A novel of swashbuckling adventure, intrigue, and romance.

The heroes of my new novel live in a beautiful city. It has a name, but I might change it, so I’ll just call it the city.

It is in a warm land, on a deep water bay at the mouth of a wide river. Most of the buildings are made from golden-yellow limestone. It’s a city of fountains and gardens and broad sunny courtyards and narrow, noncollinear cobblestone lanes, lined with noisy shops and marketplaces. Symbols of the gods are carved on street corners, birds and trees and clouds and stars. You can drop a coin into an alms box at one of these small but omnipresent shrines, and pray.

The city is old: once a medieval fortress guarded by vast walls, now its suburbs overflow those walls and sprawl out to the south, amid vineyards and lemon orchards.

The city is summited by a castle, where the Queen lives. There is also a lavish modern palace, where her Heir holds balls and parties. Most of the nobles of the kingdom have villas in the city - not large, these villas, for there isn’t a lot of space, but luxurious, sometimes opulent. There is an ancient university, well-funded by the Crown, which is experiencing a Scientific Revolution: the dons there debate the properties of the philosophical principles of Light, Heat, Gravity, and Levity.

I'm drawing inspiration from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Which means that this is a novel of swashbuckling adventure, intrigue, and romance.

A hero who engages in daring and romantic adventures, protecting the downtrodden and defending his honor. Another hero who has risen from low station with resourcefulness and guile. They’re in love. But do they get each other?