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    Fawkes: A Novel
    Fawkes: A Novel
    Fawkes: A Novel
    Audiobook13 hours

    Fawkes: A Novel

    Written by Nadine Brandes

    Narrated by Oliver J. Hembrough

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Guy Fawkes’s son must join his father’s plot to kill the king in this magical retelling of the Gunpowder Plot that will sweep you back in time to a divided England where plagues turn victims to stone.

    In 17th-century London two forces rule the people: the color powers and the Stone Plague. Brown masks can manipulate wood. Black masks control the night. And red masks . . . Well, red is the color of blood.

    Thomas Fawkes’s Color Test is upon him, and he is sure his father, the infamous Guy Fawkes, will present him with a mask and Thomas will finally bond with a color. He desperately hopes for a gray mask so he can remove the stone that has invaded his body and will ultimately take his life.

    But when Guy refuses to give Thomas his mask or even his presence, Thomas has no place in school or society. His only hope is to track down his father and demand a mask to regain what he’s lost. But his father has other plans: to kill the king.

    Thomas must join forces with his father if he wants to save his own life. When his errands for the cause bring him time and again to Emma Areben, a former classmate, Thomas is exposed to a whole new brand of magic. And Emma doesn’t control just one color—she controls them all.

    Emma wants to show Thomas the full power of color magic, but it goes against everything his father is fighting for. If Thomas sides with his father, he could save his own life—which would destroy Emma and her family. To save one, he must sacrifice the other. No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.

    Praise for Fawkes:

    “An imaginative, colorful tale about choosing for yourself between what's right and what others insist is the truth.” —Cynthia Hand, New York Times bestselling author of My Lady Jane

    “Hold on to your heart as this slow burning adventure quickly escalates into an explosion of magic, love, and the truth about loyalty.” —Mary Weber, bestselling author of the Storm Siren Trilogy and To Best the Boys

    • Full-length young adult historical fantasy
    • Also by Nadine Brandes: Romanov and Wishtress, coming September 2022
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateJul 10, 2018
    ISBN9780785217329
    Fawkes: A Novel
    Author

    Nadine Brandes

    Nadine Brandes once spent four days as a sea cook in the name of book research. She is the author of Fawkes, Romanov, and the award-winning Out of Time Series. Her inner fangirl perks up at the mention of soul-talk, Quidditch, bookstagram, and Oreos. When she's not busy writing novels about bold living, she's adventuring through Middle Earth or taste-testing a new chai. Nadine, her Auror husband, and their Halfling son are building a Tiny House on wheels. Current mission: paint the world in shalom. Visit Nadine online at NadineBrandes.com; Instagram: NadineBrandes; YouTube: Nadine Brandes; Twitter: @NadineBrandes; Facebook: NadineBrandesAuthor.

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    Reviews for Fawkes

    4/5

    127 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This story is so well written, enthralling from beginning to end. Looking forward to more books by Nadine.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The story was captivating, the writing was good, and the narration was excellent.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Only because five chapters were missing. From this book s
    • 4/5
      Very well told story! Engaging characters and creative use of fantasy that stayed consistent throughout. The combination of historical fiction and fantasy was something I’m not use to reading but enjoyed very much with this writer’s skill. Definitely recommend.
    • 5/5
      This book was inspiring and amazing. As a 16 year old, it reminded me how much was left in my life and who I could become. Thanks so much Nadine.
    • 2/5
      This book just didn't make sense to me. I never understood the color magic or the plague.
    • 3/5
      Interesting world build of magic & masks to parallel with the Guy Fawkes conspiracy from history. The unique touches of magic & how politics grew around the same made this a 4-star read.

      While engaging on many accounts, I found myself wanting the plot to move along at a better pace. Also found it hard to empathize with most of the characters given the conspiratorial focus of the novel. These issues knocked the book down to 3.5 stars for me.

      In short, a good read in a world I'd love to see again to flesh it & its inhabitants out more fully.

      Received via Netgalley for review
    • 2/5
      The cover lured me in. The blurb made me put this on my TBR: Alternative history, Gunpowder Plot, Magic, Male MC.

      I appreciate the research the author put into this book to make the alternative history as accurate as possible. The writing was good, too.

      Sadly, my expectations must have been too high. I found that I could not relate to the MC, he wants to be a grown-up, a man, but his actions scream "teenage boy". The whole concept of the stone plague, the colour magic, the Keepers and Igniters, the masks didn't make sense to me and a lot of questions I had about this were left unanswered at the end of the book.
    • 3/5
      "My culture had affected my thinking without my consent. How many other things had it shaped without my knowing it? It made me want to examine things – to seek the heart of matters… How many of us acted and spoke out and fought for beliefs that we held because our environment told us to? As much as I wanted to blame my England, I knew the blame sat with me. I hadn’t trained myself to discern. To examine. To seek the source.That was about to change."Fawkes follows the story of a young Thomas Fawkes, son of the infamous Guy Fawkes, but with a YA historical fiction fantasy flair, in this reimagining of the Gunpowder plot. In this magical alternate England, there is a war brewing between Igniters and Keepers – and Thomas finds himself thrown in the middle, torn between loyalty to his father and the girl he loves.I liked the story and the overall message – at its core, it was about learning to be true to yourself – but it still felt a little lackluster (which was a little disappointing because it was literally about magically controlling a color or colors by wearing masquerade-type masks). Maybe it was just me and the fact that, but it left me feeling like I wanted more from the story. I liked the characters – especially Emma, who was a strong and independent young woman, which is the type of character that I best like reading about! Either way, I did like this book and the fact that it was a standalone. I don’t know much about the Gunpowder Plot other than what I hastily read on Wikipedia after reading this book, but I thought it was a creative reimagining of this well-known (but not to me) historical event.Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.
    • 2/5
      Welcome to yet another edition of "Lissa writes a book review while super stoned because she lives in Colorado and LIFE IS AMAZING HERE." Also, I must admit, that I'm feeling a bit blasphemous writing this review while stoned (for reasons that will become obvious in the review), but whatever, honey badger don't care. It became pretty clear as soon as I picked up this book that I was most definitely NOT part of the intended audience. I got this book as part of a book subscription box, so it wasn't like I saw the book in the store (or online) and chose to buy it - it was a surprise. And I wouldn't have purchased this book on my own, honestly, once I'd discovered that it was published by Thomas Nelson (a Christian publishing house). But still, hey, I'd "bought" the book as part of my subscription; might as well read it, right? And the cover is GORGEOUS and totally called my name, and I liked the basic plot of the story, although I must say that historical England is so not my bag. But I knew a bit about Guy Fawkes, mostly because I was curious once I read V for Vendetta about the history of the Gunpowder Plot and why V chose Guy Fawkes as his mask. I think coming into this book with a bit of an awareness about Plot is a good idea, to be honest.Anyway, it became pretty obvious pretty fast that this was mostly historical fiction with a dash of fantasy slapped into it. The Keepers are quite clearly Catholics, while the Igniters are Protestants. The events of the book, for a good portion at least, are actually drawn from real history. The author has thrown in some color magic, but I wasn't particularly sold on this device and found it to be rather weak.I think that the author tried to do a good job of being sympathetic to the CatholicsKeepers, although it was quite obvious that she favored those scrappy ProtestantIgniter upstarts, who were pretty busy trying to hang as many CatholicsKeepers as possible, but the results were mixed. The ProtestantsIgniters were in the right, while the CatholicsKeepers were in the wrong - or, at least, that is how it was portrayed in the book. And the descriptions of the groups got weirdly and heavily religious fast.The preachiness only escalated with the introduction of White Light, which is like...the Holy Spirit, I think, but also Jesus. Or something. Anyway, like Jesus in evangelical circles, the White Light talks to everyone but has to be invited in to take a real hold. Then, once "salvation" occurs, the person's life is changed by White Light/Jesus for the better. This is where the religiousness got overbearing, in my view. The CatholicsKeepers believed in White Light (Jesus), but that it wasn't for man to experience in a personal way; White Light (Jesus) had to be guarded and protected. The ProtestantsIgniters believed that White Light (Jesus) should be experienced on a personal level and available to everyone without an intercessor. The author made it ABUNDANTLY clear that we were supposed to draw these parallels between Catholics/Keepers and Protestants/Igniters, by the way - Martin Luther was mentioned as a corrupted Keeper who was one of the first Igniters. I mean, it doesn't get any clearer than that if you have a basic grasp of the Protestant Reformation.Anyway, ultimately, the CatholicsKeepers are WRONG and the ProtestantsIgniters are RIGHT about White Light (Jesus). True salvation, only available through White Light (Jesus), is only available to those who convert and become ProtestantsIgniters. You can see how this feels very icky very quickly for those of us who aren't Protestant, or Christian, or even believers in religion of any type ("hello!" says the atheist Jew named Lissa). So yeah, that really ruined a lot of the book for me. Another problem I had was that I really didn't like the narrator, Thomas Fawkes, son of Guy Fawkes. He was boring and rather self-absorbed for the first part of the book; he matured some in the second part of the book, although he remained boring. And for the book being full of intrigue and magic and mystery, there really wasn't a lot of tension on the pages. The author's writing was fine, but I didn't really feel all that invested in turning the page, if that makes sense. But then I got super baked and the book was better. I mean, thinking about controlling colors is pretty damned cool when you're high. And while the author tried to give the tone to the book a "historical" feel, there were some very modern sayings from Thomas ("as if" being one of the most jarring to me). I gave the book two stars (instead of one) for a few reasons:1) Emma is a fucking kickass character, and I would have liked the book so much if it had been told from her point of view, or if she'd just been around more often. She kicked ass and took names and did what she wanted, and I love that she was a POC, and I kind of wanted her to ditch Henry and Thomas and just find a badass lesbian lover and just paint the shit out of everyone and go around having adventures together. Alas, since this book was so steeped in religion, I knew that was not going to be (but the book would have been way better if that had happened, just saying ;) ).2) The author really does not make 17th century London a glamorous place, which I appreciated. I mean, the Thames is flowing with raw sewage and people are just dumping their shit and piss on the streets. The author mentions repeatedly how gross it was to live back then, which I found highly realistic and quite refreshing, actually, since most books set in this time frame seem to gloss over this and make the city more "romantic" or whatever.3) I believe that the author did an impressive amount of research for this book, and as a huge history nerd, I always appreciate this.4) White Light (Jesus) is kind of a dick, and this felt deliciously blasphemous. I'm sure that this wasn't the intended result of the author, but I don't care - it's still totally there, and my heathen soul took immense pleasure in this.
    • 5/5
      Fawkes by Nadine Brandes is one of those books that draws you into a world, enlightens you with its magic, and then sends you back to reality, so you can enlighten others while you glow! Nadine used the history of Guy Fawkes and the failed attempt to blow the parliament as a base to her story, that follows Guy Fawkes’s son, Thomas, into an incredible magical journey. ‘’A foundation of truth represents what life was intended to be.’’Thomas is about to get his mask, that is supposed to make him control one colour. He also happens to be affected with the plague, that turns his face into stone. His family are all Keepers, and he, by default is a keeper too. But things are never that simple. What will happen when he might not get his mask, and the plague is about to kill him? We follow the journey of Thomas through a first - person perspective. He feels incomplete when he has the plague, and all his life he is waiting to get his mask, and to be able to control a colour. Any colour, even though he prefers Grey. Only with my mask could I bond with a color. But on the day when he is about to receive his mask from his dad, he learns that his father is in London, and is not willing to come. Scared for his life, and angry at his father, he goes into an adventure to find him. His father is Guy Fawkes, a Keeper that is involved in a Gunpowder plot, which will kill the whole parliament, and most importantly, the king of England, who is the cause of the plague! Thomas joins the plot, knowing that this is the last chance for him to survive the plague! If the king is dead, the plague would be gone. But will it? I never imagined a single moment of acceptance could reverse a year of bitterness and prejudice. Through Thomas’s eyes, we see a war between the Keepers and the Igniters. It might be a metaphor for the Catholics and Protestants, but I won’t go into this now. The Keepers were loyal to one color only, and Igniters wanted to control all colors. Igniters used the White Colour as a source to control all power. But White Color doesn’t obey like other colours do - the White Color makes people go crazy for power and glory. Something similar to the ring in Lord of The Rings. ‘’Igniters believe that for each Keeper that dies, one person is cured of the plague’’. We see Thomas caught between two sides - the keepers want to be free of oppression, and the Igniters want to be free to use color speech as they wanted. On such a crossroad, Thomas wants to find the truth for himself. But there is no time, and not many people that he can trust. ‘’You’ve given me your truth. I have to find it for myself for it to become mine. And curiosity is the first step’’.On his journey, his relationship with Emma becomes stronger. She is an Igniter, and they share different beliefs, and she also knows he has the plague. But she is still around, and she accepts his as he is. And Thomas, taught to always hide his face, because otherwise he would be killed by the Igniters, is able to relax around Emma. This will teach him to accept Emma as she is, once she tells him her secret. I loved the character of Emma. She is a strong person, but unable to show her true self due to the fact that she is not like the others, that she is not the same. In this book it is also shown quite well how women were underestimated in the 17th century. How they were thought to be unworthy. The only bit I didn’t like about Emma is that, even though such strong character, she would have never fought for herself if Thomas wasn’t there to ‘’save’’ her. This book is a lovely story about Thomas, and how he finds his true self, how he is not afraid to stand up for the things he believes in, how he learns that he shouldn't be hiding his true self anymore and embrace his fears, as they might turn out to be the best things that ever happened in his life. ‘’Take a breath, Thomas. There has always been fear. There will always be fear. It’s up to us to stand tall, even when the fear demands we bow to it.’’So yes, my lovely readers, I loved this book so much! I loved the magical moments, I loved how it turned out to be an amazing plot, based on real history events. I loved Thomas’s character, and I loved Emma. I loved Guy Fawkes as well, especially in the end of the book. If you happen to love these types of books, please get your copy as soon as you can. You won’t regret it at all! I have received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
    • 5/5
      Wow, this book deserves an award! Nadine Brandes does an amazing job weaving fantasy and history in her new young adult book, Fawkes! It can be enjoyed by guys, girls, and young adult and adult readers alike. You need this book now!Fawkes has so many amazing elements and layers to it! Ms. Brandes did such an incredible job with this book that I could gush about it forever! I love the concept of the whole story with the magical elements, the historical setting and the faith allegories. I think lovers of Harry Potter and Narnia would really enjoy this book, as many parts of Fawkes are reminiscent of these classics.Ms. Brandes describes 17th century London so well and very realistically. I loved learning more about the gunpowder plot and the battles that were going on between Catholics and Protestants (also known as Keepers and Igniters in this story). There are great action sequences that will keep your adrenaline pumping into the wee hours of the morning.The characters are well developed and are sure to become reader favorites. Thomas, the main character, finds himself caught up in a plot full of intrigue and mystery. Thomas is looking for confidence, purpose and identity. Emma, the other main character, is a great role model. I love the interactions Thomas and Emma have with the White Light. Emma and Thomas both learn that the plague or one’s skin color doesn’t define who one is. The story has so many layers to it—religious dissension and persecution, feuds between Catholics and Protestants, religious freedom, race, and Light versus darkness. There are so many great messages in this incredible read! Fawkes shows how culture affects so much of a person’s life and beliefs. We need to have discernment, seek the source and come to our own conclusions. We need to fight for truth and stand firm in our beliefs. A lot of people do things in the name of God, but He doesn’t ask for murder, etc. Instead, He asks for us to respond to His voice. The plague in Fawkes seems to be reminiscent of sin in our lives and how the Bible talks about us having a heart of stone and that only Christ can ultimately heal our sin and hearts. My husband is already begging to read this book and I want to give it to my nephew as well. I highly recommend Fawkes!Content: I would give this book a PG-13 rating for some of the graphic descriptions and violence. Some examples of the content are: students drink wine; people drinking in an inn; the word “hell” is used; some graphic descriptions of people who were hung on the gallows or executed; a girl threatens to tell her guardian that a man forced himself upon her; talk of castrating a man; mention of cleavage; a man is drunk; a man and woman slap each other; reference to a concubine and whorehouses.Rating: I give this book 5 stars!Genre: Christian fiction; Historical; Fantasy; Young AdultI want to thank Nadine Brandes, NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.