Book One:
A scholar lies dying in a merchant’s stable where a Moorish servant girl
receives his last words. To Nadira, words are her life: she lives them as her
master’s scrivener and dreams them in her mother’s poetry but these few words
from a stranger will propel her from a life of dull servitude into a world of
greed and madness.
She wonders how words can generate such violence in the men who chase after old
manuscripts, but after she reads some of the mysterious documents she begins to
understand how ideas are more powerful than steel or fire. She begins to see
that there is more in the world than what can be seen or grasped.
As the Black Friars spread terror throughout Medieval Europe in their attempt
to keep the world a dark and fearful place, a few brave men resist the clutch
of the Inquisition. They know that light of a single candle burning in a
scholar’s cell is more powerful than the conflagration of the auto da fe. A
woman who can read and write in several languages is as much a treasure as a
fine jewel. Nadira finds that she is traded between powerful men until one
night the meaning of it all becomes clear.
She can do something with her mind that none of her captors can, and it has
nothing to do with words.
The Hermetica of Elysium is Book One of The Elysium Texts
as Nadira the Reader embarks on the journey from servant to sorceress.
Read comments from the folks who received Review Copies
HARDCOVER Available December 8, 2011. Order it now from Knox Robinson Publishing or ask for it at your local brick and mortar bookstore.
Don’t forget to read the short story PREQUEL “The Key of All Things” available as a free download HERE.
Enjoy the electronic version of Hermetica:
The Hermetica of Elysium is released as an ePub, ePDF and Mobi (Kindle) file.
Purchases can be made through your Apple iTunes Bookstore, Amazon (Kindle), or directly from the KRP website.
Book TWO:
At the dawn of the Renaissance, a
young woman finds herself on the path to great power…but can she control it or
will it destroy her?
Nadira has earned her place in the company of adventurers traveling to Istanbul to uncover something the Templar Knights lost 200 years before. She brings with her the knowledge and skills she acquired from reading The Hermetica of Elysium and learns that she is the key the Templars need to unlock their past.
But, she is also on a quest to discover the source of the voice that has summoned her to Elysium. And she intends to journey to Eleusis to study with the last priestess of the old religion once she has helped the Templars.
Lord Montrose is impatient with their mission. He is eager to turn his attention to seeking out and punishing his brother’s murderers who sail the Mediterranean hunting heretical manuscripts. While another member of their group, the faithful Friar William, is in the throes of doubt as his faith is challenged by what he has seen of Nadira’s growing powers and the mystical elixirs of the alchemists.
But danger lurks beneath the surface of the Templars’ mission as they have not been honest in their intentions toward Nadira. When she realizes what it is they are after, she is horrified to learn that this mission not only threatens the lives of the company, but if successful, will grant dominion over Death itself.
What they want from her is no less than the harrowing of Hell and to read the book of Satan’s realm, The Necromancer’s Grimoire.
Book Three of the Elysium Texts: THE BOOKS OF THE DEAD
After her adventures with the necromancer in Istanbul, Nadira, now a necromancer herself and the new High Priestess of Elysium, sets out on a journey with her companions to Persia to meet with a mysterious power that dwells in the mountains of Arborz. She intends to learn the secrets of Zoroaster and claim for herself the power over the realms of the dead.
She and her companions meet up with the secret remnants of the Nizari Ismaili Assassins and the Sufi mystics who present Nadira with the books of the dead to take back to Eleusis. She hopes these books contain what she needs to be able to stop the European powers from igniting a new crusade to retake Istanbul and Jerusalem from the Turks.
Nadira enlists the aid of the Turkish captain Kemal Reis and his nephew, Piri, on an adventure from the high mountains of Persia to the rough seas of the Mediterranean. The battle for the souls of Europe and Asia involve more than just priests and imams, kings and caliphs. To stop the slaughter Nadira must use her power over minds and flesh as well as her quick thinking and courage to bring all the elements together to eradicate the idea of a holy crusade from the minds of the powerful men who rule their world.
Her abilities grow with practice and experience, but what she learns muddies the distinction between good and evil. As she becomes more powerful, she begins to lose what it means to be human and starts to take on the guise of a goddess. Her companions wonder if she is becoming an angel of mercy, or a frightening reaper of souls.
Amazon reviews.
LAUNCH PARTY EVENT DECEMBER 10, 2011 at 5 PM
CHANGING HANDS BOOKSTORE
6428 S McClintock Dr.
Tempe, AZ85283
http://www.changinghands.com
Presentation, Reading, Discussion, Display of 18th century manuscripts and 16th and 17th century books. Refreshments. A fun time. Please come.
Necromancer Release Party at Vision Quest Bookstore March 6th at 7 PM.
Will you be bringing back the Elysium Texts for the Kindle? I have the first two in the Kindle edition, and I would love to read the third. I have fallen in love with this series. thanks.
Yes. The publisher went out of business and returned the rights to me. However I do not own the rights to the cover images, so I cannot put them on Kindle until I get new covers. I am thinking of combining the three into one very long story (only one cover to design!). Thank you for asking. I hope to have Nadira and her fellows back on Kindle before summer.
Annmarie