Brimstone & Blades

It’s 1689.

Sixteen-year-old Julie de Maupin is on the run in France with her boyfriend, a young swordmaster named Sérannes. They perform sword fights and songs in taverns to survive.

But when a diabolical creature kills Sérannes, it also injures Julie in the attack. Plunged into the dangerous world of French magic, Julie needs to return to Paris to find the great magician that can heal her devastating wound so she can avenge Sérannes’s death.

The creature is controlled by a necromantic coven called the Shadow Holders. Defeated during the Affair of the Poisons, they’ve returned but this time with traitors in the royal court to crush Louis XIV and terrorize France. With her found family of magical and moggie misfits, Julie must use her sword, wits, and gender-bending wiles to send the threat back to Hell. Will they be enough?

Magic is illegal, and so is dueling. But that won’t stop La Maupin.

A page-turning new historical YA fantasy based on the real-life bisexual duelist, Julie d’Aubigny aka La Maupin.

A BookLife Editor’s Pick!

“Alexander artfully explores the mind and world of this iconic queer figure, mining her well-documented gifts, courage, and tempestuousness to power an arresting horror mystery.”

— BookLife review