Book title: Threshold
Series: Engines of Ascendancy
Series number: I
Release: Get it NOW!
Synopsis:
The long, hot summer of 1295 is a time of intermittent war and economic desperation in Western Christendom. The kingdoms of England and France find themselves increasingly embroiled in internal and external conflict that threatens to tear society and religion apart.
Amidst this discord, a quarryman in English-occupied Wales makes a unique discovery; a stone of such improbable beauty and perfection to be of divine origin. Looking to deny the oppressive English rulers such treasure, he secretly tries to sell it on to merchants in the area – who happen to be Templar agents looking for just such an object. It is not long before the local lord becomes aware of the theft, and soon enough those involved become aware that this stone is unlike any treasure they could possibly have imagined.
Thus, in this small corner on the edge of Christendom, events are set in motion that will impact so many across the continent, from peasants, partisans and spies to knights, bishops and monarchs. In all reaches of society, interested and indifferent parties alike are forced to react to the discovery and nature of what becomes known as the Godstone. Memories are stirred, beliefs questioned, and prophecy and destiny hang in the balance in a wide-ranging tale of intrigue, duty, revenge and love across the cities, forests and mountains of thirteenth-century Europe.
Why do I write?
Guest Article from Gregory Figg
Why do I write? I’m interested in writing stories that work on multiple layers, to better reflect the full experience of our own lives. We don’t just have one narrative and dynamic running through our lives at any one point, nor one sole concern. Neither do the circumstances we encounter and experience exist with just our own input. Every situation or event is rich in detail, cause and effect – these are almost limitless both regarding the obvious and the inscrutable, and it is in this depth that I find the fascination of historical fiction and reconstruction. We all daydream and imagine what life would be like in some other place or time, so why not create that experience? Having grown up with my head in historical books, both fiction and non-fiction, I have great appreciation for the historians and novelists who painstakingly recreate their interpretations of what life was like in another place and time. To create a plausible world in which the reader can immerse and lose themselves as much as I have done in writing the stories is my ambition. I want to truly empower the reader to visit other worlds and live other lives, for this is the ultimate gift and experience I can give. I aim to harness the unlimited power of the reader’s imagination and take them on an adventure that will stay with them for life, as memorable as any in real life, as is the case with so many of the novels that I have read.
This is what I hope to achieve with Engines of Ascendancy. It is a grand ambition, of course, and very possibly foolhardy, but I see no reason not to attempt it whilst I have the opportunity to do so. Although educated in the ancient and early modern to modern eras of European history, the middle ages holds particular interest for me – long enough ago (and therefore far enough away) to be exotic, but still close enough to be familiar. Most London streets retain the same name and layout they did seven hundred years ago. The village in which I grew up, Danbury, had historically already been settled for nearly two thousand years by the time the book’s story opens in 1295. People worked, played, loved, fought, laughed, grieved just as they do today, and always have done. I just hope to give a glimpse of my interpretation of their lives by means of exciting, inter-twining and in-depth storylines on an epic scale, to cater for those who, like me, are passionate about the past and really want to get stuck in.
Learning is an archetypal human trait, integral to our identity, whilst storytelling has been a staple of human society since before our earliest ancestors could use spoken language. If I can find a way to convincingly blend the two, then I will be happy. If someone else finds enjoyment from this blend, then I will be over the moon.
About the author: Gregory Figg is an author of historical fiction from London, UK. He writes novels outside of his day job as a product and content marketer for an IT software company. Having earned a BA in Ancient History and Classical Archaeology from the University of Warwick and an MA in History from the University of Essex, he has a strong background in historical study and relishes any opportunity to learn about any and all cultures through the ages.
Published in 2016, Threshold is Gregory’s debut novel and the first in his Engines of Ascendancy series. The second title in the series, Harbinger, is in final editing for publication in the first half of 2018. He is also well underway with writing the series’ third installment, Nemesis.
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