You’ve been looking for a new historical fantasy series, right? Today we have E. C. Ambrose’s new book Elisha Barber, which is the first in the Dark Apostle series. Here’s the publisher’s description.
England in the fourteenth century: a land of poverty and opulence, prayer and plague… witchcraft and necromancy.
As a child, Elisha witnessed the burning of a witch outside of London, and saw her transformed into an angel at the moment of her death, though all around him denied this vision. He swore that the next time he might have the chance to bind an angel’s wounds, he would be ready. And so he became a barber surgeon, at the lowest ranks of the medical profession, following the only healer’s path available to a peasant’s son.
Elisha Barber is good at his work, but skill alone cannot protect him. In a single catastrophic day, Elisha’s attempt to deliver his brother’s child leaves his family ruined, and Elisha himself accused of murder. Then a haughty physician offers him a way out: come serve as a battle surgeon in an unjust war.
Between tending to the wounded soldiers and protecting them from the physicians’ experiments, Elisha works night and day. Even so, he soon discovers that he has an affinity for magic, drawn into the world of sorcery by Brigit, a beautiful young witch… who reminds him uncannily of the angel he saw burn.
In the crucible of combat, utterly at the mercy of his capricious superiors, Elisha must attempt to unravel conspiracies both magical and mundane, as well as come to terms with his own disturbing new abilities. But the only things more dangerous than the questions he’s asking are the answers he may reveal.
What’s E. C.’s Favorite Bit?
E. C. AMBROSE
J. R. R. Tolkien once claimed that, when he discovered Strider sitting in the dark recesses of Barleyman Butterbur’s common room, he didn’t know who he was or what he was doing there. That kind of discovery is both fascinating and disconcerting for the author.
I had a moment like that in Elisha Barber, with a character I’d already met and dismissed.
In the first scene, Elisha’s estranged brother bursts in on him while he’s shaving the beard of a fellow called Martin Draper, a wealthy merchant and the head of the Draper’s Guild. Elisha’s sister-in-law is in childbirth—and it’s all going wrong. When Elisha leaves at his brother’s urgent call, the merchant puffs up and shouts at him, insisting that he’ll report Elisha to the Barbers’ Guild for failing to finish the job.
Rounding on the man, Elisha said, “I hope they’ll consider a woman’s life of more value than half a beard.”
“A whore’s life,” the draper answered, then stepped back as Elisha held up the razor still gripped in his fist. His mobile face registered his regret, but Elisha was in no mood to play the draper’s game.
“Helena,” Elisha said in a low and terrible voice, “is a whore no longer, but you’ll be a bugger for the rest of your life, so I’ll ask you to keep your threats to yourself.”
Pale, the man’s jaw dropped, his half-beard bisecting his lips.
As he turned to follow his brother, Elisha thought it a fitting image, half a beard for a man with a double life. No, the order would hear of nothing from him for a variety of reasons.
Martin’s sexuality was a bit surprising, but how had Elisha found out? And what did Martin’s regret mean? My favorite bit? Not yet–just a curious exchange that suggested something a little deeper to the moment than I had thought. I shrugged and kept writing. After all, the scene was about Elisha and his brother, really. But a few chapters later, Elisha returns to his home after dark and has an argument he’s glad none would overhear. Both Elisha and I were surprised to find Martin there waiting for him. . .
“Martin,” Elisha gasped, trying to still the wild pulse.
Martin darted a quick glance around at the use of his name, then mounted the steps, and shut the door. He bent down and collected a silver knife which lay at the turned-up toes of his shiny boots. “I came, I’ve been waiting—” He gave a nod toward the fireplace beyond which was Elisha’s own chamber.
“About this afternoon,” Elisha began. “I am sorry, I hadn’t expected Nate, after so long—and to find me there—”
Laughing gently, Martin lifted another knife in his clean, beringed hand. He shook his head. “Don’t apologize, Elisha. I know what’s happened today. I least of all would ask any such apology from you. It is I who should apologize. I was playing at the supercilious merchant, and got a little carried away. Half your fee indeed.”
Elisha brought one knee up before him to act as a prop for his aching head. “How long were you waiting?”
“Not long.” Martin gathered a probe and a lancet, then a curved parting blade.
“Long enough to hear?”
He nodded.
Elisha blew out a breath.
Martin Draper, Master of the Draper’s Guild, crouched on the floor, one by one gathering Elisha’s filthy tools. Fastidiously, he avoided kneeling down and besmirching his clothes. Every so often, he wiped both tools and hands on a delicate kerchief not quite up to the task.
“Don’t do that,” Elisha said at last, snatching the handful of tools and reaching out for the next. “Your wife will notice blood.”
Laughing again, Martin rose. “My wife is dallying with a weaver, unless I miss my mark. Handsome lad he is, too. And a good thing, since he’s like to be the father of my next child.”
“I’ve no idea how you manage.”
“I am a tradesman, Elisha. I contract, I conspire, and, above all, I compromise.”
This is the scene that really hooked me, showing my protagonist as embedded in his world, just as he’s about to be ripped out of it. It embodies the delight of writing, learning more and finding the unexpected gifts that arise from the subconscious. The idea factory is still working hard, even when I think I’m doing something else.
Martin’s presence allowed me to reveal the back story for Elisha’s estrangement from his brother, and to build in some treasures I make use of later on, not only in this first volume, but continuing through the series. Startled as I was by Martin’s return, I followed through with the discovery, writing my way into knowing him—and knowing my protagonist all the better as a result. I didn’t know, at first, what Martin was doing there, what he wanted, or what his relationship with Elisha could be. More than business, clearly, but never lovers. Martin remains, to me, one of the most clear and intriguing characters in the book.
RELEVANT LINKS
Elisha Barber amazon
twitter/@ecambrose
facebook.com/thedarkapostle
BIO:
E. C. Ambrose is a newly minted history buff, part-time rock climbing instructor and accidental scholar. Along with the Dark Apostle series, published works include “The Romance of Ruins” in Clarkesworld, and “Custom of the Sea,” winner of the Tenebris Press Flash Fiction Contest 2012. Currently, the author works as an adventure guide. Past occupations include founding a wholesale business, selecting stamps for a philatelic company, selling equestrian equipment, and portraying the Easter Bunny on weekends. E. C. spends too much time in a tiny office in New Hampshire with a mournful black lab lurking under the desk.
For sample chapters, historical research and some nifty extras, visit www.TheDarkApostle.com
E. C. Ambrose blogs about the intersections between fantasy and history at wordpress.com/ecambrose
