J. Alexander Cohen is joining us today to talk about his novel, Talio Rossa and the Elixir of Life. Here’s the publisher’s description:
Magic might be the cure, but magic is gone…
Six months after the events of Talio’s Codex, Talio and Pazli are living and working court cases together, but struggling with their mixed-religion relationship. When a lump on Pazli’s neck appears malignant, Talio must do all he can to find a cure, even by magic. But since all mages were killed fifty years earlier, that should be impossible, shouldn’t it?
Hobb, a medical historian, claims to have the elixir of life: a universal cure for any disease. As Talio investigates the mysterious man, he wonders if he might be the real thing…or if putting Pazli under his care will kill him.
As he races to uncover the truth about Hobb, Talio must also raise a huge amount of money to pay for the surgery. High-stakes gambling is the answer, even though he may lose his hand in the process. But with Pazli’s life hanging in the balance, Talio has to discover what Hobb’s hiding-a secret that will change their world forever.
What’s J. Alexander’s favorite bit?
Writing fantasy fiction for me is like falling into a trance.
It’s a form of alchemy I never tire of. While my eyes focus on the letters forming onscreen in front of me, the landscape of the scene takes form around me. I can hear the spoken words, feel the rush of the air. All the while, the imagination of my senses is transmuted into those little white symbols on a black screen.
I love it when media takes me away. It’s like magic.
Talio Rossa, protagonist of the Talio’s Tales series, is no magician. He’s an advocate, or what we’d call a lawyer. He’s been a magistrate, too. Logical, brilliant. But for the first time in his life, he comes face to face with magic, the unknown, and possibility. Simply put, Talio finds out there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in his philosophy.
Talio and Pazli Mecomb, his always-masked, always concealed religious Incarnite partner in law and love, have traveled to a small town to investigate possible toxic dumping by a manufacturing firm. They decide to take a horse from where they are staying, sneak in, and investigate the grounds. All perfectly rational and normal.
Except there’s a huge Impassable Forest right next to them. With glyphs and a magical blue barrier protecting Talio, Pazli and the rest of the world from monsters. The last remnants of the War of the Four Cities 50 years ago, when the non-mages managed to trap those with magical powers and their beasts behind the barrier. A simple horseback ride alongside the Impassable Forest will bring them to the factory.
And then…
Talio and Pazli are in motion, the horse skimming the surface of the ground. As in dreams, the scenery has shifted without them realizing. The horse is flying, floating. Pazli encourages Talio to touch the magical barrier, which is forbidden, and when he does so, a stream of sapphire blue light flows from his hand. Then the monsters awaken.
A dazzling phoenix of fire. A stained-glass flying serpent. The quiescent monsters come to life, swooping alongside the horse, marking their passage. Of course, Talio knows there are still monsters, but to see them!
And then they are literally flying, rising into the air to meet the monsters on the other side of the barrier. Is it a dream, or a vision, or something else entirely? At that point the exigencies of the law fall away. The religious differences between Talio and Pazli and their interfaith relationship disappear. Talio looks up to see Pazli’s forbidden face, and in this alternate world, the other man’s hood falls away to reveal a portrait of flames.
This short scene serves several purposes in Talio Rossa and the Elixir of Life: To introduce real magic into the series, to foreshadow the religious struggles Talio and Pazli will face within themselves and their communities. And to open a crack in a series that’s been utterly rationalist so far.
After all, lawyers and judges need wonder, too.
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BIO:
J. Alexander Cohen graduated from law school in the early 1990s and worked in legal publishing for several years. He still looks upon his legal education somewhat fondly, even though he never practiced law. He’s also surprised as to how much he actually remembers of what he learned. His first novel, Bear Like Me, was published in 2003 and reprinted in 2011. The first two books of the Talio’s Tales series (Talio’s Codex and Talio Rossa and the Elixir of Life) were published by Space Wizard Science Fantasy in 2024 and 2026. He lives in Toronto, Canada and spends his days as a family caregiver. https://www.jalexandercohen.com
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