Wear the Shadow

Official Max Varrow merchandise. Apparel, accessories, and designs inspired by the world of Obsidian Ember Press. More designs added as the catalog grows.

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