Newton's Cannon

This novel of Ben Franklin Isaac Newton and a demonic Louis XIV is eminently worthwhile reading for both fantasy and alternate-history lovers (Booklist).In 1681 in an England somewhat like our England ... the great alchemist Sir Isaac Newton makes the remarkable discovery of a substance he calls philosophers mercury with which one can manipulate the four essential elements of the universe: earth water air and fire. In the opulent court of Britains greatest enemy the ancient King Louis XIV his life alchemically and indefinitely prolonged employs treacherous means to obtain the prize that will grant him dominion over the entire continent. Meanwhile his brilliant and beautiful mistress Adrienne de Mornay de Montchevreuil secretly pursues a mathematical method to prevent his takeover. And in another corner of the world the young printers apprentice and aspiring alchemist Ben Franklin is plagued by a demon and flees to England seeking the aid of his hero: Newton. But Franklin will discover that Newton has demons of his own ... A wondrously dark and richly imagined alternate history Greg Keyess Newtons Cannon is the first book in his extraordinary Age of Unreason seriesa magnificent journey to a past that never was in a world where magic is a science and the greatest minds must conspire to prevent an end to all things.