Gunpowder and Sorcery in 1666

Why the Great Fire is an ideal setting for a historical fantasy

by Richard Denning

London in the year 1666 was a power keg ready to explode – and I am not just talking about the possibility of the Great Fire which over 5 days in September destroyed for ever the medieval city. There were other elements fuelling fiery emotions that would boil over during and after the fire. England had been through a dramatic two or three decades politically. They had fought a civil war and executed a king and although Charles I’s son, King Charles II was back on the throne there had been those willing to rise up against him. There was still religious strife and distrust and a great fear of a catholic plot. This was a time when people believed in magic and witchcraft and omens and superstition was rife. Finally England was at war with both France and Holland.

This stew of conflicting emotions was the stuff that would generate immense paranoia when the time came. Add in a bit of sorcery, a demon or two and the basis of a historical fantasy is born. Our world … our history … but a little different. This is the world of The Last Seal.

This summer a new paperback of The Last Seal has been published (as well as a kindle version) and I am going to be sending the book on a blog tour during the anniversary of the real Great Fire of London in September and afterwards. In the mean time I am going to be doing a number of Blogs about the 17th century world.

Here are some things I will look at:

A decade a week through the 17th century

In a weekly post through to the start of the blog tour I will take a brief look  at each decade from 1600 to 1666. Who was king? What were the issues of the day? How did the Civil war happen? How did a king get executed and how did his son finally return in triumph. What were the first years of Charles II’s reign like. A look at the plague and the fire and the foreign wars.

A world of magic, superstition, plots and strife

Once a week over the summer I will look at the such things as what people believed about sorcery and witchcraft in the 17th century, what omens and strange events captured the public imagination. I will also show how such a world is an ideal setting for fantasy and talk a bit about how I chose to do magic and demons my fictional world. We will also have a look around London in 1666 and see what were the places of interest in a city about to burn.

A character a week
There are 8  main characters in The Last Seal: Ben the schoolboy, Freya the thief, Tobias the vengeful physician, Gabriel the scholar of arcane secrets, Artemis the cavalier, Mathias the zealot, Gymer the spy-master and Dantalion the demon. With a sketch from artist Gillian Pearce and a short bio I will introduce them all.

I hope you enjoy a little tour through the historical world of the 17th century and the fantastical other-world of The Last Seal.