An impossible discovery of magic — and the world is remade…

THE SERPENT’S PEARLS

A GLOBE-SPANNING EPIC HISTORICAL FANTASY SET IN THE LATE 16TH CENTURY

**BOOK ONE OF THE BINDING PEARLS SERIES COMING 2025**

The story begins in 1577…

England

Court of Queen Elizabeth

A palace divided. The Catholic faction led by Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, competes for the queen’s favor against the Protestant faction led by royal favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Elizabeth and her spymaster, Francis Walsingham, deal with threats from within and without — forces that would see the childless queen assassinated and replaced by her Catholic cousin, the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots. We follow Anne Vavasour, Fulke Greville, and Walter Raleigh, as they learn that honor and virtue are nothing but a thin disguise in a court gripped by sexual exploitation and violent rivalries.

France

Court of King Henri III

A kingdom scarred by endless religious war. The Duke of Guise and his Catholic League will settle for nothing less than total extermination of the Protestant Huguenots led by the King of Navarre and the Prince of Condé. We follow the young Viscount of Joyeuse, as he becomes the king’s reluctant lover and disciplinarian. And we follow the troubled king’s two younger siblings, Crown Prince François, Duke of Anjou, and Princess Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre, as they struggle to break free of their domineering mother, Catherine de Medici, and escape their brother’s depraved and deadly court.

The New World

Voyage of Francis Drake

A secret voyage to the New World. Francis Drake and his crew seek to harrass the Spanish — capturing treasure galleons and pillaging settlements for England. But the ever-troublesome Thomas Doughty and his mysterious brother have other plans. We follow Diego, an escaped slave bent on revenge against his former masters, and Drake’s young cousin, John, a budding religious scholar, as they try to survive a mission that goes radically off course. When a discovery of magic presents the ultimate temptation, their actions threaten to destroy everything Drake has worked for — and to remake the world…

THE SETTING

SBDM 1.jpg — **Europe, 1577**

Christendom is reeling from the Protestant Reformation. For decades, Catholics and Protestants have battled for the soul of Europe, slaughtering each other by various means — burnings, beheadings, massacres, and wars.

Haiti 1.jpg — Weakened by internal conflict, both France and England face the ongoing external threat of the massive global empires of Spain and Portugal. King Philip II of Spain, aided by the Portuguese trade in African slaves, exploits his lands in the New World to extract vast quantities of gold and silver — treasure needed to finance the war against his Protestant subjects in the Netherlands and to hold back the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean.

Golden Hinde 1.jpg — Desperately in need of funds to provide for the defense of the realm, Queen Elizabeth issues secret orders commissioning Francis Drake to lead a small fleet of ships to the New World to harass the Spanish. After crossing the Atlantic, Drake puts down a mutiny and executes its ringleader, Thomas Doughty, before passing through the Strait of Magellan and making his way up the west coast of South America, capturing Spanish ships and plundering Spanish settlements.

Armada 1.jpg — Drake then crosses the Pacific and circumnavigates the globe, returning to England in 1580 flush with treasure for the English crown. He is knighted for his efforts and in 1588 is instrumental in helping England repel the Spanish Armada, thus preserving the balance of power between the Catholic and Protestant kingdoms of Western Europe.

Colonialism 1.jpg — In the centuries that follow, England, Spain, the Netherlands, and other European powers pursue a strategy of ruthless conquest and colonization of the New World, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East that leads, ultimately, to global domination by the West.

In The Serpent’s Pearls, Francis Drake has a fateful change of heart on a South American beach that leads to an impossible discovery — unleashing a mysterious magic that empowers members of Drake’s crew to interrupt the flow of history and set the world on a radically different course…

THE BINDING PEARLS SERIES

THE BINDING PEARLS series focuses on the Catholic-Protestant conflict of the late 16th century, as well as the early efforts of Spain, Portugal, and England to exploit the people and resources of Africa, Asia, and the New World. The genre is speculative historical fiction (part historical fantasy and part alternate history) that includes action, adventure, court intrigue, violence, romance, sex, and, eventually, world-changing magic. This is not high fantasy, however — you will find no mythical creatures or sorcerers here.

The story deals with adult themes related to race, gender, sexuality, colonization, and religion — and includes graphic material of the sort found on shows such as The Tudors, Outlander, Game of Thrones, and Black Sails, or in their corresponding source material.

The four-book arc spans the years 1577 to 1585 and is epic in scope, focusing on many different characters and locations around the world. Book One, The Serpent’s Pearls, covers the years 1577 to 1579 and is split between three main threads: the English court of Queen Elizabeth I; the French court of King Henri III; and the voyage to the New World of the English privateer Francis Drake. Each thread focuses on several key characters integral to the overall story. While the various threads are separate at the beginning of Book One, they are all interrelated and, with the introduction of additional threads and characters in Book Two, become ever-more intertwined with each successive book — culminating in the climax of Book Four.