An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors: Book One in the Risen Kingdoms

Curtis Craddock

Tom Doherty Associates, Aug 29, 2017 - Fiction - 416 pages

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

Contents

• Section 1: 9
• Section 2: 11
• Section 3: 25
• Section 4: 41
• Section 5: 57
• Section 6: 71
• Section 7: 103
• Section 8: 119
• Section 9: 134
• Section 10: 153
• Section 11: 202
• Section 12: 227
• Section 13: 244
• Section 14: 255
• Section 15: 272
• Section 16: 285
• Section 17: 320
• Section 18: 359
• Section 19: 385

About the author

CURTIS CRADDOCK lives in Sterling, CO, where he teaches English to inmates in a state penitentiary. An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors is his debut, a first in The Risen Kingdoms trilogy.

Bibliographic information

• Title: An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors: Book One in the Risen Kingdoms; Book 1 of The Risen Kingdoms, Curtis Craddock
• Author: Curtis Craddock
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, 2017
• ISBN: 0765389592, 9780765389596
• Length: 416 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Action & Adventure; Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure; Fiction / Fantasy / Epic; Fiction / Fantasy / Gaslamp; Fiction / Fantasy / General; Fiction / Fantasy / Historical; Fiction / Science Fiction / Steampunk