The Alchemist in the Shadows
core novel 2009 The Cardinal's Blades
Record
| First published | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  FR |
| First English translation | 2010 |
| Translator | Tom Clegg |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.78 (697 ratings, collected 2026-08-27) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781616143657 |
Synopsis
The Alchemist in the Shadows, published by Pierre Pevel in 2009, continues Les Lames du Cardinal after The Cardinal's Blades. An Italian spy named La Donna approaches Cardinal Richelieu with intelligence that a faction of dragons has set its sights on the French throne itself, offering the information in exchange for a pardon for her own past crimes. The reformed Cardinal's Blades are drawn into investigating her claims, only to discover that a dangerous Black Claw operative known as the Alchemist is already active in Paris, pursuing an agenda of their own alongside the plot against the throne. As the Blades work to untangle court intrigue, draconic conspiracy, and the Alchemist's shadowy purposes, the kingdom's stability comes to depend on agents whose own unity is still being rebuilt.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Cardinal's Blades
- Series: Les Lames du Cardinal core; position 2 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Pierre Pevel
Notes
- From the series record (Les Lames du Cardinal): Pierre Pevel's swashbuckling historical fantasy trilogy: dragons and secret agents in the France of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Les Lames du Cardinal: position 2 of 3: previous The Cardinal's Blades (2007) · next The Dragon Arcana (2010)
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_P%C3%A9vel
- http://www.concatenation.org/frev/pevel_alchemist.html
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