Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Justin Newland’s novel The Coronation as part of a blog tour celebrating the Second Anniversary of its publication, hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. The Coronation is set in East Prussia in the 1760s.

The opening scene of Chapter 3, The Sound of Bagpipes.
Told from the point of view of Ian Fermor, a Scottish emigree and sapper in the Russian Army. For disobeying orders, he has been stabbed in the side and left to die by the Russians. He’s brought into Castle Ludwigshain, but he’s feverish and near to death.

Listen to Justin Newland reading this excerpt.

He felt his life blood ooze out of his side, like a leaking bucket. He blacked out and re-awoke to greet his nemesis – an ocean of pain. Light from a lantern splashed across the room like waves, catching his fading attention. Someone was groaning, crying out in agony… He heard footsteps, someone crossing the room.

“You in pain? Doctor von Ottenhagen gave you our last supplies of laudanum. Oh, you were moaning.” A woman spoke in a voice as gentle as a dove.

“Moaning? Not me,” he replied. He seemed to be listening to his own voice, as if another person was speaking.

“I heard you with my own ears, I did,” the woman said, holding up the lantern. He caught a glimpse of her face and, beyond her, long, solemn tapestries hanging on the walls.

“Who are you?” he murmured. By the Lord, all his strength had been sucked from his marrow. He could barely lift his eyelids.

“Me? I’m Amelia. Looking after you, I am. And you’re that lieutenant fellow.” With a ruddy complexion, she had fire in her green eyes and wore a bonnet with a tie under her chin, showing a pair of tiny, rounded ears. She reminded him of his first love back in Scotland.

“I’m Ian, urgh… Ian Fermor.” The pain pulsed through his body in waves, buffeting his soul. He felt stretched on the rack, being pulled apart.

“You Irish?”

“Scots,” he mumbled.

“With all that red hair, had to be one or the other,” she said.

“Where am I?”

“In Schloss Ludwigshain, the bestest castle in all of Ostpreussen,” she replied. He envied her keen sense of belonging. Memories of his own upbringing in a croft flashed before him; the kindness of his mother, the gruff indolence of his father. The bedclothes rustled as she pulled them up to examine his side. It hurt like blazes.

“Now you’re awake, you’d better drink this. I’ll get into trouble if you don’t.” Amelia lifted his head and he took a sip. Oh, it tasted as fresh as the waters of Loch Lomond. Once he had swum there, at dusk, on a moonlit night, naked, with his lover, after which they had made languid, passionate love in the long grasses. He could smell the earth odour of the heather mingling with the scent of her body. Unforgettable. Joyous. Sublime.

Amelia was saying, “… I’ll be back right soon.”

Amelia, where are you going? Come back. Make love with me.

He blacked out.

He was next aware that the pain had lessened and his body was no longer weighed down by the slough of despond. With his eyes closed, the darkness swathed him in its silent embrace. With it came an explosion of relief. He felt free. The lightness of the moonbeams eased through the gap in the curtains and enveloped him in their silver effervescence.

He eased out of and hovered above his body. How was that even possible? He glided upwards and found himself floating near the ceiling. He was peering down at his own body, lying on the bed. That wasn’t normal. He must be dying, or already dead.

He moved through the ceiling. Wait, it was solid. This wasn’t his carnal body, it couldn’t be. He was frightened. A voice spoke to him. Somehow he knew it was his soul. It said:

Follow and be not afraid.

Reassured, he rose higher. Something guided, pulled him upwards. In a vortex, he spun through the cluttered attic and emerged through the roof, standing next to a chimney stack.

Coming towards him like a distant scudding cloud, he saw a spot on the horizon. It was a bird. As it approached, he saw it was the King of the birds, a great eagle, with a wing-span as broad as the Schloss itself.

The bird had two heads. Then he knew he was dreaming.

It glided serenely through the fine mists of the ethereal. A seraphic light shone from every feather and claw of this strange and wonderful being. He felt no fear, but instead felt the force of destiny move fluently through the hidden corridors of his own life. With spectral feathers, an airy body and subtle wings, the eagle swept over him with elegant power.

Then he was riding on its back!

Above the lake they rose until he was so high he could peer down on the twin flows of the River Pregel until they merged in the ruby heart of Ostpreussen, the city of Königsberg. Schloss Ludwigshain was no more than a dot on a huge tapestry of land and sea.

Into the air, light as a cloud, they scaled the heights above Ostpreussen, with the languid Masurian Lakes to the south, the Rivers Niemen to the north and Vistula to the west. Truly, he was flying with an eagle. From his Mercator maps, he recognised the outline of the blue waters of the Baltic.

This was a fantastical journey.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The eagle replied, “I am Adler, the eagle of Northern Europe.”

Incredible. Eagles could speak. And he could hear – in the resonance of his soul.

Breaching the Earth’s rarefied vapours, a spectacular panorama unfolded below. The Adler showed him its territory, shaped in a huge crescent or arc, stretching from Ostpreussen in the east, through the German Kingdoms and Marks, all the way to the United Kingdom in the west. Its northern End-mark, the country given its name by a rearrangement of those letters, was Den-mark.

“Why have you appeared to me?”

“By your cry, you summoned me and freely elected to serve me. There are others like you. Find them. Work with them.”

He asked, “What do you want?”

“I have two heads and thus I bring two gifts: the grace of Reason and the grant of Reformation. In truth, humans have great substance but little power. I have great power but little substance. Humanity is ready to advance, to develop. I bring the seeds of that progression. Already it stirs in the lands I have shown you.”

“Where? How?” he asked.

“It is the movement you call the Enlightenment.”

That is what it was about – the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment, the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. And he, Ian Fermor, was going to assist its unfolding. He was privileged, exalted.

There was a large jolt. The eagle disappeared into the ether. He was back in the Schloss, locked in his carnal body. The pain returned bursting over him like a dark, glowering wave. The first rush pressed against his chest like a haystack. He gasped for air.

There were voices in the room. “He’s very weak,” a woman said.

“Can you hear me?” a man asked.

He groaned. He was trying to recall what the double-headed eagle had said, but the pain in his side bored into him.

“Your Excellency,” the man said. “Call the pastor. Don’t delay.”

Pastor. Call the pastor. The words echoed in his befuddled head.

What do they want with me? To say Mass? Or say prayers? Is my salvation…? My salvation! By the Lord, they think I’m dying. I’m dying.

He blacked out.

It is 1761. Prussia is at war with  Russia and Austria. As the Russian army occupies East Prussia, King Frederick the Great and his men fight hard to win back their homeland.

In Ludwigshain, a Junker estate in East Prussia, Countess Marion von Adler celebrates an exceptional harvest. But it is requisitioned by Russian troops. When Marion tries to stop them, a Russian captain strikes her. His lieutenant, Ian Fermor, defends Marion’s honour and is stabbed for his insubordination. Abandoned by the Russians, Fermor becomes a divisive figure on the estate.

Close to death, Fermor dreams of the Adler, a numinous eagle entity, whose territory extends across the lands of Northern Europe and which is mysteriously connected to the Enlightenment. What happens next will change of the course of human history…

The Coronation is available at
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU
Barnes & Noble • Waterstones • Kobo • Wordery (UK) • Publisher website
Bookwagon (India) • Booktopia (AU) • Saxo (Dk) • Exclusive Books (SA)
and at
Justin Newland’s Website
where buyers can enter a dedication to be signed by the author.

Justin Newland

Justin Newland is an author of historical fantasy and secret history thrillers – that’s history with a supernatural twist. His stories feature known events and real people from history which are re-told and examined through the lens of the supernatural. He gives author talks and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Bristol’s Thought for the Day. He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.

For more information about Justin and his books click on the links below
Website • Facebook • LinkedIn
Instagram • Amazon Author Page • GoodReads

Justin Newland’s Books

The Genes of Isis is a tale of love, destruction and ephemeral power set under the skies of Ancient Egypt. A re-telling of the Biblical story of the flood, it reveals the mystery of the genes of Isis – or genesis – of mankind. ISBN 9781789014860.
‘The novel is creative, sophisticated, and downright brilliant! I couldn’t ask more of an Egyptian-esque book!‘ – Lauren, Books Beyond the Story.

The Old Dragon’s Head is a historical fantasy and supernatural thriller set during the Ming Dynasty and played out in the shadows the Great Wall of China. It explores the secret history of the influences that shaped the beginnings of modern times.  ISBN 9781789015829.
‘The author is an excellent storyteller.‘ – British Fantasy Society.

Set during the Great Enlightenment, The Coronation reveals the secret history of the Industrial Revolution. ISBN 9781838591885.
‘The novel explores the themes of belonging, outsiders… religion and war…  filtered through the lens of the other-worldly.‘ – A. Deane, Page Farer Book Blog.

His latest, The Abdication (July, 2021), is a suspense thriller, a journey of destiny, wisdom and self-discovery. ISBN 9781800463950. 
‘In Topeth, Tula confronts the truth, her faith in herself, faith in a higher purpose, and ultimately, what it means to abdicate that faith.‘ – V. Triola, Coast to Coast.

More information on the Coffee Pot Book Club and other works of quality historical fiction can be found on Twitter and Instagram.

Book Title: The Coronation
Author: Justin Newland
Publication Date: 28th January 2019
Publisher: Matador
Page Length: 216 Pages
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Supernatural Thriller