Description
The Blade in the Angel's Shadow is a fantastical retelling of the birth of the British Empire that is based upon the real-life machinations of Dr John Dee, the renowned mathematician, geographer and astrologer at the court of Elizabeth I.
Captain Lament Evyngar and her Sergeant-at-Arms Pieter Hertgers are forced to make a pact with Dr Dee, and Lament is marked forever during a ritual involving Angelic entities. They are sent on a quest into the Spanish Netherlands of the Eighty Years War, which is further being twisted by strange otherworld creatures who use mankind for their own ends. Lament is given a chance to regain control of her destiny, but there are powers at work that will not let her go so easily, and so she must locate the objects required by Dr Dee and return to London and a Royal Court that is controlled by something far from human.
Book blog tour with Silver Dagger Book Tours June 6 to July 7.
https://www.silverdaggertours.com/tour-sign-ups/the-blade-in-the-angels-shadow-tour-sign-ups
About the Author
Andy is a lifelong fan of fantasy, sword and sorcery, and weird tales. He also has a bit of an obsession with historical fiction/fantasy and alternate histories.
Andy lives on the north coast of Cornwall in the UK with his artist wife, teenage daughter, three cats, and two ponies. He constantly runs out of shelf space for his ever-increasing book collection.
Other books by Andy:
Me and The Monkey: Chronicles of the Monkey God Vol 1 & 2
The Paddington Incident
Reviews
This is really nice. We love our sword and sorcery books, adventure books, swordplay, action, and grim combat, and this book has all of the above. Also, when we think about sword and sorcery, it has all the key components of a classic sword and sorcery novel.
What is it about sword and sorcery that makes sword and sorcery what it is? You've got morally ambiguous protagonists, and I think it's fair to say that Lament and Pieter, by their own admission, have engaged in fairly horrific activities in their pursuit of war across the continent because, of course, this is set during Elizabethan times, during the 80 Years War or events during the 80 Years War. It's that complicated European history of conflict around turf wars between warring States, but what we have in this book, which is lovely, is it's overlaid with not only the complications and religious upheaval of the Calvinists versus the Protestants versus the Catholics. But it's actually overlaid with this kind of supernatural, almost Moorcockian cosmological construct to add even more layers of psychedelic madness, death, carnage, and destruction. You see the cosmology, but most of it is left unexplained. That's great for me because we love all those sword and sorcery and fantasy and sci-fi books from the 60s and 70s, you know, good quality, roaring pulp adventure, and this fits right into that niche for me, and the reason why I enjoyed it so much is that it doesn't over-explain everything. I think there's a temptation with more modern audiences that, and you see it in films as well, the way they spell everything out, spell out everybody's motivations.
So, we've not only got the magic that's weird and dangerous, which I think originates earlier on in the story with John Dee. But we very quickly come across it from other angles as well. We've got magical McGuffins that they need to go essentially on a quest to find, which is a sword and sorcery staple component. We've got wizards and witches, fights, and horror elements, and it is all set in a really, really dangerous world with complex cultures and cultural motivations. And when you think about that period of history in which it's set, well, what a perfect world and environment to actually set this kind of tail.
Breakfast in the Ruins Podcast
Book Information
ISBN 9781738519309
Author Andy Darby
Format Paperback
Page Count 340
Imprint Tiny Blue Alien Press
Publisher Tiny Blue Alien Press
