The Iron Leviathan

di Amodio Tortora (Autore)

Self-Publishing, 2026

In the year 1627, while the France of Louis XIII is torn apart by religious wars and court rivalries, a mysterious terror begins to spread along the Atlantic shipping routes. Merchant ships, Spanish galleons, and French vessels are found torn open or sunk, and the few survivors tell of an impossible creature: a monster of steel, black and gleaming, capable of rising from the waves illuminated by bluish flashes. Rumors reach Paris, where the king fears an enemy weapon while Cardinal Richelieu suspects a conspiracy within the kingdom. When a royal convoy bound for La Rochelle is destroyed, the matter becomes an affair of state. D'Artagnan, together with Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, is entrusted with the investigation. The four musketeers are joined by the chevalier Étienne de Valcroix, a scholar of hydraulic machinery, and his servant Bastien. The expedition sails from Brest aboard the frigate Saint-Michel, commanded by the old Breton captain Armand de Kersaint. After weeks of fruitless navigation, one foggy night off the Iberian coast, the creature finally emerges: it is not an animal, but a prodigious submersible vessel. The frigate's cannons prove useless, the rudder is shattered, and amid the chaos D'Artagnan, Valcroix, and Bastien plunge into the waves. Clinging to the monster's metallic surface, the three men are captured and taken inside the vessel, which is called the Abyssandra. It is a secret palace beneath the sea, with copper chambers, waterproof libraries, marine greenhouses, and great crystal windows overlooking the abyss. Its commander is Duchess Éléonore de Montfaucon, an aristocrat believed dead for years. Her father was executed for treason by order of the king, and she is convinced that his trial was a sham orchestrated to destroy her noble house. Since then, she has renounced France and chosen the sea as her only kingdom, transforming her grief into a private war against the crown. A complex relationship develops between the prisoners and their fascinating captor, marked by clashes, confidences, and restrained attractions. But Milady de Winter also appears aboard the vessel, an ambiguous ally of the duchess who sees in the Abyssandra an unprecedented political weapon and wants to exploit it for her own purposes. D'Artagnan realizes that Milady has no intention of serving Éléonore, but rather of using her. When Milady convinces the duchess that Louis XIII will secretly travel to La Rochelle, a terrible conspiracy begins to take shape: to strike the royal ship and make the world believe that the king has been devoured by the monster. It would be the perfect revenge, but also the spark capable of setting Europe ablaze. D'Artagnan, with the help of Valcroix and Bastien, then prepares a desperate escape and a plan to sabotage the vessel. Meanwhile, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, having survived the attack and convinced that their friend is alive, follow the monster's trail to the besieged waters of La Rochelle, where every thread of the story is destined to converge in a night of fire, betrayal, and revealed truths.

• Autore: Amodio Tortora
• Anno edizione: 2026
• Editore: Self-Publishing
• Formato: EPUB2 con DRMFREE
• Lingua: Inglese
• Compatibilità: Tutti i dispositivi (eccetto Kindle)
• Layout: Reflowable
• EAN: 9798237843934