New fantasy series combines Celtic mythology, alchemy and Ptolemaic cosmology

DARTFORD, U.K. - June 6, 2014 - PRLog -- Elsewhen Press, an independent UK publisher specialising in Speculative Fiction, is delighted to announce the signing of a deal with author Peter R. Ellis to publish his first fantasy series Evil Above the Stars, starting with the first two volumes Seventh Child and The Power of Seven.  This thrilling new series will appeal to anyone who likes fantasy, especially fans of JRR Tolkien and Stephen Donaldson.

Seventh Child introduces us to September Weekes. She is accustomed to facing teasing and bullying because of her white hair, tubby figure and silly name, but the discovery of a clear, smooth stone at her home casts her into a struggle between good and evil that will present her with sterner challenges.

The stone takes her to Gwlad, the Land, where the people hail her as the Cludydd o Maengolauseren, the bearer of the starstone, with the power to defend them against the evil known as the Malevolence. September meets the leader of the people, the Mordeyrn Aurddolen, and the bearers of the seven metals linked to the seven ‘planets’. Each metal gives the bearer specialised powers to resist the manifestations of the Malevolence; manifestations formed from the four elements of earth, air, fire and water, such as the comets known as Draig tân, fire dragons.

She returns to her home, troubled and wondering if she will be called to Gwlad again.  The leader said she was a seventh child but she only has five siblings. A month later, on the night of her sixteenth birthday, she discovers that her mother had given birth to September’s dead twin before she was born. That night she is drawn back to Gwlad to find that two years have passed and the villagers have experienced more destructive attacks by manifestations. September must now help defend Gwlad against the Malevolence.

The history of science has been an abiding interest for Peter R. Ellis since university, and as a result has featured in a lot of his educational writing.  Now, Evil Above the Stars has enabled Peter to explore in a fictional setting one of his recurring ideas: that old theories were correct up until the time that a new idea came along, i.e. that the universe changes with our perception of it. As a chemist, he is also intrigued by the ideas embodied in alchemy. Drawing it all together are elements of Celtic mythology from his Welsh upbringing. Although ostensibly a fantasy for young adults, Evil Above the Stars can just as easily be classified as science fiction, and will appeal to readers of all ages.

Seventh Child and The Power of Seven will be published by Elsewhen Press in both digital and print editions early in 2015.

Notes for Editors
About Peter R. Ellis

Peter would like to say he’s been a writer all his life but it is only since retiring as a teacher in 2010 that he has been able to devote enough time to writing to call it a career. Brought up in Cardiff, he studied Chemical Physics at the University of Kent at Canterbury, then taught chemistry (and a bit of physics) in Norwich, the Isle of Wight and Thames Valley. His first experience of publishing was in writing educational materials which he has continued to do since retiring. Of his fictional writing, Seventh Child is his first published speculative fiction novel.
 Peter has been a fan of science fiction and fantasy since he was young, has an (almost) complete collection of classic SF by Asimov, Ballard, Clarke, Heinlein and Niven, among others, while also enjoying fantasy by Tolkien, Donaldson and Ursula Le Guin. Of more recent authors Iain M Banks, Alastair Reynolds and China Mieville have his greatest respect.  His Welsh upbringing also engendered a love of the language (even though he can’t speak it) and of Welsh mythology like the Mabinogion. All these strands come together in the Evil Above the Stars series. He lives in Herefordshire with his wife, Alison, who is a great supporter.

Contact details:

Elsewhen Press contact: Al Murray

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