CL Jarvis writes action-packed, fun historical fantasy set in the 18th century. For the latest writing updates, please subscribe to her newsletter.
THE EDINBURGH DOCTRINES SERIES
The Doctrines of Fire (#1) [February 2023] Purchase eBook and Paperback from Amazon
Edinburgh, 1779. An academic rivalry turns deadly.
George Stephens is a lousy medical student. Lacking the social and financial resources to succeed in Edinburgh’s elite medical school, his dream of becoming a physician may be over before it begins.
Then George comes to the attention of two famous professors, William Cullen and Joseph Black. Medical students are dying mysteriously—the professors suspect a disgraced rival is to blame—and they need George’s help uncovering the truth. Believing the partnership will bolster his academic standing, George agrees.
The investigation pulls them into the murkiest, most dangerous corners of Enlightenment Edinburgh. The professors are secret wielders of fire magic, but their rival is courting even darker forces. With violence threatening to erupt, and George struggling to navigate this confusing city, getting justice for the dead will be harder than he imagined.
NINTH HOUSE meets A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAGICIANS in this thrilling adult fantasy debut from CL Jarvis.
Featuring:
🎓 Academics behaving badly
😎 A dark and mysterious mentor
⚔️ A chaotic princess with a sword
👊 Street fights
🫀 Freaky historical medicine
🌃 Night-time shenanigans
A Treatise of Air (#2) [September 2023] Buy now
Edinburgh, 1784. It takes a scoundrel to catch a thief.
Elizabeth Fulhame is trying to keep her head down. Once her husband Thomas gets his medical degree – provided he doesn’t aggravate his professors – perhaps she’ll be able to afford the materials for her cherished chemistry experiments. But when Dr Joseph Black tasks Thomas with meeting a French inventor who’s come to sell a valuable dyeing process, the Fulhames see an opportunity to reverse their modest fortunes.
But the industrial secret is stolen from under their noses by a ruthless English aristocrat. Relying on her wits and magical abilities, Elizabeth decides to steal it back.
The Fulhames and their comrades are drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game through the seedy wynds and glittering society balls of Enlightenment Edinburgh. With their foe seeking the destruction of his enemies, Elizabeth risks losing everything she holds dear in pursuit of her goal.
Fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora and the dark fantasies of Leigh Bardugo will love this explosive continuation to The Edinburgh Doctrines series by CL Jarvis.
The Chronicles of Earth (#3) – [February 2024] Buy now
Edinburgh, 1785. A kidnapped geologist. An explosive new theory.
George Stephens is about to receive his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh, but he doesn’t think he’s able to make it as a physician in a crowded, competitive marketplace. Instead, he hopes Professor Joseph Black’s friend James Hutton might be able to get him a job in one of his chemical enterprises.
But before he has a chance to finalise this arrangement, Hutton is kidnapped. The geologist was about to deliver his bombshell treatise on the age of the Earth, threatening to upend conventional beliefs about the universe and man’s place in it.
Getting Hutton back pits George, Black and friends against a fanatical opponent who will stop at nothing until Hutton’s dangerous theories are buried. If George wants to survive long enough to graduate, he’ll need every ounce of his courage and skill.
Return to the murky, action-packed world of The Edinburgh Doctrines series with this exciting continuation to George Stephens’ story.
A Codex of Metal (#4) – Coming September 2024 [preorder now]
Edinburgh 1787. How many chemists does it take to solve a murder?
Elizabeth Fulhame is having a hard time convincing the scientific establishment of Georgian Edinburgh to take her amateur chemistry research and magical experimentation seriously. Just when she thinks she’s earning the respect of its two most prominent luminaries – Dr Joseph Black and Dr William Cullen – the three of them are implicated in a shocking murder.
It’s bad enough that the three were ambivalent at best about the deceased. But a bigger conspiracy is afoot in Edinburgh, with them now caught in the middle. Can Fulhame, Black and Cullen set aside their differences and track down the culprit before destruction is unleashed?
Only Murders In The Building meets the gritty streets of 18th century Edinburgh in this thrilling conclusion to the Edinburgh Doctrines series.
Dark City Rising (Edinburgh Doctrines series standalone) – [May 2024] buy now
‘It’s not dark magic, then. Whatever you’re playing with, it’s something different. Something far more dangerous.’
Scotland, 1748. Professor William Cullen is a simple man with a simple goal: overhaul the eighteenth century medical education system and make it accessible to commoners. Attempting this puts him at odds with the medical elite in Edinburgh, who like the current system just fine. Staying away from them in Glasgow is the only reason Cullen manages to teach medicine at all.
However, Cullen has a secret: he’s also developing a new, egalitarian system of magic. If the aristocrats in Edinburgh learn he threatens their stronghold of power – upheld through dark magical means and buy-in from the city’s illustrious medical school – he’s dead. When a noble is murdered for daring to champion Cullen, he realises confrontation is inevitable and he must take his fight to Edinburgh.
Aided by his prodigious former student Joseph Black, Cullen must navigate his way through a hostile academic system, locating the source of the aristocrats’ power before his secret abilities are uncovered and the assassins return for him.
Fans of The Embroidered Book and The Baroque Cycle will be thrilled by this fantastical reimagining of 18th century Edinburgh on the cusp of scientific and philosophical revolution.
CL Jarvis 