Author Justin Newland Guest Post for Sherry @ fundimental
My latest historical fiction novel, The Mark of the Salamander, has just hit the shelves. It’s
the first title in a two-book series, The Island of Angels, which tells the epic story and secret
history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era.
This blog post is about the title, namely The Mark of the Salamander.
First of all, what is a salamander? Well, it’s a spirit of fire.
In Medieval times, Paracelsus, the great Swiss alchemist, identified the four beings or
spirits of the elements. While the salamander is the fire elemental, gnomes inhabit the earth, undines swim in the waters of the oceans, and sylphs are air spirits.
As a spirit of fire, the salamander is a lithe creature that occupied the other world, and so would only be appear to be seen those who had the eyes to see them. Just like the other
three elemental spirits, the salamander had healing properties, and had to those it attended, it gave the power of foresight, and of insight into the future.
Fire is fascinating. It lives, it’s alive. At the hearth, it warms, and yet it destroys. It melts, it smelts, and it cleanses. It houses the phoenix who rises from the ashes, it begets new
birth, and yet Hell is full of the stuff.
It’s the living fire, the fire that we breathe that’s inside the air, the flame of life and living.
And there’s a ruby salamander mentioned in the novel. The idea of it came from this image of a ruby salamander pendant. Gold filigree set with rubies, it was recovered from a Spanish galleon off the coast of Northern Ireland some years after the Armada. So, although it was probably not part of the treasure taken by Drake from the Spanish ship, the Cacafuego, the fact that it was a salamander gave me the idea to use it in the novel.
What about the mark, the mark of the salamander? What’s that?
Well, I got the idea from the Ancient Greek myth about the warrior Achilles. The legend goes that his mother dipped him into the River Styx to make his entire body invulnerable, except for the part of his foot where she held him—the proverbial Achilles heel. That was his identifying feature, in his case, his weakness and ultimately, his destiny.
In a similar way, Nelan, the hero of my novel, is born with three wavy lines beneath the middle finger of his right hand. That’s the mark of the salamander. That way, his supernatural powers, such as clairvoyance, ESP, and telepathy, can be identified with a physical feature, an actual mark on the body.
Justin Newland
5th October 2023
Book Details:
Book Title: The Mark of the Salamander by Justin Newland
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 246 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction and Magical Realism
Publisher: The Book Guild
Release date: September 2023
Content Rating: PG-13 +M. Mild sex and cruelty. Mature themes.
1575.
Nelan Michaels is a young Flemish man fleeing religious persecution in the Spanish Netherlands. Settling in Mortlake outside London, he studies under Queen Elizabeth’s court astrologer, conjuring a bright future – until he’s wrongly accused of murder. Forced into the life of a fugitive, Nelan hides in London, before he is dramatically pressed into the crew of the Golden Hind. Thrust into a strange new world on board Francis Drake’s vessel, Nelan sails the seas on a voyage to discover discovery itself. Encountering mutiny, ancient tribes and hordes of treasure, Nelan must explore and master his own mystical powers – including the Mark of the Salamander, the mysterious spirit of fire.
THE MARK OF THE SALAMANDER is the first in The Island of Angels series: a two-book saga that tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era.
Book Guild
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JUSTIN NEWLAND’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thriller and magical realism. His stories explore the themes of war and religion, and speculate on the human’s spiritual place in the universe.
Undeterred by the award of a Doctorate in Mathematics from Imperial College, London, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies.
The historical thriller, The Old Dragon’s Head (Matador, 2018), is set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall.
The Coronation (Matador, 2019) was another historical adventure and speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution.
The Abdication (Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.
The Mark of the Salamander (Book Guild, 2023) is the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels. Set in the Elizabethan era, it’s an epic tale of England’s coming of age.
His work in progress is the second in the series, The Midnight of Eights, the charting of the uncanny coincidences that led to the repulse of the Spanish Armada.
Author, speaker and broadcaster, Justin appears on LitFest panels, gives talks to historical associations and libraries and enjoys giving radio interviews and making podcasts. Born three days before the end of 1953, he lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
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