A Tale of Paris and Paris: Echoes of Troy, in the Chronicles of Cortona by Edmond Thornfield, follows Lorenzo di Ranieri, a militia sergeant in Cortona, when inquisitors from Perugia arrive to pursue charges of heresy. Lorenzo forms a backstairs circle with Matteo at the Ranieri stable and relies on Costanza Briani to care for […]
FEB 2026 Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner Asterios and the Labyrinth follows Prince Asterios of Knossos as his father dies, political rivals rise against him, foreign powers threaten the island, and love pulls him in directions that the laws of his world barely allow. The story blends palace intrigue, war, prophecy, and a passionate
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There are scenes in A Tale of Paris & Paris: Echoes of Troy that unsettle readers who arrive with their assumptions intact. The inquisitors who descend upon Cortona in 1450 are not the black-and-white Dominicans of legend, the Domini canes, the Hounds of God, the scholastic terrors immortalized in every gothic retelling of the medieval
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There is a thread that runs through everything I write. It does not announce itself. It does not appear in chapter summaries or back-cover copy. But it is there in every novel, in every narrator’s voice, in every reunion between characters who meet for what the plot calls the first time and recognize each other
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In my visits to Cortona, I always enter the citadel at the beginning of Via Nazionale, still known by the Cortonesi as Via di Ruga Piana, as it has been for centuries, the only leveled street in the whole city. The first time I did, the moment I laid my hands upon the remaining stones
Building the World of A Tale of Paris & Paris: Echoes of Troy | Cortona, 1450 AD Read More »
Set on the island of Crete during the Minoan Bronze Age some 3,500 years ago, Asterios and the Labyrinth (Mythos of Knossos) by Edmond Thornfield is a tale of gods, kings, heroes, revolts, and magical powers. The Minoans, a wealthy people known for their farming and commerce, experienced some turbulence following the death of King
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Asterios and the Labyrinth (Mythos of Knossos) by Edmond Thornfield transports readers back to the time of ancient Greek power, of mythical beasts, sorcerers, and the battle for royal succession. Upon the death of King Minos, his son Asterios must succeed to the throne before the various warlords tear the kingdom apart in their quest
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A Tale of Paris & Paris: Echoes of Troy by Edmond Thornfield is an adult historical fantasy set primarily in fifteenth-century Cortona, Italy, a period defined by religious authority, political tension, and unspoken desire. The novel follows the intertwined lives caught between duty and longing, most notably Lorenzo di Ranieri, a Florentine soldier returning to
A Tale of Paris and Paris: Echoes of Troy by Edmond Thornfield is set in fifteenth-century Cortona, where Lorenzo di Ranieri returns from Florence to a city under ecclesiastical scrutiny. Quiet warnings reach him that the Inquisition is preparing accusations meant to divide households and strip the town of power. Lorenzo uses his position in
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