SERIES · WRITING
The Atlas of Missing Roads
A map restorer follows a clue from his missing sister into a world of shifting roads, vanished cities and journeys that arrive in the wrong year.
Elias Vale repairs maps in a quiet coastal town in Portugal. He knows how to mend torn paper, restore a faded coastline and put a familiar place back together. For three years, he has been unable to find the one person who matters most: his missing sister, Lena.
Then a water-damaged book arrives at the shop. Inside is a map of his own town, a note in Lena’s handwriting, and a staircase that appears only when the tide goes out.
Following it takes him into a world beneath two moons, where roads disappear, broken passages lead somewhere unexpected, and people remember meeting his sister nineteen years before he arrived.
Elias can see traces of paths that others cannot. With a touch and a held breath, he can bring them back. But he cannot always choose where they lead—or what might come through.
His search draws him into the company of Mara, a practical courier with her own memory of Lena; Ivo, a medic whose patience has limits; and Orin, an experienced guide who knows enough to distrust an easy journey. Together, they encounter isolated settlements, damaged records and people still living with the consequences of roads opened long ago.
Every clue brings Elias closer to the life his sister lived beyond his knowledge. Finding her means listening to people who remember different parts of her story, accepting answers he may not like, and deciding what he owes to those travelling beside him.
Along the way, his guarded friendship with Mara begins to deepen. Between dangerous crossings and difficult choices, there is room for shared meals, quiet jokes and the comfort of someone choosing to stay.
The Atlas of Missing Roads is an illustrated portal-fantasy adventure about missing family, unlikely companions, a slowly growing romance, and learning to care for a world you never meant to enter.
Told through prose and manga-style illustrations, the series unfolds across connected story arcs. The opening arc spans eight chapters. Updates about future arcs and release dates will appear on this page.
For teen and adult readers. Contains fantasy danger, grief and occasional violence.
Chapters
- 1The Staircase at Low TideA map restorer finds a staircase that shouldn't exist—and a note in his missing sister's handwriting. Chapter One of The Atlas of Missing Roads.
- 2A Road Can Open Both WaysElias tries to reopen the way home. But the steps he can see lead somewhere else—and something below them has been waiting for a way out.
- 3The Courier's BargainAt the bridge camp, Elias meets a guide who knew Lena. To follow her trail, he must help a courier crew reach Rill—and learn when to leave a road closed.
- 4The Town Beyond the Broken BridgeA missing walkway separates the crew from Rill, where twenty-five people are waiting for help. Elias can open a way across—but this time, looking for Lena will have to wait.
- 5The Woman in the Old AtlasIn Rill’s old atlas, Elias finds Lena’s name beside a deliberately closed road and a record of three people still missing when the entry was written. A folded note makes the truth harder to dismiss.
- 6The Road We Leave BehindThe road to Lena’s account also leads to the firewood Rill needs. But when the hillside gives way, Elias must choose what he can save—and discover what the old records left out.
- 7The Window Above the ShopA survivor’s account leads Elias to a place Lena searched for a way home. As he and Mara grow closer, a familiar drawing gives him something new to hope for—and a reason to be careful.
- 8The Road That Leads HomeWith the river falling, Elias returns to the lower gallery to discover what stopped Lena reaching home. The answer lies in the roads she could open—and the help she did not have.