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Ascendant #1
Deathspell: vengeance, magic, and historical fantasy
In 15th century England, royal houses warred, rising aristocrats seized power, and old families ruthlessly defended their holdings. It was a perfect world for magicians and mercenaries.
Secretive and ambitious, magic users are rare in medieval England. Needing to secure their futures, some craft alliances with noble families. The only way to make good on their promises is to find those capable of magic and bring them into the fold, and the best way to identify the gift is to trace magical lines of succession. Or to create them.
Richard Hardi was a man who knew what a taste of magic could do to a person. He'd escaped from the cabal who had taught him to use his gifts and thought he could protect his sons from making the same mistakes. Neither of his children knew about the magic in their blood, and their mother had taken the secret to an untimely grave.
When Richard is murdered, Christian loses the one person who had given him understanding, patience, and unrepentant kindness. And although their father had taught them the value of family, Christian wanted no part of his older brother Jeffery's advice regarding what to do with his future. So he became a mercenary.
The day his magic stirred awake, suddenly noblewomen wanted to hire him, thieves tried to seduce him, and fire spoke to him. It might have been exciting if he didn't need to be worried about staying alive.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you like adventure, magic, a dash of romance, hidden family legacies, killers with hearts of gold, men who love men and women alike, or alternate history that adds the supernatural on top of reality, this book is for you.
Secretive and ambitious, magic users are rare in medieval England. Needing to secure their futures, some craft alliances with noble families. The only way to make good on their promises is to find those capable of magic and bring them into the fold, and the best way to identify the gift is to trace magical lines of succession. Or to create them.
Richard Hardi was a man who knew what a taste of magic could do to a person. He'd escaped from the cabal who had taught him to use his gifts and thought he could protect his sons from making the same mistakes. Neither of his children knew about the magic in their blood, and their mother had taken the secret to an untimely grave.
When Richard is murdered, Christian loses the one person who had given him understanding, patience, and unrepentant kindness. And although their father had taught them the value of family, Christian wanted no part of his older brother Jeffery's advice regarding what to do with his future. So he became a mercenary.
The day his magic stirred awake, suddenly noblewomen wanted to hire him, thieves tried to seduce him, and fire spoke to him. It might have been exciting if he didn't need to be worried about staying alive.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you like adventure, magic, a dash of romance, hidden family legacies, killers with hearts of gold, men who love men and women alike, or alternate history that adds the supernatural on top of reality, this book is for you.
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 13, 2015
19 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Connor Peterson
25 books26 followersConnor Peterson is a USA Today bestselling author of LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and dark, paranormal romance, local to the Philadelphia, PA area. The madman behind Deathspell and Temptation in Neon, Connor has also contributed to the story cycle Red Phone Box - published by Ghostwoods Books - and the anthology Nocturnal Embers - published by Crimson Melodies Publishing. He is also an active participant in the Philadelphia writing community, and volunteers as a municipal liaison for National Novel Writing Month.
You can follow him on Twitter (@AuthorConnorP) and Facebook (@AuthorConnorP), where he actively avoids being on time for any of his deadlines.
You can follow him on Twitter (@AuthorConnorP) and Facebook (@AuthorConnorP), where he actively avoids being on time for any of his deadlines.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 29, 2015
deathspell
Despite turning into a vampire thing, this started off interesting. I think the concept has been done better Michael G Manning springs to mind but the plot was compelling and the romance didn't interfere, although nor did it really add much to the story. I'd read another set in the world, just to see where things ended up.
Despite turning into a vampire thing, this started off interesting. I think the concept has been done better Michael G Manning springs to mind but the plot was compelling and the romance didn't interfere, although nor did it really add much to the story. I'd read another set in the world, just to see where things ended up.
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August 10, 2015
The Premise:
As a child, Christian is witness to his father's murder at the hands of men who can kill without touching and whom blades do not harm. He barely escapes with his life, bearing with him a pendant and a scroll, all he has left of his father. He swears vengeance, but his only clue is the red cloak of the perpetrator, and his sigil, a flame within a circle.
Christian becomes a mercenary and devotes his life to the art of killing, determined someday to confront and kill his father's murderer. But as his search progresses, he finds that the circle in a flame is far-reaching, a secret society inhabited by some of England's most powerful men, for whom killing with a thought is child's play. Fortunately, Christian has some curious abilities of his own.
The Good:
As always, Dawes is a master storyteller.
Christian is sort of like a darker, grittier Inigo Montoya, and much of the banter and wit has a very Princess Bride feel about it. Of course, the similarities are limited. Christian does have a life outside of his quest for vengeance: a tentative romance with one of his fellow mercenaries, a brother and sister in law and two charming nieces whom he sometimes visits, a hilariously authentic exasperation with his boss, and a creepy enjoyment for the destruction his job entails.
Paolo, the romantic interest, is a whimsical, puckish thief, but his care for Christian runs deep and true. The Lady Cavendish is mysterious and seductive. (There is a lot of sex, but many kudos to Dawes for not making the Lady's power reside exclusively in her sexuality. She's dangerous, but not merely because her body is just so darn distracting.) The grand, global conspiracy of the Luminaries is frightening.
The research is excellent, also, and I love it when you can tell the author knows what they're talking about without expounding on minutia for pages. No long, didactic passages, just authentic, interesting detail.
The Bad:
If I had to pick a flaw, it would be that Dawes's language is sometimes unnecessarily decorative when elegant simplicity would have been more appropriate. There are a lot of flowery turns of phrase, sometimes close enough together to be distracting. There are also some weird usage issues that caused me to reread some sentences.
In Conclusion:
Reads like a nifty combination of Princess Bride, Three Musketeers, and A Song of Ice and Fire. Magic, politics, and mercenaries ftw.
Four stars, would recommend.
Not a book for those who don't enjoy lots of sexually explicit content.
As a child, Christian is witness to his father's murder at the hands of men who can kill without touching and whom blades do not harm. He barely escapes with his life, bearing with him a pendant and a scroll, all he has left of his father. He swears vengeance, but his only clue is the red cloak of the perpetrator, and his sigil, a flame within a circle.
Christian becomes a mercenary and devotes his life to the art of killing, determined someday to confront and kill his father's murderer. But as his search progresses, he finds that the circle in a flame is far-reaching, a secret society inhabited by some of England's most powerful men, for whom killing with a thought is child's play. Fortunately, Christian has some curious abilities of his own.
The Good:
As always, Dawes is a master storyteller.
Christian is sort of like a darker, grittier Inigo Montoya, and much of the banter and wit has a very Princess Bride feel about it. Of course, the similarities are limited. Christian does have a life outside of his quest for vengeance: a tentative romance with one of his fellow mercenaries, a brother and sister in law and two charming nieces whom he sometimes visits, a hilariously authentic exasperation with his boss, and a creepy enjoyment for the destruction his job entails.
Paolo, the romantic interest, is a whimsical, puckish thief, but his care for Christian runs deep and true. The Lady Cavendish is mysterious and seductive. (There is a lot of sex, but many kudos to Dawes for not making the Lady's power reside exclusively in her sexuality. She's dangerous, but not merely because her body is just so darn distracting.) The grand, global conspiracy of the Luminaries is frightening.
The research is excellent, also, and I love it when you can tell the author knows what they're talking about without expounding on minutia for pages. No long, didactic passages, just authentic, interesting detail.
The Bad:
If I had to pick a flaw, it would be that Dawes's language is sometimes unnecessarily decorative when elegant simplicity would have been more appropriate. There are a lot of flowery turns of phrase, sometimes close enough together to be distracting. There are also some weird usage issues that caused me to reread some sentences.
In Conclusion:
Reads like a nifty combination of Princess Bride, Three Musketeers, and A Song of Ice and Fire. Magic, politics, and mercenaries ftw.
Four stars, would recommend.
Not a book for those who don't enjoy lots of sexually explicit content.
March 23, 2019
This is an engaging slow-burn of a novel with a compelling narrator in Christian Richardson. I'm not usually a historical fiction reader, but Peterson does a great job at keeping the plotline relatable even in an unfamiliar time period by grounding the story in Christian's desires and journey. I particularly enjoyed his loving relationship with Paolo and how his relationship with his brother changed over the course of the story. There are depths to the relationships in the Richardson family that I hope will be explored in future volumes. The reveal of the nature of the Luminaries came as a surprise, and the ending was particularly intriguing. I'm curious to see where Christian's story goes next.
February 18, 2018
If you're looking for rogues, magic, and strained family dynamics, this is a read for you. Christian Richardson is my new favorite mess child. When he was young, he witnessed his father's murder and has been on the run and on the hunt ever since.
The characters are compelling and not one-note. My favorite relationship was the ever-evolving tension between Christian and his brother. Dawes does a great job highlighting both brothers' perspective on life. His brother wants to leave the past behind while Christian can't stop chasing it. And that journey goes to several unexpected places. There's a really good slow reveal of the magic and supernatural twists in the world of 1400's England. Every bit is a surprise to the character and the reader and we get to learn as he do.
I think the distribution of non-magic to magic was a little bit end-heavy. I think there could have been more nods sprinkled throughout. There was enough intrigue around the secret society hunting Christian to keep up the momentum, that being said.
An enthralling read with heart, I can't wait to see how Christian's journey will progress and I hope to the lords that nothing bad happens to my favorite, Paolo.
The characters are compelling and not one-note. My favorite relationship was the ever-evolving tension between Christian and his brother. Dawes does a great job highlighting both brothers' perspective on life. His brother wants to leave the past behind while Christian can't stop chasing it. And that journey goes to several unexpected places. There's a really good slow reveal of the magic and supernatural twists in the world of 1400's England. Every bit is a surprise to the character and the reader and we get to learn as he do.
I think the distribution of non-magic to magic was a little bit end-heavy. I think there could have been more nods sprinkled throughout. There was enough intrigue around the secret society hunting Christian to keep up the momentum, that being said.
An enthralling read with heart, I can't wait to see how Christian's journey will progress and I hope to the lords that nothing bad happens to my favorite, Paolo.
June 26, 2021
This book had some interesting concepts. I thought the magic system had at least some potential. The conspiracy was interesting. The ending kinda got a bit weird. I still almost want to see where the conspiracy goes. But the writing was kinda bad. There were lots of anachronisms and even more writing mistakes. Three stars is quite generous. I am intrigued by the world the author was building. But not enough to suffer through more of this writing.
February 22, 2016
*spoiler alert* This could have been so much better if it wasn't a vampire book. And I had no idea it was a vampire story until almost the end. It didn't need to be a vampire story - it was doing well enough on its own supernatural theme. The bisexual male protagonist made it feel like a ripoff of Anne Rice's vampire chronicles.
February 28, 2022
It took me a while to get around to doing, but I've written a review of this book and posted it on Medium.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews