An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors

The Risen Kingdoms, Book 1

By: Curtis Craddock

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

A delightful and engrossing fantasy debut featuring an intelligent heroine and her guardian, a royal musketeer.

Caelum is an uninhabitable gas giant like Jupiter. High above it are the Risen Kingdoms, occupying flying continents called cratons. Remnants of a shattered world, these vast disks of soaring stone may be a thousand miles across. Suspended by magic, they float in the upper layers of Caelum's clouds.

Born with a deformed hand and an utter lack of the family's blood magic, Isabelle is despised by her cruel father. She is happy to be neglected so she can secretly pursue her illicit passion for math and science. Then, a surprising offer of an arranged royal marriage blows her life wide open and launches her and Jeane-Claude on an adventure that will take them from the Isle des Zephyrs in l'Empire Céleste to the very different Kingdom of Aragoth, where magic deals not with blood but with mirrors.

©2017 Curtis Craddock (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Curtis Craddock's debut is a grand tale of intrigue, adventure, and gaslight fantasy in the tradition of Alexander Dumas." (Charles Stross)

Classic Swashbuckler!

I loved this classic swashbuckler. It was wonderful to have a young woman as the protagonist, and I loved the way that she learned to face down her fears and do what needed to be done. The world building was fabulous, and the characters were delightful as they chased their way through a grand adventure. The narrator did a fabulous job with this, and it was easy to listen to in the car.

Good one. Worth the credit

A very nice and convoluted plot. At times you fear the author will not be able to tie everything up, but he stand and deliver.
It is a jumble of so many genres you get a headache. wholeheartedly enjoyable!

Good. just good

Overall this was a pretty good story. The blend of quasi-steam punk and magic was very good, even though each had a very distinct flavor; they're not you're garden varieties. Kudos to the author for coming up with something different. Its not exactly steam-punk, its more like the Dwemer in Skyrim: mechanical with a lot of woo-woo. Also, the magic is really not magic at all but, what else do you call it?

Together with these two elements the author blends a thick seasoning of 17th century-ish historical conventions, colloquialisms and regional dialects...which is weird. So, you've got sortof Frenchmen, Spaniards and Englishmen bumping into each other (in space?) with swords and ships and woowoo. Its kind of like the Princess Bride with robots.  The language never really worked for me. Its too familiar and kept bringing me into real history, not building up a fantastic otherworld.

The intensive introspective dialogue was overbearing.  When you think about the the actual footprint of time in the story its just a matter of days: but we see every revolution of every thought in every characters head. Its not horrible but its taxing. Its like a football coach who spends two hours walking through all of the intricacies of a how a single down played out: its interesting but sometimes you just want to watch the game.

I recommend it but I'm not sure I'm ready to move onto book two, yet.

Must Read

I've had this book in my wish list for a while, never quite daring to get it. I'm glad I finally did. I haven't read a book this good in a long time. It's very surprising that this is a debute novel. Many authors can't seem to write their way out of a paper bag in a first novel. I wonder if it is a veteran author writing under a pseudonym? The book is part of a series but stands on it's own and finishes its own story. The characters are likeable and realistic. They actually grow, develop, and change. Get this book, you wont be disappointed!

Fantastic Author and Story - Can't Wait for More!

Listening to this book made Denver, Colorado traffic bearable. I was actually excited to get into the car and go nowhere because of traffic but I felt transported into this unique setting that Curtis Craddock masterfully crafted. If you like science, intelligent female leads, witty dialogue, steampunk, and fantasy / exploration science - this book is for you. I love the two main characters Princess Isabelle des Zephyrs and her father-like musketeer, Jean-Claude. The descriptions of the fantasy land are beautiful to imagine. The narration is wonderful too. I was actually lucky enough to meet the author at Denver's Comic Con and it made me appreciate this book even more. Just trust me ---- just listen to the book its fascinating fantasy fiction fabricated with flair!

Source of many extended driveway moments.

I spent each day looking forward to listening to this book. Worth it by a lot.

Expectations met, and exceeded.

I went Into this book not really knowing much and it blew me away with how intricate the plot really was. What a
fun ride!

Captivating story

I recently listened to this novel. It has a number of twists and unique hooks that had me addicted early on. Rather than having to use a singular plot point, the author writes in a manner than continually adds to the intrigue without losing the reader, a difficult task in distracting times. I find myself very much looking forward to the sequel.

Didn't grab me

This sounded great to me - musketeers plus magic, 2 of my favorite things! But It just never grabbed my interest and I wasn't compelled to find out what would happen. The narrator was good and generally I like long books but somehow this one just didn't do it for me.

Helluva Debut

I came . I stayed for the characters. This is a world unlike anything I've seen. I love the magic and the steampunk elements, but it's the characters that grab me. I especially love Isabelle, and her intelligence and determination to be true to herself.