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.
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
Review :
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
