The Barefoot Healer Series by Steven J Pemberton

"We don't do miracles here. Only magic."

The Barefoot Healer is a series of four young adult fantasy novels. When apprentice wizard Adramal leaves home, her plan is to complete her training at a new school. But she soon finds herself caught up in bigger and more dangerous events than she could have imagined. She'll have to catch a murderer, rescue a village from plague, and find her way into a secret magical well - while staying ahead of a God who wants her dead and keeping her ever-more complicated love life on track. Meanwhile, Lelsarin, the immortal being who lives in Adramal's head, has her own ideas about how to solve these problems, and they might not involve keeping Adramal safe and sane...

The novels of The Barefoot Healer are Death & Magic, Plague & Poison, Dust & Water, and Stone & Silence. The series is available as four individual books (in ebook, paperback and audio, read by me) and an omnibus (ebook only). The omnibus and the audiobook of Stone & Silence include a bonus short story, The Shortest Distance between Two Points. The omnibus also includes background material and a glossary.

Reviews

"The world and atmosphere that Steven has created is beyond words. Languages, races, villages, cities and characters all created into a world that is like no other." - 5 stars - Katie Turner, Turner's Antics.

"A great read, and I'm looking forwards to more." - 5 stars - Rachel Cotterill.

"Don't expect magical or cute... definitely a cut above the usual offerings in the ebook world." - Gordon A Long.

"The subtle foreshadows and detail are what makes this story. Every other chapter I was second guessing myself and accusing a different character based on the evidence in front of me." - Callie Maher.

Where to Buy

Find The Barefoot Healer on

Or keep reading for more information about the individual books.

The ISBN for the ePub version of the omnibus is 978 131 052 6534, which may help you to find it on retailers I haven't listed above. The Kindle (mobi) version of the omnibus doesn't have an ISBN.

Death & Magic (The Barefoot Healer, Volume I)

Death & Magic is a murder mystery set in a school for wizards. It's the first volume of The Barefoot Healer series, but is largely self-contained.

When apprentice wizard Adramal moves to a new school to complete her training, she discovers that several ritual murders have been committed by magic, threatening the fabric of the world. The evidence points to the killer being one of Adramal's teachers, and the City Watch recruit her to go undercover to unmask the murderer. Can she find what she needs before the killer strikes again or - worse - without blowing her cover and putting her own life in danger?

ISBNs: ePub 978 146 586 8039, paperback (6" x 9") 978 149 034 5840. The Kindle (mobi) and A5 paperback editions don't have ISBNs.

The book is also available as an audiobook, read by me, running for about 11 hours. It's on sale from Amazon (see links to omnibus above), Audible USA, Audible UK, Audible France, Audible Germany, and iTunes. (Full disclosure: the Audible links use their bounty programme, which pays me a bonus if you become an Audible subscriber after clicking a link. There's no difference to the price you pay for the book or your subscription.)

You can read a sample of the Kindle edition in your browser and buy it from the same window. Or you can read the first eight chapters on this page on my site.

You can listen to a preview of the audiobook (5 minutes from the end of chapter 8, relatively spoiler-free).

Take this quiz on Goodreads for a chance to win a copy of the ebook. The answers are all in the first chapter of the free sample.

Here you'll find bonus material for Death & Magic, including a map of the school and Adramal's timetable.

Plague & Poison (The Barefoot Healer, Volume II)

Adramal is now a detective with the City Watch. But someone wants her dead - during a routine investigation, she is poisoned, and only her magic and quick thinking save her life. Her father suspects followers of the evil god Zorian are to blame. He insists Adramal leave for the island kingdom of Salmar, beyond Zorian's influence, while the Watch investigates. The Salmarian priests trick her into revealing herself as a wizard, and sentence her to death for practising magic. Desperate, she chooses to assist a plague-stricken village rather than be executed. But not all the villagers welcome her help, and Zorian's reach may well be longer than she thought...

ISBNs: ePub 978 146 587 7659, paperback (6" x 9") 978 149 446 2994. The Kindle (mobi) and A5 paperback editions don't have ISBNs.

You can read a sample of the Kindle edition in your browser, or read the first ten chapters on this page on my site.

The book is also available as an audiobook, read by me, running for about 11 hours. It's on sale from Amazon (see links to omnibus above), Audible USA, Audible UK, Audible France, Audible Germany, and iTunes. (Full disclosure: the Audible links use their bounty programme, which pays me a bonus if you become an Audible subscriber after clicking a link. There's no difference to the price you pay for the book or your subscription.)

You can listen to a sample of the audiobook (4 minutes from the end of chapter 7, spoiler-free).

Take this quiz on Goodreads for a chance to win a copy of the ebook. The answers are all in the first chapter.

Here is the bonus material for volume II, including maps and behind-the-scenes photos.

Dust & Water (The Barefoot Healer, Volume III)

Somewhere beneath the teeming streets of the city of Molkolin lies a legendary well that reveals the true purpose of anyone who drinks from it. Adramal and her father believe it holds a secret that will help them defeat the evil God, Zorian.

Galdrakh, the well's owner, has closed it to all visitors. Galdrakh's aunts believe the well really belongs to them, and hire Adramal to prove it. The city authorities suspect Galdrakh is smuggling a magical dust used in the coloured glass that is the foundation of the city's fortune, and recruit Adramal's father to help. But nobody seems to know what to do about the pilgrims who've come back from the well with an important message that they won't - or can't - deliver to anyone...

Click here to read the prologue and chapters 1 to 9.

ISBNs: ePub 978 130 107 7274, paperback (6" x 9") 978 149 470 4971. The Kindle (mobi) and A5 paperback editions don't have ISBNs.

You can read the sample of the Kindle edition in your browser, or read the prologue and chapters 1 to 9 on my site.

The book is also available as an audiobook, read by me, running for about 12 hours. It's on sale from Amazon (see links to omnibus above), Audible USA, Audible UK, Audible France, Audible Germany, and iTunes. (Full disclosure: the Audible links use their bounty programme, which pays me a bonus if you become an Audible subscriber after clicking a link. There's no difference to the price you pay for the book or your subscription.)

You can listen to a sample of the audiobook (5 minutes from an "interlude" between chapter 33 and 34, mostly spoiler-free). (I suppose I now have to explain why it's an interlude instead of a numbered chapter. One of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time... there's a prologue, which is from Galdrakh's point of view, and an epilogue, also from his point of view. I found that I needed a scene from his point of view in the middle of the book, and since the other two aren't numbered, it seemed natural not to number this one either.)

Take this quiz on Goodreads for a chance to win an electronic copy of the book. The answers are all in the prologue.

Here is the bonus material for volume III, including maps, a deleted scene, and behind-the-scenes photos.

Stone & Silence (The Barefoot Healer, Volume IV)

The epic finale to the series.

Captain Tagahra of the Kyer Altamar Watch has a lot of missing people to find. He doesn't expect one of them to be a wizard who's escaped from the city's prison, leaving a dead priest in his place. He learns the disappearances might be part of a plan by the evil God Zorian to take control of the city, and his orders are to help with the defences. But how do you defend against something you don't believe in?

The wizard Adramal is racing home to Kyer Altamar to fight Zorian. She drank from a magical well and received a vision that claims to reveal her purpose in life. Clues in the vision suggest it may contain knowledge that will help in the battle... if she can crack its code in time.

Meanwhile, Lelsarin, the immortal being who lives in Adramal's head, has her own ideas about how to deal with Zorian, and keeping those around her alive doesn't seem to be a priority. How far is she willing to go to rid the world of one God?

Click here to read the first ten chapters.

ISBNs: ePub 978 131 135 4785, paperback (6" x 9") 978 153 096 4994, paperback (A5) 978 132 662 3234. The Kindle (mobi) edition doesn't have an ISBN.

You can read the first ten chapters on my site.

The book is also available as an audiobook, read by me, running for about 12.5 hours. It includes a bonus short story, The Shortest Distance Between Two Points. It's on sale from Amazon (see links to omnibus above), Audible USA, Audible UK, Audible France, Audible Germany, and iTunes. (Full disclosure: the Audible links use their bounty programme, which pays me a bonus if you become an Audible subscriber after clicking a link. There's no difference to the price you pay for the book or your subscription.)

You can listen to a sample of the audiobook (two and a half minutes from the end of chapter 5). This has a minor spoiler for the end of Dust & Water.

Take this quiz on Goodreads for a chance to win an electronic copy of the book. The answers are all in the first chapter.

Here is the bonus material for volume IV, including maps and deleted scenes.

Review Copies

If you're interested in reviewing any of my books, please email me (webmaster (at) pembers (dot) net) with a link to where I can read some of your reviews (so I know you're serious about reviewing). Please state which book(s) you're interested in and which format you want. I can supply .mobi (for the Kindle), .epub (for most other ereaders) and PDF. I don't normally give out print copies, but I occasionally have spares lying around, so if you want one it's probably worth asking just in case.

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Last update: 18/12/2020 18:32