Book Details:
Book Title: The Mark of the Salamander by Justin Newland
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 246 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction and Magical Realism
Publisher: The Book Guild
Release date: September 2023
Content Rating: PG-13 +M. Mild sex and cruelty. Mature themes.
Book Description:
1575.
Nelan Michaels is a young Flemish man fleeing religious persecution in the Spanish Netherlands. Settling in Mortlake outside London, he studies under Queen Elizabeth’s court astrologer, conjuring a bright future – until he’s wrongly accused of murder. Forced into the life of a fugitive, Nelan hides in London, before he is dramatically pressed into the crew of the Golden Hind. Thrust into a strange new world on board Francis Drake’s vessel, Nelan sails the seas on a voyage to discover discovery itself. Encountering mutiny, ancient tribes and hordes of treasure, Nelan must explore and master his own mystical powers – including the Mark of the Salamander, the mysterious spirit of fire.
THE MARK OF THE SALAMANDER is the first in The Island of Angels series: a two-book saga that tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era.
1575.
Nelan Michaels is a young Flemish man fleeing religious persecution in the Spanish Netherlands. Settling in Mortlake outside London, he studies under Queen Elizabeth’s court astrologer, conjuring a bright future – until he’s wrongly accused of murder. Forced into the life of a fugitive, Nelan hides in London, before he is dramatically pressed into the crew of the Golden Hind. Thrust into a strange new world on board Francis Drake’s vessel, Nelan sails the seas on a voyage to discover discovery itself. Encountering mutiny, ancient tribes and hordes of treasure, Nelan must explore and master his own mystical powers – including the Mark of the Salamander, the mysterious spirit of fire.
THE MARK OF THE SALAMANDER is the first in The Island of Angels series: a two-book saga that tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era.
Buy the Book:
Book Guild
Amazon (US) ~ Amazon.uk ~ WHSmith
Bookshop.org ~ Brownsbfs ~ LoveReading
Waterstones ~ Google Books ~ Agenda Bookshop
add to goodreads
Book Guild
Amazon (US) ~ Amazon.uk ~ WHSmith
Bookshop.org ~ Brownsbfs ~ LoveReading
Waterstones ~ Google Books ~ Agenda Bookshop
add to goodreads
Guest Post by Justin Newland: My historical fiction novel, The Mark of the Salamander, has just been published. It’s the first title in a two-book series, The Island of Angels, which tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era.
This blog delves into the Elizabethan world in which the novel was set. In those times, folk were much closer than we are today to angels and the spirit world. Some would call that superstition, and perhaps it was. But others might suggest that in those days, religion was their culture. Today, it’s the reverse, because culture is our religion. In other words, they lived in a religious society. We live in a secular one.
In 1588, the Spanish Armada, set sail from Spain to invade England. It was the largest fleet of ships ever assembled to that date, yet it was repulsed by a smaller but more mobile English fleet, and in the end, not one of Spanish soldier set foot on English soil. How much of that was the work, the secret work, of the angels of the Island? Queen Elizabeth was quick to attribute their victory to divine intervention, and penned the phrase:
‘He (i.e. God) blew, and they were scattered.’
In history, this was known the Protestant Wind.
In some ways, every land is a land of angels, every land has its cohort of angels, every nation is suffused by the charismatic power of its angelic presence. The question being: how much have that people listened to or been guided by the divine intention to which their angels were custodial?
What about the Island of Angels? It’s curious that the first five letters of the ENGLAND are ENGLA, which, changing the letters around, spells ANGEL. Is there evidence of angels in Elizabethan times? Well, yes, as it happens. There was a man who lived in Mortlake, London, who spent many hours conjuring entities from the angelic realms – and you can read about his extraordinary exploits in his books.
His name was Dr John Dee, the astrologer and adviser to Queen Elizabeth herself. He worked with scryers like Edmund Kelley to communicate with angels, one of whom was a little girl who declared her name as Madima. Scrying is the practice of gazing into a medium, a scrying or show stone, for the purposes of divination. He believed that angels offered wise counsel and could help guide the nation to fulfil its divine purpose.
Written in the late 1570’s, one of Dee’s seminal papers was ‘Brytanici Imperii Limites’ or ‘The Limits of (British) Empire.’ This provided a vision of the future, a conduit that eventually opened out into the greatness of Britain and her Empire. Sir Francis Drake would have been conversant with this work. I suspect that it was Dee’s vision of a British Empire spread around the world that spurred the Devon sailor to match the feat of the great Portuguese navigator, Ferdinand Magellan. The rest, as they say, is history.
There is another, earlier apocryphal incident that refers to the Island of Angels. It took place around 590 AD. Pope Benedict was passing through a slave market and encountered some fair-skinned children. When asked who they were, he was told ‘Angles,’ to which Gregory replied, ‘Non Angli, Sed Angeli!’ meaning ‘Not Angles, but Angels!’
All of this suggests that the Island of Angels is a special place. Once it was known as the Island of the Mighty. To the Romans, it was called the Cassiterites, because of the presence of the metal tin in Cornwall and elsewhere. It’s also known as the Island of Angels, for it has been said…
‘Ex Insula Angelorum.
Out of the Island of Angels, no less.
For always was it so and always thus to be.’
Are there angels? Would you know if one came and visited you? Would you know how to conjure one?
Over to you.
Justin Newland
5th October 2023
Images:
The Spanish Armada
The frontispiece of Dr John Dee’s Brytanici Imperii Limites or The Limits of Empire.
Pope Gregory in the Slave Market in Rome
Meet the Author:
JUSTIN NEWLAND’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thriller and magical realism. His stories explore the themes of war and religion, and speculate on the human’s spiritual place in the universe.
Undeterred by the award of a Doctorate in Mathematics from Imperial College, London, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies.
The historical thriller, The Old Dragon’s Head (Matador, 2018), is set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall.
The Coronation (Matador, 2019) was another historical adventure and speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution.
The Abdication (Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.
The Mark of the Salamander (Book Guild, 2023) is the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels. Set in the Elizabethan era, it’s an epic tale of England’s coming of age.
His work in progress is the second in the series, The Midnight of Eights, the charting of the uncanny coincidences that led to the repulse of the Spanish Armada.
Author, speaker and broadcaster, Justin appears on LitFest panels, gives talks to historical associations and libraries and enjoys giving radio interviews and making podcasts. Born three days before the end of 1953, he lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
connect with the author:
website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ pinterest ~ bookbub ~ goodreads
JUSTIN NEWLAND’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thriller and magical realism. His stories explore the themes of war and religion, and speculate on the human’s spiritual place in the universe.
Undeterred by the award of a Doctorate in Mathematics from Imperial College, London, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies.
The historical thriller, The Old Dragon’s Head (Matador, 2018), is set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall.
The Coronation (Matador, 2019) was another historical adventure and speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution.
The Abdication (Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.
The Mark of the Salamander (Book Guild, 2023) is the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels. Set in the Elizabethan era, it’s an epic tale of England’s coming of age.
His work in progress is the second in the series, The Midnight of Eights, the charting of the uncanny coincidences that led to the repulse of the Spanish Armada.
Author, speaker and broadcaster, Justin appears on LitFest panels, gives talks to historical associations and libraries and enjoys giving radio interviews and making podcasts. Born three days before the end of 1953, he lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
connect with the author:
website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ pinterest ~ bookbub ~ goodreads
Enter the Giveaway:
Win an author-signed copy of THE MARK OF THE SALAMANDER by Justin Newland (one winner) (one internationally) (ends Dec 4)
This looks like a great book. Thanks for hosting.
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