‘A stunning English-language debut with this breathless, swashbuckling tale of intrigue, spying, and swordfights. An adventure plot leaves plenty of room for character development, drama, and excitement.’
Publishers Weekly - starred review
The Cardinal's Blades
(Les Lames du Cardinal)Summary
Paris, 1633. The streets are filled with intrigue, duels, spies and adventure. The skies are filled with dragons. Dragonnets are exotic pets, wyverns are high-class riding mounts, and drac thugs are the coarsest of mercenaries.
But the power rising from Spain and its Court of Dragons is anything but mundane ; there the deadly Black Claw cult draws on dragons as they once were: ancient, terrible, utterly merciless, and wielding a dark and powerful sorcery. Their plans contain little room for the lives or freedom of men and could end with a huge dragon-shaped shadow falling over Europe.
With war on the horizon, Cardinal Richelieu turns to the only person who can counter the dragons’ insidious plot: Captain La Fargue, an exceptional swordsman, devoted officer and brilliant leader. With his legendary company of swashbucklers and rogues, only he can have a chance to defeat the enemies of the Crown.
They’re the Cardinal’s Blades. It’s the biggest challenge yet for them – and they’ll need to be sharp…
‘A cross between Fantasy and swashbuckler, perfectly executed.’
Le Monde
Book 1 The Cardinal's Blades
Book 2 The Alchemist in the Shadow
Book 3 The Dragon Arcana
Omnibus The Cardinal's Blades
Awards :
• Teen Choice award 2009 Imaginales – Prix des Lycéens
• David Gemmell Legend Award 2010 for best newcomer
MOVIE RIGHTS SOLD!
Key points
The Cardinal’s Blades is part historical novel, part old-fashioned swashbuckling high-action adventure, and part classic Fantasy. Set in the superbly realised and impeccably researched world of seventeenth-century France, Pierre Pevel has woven some of the best-loved Fantasy tropes – musketeer-style adventuring, daring swordsman, political intrigue, non-stop action, and dragons – into a stunning new Fantasy series.
• Exceptionally commercial concept – this is Dumas with dragons
• The musketeers, Cardinal’s Guards and Cardinal Richelieu have never been out of fashion
• Huge appeal for fans of historical as well as Fantasy novels
• ‘Two words: great fun. This is the France of Fanfan la Tulipe: a land of flashing blades and break-neck chases, beautiful women and gallant warriors, of masquerades and midnight plots and sword play.’ — Strange Horizons
English edition of the whole trilogy available!