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The Alchemists' Council (1) Paperback – May 1, 2016
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As a new Initiate with the Alchemists’ Council, Jaden is trained to maintain the elemental balance of the world, while fending off interference by the malevolent Rebel Branch. Bees are disappearing from the pages of the ancient manuscripts in Council dimension and from the outside world, threatening its very existence. Jaden navigates alchemy’s complexities, but the more she learns, the more she begins to question Council practices. Erasure — a procedure designed not only to remove individuals from Council dimension but also from the memories of other alchemists — troubles Jaden, and she uses her ingenuity to remember one of the erased people. In doing so, she realizes the Rebel Branch might not be the enemy she was taught to fight against.
Jaden is caught between her responsibility to the Council and her growing allegiance to the rebels, as the Council finds itself at the brink of war. She is faced with an ethical dilemma involving the free will of all humanity and must decide whether or not she can save the worlds.
- Print length440 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherECW Press
- Publication dateMay 1, 2016
- Dimensions5 x 1.1 x 7.75 inches
- ISBN-101770412719
- ISBN-13978-1770412712
- Lexile measure1030L
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“An intelligently written, character-driven fantasy novel … The Alchemists’ Council by Cynthea Masson definitely merits a gold seal of approval.” — BryceRaffle.com
“Masson’s prose is dense with details and striking imagery, and her characters are compelling.” — Jana Nyman, Fantasy Literature Blog
“I knew that when I reached the end of the book I would be sad … sad that I would have to wait for the next installment! … Thank you Cynthea Masson for blowing my mind!” — Lost in the Rain blog
“The Alchemists’ Council excels with a beautifully crafted and alluring world.” — Broken Pencil
“Cynthea Masson has crafted a sophisticated fantasy realm that intersects our own. Her multi-dimensional characters and skillfully woven plot will keep readers guessing about allegiance and motivation, even among the story's protagonists.” — Scene Magazine
“Masson uses her academic expertise in medieval manuscripts to create a convincing fantastical world in which the disappearance of bees from alchemical texts threatens ecological sustainability.” — The Bull Calf
“The Alchemists’ Council is a highly original novel with an intriguing premise. The book is engaging, and the political machinations between members of the Alchemists’ Council bring nuance to the characters, leaving the reader guessing about motivations and alliances … A good purchase for public and school libraries.” — CM: Canadian Review of Materials
“The Alchemists’ Council is a quietly magical novel that delights in language, thought, and learning … Cynthea Masson’s writing is fluid and poetic even when she’s building metaphysical worlds, and her dialogue is light, witty, and always natural … even at its most philosophical.” — Apple Books
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : ECW Press
- Publication date : May 1, 2016
- Edition : No
- Language : English
- Print length : 440 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1770412719
- ISBN-13 : 978-1770412712
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5 x 1.1 x 7.75 inches
- Lexile measure : 1030L
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,681,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12,943 in Contemporary Fantasy (Books)
- #31,953 in Epic Fantasy (Books)
- #491,209 in Genre Literature & Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Cynthea Masson is a professor in the English department at Vancouver Island University. After completing a Ph.D. in English with a focus on medieval mysticism, she undertook a postdoctoral fellowship involving work with medieval alchemical manuscripts at the British Library. In addition to articles on mysticism and alchemy, many of her publications over the past decade have been in the area of television studies. She is a co-editor of the book Reading Joss Whedon (Syracuse University Press, 2014). Her fiction includes The Elijah Tree (Rebel Satori, 2009) and The Alchemists' Council series (ECW Press, 2016, 2018, and 2020). She lives in British Columbia.
Her blog "News from Council Dimension" can be read here: https://cyntheamasson.com/
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2016Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseProbably my favorite part of The Alchemists’ Council is the statement at its very beginning: “The Alchemists’ Council forbids you to read this book.” How could you not read on? That initial impetus is helpful as you go through the first pages, which give the background, the mythos, for the world of this story—and the story does have a very thoroughly established, distinctly new world which intersects with our own (rather in the manner of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy). There is a section called Prima Materia and then a brief catalog of the Orders of the Alchemists’ Council before we even get to the section called the Prologue, much less the first chapter in “current day.” In other words, it takes a while for the story to rev up. With the introduction of Jaden, Junior Initiate of the Alchemists’ Council, the story takes off.
Jaden is a young adult who, while visiting the Vancouver Art Gallery, is approached and recruited by Cedar, a Scribe of the Alchemists’ Council. Jaden’s introduction to the world of the Alchemists (a different dimension from our own) has some elements of Harry Potter’s introduction to Hogwarts. But Ceder is no Hagrid—she is herself a fascinating, powerful, morally mysterious character whose point of view we often share in the story. The interaction between these characters, their colleagues, and the inhabitants of the third of three worlds in this story becomes more and more intense as the story proceeds. Choices must be made—political, sexual, intellectual, moral—in situations that reflect the complexity of our own. The closer I got to the end, the faster I read.
The characters and story, in other words, are interesting in their own right. The style is effective, and the cultural references—such as the time when one of the Alchemists quotes a line from Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing without identifying it as such—are enjoyable. What will be even more interesting for some readers, however, is that this is a Lacanian fable. Naturally there is not a simple allegorical equivalence, but aspects of the psychologist’s theories are embedded in the story. The elemental being of this story’s prima materia, the Calculus Macula, can be compared to the Real as described by Lacan; with the exertion of will by Aralia and the Crystalline Wars, Lacan’s Symbolic is ushered in. In addition to our own world, there are the dimensions of the Alchemists and of the rebels of the Flaw. As in Lacan, language is central; the scrolls of the Alchemists (the Symbolic) control our world (“In the beginning was the Word”), to the degree, for example, that disappearance of images of bees in the scrolls correlates to disappearance of bees in this world (and the bees, like the owls, are not what they seem). The questions of free will raised by those from the rebel world of the Flaw also relate this tale to the story of Eden and the first human’s exertion of will, too.
I won’t attempt a full-fledged analysis here. Suffice it to say that The Alchemists’ Council is not only a fully realized world with compelling characters and interesting plot, but also a philosophically rich ride that invites us to return and think again.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2018The Alchemists’ Council begins with an account of the creation of the universe, how a Singular existence devolves into a manifold creation, with inherent conflict., and yet with a way to return to the original state. Then the human-scale story begins.
Jaden is one of the few selected to become an Initiate into the order of The Alchemists’ Council, which employs knowledge, mysticism, and magical powers to shape reality. Opposing the Council is the Rebel Branch, whose members are convinced the Council is going about its business in the wrong way, for the wrong ends. Jaden has so much talent that whichever group she allies with is going to come out ahead, but she has conflicted loyalties.
Fortunately for all of existence, she is wise enough to recognize the seemingly trivial as significant. So when bees start to disappear, from the illustrated margins of manuscripts and from the world, Jaden and her friends set out to solve the riddle. After all, bees are Nature’s alchemists, transforming nectar to honey; if they are disappearing, that can’t be a good sign. When you think about it, all of nature seems to turn on alchemy: green things spinning sunlight into sugar, grazers converting grass into milk, earthworms digesting rock and leaf-fall into soil.
So with animals and plants doing 98% of the work, what are the Council members doing? Like the Norns maintaining Yggdrasil, they heal rifts in the energies of the world. They hold reality together according to the principles of their order and fend off attacks from the rival order. They also send out hints and clues of their existence. These hidden messages are what potential Initiates find and heed, and if they answer the call they have passed the first test.
With this book, Masson joins the ranks of mythopoeic writers. Her style is modern, even spare compared to Tolkien or Elizabeth Moon, but like them she has envisioned a world rich in magics and marvels. The Alchemists’ Council is the first in a trilogy that continues with The Flaw in the Stone; it ends on a cliff’s edge, but the actions are complete and you are gasping at the precipice, not in free fall or clinging to a tree root as you reach for a strawberry. Written for adults, it also qualifies as YA in that friendships between young people are the heart of the story.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2016Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI had the opportunity to read an ARC of this book—and am I glad I did! This is a captivating story where questions of free will and destiny play out against the backdrop of a fully-imagined, lyrically-described fantasy world. We follow Jaden, new initiate to the Alchemists’ Council, as she learns about political intrigue and contemplates rebellion against the ostensibly good works of the established order.
This is far more than the age-old tale of rebellion versus status quo, though. Legends of alchemy focus on the idea of turning lead into gold, of turning something common and relatively worthless into something rare and valuable. Masson’s alchemists, however, seek a higher goal, a form of spiritual enlightenment driven by a calling to protect a complex metaphysical ecosystem across three dimensions. The tale cleverly forces readers to question whether that which these alchemists value is really worth striving for. This is a story that compellingly explores opposing ideologies and hints that it is only through balancing these competing interests—rather than privileging one over another—that true harmony is achieved. To be fair, though, we’ll have to see where Books 2 and 3 of the Alchemists’ Council land on the subject!
Cynthea Masson has performed her own alchemy here, turning mere words into a nuanced, complex exploration of identity and philosophy, wrapped in an enthralling tale of adventure and intrigue.
Top reviews from other countries
- Sheila-DReviewed in Canada on May 24, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all fantasy fans!
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI absolutely loved this book. Once I got through the first couple of chapters, I couldn't put it down! The characters were engaging and kept your interest all the way through to the end - and beyond! Can't wait for the next installment.
- MEWReviewed in Canada on July 27, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseRecommended.