Medieval Ireland is full of magic and danger, with the Anglo-Normans threatening to invade. Ireland is a fragmented nation of numerous kingdoms that can’t even figure out who their High King is, let alone figure out how to fend off the Anglo-Normans. Caught in the middle is Cuan, the man who is friends with Isolde, the Descendant who is trying to stay alive and learn about her powers. Cuan must fight for revenge for his father by surviving in his treacherous uncle’s court. Can Cuan and Isolde survive against the Irish and the Anglo-Normans, or will their worlds be burned to ashes? Shauna Lawless continues the Gael Song Era 2 series in the second book, “Son of the Serpent.”
I would like to thank Head of Zeus and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this novel. I enjoyed the first book in this series, “Daughter of the Otherworld,” when I read it a few months ago, so when I saw that there was a second book, I wanted to read it. The first book ended on such a cliffhanger that I had to know what happened next.
We begin this novel with Cuan’s story before he met Isolde. He was the son of a prince, and before his father became High King after his grandfather’s death, his uncle Ruaidri took the throne. Now, Cuan lives in his uncle’s court as a nobody, but he has secret powers of his own. Meanwhile, Isolde is learning about her gifts in Seir Kieran, including the gift of seeing visions of the future. She tries to use her powers to protect the other Descendants from the Fomorians and the destruction they bring.
On the other side of the conflict, we have the Fomorians, Donnchad, Angelo, and Gormflaith, who have their own schemes. Donnchad works with Strongbow on a planned invasion of Ireland. Gormflaith plays the cards she is dealt to become a powerful woman in the ranks of Strongbow’s court. Meanwhile, Angelo is on the hunt for the Descendants. Each has to use schemes and disguises to infiltrate and make their plans work. The way this novel ended was a shocking twist that I hope will be resolved in book 3.
It took me a minute to get into this book again, as I was trying to remember who these characters were and how they connected, especially Cuan and Isolde, but once I did, this was a fun ride. It was darker than the first book, filled with action and suspense. I cannot wait to see where the series will go next. If you enjoyed the first book in the Gael Song Era 2 series, you might enjoy “Son of the Serpent” by Shauna Lawless.
We all know the stories of the wives of Henry VIII and how they met their end due to that annoyingly catchy rhyme: divorce, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. But what if things were different? What if Anne Boleyn survived her beheading and joined forces with the other wives to get revenge on their dear ex-husband, Henry VIII? What if Anne Boleyn was a witch and joined a secret sisterhood with Catherine of Aragon to take Henry down? Old rivalries are broken as revenge unites these two women in Jillian Laine’s debut novel, “Henry Tudor Must Die.”
I would like to thank Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this novel. What initially caught my attention with this book was the cover, which reminded me a bit of the Burn Book from Mean Girls. And then I read the description of Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon seeking revenge, and I knew I wanted to read it.
We begin with the day before Anne’s execution. As she waits for the executioner, she receives an unexpected guest, Catherine of Aragon, now known as Lina, who allegedly died a few months ago. She offers Anne, her once mortal enemy, a chance at revenge against Henry, but only if she survives her execution. For a witch like Anne, escape is possible, and once she does escape her dark fate, she joins Lina and the Helleborne Sisterhood, a secret society of witches and women who want a better life, that was founded by Marguerite d’Angouleme.
We get to see Lina and Anne’s friendship blossom through their separate adventures as they are part of the Helleborne Sisterhood in Spain and France. But fate had a different path for these two women, as a prophecy pulled them back to England not only to protect their daughters but also to protect the queens who had followed their path to be married to Henry VIII. This novel was gripping to the very end, which was a shocking yet satisfying ending, with a hint at a sequel novel.
I think those of us who study the Tudors, especially the wives of Henry VIII, have wondered what it would be like if they survived and the wives were friends. This novel allows that idea to run wild with the fun aspect of magic, fictitious relationships, and murders. This is easily one of my favorite historical fantasy novels, and I cannot wait to see what Laine will write next. If you are a Tudor nerd who wants a casual read where the wives get revenge, I highly recommend you read “Henry Tudor Must Die” by Jillian Laine.
Mythological creatures have been part of cultures all around the world, and none as much as unicorns. While many European countries honor the unicorn, there is a series of tapestries in France that show a virgin hunting a unicorn. Now what if you took that mythological tale of the unicorn and combined it with the story of a real historical woman, like Anne, Duchess of Brittany? Anne of Brittany is trying to avoid a marriage to the French king, which would mean her beloved Brittany would become French property, so se devices a scheme. She will have a wedding in a magical forest and disguise it as a unicorn hunt. But what happens in the magical forest does not stay in the forest. The consequences of Anne’s actions will come back to haunt her. Katherine Arden combines historical figures and fantastical elements in her novel, “The Unicorn Hunters.”
I would like to thank Del Rey and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this novel. I have been slowly getting into the subgenre of historical fantasy, so I wanted to continue my journey with a new cast of characters besides the Tudors and 16th-century Italy. I know a little bit about Anne of Brittany, so I was looking forward to seeing how she would translate in a historical fantasy novel.
Anne of Brittany is nervous that if she marries into the French royal family, her beloved Brittany, which she is protecting for her younger sister Isabeau, would fall into the clutches of the French. So, the young duchess comes up with a plan to marry Maximilien of Austria via a proxy wedding in the mystical forest of Broceliande. To distract the French, Anne decides to disguise the wedding as a unicorn hunt so she can give King Charles of France the unicorn horn. The hunt does not go as planned, as Anne receives a piece of the unicorn’s mane and a new suitor for her hand, one with mystical powers and who will not take no for an answer. Anne and Isabeau, along with Louis, Duke of Orleans, must navigate not only the political front of the Holy Roman Empire and France after Brittany, but a threat from the shadows that could destroy everything and everyone Anne loves.
Although I appreciate Arden’s attempt at telling Anne of Brittany’s story with a magical twist, it took me a while to get into this story. I also felt that the historical elements tended to become lost in the fantasy elements, which is a bit of a bummer because I enjoy reading about Anne of Brittany. Overall, I think this was a decent historical fantasy novel. If you want a historical fantasy novel that features Anne of Brittany and elements of her life, you might enjoy “The Unicorn Hunters” by Katherine Arden.
I would like to welcome Justin Newland to my blog today to share his inspiration for his novel “The Spirit of the Times.” I would like to thank Justin Newland and The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to participate in this blog tour.
The word Zeitgeist means the spirit of the times, and this was one of the inspirations for my novel of the same name. The German word alludes to the governing principles of the age or epoch.
It’s not just wars or battles that are influenced or determined by the Zeitgeist, it’s everything. The spirit of the times form up as the ideas, beliefs and aims that typify or characterise a particular period in history. Another way to view the spirit of the times is as a set of governing permissions.
Historians perceive that periods of history are sufficiently different to warrant giving them identifying names: such as the Dark Ages, the Age of Discovery, the Reformation, the Great Enlightenment, or the Information Age.
These are best represented by the saviours, the prophets, the leaders, the kings and queens, the explorers, the scientists, the artists, the composers, and all those great men and women who drew close to and were inspired by the spirit of their times.
I’ve always been fascinated by the Middle Ages, and how this period above all others sowed the seeds of the modern world. The Mongol leader Genghis Khan in particular seemed to personify the spirit of those times. Because, through his actions, his inflexible will and belief in the sky god Tengri, he set about unifying a bunch of disparate nomadic tribes and forged them into the era’s most effective killing machine.
Why did they conquer such a huge area that stretched from China in the East to Hungary in the West? In truth, Genghis was driven by an inexorable belief, given to him by the god Tengri. In 1220, he led his army across the wide steppes and reached the city of Bukhara, which was known as God’s Fascination. He mounted the pulpit of the great Namazgokh Mosque (shown in the image), and spoke to the conquered city. A nomad, accustomed to living in a yurt and beneath the clear blue sky, this was an unusual if not a radical act on his behalf.
This is an extract of what he is reputed to have said:
“O People, know that you have committed great sins. If you ask me what proof I have for these words, I say it is because I am the punishment of God.”
Basically, he’s saying, he’s conquering them because of the Law of Karma. Because of the bad things they had done (they had killed his envoys), he was compelled to take revenge to balance the scales of justice.
Genghis was a scout for the coming spirit of the times, in that he and his Golden Horde destroyed obsolete cultures, preparing the way for a new set of influences that govern our times. Like a strong autumn wind breaks off the weak, rotten boughs from the trees, his mission was to remove decaying, redundant cultures including the Khwarazmian Empire, Western Xia Tangut Empire, the northern and southern Chinese Dynasties, the Delhi Sultanate in India, the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, the Kievan Rus’ and then into eastern Europe.
One way in which this phenomena can be seen is in the founding of the Moghul Empire in India in 1526 by Babur, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan on his mother’s side and the Turkic conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) on his father’s side. Moghul means Mongol. Remember that Shah Jahan was the fifth Moghul Emperor, and is fondly remembered to this day for constructing perhaps the most sublime monument to a love by a grieving husband – the Taj Mahal. Without Genghis Khan, the Taj Mahal would never have been built.
Just as a bird or a fish knows exactly when to migrate, and how to get to their destination, so men like Genghis Khan’s higher instinct responded to and translated his Zeitgeist. That meant that he was current with the influences washing over the world at that time.
He lived by the rules of his times, not of the previous era. He searched and found the spirit of his times, because that was the only valid currency of the day, so to speak.
The two messages he left for us were: Be in your times. And in them, be in the full of your full.
These are some of the inspirations that prompted me to explore The Spirit of the Times.
Justin Newland
9th July 2026
Blurb:
From a land of milk,
And a Road of Silk,
To a ring of roses,
And a dance of posies,
Comes the tale of the spirit of the times!
In fourteenth-century Central Asia, Karia is a young woman living under the yoke of Mongol occupation. But she’s different. She’s a fighter with supernatural powers. She could use them to keep the Black Plague at bay and solve the mystery of the purple skies at dawn – if only she could overcome her self-doubt.
Travelling in caravans on the Silk Road, she faces dangers seen and unseen – from sandstorms and slave traders to the desert djinn and folk who believe she’s a witch. She fears losing Abi, her little cousin, who’s fascinated by roses and the dance of the Whirling Dervishes of Bukhara.
When Karia falls in love with an English sailor fleeing the Knights Hospitaller, they sail to England with Abi to unravel the meaning of the purple skies, a dance, a posy tree, and a ring of roses.
The Spirit of the Times is part history, part fiction and part speculation: on the origin of disease; the power of innocence; the unfortunate aspects of custom and dogma; and humanity’s ability to respond to the governing influence or spirit of the times.
Justin Newland’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres, from historical adventure to supernatural thriller and magical realism.
Undeterred by the award of a doctorate in mathematics from Imperial College, London, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies. Next came The Old Dragon’s Head (Matador, 2018), set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall.
The Coronation (Matador, 2019) features the Great Enlightenment and speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution. The Abdication (Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.
At this point in his writing career, after four self-published books, Justin was offered a part-funded contract with the Book Guild.
The Mark of the Salamander (Book Guild, 2023) is the first in a two-book ‘The Island of Angels’ series. It tells the epic tale of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era. The second in the series, The Midnight of Eights (Book Guild, 2024), charts the uncanny coincidences of time and tide that culminated in the repulse of the Spanish Armada.
His latest novel, The Spirit of the Times (Matador, 2026), is to be published in July. It tells the story of a young Kyrgyz woman’s journey westwards along the Silk Road. With purple skies at dawn, and a supporting cast of Genghis Khan, the Black Plague, a perplexing rhyme, a ring of roses, it explores the greatest mystery of all – the spirit of the times.
Justin’s enduring passion is to explore the origins of our current time. This prompted a broad research into what we’ve inherited from history – encompassing Egypt, China, Prussia and Tudor England. He also writes entertaining talks which he gives to the WI, U3A, Probus, Rotary and local historical associations. Please visit his website for a current list of the talks.
Alongside the talks, Justin promotes his work with regular book signings at TG Jones (ex. WH Smith) high street stores, selling over 3,500 books since 2019. He has sponsored over 40 UK and US blog tours, given frequent radio interviews and penned many guest posts.
His current book signing motto is: Enjoy, Imagine, Discover.
As a member of the Society of Authors, he has Public and Products Liability Insurance.
Born in Essex, England, three days before the end of 1953, he lives with his lady in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
In the Italian states during the 15th century, a time of war coexisted with a period of art flourishing. But what if magic was thrown into the fray? Sculptress Ravenna Maffei desires nothing more than to create art and to protect her family while keeping her own magical powers a secret. To protect those she holds dear, Ravenna enters an art contest, hosted by the immortal family of Florence, the Luni. Ravenna is taken by the family to complete an important task, but if she fails, she will be killed by the heir of the family, Saturnino Luni. Unfortunately, the greatest danger lurks outside of Florence as the pope is waging war against magic itself. Can Ravenna uncover the secrets of the Luni family and finish their difficult task before war engulfs all of Florence? Ravenna’s story is told in Isabel Ibanez’s latest historical fantasy novel, “Graceless Heart.”
This was a spontaneous buy for me. It was really the cover that caught my eye, and then I read the description. I realized that this was a historical fantasy novel, a genre that I have not dabbled in much, but one that I have heard of before. I decided to go on a whim and give it a shot to see how well she could blend magical elements with historical figures and settings.
Ravenna has always had a gift for art, especially sculpting, but when she was younger and exploring a quarry with her aunt, she soon discovered that she has a darker talent, one that she has to keep secret from the rest of the world. We then jump to Volterra in 1478, Ravenna’s hometown, where she is on a mission to save her brother. She decides to enter a sculpting competition, where the prize is anything she asks for. Obviously, she wins the contest and can release her brother from his prison, but the Luni family, the immortal family of Florence, has decided to use Ravenna’s talent for magic for their own goals. They want her to free five mystic stones from marble, which is more difficult than it sounds. The entire family keeps an eye on her, but her biggest threat is the heir to the family, Saturnino.
While Ravenna believes Saturnino and the Luni family are her enemies, she will soon learn that her greatest threat is Pope Sixtus IV who is wanting to wage a war against the Luni family and magic itself. It was nice to see Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Federico da Montefeltro the Duke of Milan featured in this novel. It was a nice touch to add depth to the story and give it a foundation in the past.
The story itself was engaging, so much so that I ended up binge reading quite a bit of it. It was a delightful blend of history and fantasy with a dash of romance. I didn’t know what to expect when it came to reading a historical fantasy, but I had so much fun and I can’t wait to see what Ibanez will write next. If you are someone who enjoys stories set in the Italian Renaissance but you want to dabble in historical fantasy, I think you will enjoy “Graceless Heart” by Isabel Ibanez.
When we think about the Norman Conquest, we often think about how it impacted England, Wales, and Scotland, but we tend to forget about Ireland. Early medieval Ireland do not get a whole lot of attention in historical fiction. That is, until Shauna Lawless’s Gael Song trilogy. Now, fifty years after the events of the original trilogy, Lawless has brought in a new cast of characters, as well as old characters, into the fight between the Descendants of the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomorians. When a child of prophecy is introduced into the mix that is said to be able to defeat the Fomorians, the race is on to protect the child or to kill her. Will the Descendants survive, or will the Fomorians torch the land and the Descendants’ hope? Shauna Lawless jumps back into this work with the Gael Song Era 2 book 1, “Daughter of the Otherworld.”
I would like to thank Bloomsbury USA and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this novel. I am new to this series, but I wanted to read it because I have never read a book about medieval Ireland or about Irish mythology, so when I saw this book available, I decided to give it a shot, especially with such a stunning cover.
We pick up fifty years after the Battle of Clontarf, and a man named Donnchad is on the run from Broccan of the Tuatha De Danann. Donnchad is a Fomorian, which means he can use fire magic and is the mortal enemy of those descendants of the Tuatha De Danann. Donnchad can reunite with his mother, Gormflaith, in Rome. Meanwhile, Broccan has a dream that tells him that he must go back to Rathlin Island and protect the daughter of Fodla, who has been in the Otherworld for a long time. The daughter, Isolde, is destined to defeat the fire, which might be a reference to the Fomorians.
Broccan raises Isolde as his own daughter until she is 17, but he never tells her who she is or her purpose in this giant conflict. But that all changes when the Fomorians find out about Isolde and decide to attack Rathlin Island. They believe that the threat has been neutralized, but Isolde lives and must travel to the mainland to find her cousin Colmon in Seir Kieran. While Isolde is searching for family and to figure out who she is, the Fomorians seek to control Ireland with the Norman lords of England.
This is a novel full of conflict, both magical and mortal, romance and heartbreak. Lawless does a great job of not only balancing numerous perspectives but also balancing mythology with historical battles and figures to create an original story. While I did enjoy the story, it did take me a while to figure out who the characters were and the overall conflict. I think after reading this particular book, I want to read the previous books in the series before I jump into the latest one. If you have read the previous books in the Gael Song trilogy, I think you will enjoy “Daughter of the Otherworld” by Shauna Lawless.
I am pleased to welcome Christy Matheson to my blog today to share a snippet from her novel, “The Boat on the Lake of Regret.” I would like to thank The Coffee Pot Book Club and Christy Matheson for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.
Snippet
Conversation with Morálta:
But Morálta just shakes her head. “How should I know? I told you, I just work here.”
“What has happened to Mór and Nuala?” The words burst out of me.
She shrugs again. “I’m not in contact with the giants, so I don’t really have details. Last I saw, Red-beard was hoisting Nuala onto his pillion, and Mór was in Black-beard’s cart.”
“Are they safe?”
She gives me a strange look. “Safety is an illusion, Hannah.”
“But”—I wave my hands around this room—“any more danger than we are in, here?” Which might be considerable.
Morálta rolls her eyes. “It’s not like they are man-eating giants or anything. Black-beard really doesn’t care for those who don’t do their fair share of the work, so I dare say that Mór is going to be doing some scrubbing, and from what I’ve seen of her she’s not going to enjoy it. But hopefully you all have some true loves signed up to come and fetch you home again, right?”
“Maybe…”
Morálta does a double-take. “Three princes, three princesses, et cetera, and you couldn’t even fall in love?”
“We didn’t have enough time,” I protest. “They just arrived last night.” Except me.
Morálta sighs, sounding put-upon. “And you couldn’t manage it in one evening? Young people these days. I don’t know why the Seven-Inch-Man didn’t give you three days, which would have fit better anyhow. I’ll put it in my Exit Survey when I finish up here. Now, did you want tea or did you not?”
We both murmur politely that we would like tea, thank you, and Morálta whisks away again.
That was possibly the strangest conversation I’ve ever had. Exit Survey?
Blurb:
He has one last chance to be a fairy tale hero.
But she didn’t agree to be the damsel in distress.
When her longtime boyfriend unexpectedly slides a ring on her finger, Hannah is whisked from her everyday bedroom to a medieval ball. Hannah knew that Dylan would do anything to prove to her parents that he’s husband material, including going into the Fae world—but she never agreed to go through the Veil herself.
Now one of three princess sisters, Hannah is paired with now-Prince Dylan. But, homesick and blindsided, she pretends the Veil has wiped him from her memory.
As her prince scrambles in vain to be the right kind of hero, Hannah ignores her instincts and follows her new sisters onto a mysterious boat—which promptly sails them into a land of giants, magical traps, and enchanted pianos…and away from Dylan.
Read now to journey back to medieval Ireland, complete with the Fae and mythological monsters, in this fairy tale adventure and sweet “it was always you” romance.
Characters you connect with. Adventure. Love. Family… And endings that are more than a sugar rush.
When Christy Matheson is not throwing ordinary characters into fairy tales, she is busy raising five children. (Very busy.) She writes character-driven historical fiction with and without fantasy elements, and her “fresh, smart, and totally charming” stories have won multiple awards.
Christy is also an embroidery artist, classically trained pianist, and sews all of her own clothes. She lives in Oregon, on a country property that fondly reminds her of a Regency estate (except with a swing set instead of faux Greek ruins), with her husband, five children, three Shelties, one bunny, and an improbable quantity of art supplies.
I am pleased to welcome Dirk Strasser to my blog to share a guest article about his latest novel, “Conquist”. I want to thank Dirk Strasser and The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to participate in this blog tour.
The capture of Atahualpa by Pizarro in Cajamarca (Juan Lepiani)
History isn’t as clear-cut as it’s often portrayed, particularly when it comes to conflict. There’s no doubt that victors usually get to write the narrative. Historians strive for an accurate reconstruction of our past by looking at sources from different sides of a conflict. But what happens when the sources from one side are few and far between because the losing culture has been comprehensively overwhelmed? Often myths abound about the innate superiority of the victors, and it takes a historian to pick them apart. As I was writing my historical fantasy novel Conquist, I did my best to ensure that I didn’t perpetuate these three myths about the Spanish conquest of the Incan Empire.
Myth 1: Fransisco Pizarro conquered an empire of several million with fewer than two hundred men.
The Incan Empire was the largest nation in the world when the conquistadors invaded. It was estimated to have a population of 10 million and an imperial army of 80,000 soldiers. Fransisco Pizarro had 168 men under his command: 106 on foot and 62 on horseback. These numbers are misleading.
Relatively recent archaeological examinations of human remains excavated from Incan cemeteries near conquistador Incan battlegrounds have shown a large percentage of injuries were from Indigenous weapons. Around 150,000 indigenous Andean peoples have been estimated to have fought on the side of the Spanish invaders. The conquistadors had the support of large numbers of Incan subjects like the Huancas and Chankas who seized the chance to escape Incan rule and rise against their oppressors. Also, just before the conquistadors invaded, the Incan Empire was undergoing a brutal civil war between two half-brothers Huáscar and Atahualpa, which Atahualpa won, so it was easy for the Spaniards to enlist Huáscar’s allies such as the Cañaris and Chachapoyas. A significant portion of the population of the Incan Empire would have sided with the conquistadors.
So, the combatant numbers were far more even than those usually quoted. In addition to the conquistadors’ indigenous allies, over 3000 Spanish reinforcements arrived at various stages of the invasion. Plus the Spanish encouraged support amongst the Incans by installing puppet emperors—the most notable being Manco Inca, who is central to the plot of Conquist during the period after he had escaped and was fighting against the Spaniards.
Myth 2: Guns gave the conquistadors a crucial advantage over the Incas in battle.
The type of gun used by the conquistadors, the harquebus, was a heavy and slow-to-reload low-velocity rifle. Harquebuses were unwieldy, unpredictable, and not terribly accurate. The Spanish used them as a support weapon rather than the mainstay of their army.
The conquistadors did have significant advantages over the Incas in battle, but it wasn’t their guns. Arguably the biggest of these advantages was their horses. Not only did horses provide fast transportation across different terrains, but they could also pull heavy cannons. The Inca had no equivalent riding animal and couldn’t match the speed and mobility of the Spanish cavalry, which could break up tight battle formations, quickly flank an enemy, or attack from the rear.
Conquistadors rode their horses in what’s known as the jimeta style, using bent knees to grip the sides of their mounts. This gave considerable maneuverability and control to the rider, and with only one hand on the reins, the other hand was free for the Spanish to use their swords to cut down the Inca soldiers from a height.
The Spanish perro de guerra or war dogs also gave the conquistadors a huge advantage over the Inca. They were huge breeds such as mastiffs and molossus dogs, many of them weighing over 100 kilograms and up to a meter tall. They often wore spiked armor and were specifically trained to chase, dismember, and kill people in battle.
Swords, crossbows, and steel armor were superior to the Incan slings, clubs, and cotton armor, but the conquistadors also had a tactical advantage. Incan warfare was inflexible and highly ritualized, tactics weren’t changed mid-battle, and Inca soldiers retreated if their leaders fell in battle. Most of all, ambush and deceit were not used in warfare, so the Inca were unprepared for the Spanish using these techniques. Crucially, the capture of the unsuspecting Incan emperor Atahualpa was achieved through subterfuge. In Conquist Cristóbal de Varga intentionally follows the battle plans and tactics of Pizarro, but it doesn’t work out quite the same way for him because the Inca have learned not to trust the Spanish.
Myth 3: All conquistadors were white.
There were a number of African conquistadors. They were an integral part of Spanish conquest campaigns in the Americas and fought alongside the Spanish against the Inca. The freed African slave in Conquist Lieutenant Héctor Valiente was inspired by the black conquistador Juan Valiente, who was born around 1505 in Northwest Africa where he was enslaved and transported to Mexico.
In 1533, Juan Valiente signed an agreement with his master Alonso Valiente, which allowed him to become a conquistador and return in four years with profits he could use to buy his freedom. He joined Pedro de Almagro’s expedition to Peru in 1534 as a soldier, where he was one of around 200 Africans. While most of the members of that expedition died in the Andes, Juan survived, and by 1540 he had been promoted to the rank of captain. Six years later he helped found the city of Santiago and as a reward he received an estate.
While he lived as a free and wealthy man in Chile, he was strictly speaking still a slave. Despite Juan’s attempts to pay his debt, Alonso Valiente claimed the payment hadn’t been received. Juan Valiente died fighting in the Andes at the Battle of Tucapel in 1553 and was never legally free, although his son did inherit his estate.
Blurb:
Capitán Cristóbal de Varga’s drive for glory and gold in 1538 Peru led him and his army of conquistadors into a New World that refused to be conquered. He is a man torn by life-long obsessions and knows this is his last campaign.
What he doesn’t know is that his Incan allies led by princess Sarpay have their furtive plans to make sure he never finds the golden city of Vilcabamba. He also doesn’t know that Héctor Valiente, the freed African slave he appointed as his lieutenant, has found a portal that will lead them all into a world that will challenge his deepest beliefs. And what he can’t possibly know is that this world will trap him in a war between two eternal enemies, leading him to question everything he has devoted his life to – his command, his Incan princess, his honor, his God.
In the end, he faces the ultimate dilemma: how is it possible to battle your obsessions . . . to conquer yourself?
Dirk Strasser’s epic fantasy trilogy The Books of Ascension—Zenith, Equinox, and Eclipse—was published in German and English, and his short stories have been translated into several European languages. “The Doppelgänger Effect” appeared in the World Fantasy Award-winning anthology Dreaming Down Under. He is the co-editor of Australia’s premier science-fiction and fantasy magazine, Aurealis.
Dirk was born in Germany but has lived most of his life in Australia. He has written a series of best-selling school textbooks, trekked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, and studied Renaissance history. “Conquist” was first published as a short story in the anthology Dreaming Again (HarperCollins). The serialized version of Conquist was a finalist in the Aurealis Awards Best Fantasy Novel category. Dirk’s screenplay version of Conquist won the Wildsound Fantasy/Sci-Fi Festival Best Scene Reading Award and was a featured finalist in the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival and the Creative World Awards.
In the Italian states during the 15th century, a time of war coexisted with a period of art flourishing. But what if magic was thrown into the fray? Sculptress Ravenna Maffei desires nothing more than to create art and to protect her family while keeping her own magical powers a secret. To protect those she holds dear, Ravenna enters an art contest, hosted by the immortal family of Florence, the Luni. Ravenna is taken by the family to complete an important task, but if she fails, she will be killed by the heir of the family, Saturnino Luni. Unfortunately, the greatest danger lurks outside of Florence as the pope is waging war against magic itself. Can Ravenna uncover the secrets of the Luni family and finish their difficult task before war engulfs all of Florence? Ravenna’s story is told in Isabel Ibanez’s latest historical fantasy novel, “Graceless Heart.”
When we think about the Norman Conquest, we often think about how it impacted England, Wales, and Scotland, but we tend to forget about Ireland. Early medieval Ireland do not get a whole lot of attention in historical fiction. That is, until Shauna Lawless’s Gael Song trilogy. Now, fifty years after the events of the original trilogy, Lawless has brought in a new cast of characters, as well as old characters, into the fight between the Descendants of the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomorians. When a child of prophecy is introduced into the mix that is said to be able to defeat the Fomorians, the race is on to protect the child or to kill her. Will the Descendants survive, or will the Fomorians torch the land and the Descendants’ hope? Shauna Lawless jumps back into this work with the Gael Song Era 2 book 1, “Daughter of the Otherworld.”
I am pleased to welcome Christy Matheson to my blog today to share a snippet from her novel, “The Boat on the Lake of Regret.” I would like to thank The Coffee Pot Book Club and Christy Matheson for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.
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Author Bio