Quintessence
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Imagine an Age of Exploration full of alchemy, human dissection, sea monsters, betrayal, torture, religious controversy, and magic. 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 explorers to the alluring Western Ocean. Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship.
Fleeing an inquisition, physician Stephen Parris follows Sinclair to an island that perches upon the farthest horizon, bringing his daughter Catherine with him. The island teems with fantastical animals and alluring mysteries...and may even harbor the most coveted secret of all ... in this novel by David Walton.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the edge of the flat Earth is the island known as Horizon; here be not dragons, but intelligent entities called tamarins that communicate telepathically, animals that can pass through walls and transform their bodies, and pools of water that change stone and flesh to gold. Alchemist Christopher Sinclair, doctor Stephen Parris, and Parris's spirited daughter, Catherine, lead an expedition to this island, fleeing turmoil after the death of Edward VI of England. But the new paradise is full of dangers from the land, hostile tamarins, and within the expedition itself and despite the explorers' physical distance from England, its unrest haunts them. Walton (Terminal Mind) reinvents the age of exploration with imaginative detail and a rich bestiary of magical creatures (though, too conveniently, there are no indigenous humans to protest the invasion). Despite some slack pacing at the start and a rushed denouement, the heart of the adventure is consistently entertaining.
