Count Scar

 As a historian, I study real medieval people, but my medieval-themed fantasy is mostly populated by people who, I hope, will immediately engage with the modern reader because they are like modern people even if in a fantastic setting.  But I've got exceptions, books that are still fantasy (and I hope engaging!) but are closer to real historical fiction.  The first of these is Count Scar.

I wrote it with my husband, Robert A. Bouchard.  It's set in an alternate version of France in the thirteenth century.  The setting is pretty close to medieval reality, but there is also working magic, studied by priests (just as all branches of knowledge were studied by real medieval priests, the reason why the first universities were attached to cathedrals).

Galoran, the scarred count of the title, believes that his useful life is over once his days as captain in the imperial army have ended.  He has little more to do than hang around his older brother's castle, where it's clear his sister-in-law has no use for him.  The scar on his cheek, from an old burn, means he believes that no woman will want him.

This all changes abruptly when he inherits the castle and county of Peyrefixade, in southern France.  As the only thing he's ever had that is really his, he clings determinedly to Peyrefixade, even while learning that dangerous magic-working heretics covet the castle, which harbors dark secrets.

And the castle comes with a spiritual advisor, named Melchior, of the magic-working Order of the Three Kings.  Supposedly their magic has been redeemed from the heretics, but can Galoran trust his new advisor?  For that matter, Melchior is unsure whether to trust him, as the threat of the Inquisition slowly rises.

The story has twists and turns, betrayals, sword fights, and a touch of romance.  We wrote it from the alternating viewpoints of the two main characters.  See if you can guess who wrote which chapter.  It's available as an ebook on all major ebook platforms; here's the Amazon link.

The theme of people who dislike or distrust each other still having to work together is continued in the sequel, Heretic Wind.  As well as the two main characters, Galoran and Melchior, there's a surprise new point of view character and other new faces to further complicate a story in which the Inquisition plays an even larger role.  It's available both as an ebook and a paperback.

Both Count Scar and Heretic Wind are available bundled together in a big fat omnibus called, appropriately enough, Galoran and Melchior.  It's available as an ebook, a large-format paperback available wherever paperbacks are found, and now as a limited edition hardcover from Amazon.

It's something of a challenge to write characters who are more like real medieval people than modern people wearing medieval outfits (which one sees too often in historical fiction), and still have readers relate to the characters.  As well as the Count Scar books, I've published three books that are retellings of real medieval tales, trying to keep much of the original flavor while making the situations understandable to a modern audience:  Ashes of Heaven (based on Tristan and Isolde stories), The Sign of the Rose (based on a medieval story called Romance of the Rose), and The Knight of the Short Nose (based on the Guillaume d'Orange epic cycle).

© C. Dale Brittain 2022