Facing a heated courtroom of strangers, he must now recall the events that brought him here as a fellow alchemist probes his memory. Such is the job of alchemists: administering elixirs in order to see into the minds of men. Their dreams. Their nightmares. Their secrets.
But while everyone believes him guilty, Alchemist Ortez knows what they do not.
He was hired by the victim for a job unlike any they could imagine. Nor would they ever guess what other mysteries lie buried beneath the mountain metropolis of Aurora, a cave-enclosed city where countless gas lamps illuminate the endless night.
The Night Circus meets Inception in this mind-bending fantasy mystery. Ranked one of the 20 Best Completed stories on Royal Road and both a SPFBO and BBNYA semi-finalist, Trial of the Alchemist is "a beautifully written tale of memory and murder... that will keep readers glued to the pages until the final twist is revealed." (Before We Go Blog)
BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website or Twitter.
Alchemist Ortez is on trial, accused of murdering the main employer of Aurora. In this world, trials are unique in that they have alchemists who can give elixirs to people and connect their minds together with a halo and wire. Then the legal alchemist can see what the other person sees/remembers. This way they can tell the judge whether the person is telling the truth. As long as the legal alchemist isn’t corrupt then this way of doing things would and should prevent innocent people from going to prison. Or being executed. There are other kinds of alchemists, of which Ortez is one, but he’s also a unique alchemist. He knows he didn’t commit murder. So, who did?
This story grabbed my attention from the beginning. What a unique way of doing things! How cool would it be to have all kinds of elixirs for a wide variety of uses? Especially ones that prevent people from lying. The writing, the world, the characters are excellent and the mystery of who murdered Everett Day kept me guessing until the end. The surprise in the mountain is also superbly done. All-in-all a great read for lovers of gaslamp mystery.
If you are Book Blogger or reviewer you can apply to be part of the awesome 2025 BBNYA panel via this form (coming soon). Please remember to read the terms and conditions before signing up.
BBNYA is brought to you in association with book blogger support group TheWriteReads.
No comments:
Post a Comment