Magic Required

Magic Required is the first novel in H.S. Paisley's Lochlan Ellyll series, an independently published contemporary fantasy set in a near-future 2047. It follows Lochlan, a long-lived descendant of old gods and the son of a demon deity, who has spent his existence concealing his true nature and living a deliberately unremarkable life.

When prophetic visions begin to intrude, Lochlan understands that forces from the world he abandoned are stirring. His careful isolation unravels further when a woman he once loved returns and her life is threatened, drawing him into events that test both his hidden abilities and the few relationships he has allowed himself.

As a series opener from a small press, it introduces its protagonist and world at length, setting up further volumes. It reads as an accessible urban-fantasy debut.