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Five hundred years ago, in an alternate Age of Exploration, the earth is flat. Alchemy is a true science, sea monsters menace the oceans, and Europe is embroiled in religious controversy. At the edge of the world, where the stars reach down close to the Earth, wonders abound. This drives the bravest explorers to the beckoning Western Ocean.
Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship.
Fleeing an inquisition, physician Stephen Parris follows Sinclair to an island that perches upon the farthest horizon, bringing his daughter Catherine with him. The island teems with fantastical animals and alluring mysteries...and may even harbor the most coveted secret of all ... in this novel by David Walton.
“Quintessence is an utterly stunning work of imagination, a slipstream counterhistory set in a fourteenth century that is as audaciously imagined as any work of science fiction.” —Rosemary Edghill, coauthor of The Shadow of Albion
“With Quintessence David Walton proves that winning the Philip K. Dick Award was not a fluke, but a harbinger of things to come.” —Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of the Oracle Trilogy
March 4, 2014
