QUINTESSENCE was published by Tor Books in 2013. It’s an alternate history/fantasy set in the Age of Exploration, full of arcane science, alchemy, human dissection, sea monsters, betrayal, torture, religious controversy, and magic. Scientists and explorers gamble with their lives to turn lead into gold and bring the dead back to life. In Europe, the magic is thin, but at the edge of the world, where the stars reach down close to the Earth, wonders abound. This drives the bravest among them to the alluring Western Ocean, where they just might find the secret to life and immortality.
An alchemist, Christopher Sinclair, who cares about only one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant immortality and magical powers, has a ship.
Fleeing an inquisition for illegal dissection, Stephen Parris, the king’s physician, follows Sinclair to an island that perches on the edge of the world, bringing his daughter Catherine with him against his wife’s furious protests. The island is teeming with fantastical animals whose secrets they explore, using extracted powders and tinctures to make bread from sand, turn salt water into fresh, and–just possibly–find the secret of immortality.
If you want a sample, go ahead and read the first three chapters.
Buy it: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
The sequel to Quintessence, QUINTESSENCE SKY continues the story of Horizon, the island perched on the edge of the flat Earth. A strange fire burns in the heavens, weakening the power of quintessence and sparking tensions between humans and manticores. Catherine and Matthew push deeper into the island, trying to discover its secrets before their people turn to stone. In Europe, a Jesuit priest unlocks the secrets of quintessence, but hesitates to hand the power to his king. He must work together with Matthew and Catherine across thousands of miles to rescue a young Princess Elizabeth from death and save the Horizon colony from destruction.
Unfortunately, there is no third Quintessence book. Tor Books chose not to continue the series, and so I never wrote a third novel. The first book stands on its own, but the second book is the middle of a three-book arc, the conclusion of which does not exist. You have been warned.
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