The Tower's Alchemist (The Gray Tower Trilogy, #1)

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The Tower's Alchemist (The Gray Tower Trilogy #1)

by Alesha Escobar (Goodreads Author)

4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 · rating details · 30 ratings · 19 reviews

Wizard Vs. Nazi Warlock Vampires.

It's a very different World War II.

The Nazis have unleashed occult forces throughout Europe and the Allies are forced to recruit and employ wizards to counter their attacks. Among them is the battle weary spy, Isabella George, a Gray Tower dropout trained in Alchemy. Longing for retirement and a life of peace, she accepts one final job-extr...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published October 5th 2011 by CreateSpace, LLc (first published September 28th 2011)

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Sep 17, 2012 a_tiffyfit rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: re-readable

Argh! I have to wait now for the trilogy to be finished?! I really need to pay attention to publication dates!
Got this when it was free on amazon. It took a little bit to get into the story. I felt like I was missing a whole lot of background information, as if there was a previous book introducing everyone. You quickly get by that though and pulled into the story.
Isabella is a wizard, an american based in london, trained by the grey tower who oversees all wizards apparently, and works as a spy...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I have run into the idea of Hitler using occult magic before, so I was curious to see how Ms. Escobar handled the concept. I was very pleased with the result. The alternate reality presented in The Tower's Alchemist "feels" real. There is lots of action as our heroine Isabella is an undercover agent for British SOE and spends most of the book in occupied France. Isabella is a sympathetic character, in part because she is the narrator of the book. Her character has added depth from the mystery of...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars

"People in the normal world would call them vampires. To wizards, they were a nasty bunch of warlocks called Cruenti. Blood Magic was one of the most powerful forms of magic, and Cruenti fed off of other wizards. They drank wizards' blood to cast spells, enhance their own powers...and to regenerate from gunshot wounds."

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Nov 09, 2012 OpenBookSociety.com rated it 3 of 5 stars

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Verushka

Wizards and Nazi Warlock Vampires during World War II; an unusual combination to say the least, but Alesha Escobar shows a deft hand in bringing this, the first of her trilogy to life.

Isabella is a spy, an alchemist but more than anything she is tired when we meet her. Escobar takes great care to draw Isabella to help readers understand why she is tired of fighting the good fight, and readers will be able to understand where she is coming from. Escobar does...more Brought to you by OBS reviewer Verushka

Wizards and Nazi Warlock Vampires during World War II; an unusual combination to say the least, but Alesha Escobar shows a deft hand in bringing this, the first of her trilogy to life.

Isabella is a spy, an alchemist but more than anything she is tired when we meet her. Escobar takes great care to draw Isabella to help readers understand why she is tired of fighting the good fight, and readers will be able to understand where she is coming from. Escobar doesn’t shy away from the harshness of WWII. Isabella allows herself to be drawn into a final mission – to extract a warlock from the Nazi’s clutches and prevent him and them from releasing a plague on the Allies in Europe.

If only things were that easy for Isabella. Her mission becomes complicated – to say the least, and in between trying to resolve her feelings for two potential love interests and succeed in her mission, she also discovers that there are things about herself she never realized, things that change everything about her.

Thin on the plot I know, but there is so much happening it’s hard to know where to begin to accurately start describing this book, without forgetting myself and giving everything away. It reads like an old black and white war movie and I am making that statement with a straight face, I promise. Escobar’s attention to detail, to bringing an era long past to life in an urban fantasy is wonderful. Secondary characters, who do not have as many pages as they should to evolve, are nonetheless superbly drawn. In the atmosphere created by Escobar, they fit, details are given because they matter.

Isabella is a determined and relatable character. She has friends and family she sees too infrequently and misses, and yearns to be able to settle down. It is perhaps a case of the grass is greener on the other side, but that remains to be seen in the next couple of books. Her desire to love and be loved in return doesn’t over power her characterization but the problem lies in the fact that much of the first part of the book is devoted to how much she cares for a fellow spy, before he is shifted off, and her attention moves on to someone else. It’s not as quick as I am making it sound, but both romantic interests are such interesting, charismatic characters, more time should have been devoted to why they are, or they aren’t the man/men for her. It’s too quick of a jump from one to another.

Another strength of this novel is the pacing – from the first page, the pacing never lets up. It is frantic, as it should be considering the setting and Escobar’s writing draws you in and never lets go. However, that said, at some points there seems to be far too much going on and I felt there were at least two or three excellent plot points that could be separated into different books. There is so much happening, and so much Isabella has to deal with, I felt I couldn’t give each plot point as much attention as it deserved and I felt that Isabella did not have enough time to deal with emotional heart-wrenching elements that she should have.

I want to mention the world building here again – did I mention how much I loved it? Because I did – the historical detail is engrossing as much as the details of the power the wizards in Escobar’s world wield.

This is a fast paced, action packed book, with rich plot elements, that perhaps deserve more attention than they have been given in this title.

http://openbooksociety.com/article/th...(less)

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Nov 18, 2012 Samantha LaFantasie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have to say that I'm not a spy novel person, nor do I keep up with things like Bond and what not. I don't purposefully set out to read them. And I don't particularly enjoy them.But what Alesha Escobar has done was create a vivid and intensely deep story that involves acts of espionage and magic. The story is wonderfully crafted with detailed and complex characters, vivid scenery and excellent twists. I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy novels interlaced with reality and my...more

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May 09, 2013 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kbr, kindle, needs-editing

Urban fantasy starring a competent female wizard/spy in Occupied France during World War II, with a truly fresh take on magic, vampires and werewolves. How could I resist?

It's a good story, too. There's a well-sustained tension between the professional and the personal, it's exciting without being a mindless action movie, and the big reveal at the end is not only a great setup for the next book but made me look back on the book I'd just read with a different perspective.

It's not without its flaw...more Urban fantasy starring a competent female wizard/spy in Occupied France during World War II, with a truly fresh take on magic, vampires and werewolves. How could I resist?

It's a good story, too. There's a well-sustained tension between the professional and the personal, it's exciting without being a mindless action movie, and the big reveal at the end is not only a great setup for the next book but made me look back on the book I'd just read with a different perspective.

It's not without its flaws, though most of them are sentence-level copy edit issues. For some odd reason, the author avoids using "had" in her sentences, which means that the past-tense narration sometimes seems off. For example, "I wasn't sure how to respond because I thought they thrust this on me..." instead of "they had thrust this on me". Most often, it comes out as the narrator using "I've" when she should use "I'd".

There are a few homonym issues, too: peddled/pedaled, peaked/peeked, complimentary/complementary. The author also uses some fancy words that aren't quite the right words for the sentence they're in. They mean something like what she means, but the connotation isn't right.

All of these are something a good proofreader can fix, but there are a lot of them, about a hundred that I noticed (and I wasn't noting all the misplaced commas). For me, at least, this reduces my enjoyment of the book, and takes the language score down to two and a half stars, but I'm sure the author will get them fixed up before long.

I liked the main character, though I found most of the other characters (and there are many) a bit thin and unmemorable. I would have liked them to be described a bit more, even if it was just a couple of "tags" to help me remember them. Appearance, personal tics, anything would have helped. When, near the end, we came back to the characters in Britain that we'd seen near the beginning, I'd forgotten who most of them were. The main character, though, was a genuinely strong, capable woman, brave, loyal and compassionate, and she didn't get herself into trouble by doing stupid, ill-considered things that men had to rescue her from, like 90% of urban fantasy heroines. She did more rescuing than being rescued, in fact. That's worth three and a half stars for characters, even though the minor characters weren't as clearly drawn as I would have liked.

The plot is well-handled. There's a clear sense of purpose, a clear sense of progress, there are subplots which mesh into the main plot, and, as I mentioned, the reveal at the end worked very well to shift my perspective on the whole story. Four and a half stars.

Now, setting. This is urban fantasy, broadly defined ("within living memory" rather than "approximately present-day"), and there are some urban fantasy tropes that are growing a little tired. Vampires and werewolves are two of them. This book gives us "vampires" who have made demonic deals to get magical power by drinking the blood of wizards, and "werewolves" who are corrupted wizards degenerating into beastliness. It's great. The magic system itself, while not as clearly laid out as, say, a Brandon Sanderson magic system, is original and has plenty of scope for fun and interesting devices and spells. There are multiple different kinds and levels of magic user, which I enjoyed, and the narrator (and hence the author) shows ingenuity in the use of her gifts.

I did have a couple of quibbles with the setting. The spies appear to have very poor tradecraft, freely discussing among themselves who did what and where to find them, and revealing their identities after far too little verification. Maybe it's because I recently read Tim Powers' Declare, which is World War II spycraft with magic and extreme paranoia and lots of double agents, but this side of The Tower's Alchemist seemed a little loose to me. None of it was fatal to the plot, but it didn't help my suspension of disbelief.

Overall, though, I'm giving both the setting and the book as a whole four stars, because it has the kind of originality I always hope for in an indie book but rarely find, because it's a well-told story with a likeable character, and because I came out of it wanting to read more.(less)

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Jan 20, 2013 liirogue rated it 2 of 5 stars

This has a really neat plot, and I really wanted to like it. Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives.

I felt like I picked up the second book in the story. Escobar tosses you into this world from the start - and a lot of times that works. But the author never really fills in the world. People with magical abilities are running around - how does society deal with this? Do regular people know or just a select few? How has magic made this society different? So with some additional worl...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Annabell rated it 3 of 5 stars

I haven’t read many historically based fiction but have enjoyed a few of them here and here so when The Tower’s Alchemist came along I was really curious to read how the author would manage pulling off mixing War World II with vampire-like wizards and Alchemist who are trying to take down Hitler. I was pleasantly surprised in many ways by this book.

Isabella George is an undercover agent for the U.S. who send in only their most skilled and trusted Alchemists to not only hunt down information they...more I haven’t read many historically based fiction but have enjoyed a few of them here and here so when The Tower’s Alchemist came along I was really curious to read how the author would manage pulling off mixing War World II with vampire-like wizards and Alchemist who are trying to take down Hitler. I was pleasantly surprised in many ways by this book.

Isabella George is an undercover agent for the U.S. who send in only their most skilled and trusted Alchemists to not only hunt down information they need but take down seriously deadly enemies. World War II seems as if it will never end and Isabella has decided her hunt for Dr. Heilwig, the wizard who created The Plague—a deadly virus that enters the skin and kills someone painfully slowly—will be her final mission. She dreams of falling in love and having a family but one major problem is the fact that her boyfriend, Ken, is also a secret agent for the U.S. and they barely see each other as it is. On her mission in occupied France, Isabella soon discovers that secrets have been kept from her and the father she thought had died when she was a child, may be alive after all but can she trust the secret messages being sent to her or will they lead her into a trap?

Isabella George is not exactly the type of girl a guy brings home. She’s blunt with her mouth and even tougher with her fists, especially when she uses magic. She’s a Alchemist having been trained by the Gray Tower, an exclusive organization that houses and trains powerful Alchemists. I liked certain aspects to Isabella’s character. She faces her fears head on, has a spine as tough as steel and manages to be vulnerable in just the right way.

The saving grace though of The Tower’s Alchemist is the world building. The author paid very close attention to detail and seamlessly wove the World War II era with the magical abilities of the Alchemists and Wizards. The plot also doesn’t shy away from showcasing the stark reality of what Would War II was really like. Hitler and his soldiers had no remorse, no compassion, no heart. The scenes where people would be killed in the street or taken from the school were heartbreaking. They added a deep realism to a fictional world. The action was also very well done throughout the story. The reader can feel the tight tension and adrenaline in the many fight scenes that pop up throughout the book.

I also really enjoyed the magical elements to the story. The way Isabella would gain her power and rejuvenation from fire or how the gold of a blade could be manipulated. One of my favorite things she can do is throw people back by using magic to manipulate wind. Those were pretty fun moments.

I also liked the Cruenti, warlocks who feed off of Wizards and Alchemists was a nice little twist. Marcellus is the scariest of them all and a great villain. I wouldn’t want to be caught alone (or really even in person) with him. He’s fast, ruthless, and untamed. I liked how dark and prideful he came off. He fit the role of a villain right on point.

But not everything worked in the book. Isabella had the annoying habit of making ridiculous decisions that only managed to place her and others in harm way when there didn’t need to be cause for it. So many people ended up having to sacrifice themselves for her because she was too reckless and lacking common sense to pay attention to the RIGHT details. There were a lot of moments I questioned if she really had any training and why she was considered so important as a spy when she seemed in capable to practicing self-preservation or wise decisions. None of the secondary characters really stood out for me or any of the other main characters (which I’m guessing were Ken, Renee and Dr. Heilwig but honestly I couldn’t really tell). Everyone sounded the same. There wasn’t enough depth to tell the difference between one character or another. Isabella’s narration was one note so it made it really hard to tell who was even speaking if the name of the character wasn’t mentioned.

The pacing was really choppy. The story starts off with intensity than wanes for a good while then attempts picking up but falls short because there is either too much happening in scene a reader can’t grasp all the details or nothing much other than Isabella telling the reader things she deems important. There were many scenes that ended abruptly that I would have liked to have seen better executed. Particularly the scene where Ken and Isabella call it quits. I never believed their romance then it just ended. The ending to the book was fairly interesting. It closed the book well enough while leaving room for the second without feeling like a cliffhanger which I did like.

I would venture to say The Tower’s Alchemist was a pretty good beginning to a trilogy with an interesting and unique concept.

Fans of both historical and spy fiction will most likely have a good time with much of this book.

http://www.nerdalien.com/2012/12/book...(less)

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Feb 02, 2013 Tom Martin rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Now, for the rating! I hope you can tell that I think thi has been a greta book, and I dearly hope you’ll all read it. It’s $2.99 for Kindle – that’s like a packet of cigarettes you don’t need, or a coffee, or maybe a McDonald’s burger. I don’t believe there’s anybody who can’t afford a coffee for a good read and to help a great writer keep writing. I promise you won’t regret this book. I’m not a big reader of spy-books, but I really enjoyed this one.

The Tower’s Alchemist left me wanting more,...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Elle Jacklee rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love paranormal, I love spy stories (especially with tough female spies), and I love historical fiction. So when I saw the premise of this book, I expected to enjoy it. And I wasn't disappointed. This story was a fast-paced thrill ride set in a vividly described WWII Europe where Nazis employ vampires and the occult to help them carry out their ghastly agenda. Alchemist Isabella George, the main character, has had enough of the danger and uncertainty of the spy life. She plans to fulfill one l...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Danielle Forrest rated it 4 of 5 stars

I truly enjoyed this book. Alesha Escobar is a wonderful storyteller and weaves an alternate world where magic is commonplace and those than wield it hold the world in the balance.

The story takes place during an alternate World War II and starts with people trying to kill our heroine, who goes by many, many names. The story will take you from battle to battle, with few breathers in between. Filled with mysteries and betrayal, the main character must make her way through France, complete her miss...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

On the heels of the release of Dark Rift, the second book in this series, I have decided to write a much needed, and long overdue review of The Tower's Alchemist.

First, I have 3 main things that initially interested me in the book, based upon the summary information:
Nazi Warlock Vampires
Nazi Warlock Vampires
and just so the idea really hits you NAZI WARLOCK VAMPIRES.

The only thing that could have attracted me more would have been the phrase Nazi Warlock Vampire Zombies!

OK, now to the real review....more

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Jan 11, 2013 Dicey Grenor rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was the first book of its kind for me. I don't typically find history interesting, because it's nonfiction. I prefer fiction, where I can read for escapism and entertainment, which is why I love fantasy. Combining warlocks with WWII--that was different. When I first read the synopsis, I was intrigued. Throw in some alchemy and occult magic, and I was in for something fresh and creative. The opening scene was action-packed, which was a good way to start it. After that, I had some difficulty...more

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May 16, 2013 Devorah Fox rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like most young women her age, Isabella would be happy to spend her time having fun with friends, reading brides’ magazines and planning a future with the man she loves. But the world is at war and the good guys need her for her unique and particular talents. She is an alchemist and can bend natural forces to her will. This makes her an ideal adversary to go up against Nazis who count wizards, vampires and terrifying Black Wolves among their numbers. Vowing to retire, the brave young woman takes...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Francene Stanley rated it 4 of 5 stars

This amazing novel focuses on an English spy working in France during WW2. However, the plot differs from other spy novels written about this period. The strong heroine uses alchemical symbols to aid her work. Spies on both sides of the war employ similar ploys. The heroine does her job as best she can despite the magical tricks others use against her, at the same time attempting to come to terms with co-workers who have died.

The writing style pulled me right into the mind of Isabella, or Emeli...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Elise Marion rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'll first say that I found it a little bit difficult to get into the story at first. Mainly because I felt like the pieces of background offered were a bit fragmented. However, it was definitely worth the read because once I started putting things together, I was able to connect better with Isabella as a character. I was gripped by the suspense and intrigued by this alternate-reality world where wizards are used on both sides. I thought that Isabella's desire for a normal life made her a sympat...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Travis Simonson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I personally loved this book the characters were great and I am looking forward to the next book ! Great blend of fantasy with historical fiction.

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Nov 09, 2012 MissyDevoursDelishReads rated it 4 of 5 stars

Grabbed this as a sample reading, well worth my time. Solid story line with a kick ass heroine left off with a cliffhanger.

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Nov 16, 2011 Wayne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story seemed a repeat of every wizard book. Not an original. I found myself losing interest in it within the first couple of days reading it. I would put it down after reading one or two chapters. There were days that I wouldn't pick it to read at all. I also found it difficult to determine if it was written for young adults or adults.

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Mar 04, 2013 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely enjoyed this book... and the ending?? Didn't see it coming. I cannot wait to read the next one!

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May 16, 2013 Marie Harbon marked it as to-read

May 13, 2013 Susan marked it as to-read

Shelves: ebooks, vampires, magic

May 11, 2013 Kelly marked it as to-read

May 09, 2013 Emma is currently reading it

May 08, 2013 Andrew marked it as to-read

Shelves: 1-norman-to-read, fantasy

May 07, 2013 Legato Darksummers added it

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May 03, 2013 Adriana marked it as purchased · review of another edition

May 01, 2013 Soo marked it as to-read

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Apr 19, 2013 Sara marked it as free-download-unread

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Paranormal and Ho...: The Tower's Alchemist by Alesha Escobar	1	6	May 11, 2013 08:40pm
Goodreads Authors...: Paranormal Fantasy - THE TOWER'S ALCHEMIST is FREE	1	3	May 06, 2013 08:51pm
Magic Appreciatio...: The Tower's Alchemist (The Gray Tower Trilogy, #1)	1	1	Feb 26, 2013 08:14pm
Q&A and Chat With Alesha Escobar	15	7	Feb 06, 2013 02:55pm

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About Alesha Escobar

Alesha Escobar writes fantasy and urban fantasy stories to support her chocolate habit. She earned a B.A. in English Writing and a Master of Science in Education, and has enjoyed both teaching writing and being a writer. When she's not chasing around her four children, her hobbies include reading, watching movies, and making crafts. She is currently working on the final installment of The Gray Tow...more

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