The Angel of Ecbatana

The man at the other end of the field was born a knight. He was sired by a knight, and raised in a knight’s household with every expectation he’d do knightly things. He had a lifetime of training—serious stuff, the sort of hours-every-day training you see in Olympic gymnasts and Call of Duty streamers. And he’d put it to use. He’d fought other men—other knights. A lot of them. Some he’d beaten. Some he’d killed. It was what he did. It was who he was.

I, on the other hand, was born in a suburb. The closest I’d been to a sword was when I couldn’t get a good seat the night The Return of the King opened, and had to stare up into Viggo Mortensen’s nostrils from the second row.

The Angel of Ecbatana picks up where The Mason of New Orleans leaves off. Martin’s adventures came to a satisfying conclusion at the end of that book, but (spoilers!) he’s still in the 12th Century. He’s hung up his mason’s trowel and (rather uncertainly) picked up a sword—and that comes with a whole load of new worries. The action is just as fast, the mysteries just as deep, the plot twists just as astonishing, and the characters just as relatable and pleasant to be with. But the stakes—for Martin, and perhaps history itself—have if anything gotten higher!

I’m writing The Angel of Ecbatana now! It’ll be out in 2025. Want a taste? Click Read Online, to the left, for the free sample of The Mason of New Orleans. It includes a sneak peek of The Angel of Ecbatana—the current draft of the first chapter!