An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors
Book One in the Risen Kingdoms
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors is Curtis Craddock's delightful and engrossing fantasy debut featuring a genius heroine and her guardian, a royal musketeer, which Brandon Sanderson calls, "A great read!"
Born with a physical disability, no magical talent, and a precocious intellect, Princess Isabelle des Zephyrs has lived her life being underestimated by her family and her kingdom. The only person who appreciates her true self is Jean-Claude, the fatherly musketeer who had guarded her since birth.
All shall change, however, when an unlikely marriage proposal is offered, to the second son of a dying king in an empire collapsing into civil war.
But the last two women betrothed to this prince were murdered, and a sorcerer-assassin is bent on making Isabelle the third. Isabelle and Jean-Claude plunge into a great maze of prophecy, intrigue, and betrayal, where everyone wears masks of glamour and lies. Step by dangerous step, Isabelle must unravel the lies of her enemies and discovers a truth more perilous than any deception.
“A setting fabulous and strange, heroes to cheer for, villains to detest, a twisty, tricky plot — I love this novel!” —Lawrence Watt Evans
“A thrilling adventure full of palace intrigue, mysterious ancient mechanisms, and aerial sailing ships!” —David D. Levine
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Craddock's not-quite-steampunk debut features skyships and clockwork cyborgs, but it occupies a fantasy world rather than an alternate timeline, making it all the more baffling that he chooses to reproduce our world's most disempowering roles for female characters. One dies in childbirth; one is born with physical and magical "deformities," so church, state, and family cast her out; and one has her soul sucked out to punish someone else. Meanwhile, male characters swashbuckle blithely across the skies and plot political mayhem. Jean-Claude, intrepid musketeer, is embroiled in much of this as sworn protector of sad, disabled Princess Isabelle, whose oppression is elaborated but static for 100 pages. Craddock can write, and his worldbuilding shines; he's so effective at reconstituting historical misogyny that by the time the narrative tide shifts slowly, and not far most female readers will likely have fled. A political betrothal to the Principe Julio frees Isabelle from home and makes her narratively interesting enough for other characters to court, compromise, and threaten. But though she escapes many constraints, she never escapes the story's male-centeredness.
