Fantasy stories are often remembered for the worlds they take us to, their magic systems, and the creatures that exist within their pages. But for me, the main thing that keeps us returning to a series, book after book, is the people we find there and how they respond to each other.

At the heart of the Haven Chronicles are relationships shaped by danger, loyalty, belief, tradition, and power. As the stakes rise across the series, those connections are tested, reshaped, and sometimes broken. The series isn’t just about what happens to Steve’s world but how the people within that world change in response to one another.

Without dropping too many spoilers, I want to show you some of the key relationships in the Haven Chronicles and why they matter just as much as the magic and world-building.

Steve and Hartley

Personally, I’d love to meet Hartley Keg, elderly shopkeeper, magical traveller, and mentor to young Steve Haven. But that’s just me. To Steve’s eyes, Hartley first appears as a puzzling and intimidating presence.

“Good morning,” a deep voice boomed. “How’s your head?”

The owner of the voice stood in a doorway at the opposite end of the shop from Steve’s escape route, wooden spoon in one hand and a floral apron tied around his middle.

The man was tall and round in stature, with a mane of chestnut hair that flowed down into an impressively full beard. Steve supposed he was in his fifties from the lines around his eyes, but it was difficult to tell under so much facial hair.

“Eggs?” 

“Sorry?” said Steve.

“Would you like eggs with your bacon?” the man said. “I take it you do eat bacon?”

“Yes,” said Steve, wondering how much more bizarre the conversation could become. “I eat bacon.”

“Good,” said the man. “Come on, come on.”

The connection between Steve and Hartley takes a little while to develop. Steve doesn’t full trust Hartley until the old man’s life is in peril. The realisation that he’s brought this peril to Hartley’s door persuades Steve to take action.

Even as Steve grows in confidence, takes the lead on occasion, and develops his own powers, he always looks to Hartley for guidance.

Steve and his parents

Steve knows his parents love him, but that doesn’t mean he always agrees with them. Far from it, he feels left out and less important than their careers. He carries a quiet resentment towards his parents until he discovers the truth about their frequent absences and how they fit into the hidden underbelly of magic that exists beneath his own high tech world.

His relationship with them grows and benefits from understanding and honesty. As soon as they start to treat him like the capable young person he is, instead of a child to be cushioned against reality, their relationship thrives.

Steve and Blessing

Blessing is everything Steve isn’t, at least at the beginning of the series. She’s trusting, wants to help everyone (even those who may not deserve her help), sees magic as the norm, and is brave enough to act without guidance.

Where Hartley initially tries to steer Steve away from his world, Blessing opens the door to magic and wedges its open. Blessing and Steve’s friendship comes from acceptance, not sameness.

Steve and the darkling

As the other point of view character in the Haven Chronicles, the darkling is a second set of eyes on Steve’s high tech world, the hidden culture of the magicals, the adventures Hartley pulls Steve into, and the decisions they all make.

Her relationship with Steve starts out as more of a business arrangement. Steve is a little scared of her. She feels no trust or respect for him. Both must prove themselves before that ‘arrangement’ can turn into a friendship.

The power dynamics of this relationship will change from novel to novel, but ultimately their friendship relies on their belief in each other.

My relationship with the Haven Chronicles

All of these relationships have evolved over the course of the series. And in writing them, so has my own relationship with the story. It’s been over six years since Haven Wakes was published, so I’ve been writing these characters for even longer.

When you’ve lived with a story world for as long as I’ve lived with the Haven Chronicles, your relationship with it changes. Early on, I was discovering the characters in the same way that my readers were. Six years in, I’m writing from a place of shared history. I don’t have to invent their relationships from scratch anymore. I can draw on everything that they’ve experienced and learnt on the way.

Like any author, there have been times when I didn’t get on with my characters. But like any worthwhile friendship, we made up and I got back to enjoying their company.

*

One of the quiet joys of writing a long-running series is watching these relationships evolve over time. When you’ve lived with a cast of characters for years, you carry their history with you into every new scene. I know where trust has been earned, where it’s fragile, and where it’s already been broken. That familiarity shapes how the Haven Chronicles is written. The relationships don’t reset from book to book. They grow and develop. The bonds between characters carry the story forward just as much as the plotline.

For me, that’s one of the things I love most about fantasy, both as a reader and a writer. Returning to a world means returning to its people, changed by everything they’ve already survived.