The Remnant Chronicles universe, created by Mary E. Pearson, is a richly imagined world that influences the events and characters in Vow of Thieves. Pearson divides this fantasy realm into several kingdoms, including Morrighan, Eislandia, Dalbreck, and Venda, each with its own culture, politics, and historical legacies. The Remnant Universe is a dystopian society. An unknown catastrophic event that characters refer to as “the Devastation” destroyed the previous world. The few people who survived, the “remnants,” established a new society over the ruins. The people who came before the catastrophic event are called “the ancients.” Throughout the series, there are references to modern places in the United States. For example, Venda has several structures that are similar to Washington D.C. and Alexandria, Virginia. Pearson based the vault below Tor’s Watch on the Cheyenne Mountain Nuclear Bunker, which is NORAD’s headquarters in Colorado (Pearson, Mary E. “Uncovering Real Facts for Fantasy Stories.” Reactor Magazine, 23 July 2019).

The first book in the Remnant Chronicles series is The Kiss of Deception, which introduces Lia, the strong-willed princess of Morrighan. She flees an arranged marriage only to be pursued by an assassin, Kaden, and the prince of Dalbreck, Rafe.