The Winchester Codex
Author: Frances Spurrier
Publication date: January 2nd 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Books can be dangerous. Fitz believes he is guardian of one of the most dangerous of all – The Winchester Codex was responsible for wiping out the entire draconic race, of which he is one of the last vestiges. Caught in a trap from the deep time of history, the dragon had vowed to protect the book’s author. Yet in the 21st century, what relevance does this ancient manuscript have? He hides the codex in his attic and tries to forget about it.
A surprise visit from a friend leads to one last quest, forcing them both to confront their past.
In Swansea, Fitz and his friend Perceval happen upon a temporarily homeless teenager who joins them on a walk around the coast of Wales to raise funds for charity and records everything on social media.
But not all their followers are benign. Someone wants the codex that has lain neglected in Fitz’s attic for centuries and wants it badly. What started as a simple walk, ends with a journey into darkness and to the gates of death.
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an excerpt
This was a place of half-light, already ancient in the time of Arthur, silent, secretive, peopled by saints and ghosts of saints, hermits, holy men. She felt their spirits pressing round as the mare picked her way through the bracken and wooded hills. On the lower slopes they could move quickly but the pace slowed as the ground rose steeply where the treeline ended, giving way to bare hillside.
She came to a small circle of stunted trees near the stone cross, below which lay Issui’s well. Here Meghan dismounted. She heard the soft gurgling of a stream running down the hillside to a small hollow where the silver waters filled a basin carved from stone, before running over the lip to join the other places of the earth. In this place, legend had it the sainted hermit had once dwelled and nearby been murdered.
about the author
Frances Spurrier is a published poet, essayist, reviewer and blogger. The Winchester Codex is her first novel. She lives in London with her husband and Suki the Golden Doodle.
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