The Hermetica of Elysium
1494 Barcelona. As Torquemada lights the fires of religious fervor throughout the cities of Spain, accused heretics are not the only victims. Thousands of books and manuscripts are lost to the flames as the Black Friars attempt to purge Europe of the bold new ideas that are ushering in the Renaissance, as well as the ancient secrets of the old gods.
Nadira lives a dreary life as a servant to a wealthy spice merchant until the night a dying scholar is brought to the merchant’s stable, beaten by mercenaries who are on the hunt for the Hermetica of Elysium. She is pursued as passionately as the cryptic manuscript, for her unusual skills as a reader and translator make her as valuable as a rare jewel to the powerful men who pursue the book to exploit its magic.
After she reads some of the forbidden documents she begins to understand how ideas are more powerful than steel or fire. She discovers the ideas that incite the Dominicans to their religious fervor, the secrets that give the Templars their power, and the lost mysteries of Elysium.
The Hermetica of Elysium is Book One of The Elysium Texts, as Nadira the Reader embarks on the journey from servant to sorceress.
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