fantasy books

Inside Vasini – The Winter Fayre Killer is captured

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There’s just two days until the release of The Theatre of Shadows: The Vasini Chronicles II on 15 July.

Soon you’ll be able to rejoin the adventures of Drs. Marcus Fox and Elizabeth Reid as they investigate the mysteries surrounding the death of Ambassador Joseph Bastin of Laège and the escape of Gareth Miller, the Winter Fayre Killer.

I’ve previously mentioned the murder of Josephine Addams, the Winter Fayre Killer’s first victim, here.

Over the next three months, Gareth Miller would kill a further 16 people across Vasini. At first, the murders were not linked by the city’s inspectorate, with no connections between the victims, with the crimes being committed across multiple districts.

However, when a series of eight murders happened over one week, three of whom were killed in one night, all around the Farrier’s Square and southern Ferrymen’s districts, it became apparent that the bodies — marked by the ferocity of the attacks and the lack of motive — were likely the victims of the same killer.

With the suspicion falling on a single killer, the investigation into the murders was assigned to Lieutenant David Locke of the Palace District Inspectorate, Dr. Marcus Fox’s former sergeant. But the lack of motive and the apparent randomness of the victims meant that there was little evidence to point to a suspect.

Miller was only caught by luck, when the knife he had used in what was to be his final murder, was found with the victim. It was marked with the name of the shambles where Miller worked.

Below is a report from the The Guardian, one of Vasini’s newssheets, that tells of the final capture of Miller. (The newssheets’ interest in the murders was high throughout the investigation and they harassed Locke for more and more information. Much to Locke’s annoyance, they frequently got something wrong in their reporting, the least of which was how to spell his surname.)

You can pre-order The Theatre of Shadows: The Vasini Chronicles II on Kindle here (or try your local Amazon store if you’re outside of the UK).

The Theatre of Shadows – Almost there

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Only three days to go until The Theatre of Shadows: The Vasini Chronicles II is released on 15 July.

I may be getting a little over excited.

You can pre-order your copy on Kindle here:

UK

US

Canada

Australia

France

Germany

Netherlands

If you’re on Goodreads you can find details and add it to your To Read list here.

The Theatre of Shadows
Book Two of
The Vasini Chronicles

The adventures of Drs. Marcus Fox &
Elizabeth Reid continue…

In the two centuries since the fall of the deities, only a score of city-states have risen from the ashes of their destruction. Foremost amongst them is Vasini — a city divided by politics, class, and philosophies. A city with a threat in every shadow.

Six months have passed since the events of The Silver Mask. Over the winter months, Vasini was plagued by Gareth Miller, the Winter Fayre Killer, who murdered 17 people before he was captured by Lieutenant David Locke. The city now waits for Miller to be hanged. But when Miller escapes gaol, ready to terrorise Vasini’s streets once more, Locke must hunt the murderer again to stop him from claiming more lives.

As Miller flees into Vasini’s streets, Joseph Bastin, ambassador to Vasini for the city-state of Laège, is assassinated in a brothel. With the threat of political repercussions for the death, it is up to Dr. Marcus Fox, newly appointed Commandant of Police, to find the ambassador’s killer.

Fox’s investigation soon leads to a suspect, someone who has been investigating links between the Laège embassy and the worship of the dead deities – his ally, Dr. Elizabeth Reid.

Now, Elizabeth and her friend, Catherine, must act quickly to clear her name before she is found by someone who doesn’t believe her claims of innocence and she’s forced to dance the hangman’s jig.

But these events are only a prelude for what is to come.

The stage is set. The actors are in position. The play can begin.

The Theatre of Shadows is the second part of The Vasini Chronicles, a series of flintlock-and-alchemy fantasy novels set in the city-state of Vasini.

Inside Vasini – Laège

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There’s now a little over a week until the The Theatre of Shadows is out on 15 July. Therefore, it’s time for another insight into the world of Vasini. Or in this case, the world beyond Vasini.

Vasini is one of no more than a score of city-states that have arisen in the 200 hundred years since the devastation wrought by the fall of the deities and the rebellions against the old order of the priests that followed.

Vasini’s closest neighbour of note is Laège, a much smaller city-state located a couple of hundred miles north through the Wildlands. Its current ambassador is Monsieur Joseph Bastin.

Below is an aide memoire on Laège prepared for Philippe Reno, the current Comte de Vasini, by one of his staff.

You can pre-order The Theatre of Shadows: The Vasini Chronicles II on Kindle here (or try your local Amazon store if you’re outside of the UK).

Inside Vasini – Crytha, Goddess of Air, Whispers and Rumours

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With the release of The Theatre of Shadows on 15 July, it’s time for another insight into the world of Vasini.

Before the fall of the deities, Crytha was the goddess associated with air, whispers and rumours. As Dr. Ambrose Richards explains in his A Study of the Old Deities to Inform and Protect the Good Citizenship — a book written by the University of Vasini lecturer as a way to make fast money and considered to be mostly a sensationalist midden heap — Crytha was as changeable as the air and rumours of which she was patron.

As well as being the goddess of air, whispers and rumours, legend claims that she created a race of flying people known as the fles. Since the fall, nearly 200 years ago, there has been no evidence that the fles ever existed, other than a few wild claims by a handful of traders who have passed near mountains. Such claims amount to little more than tales of seeing humanoids with bat-like wings spread between their arms and legs, circling the distant mountain peaks.

Inside Vasini – The Winter Fayre killer

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As The Theatre of Shadows’s release on 15 July draws closer, I thought it might be worth giving a little more insight into the world of Vasini and what’s been happening since The Silver Mask.

First up, The Winter Fayre killer.

At the end of The Winter Fayre in 195AL, there was the first of a series of murders that would later be attributed to Gareth Miller, labelled by the newssheets due to the location of the first murder, as The Winter Fayre Killer.

Initially thought to be the last of a series of political assassinations that had been sparked by the events in The Silver Mask, it became clear as further, similar murders occurred across that the city that a new, non-politicaly motivated killer, was active in the city.

Below is a report from The Herald, one of Vasini’s daily newssheets, on the first murder.

The Theatre of Shadows – Goodreads giveaway

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Hello US people,

I’m running a giveaway of my new flintlock fantasy novel, The Theatre of Shadows: The Vasini Chronicles II, over at Goodreads.

You have a chance to win one of 100 copies of the Kindle edition and be amongst the first to read it.

You can enter here.

You have until 1 July to enter.

Good luck.

Coming soon

The Theatre of Shadows – pre-order

christianellingsen , , , , , , , ,

The Theatre of Shadows: The Vasini Chronicles II is now available for pre-order on Kindle.

It will be out on Kindle and in paperback from 15 July.

You can pre-order for Kindle it here:

UK

US

Canada

Australia

France

Germany

Netherlands

If you’re on Goodreads you can find details and add it to your To Read list here.

If you have yet to step into the world of Vasini there’s plenty of time for you can catch up on things with The Silver Mask: The Vasini Chronicles I and A Divided River: Tales From Vasini I.

The Theatre of Shadows
Book Two of
The Vasini Chronicles

The adventures of Drs. Marcus Fox &
Elizabeth Reid continue…

In the two centuries since the fall of the deities, only a score of city-states have risen from the ashes of their destruction. Foremost amongst them is Vasini — a city divided by politics, class, and philosophies. A city with a threat in every shadow.

Six months have passed since the events of The Silver Mask. Over the winter months, Vasini was plagued by Gareth Miller, the Winter Fayre Killer, who murdered 17 people before he was captured by Lieutenant David Locke. The city now waits for Miller to be hanged. But when Miller escapes gaol, ready to terrorise Vasini’s streets once more, Locke must hunt the murderer again to stop him from claiming more lives.

As Miller flees into Vasini’s streets, Joseph Bastin, ambassador to Vasini for the city-state of Laège, is assassinated in a brothel. With the threat of political repercussions for the death, it is up to Dr. Marcus Fox, newly appointed Commandant of Police, to find the ambassador’s killer.

Fox’s investigation soon leads to a suspect, someone who has been investigating links between the Laège embassy and the worship of the dead deities – his ally, Dr. Elizabeth Reid.

Now, Elizabeth and her friend, Catherine, must act quickly to clear her name before she is found by someone who doesn’t believe her claims of innocence and she’s forced to dance the hangman’s jig.

But these events are only a prelude for what is to come.

The stage is set. The actors are in position. The play can begin.

The Theatre of Shadows is the second part of The Vasini Chronicles, a series of flintlock-and-alchemy fantasy novels set in the city-state of Vasini.

Out now and coming soon(ish – hopefully)

christianellingsen , , , , , , , , , ,

The Cities Beyond the Signal is out now on Apple Books

My portal fantasy novella, The Cities Beyond the Signal, is now available on Apple Books. You can find it here if you’re in the UK or on your local Apple Books store.

Have a read and, maybe, if the urge takes you, leave a review on Apple Books or Goodreads (or both).

And coming soon

…ish – hopefully.

The proofreading of The Theatre of Shadows: The Vasini Chronicles II is underway. It will take a little time and, until its complete, I’m not going to risk saying when ToS will actually be out in the world, but we’re in the final stretch. Finally.

And coming later…I finished writing the first draft of the third novella for Tales From Vasini III. There’s a lot of work to do on it, which will have to wait until The Theatre of Shadows is wrapped up and I’ve done some editing on the stories for Tales From Vasini II. Next on the list of things to write is The Vasini Chronicles III. And then, after that, maybe something non-Vasini related.

The Cities Beyond the Signal on Apple Books

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Hi All,

The Cities Beyond the Signal will be available on the Apple Books store from 12 April 2021 and is available to pre-order now.

You can find it in the UK store here.

For those outside of the UK, please try your local Apple Books store.

It has been three years since Alex travelled to the city between the books, that cold, bleak place haunted by the monkey-beast. Three years and it has become a dream, a hidden memory that is easily passed off as make believe.

Now graduated from university, Alex is struggling to find a job. Until she receives an enigmatic email inviting her to an interview, but with no information on who the job is for and what it involves.

Desperate for employment, Alex feels she has to go. After all, what’s the worst that can happen?

But a cryptic radio signal is going to draw her into a new adventure. What started in that cold, bleak city is going to lead Alex on a rescue mission through stranger and more dangerous places.

The Cities Beyond the Signal is a novella-length sequel to the story The City Between the Books.