The Amber Garden

By (author): Cynthea Masson

The stunning and beautifully crafted conclusion to The Alchemists’ Council series

In Book Three of The Alchemists’ Council trilogy, eternal conflicts between the Council and Rebel Branch escalate. Secrets about time-travel manipulation are revealed, uncomfortable truths about alchemical children are discovered, and Council dimension itself begins to disintegrate. Amidst this fallout, the Amber Garden dissolves, conjoined pairs suffer torturous separation, alchemists die in the process, and Cedar is banished to the outside world where she endures a living death within her conjoined partner.

Efforts of both alchemists and rebels to resolve the dissolution of Council and Flaw dimensions prove futile. People of the outside world experience ever-increasing political turmoil and the risk of environmental collapse. Mercifully, the alchemists have woven a thread of hope into an alchemically inscribed book, which they release into the outside world with the purpose of attracting new Initiates to Council. At first, Initiate Virginia appears to be a disrespectful interloper with whom Jaden loathes to work. However, their combined scribal efforts prove astoundingly powerful — so much so that they are sent through time to inscribe critical messages into ancient manuscripts. Events associated with one such manuscript lead Cedar to propose a solution to the dimensional fallout: all remaining alchemists must permanently vacate Council dimension.

AUTHOR

Cynthea Masson

Cynthea Masson is a professor in the English department at Vancouver Island University. After completing a Ph.D. in English with a focus on medieval mysticism, she was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship, which included work with alchemical manuscripts at the British Library. Her award-winning academic work includes the co-edited book Reading Joss Whedon. The first novel in the Alchemists’ Council series was shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and won the Gold Medal for Fantasy in the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards. She lives in BC.

Reviews

“Cynthea Masson’s writing is fluid and poetic even when she’s building metaphysical worlds, and her dialogue is light, witty, and always natural.” — Apple Books

“This series is well-constructed and original. Cynthea Masson does an excellent job of balancing the good and evil of her flawed characters.”— CM Magazine

In Book Three of The Alchemists’ Council trilogy, eternal conflicts between the Council and Rebel Branch escalate. Secrets about time-travel manipulation are revealed, uncomfortable truths about alchemical children are discovered, and Council dimension itself begins to disintegrate. Amidst this fallout, the Amber Garden dissolves, conjoined pairs separate, alchemists die, and Cedar is banished to the outside world.

Efforts of both alchemists and rebels to resolve the dissolution of Council and Flaw dimensions prove futile. People of the outside world experience ever-increasing political turmoil and the risk of environmental collapse. Mercifully, the alchemists have woven a thread of hope into an alchemically inscribed book, which they release into the outside world with the purpose of attracting new Initiates to Council. At first, Initiate Virginia appears to be a disrespectful interloper with whom Jaden loathes to work. However, their combined scribal efforts prove astoundingly powerful — so much so that they are sent through time, tasked with saving both Cedar and the dimensions.


The Amber Garden and the two earlier titles are highly original, full of complex and intricate worldbuilding with a complicated plot that spans centuries and involves time travel and multiple circular timelines.” — Canadian Review of Materials


“Written in dense prose well-suited to this style of large-scale fantastic history, The Amber Garden has a pleasing narrative inevitability that heads toward a not-entirely expected conclusion. The alchemical texts, the efforts of scribes to make necessary alterations, all the details of Council and Flaw dimensions — along with the underlying concerns about free will — are a compelling foundation for the story.” — Booklist


Awards

There are no awards found for this book.
Excerpts & Samples ×

The stunning and beautifully crafted conclusion to The Alchemists’ Council series

In Book Three of The Alchemists’ Council trilogy, eternal conflicts between the Council and Rebel Branch escalate. Secrets about time-travel manipulation are revealed, uncomfortable truths about alchemical children are discovered, and Council dimension itself begins to disintegrate. Amidst this fallout, the Amber Garden dissolves, conjoined pairs suffer torturous separation, alchemists die in the process, and Cedar is banished to the outside world where she endures a living death within her conjoined partner.

Efforts of both alchemists and rebels to resolve the dissolution of Council and Flaw dimensions prove futile. People of the outside world experience ever-increasing political turmoil and the risk of environmental collapse. Mercifully, the alchemists have woven a thread of hope into an alchemically inscribed book, which they release into the outside world with the purpose of attracting new Initiates to Council. At first, Initiate Virginia appears to be a disrespectful interloper with whom Jaden loathes to work. However, their combined scribal efforts prove astoundingly powerful — so much so that they are sent through time to inscribe critical messages into ancient manuscripts. Events associated with one such manuscript lead Cedar to propose a solution to the dimensional fallout: all remaining alchemists must permanently vacate Council dimension.

Reader Reviews

Accessibility Detail

Table of contents navigation
Short alternative textual descriptions
Print-equivalent page numbering
Single logical reading order
Accessibility summary
Language tagging provided
Publisher contact for further accessibility information
EPUB Accessibility Specification 1.0 AA

Details

Dimensions:

448 Pages
7.75in * 5in * 1.0062in
0.992lb

Published:

March 24, 2020

City of Publication:

Toronto

Country of Publication:

CA

Publisher:

ECW Press

ISBN:

9781770412750

Book Subjects:

FICTION / Fantasy / Epic

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

No author posts found.

Related Blog Posts

There are no posts with this book.

Other books by Cynthea Masson