Cover image of "Apothecary," a sci-fi historical fiction mashup

Bloody Mary reigns in England as this remarkable novel opens. It’s 1558. Shakespeare had not yet been born, and the queen who would give her name to the Elizabethan Age was months away from gaining the throne. Mary’s agent, the notorious Bishop Blaine, is terrorizing London with wild accusations of heresy—and burning his victims at the stake, with explosive collars around their necks. Scenes like this dominate the opening chapters of Apothecary, Peter Cawdron’s brilliant sci-fi historical fiction mashup.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

A bishop, a burning, and a beautiful lady

Seventeen-year-old Anthony is apprenticed to Master Dunmore, proprietor of the apothecary in Westminster, a village on the outskirts of London and the seat of Parliament. The young man has grown up with Julia, his best friend, who turned blind at the age of six from the “pox.” He defends her fiercely. But he is powerless when Bishop Blaine seizes them both. Anthony had been horror-stricken at witnessing two innocent men burning at the stake, and the bishop took his expression as a sign of heresy. But a passing noblewoman, Lady Elizabeth de Brooke, a confidante of the queen, intervenes, rescuing the pair.

Apothecary (First Contact #23) by Peter Cawdron (2023) 412 pages ★★★★★

Image of a late medieval English apothecary, the locus of action in this sci-fi historical fiction mashup
Customer pointing to an herb he wishes to buy in an apothecary in late medieval England. Image: Thackeray Museum of Medicine

But Lady de Brooke is no lady

Unfortunately, to escape from the bishop and the armed men he commands, Lady de Brooke must display power no earthly woman could muster. She brings down a bolt of lightning on one soldier, then summons a fierce storm on the Thames as they escape from Westminster in a boat. And soon it is clear that Lady de Brooke is no lady, and in fact is not human. She and her “husband,” Lord de Brooke, are long-lived aliens who have been studying life on Earth as part of their race’s mission to gather knowledge of life throughout the universe. Both Anthony and Julia are bright and curious, unlike most of the people they know. And despite Lord de Brooke’s misgivings, they insist on accompanying the aliens as they leave Earth on their continuing quest for knowledge.

So it is that First Contact on Earth has taken place in 16th-century England. But there is more to come. Much more. The two young English subjects have great adventures in store for them. And that apothecary will prove to be central to the story.

An overall assessment

It’s common for a mixed-genre mashup to excel in one genre and fall short in the other. But this sci-fi historical fiction mashup works as well in either.

However, the novel isn’t flawless. Peter Cawdron seems to have missed a calling as a moral philosopher, and Apothecary, like some of his other books, includes sometimes long-winded narrative passages and monologues that strike me as preachy. But he writes well, and the interruptions are tolerable. More to the point, the man tells a damn good story.

This is one of The best books of 2023 so far.

You’ll find all of the author’s First Contact novels published to date at Peter Cawdron’s insightful First Contact book series.

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