Sky's Dark Labyrinth

Intrigue and danger threaten two Renaissance astronomers in this historical novel of Galileo, Kepler, and their quest to understand the universe. At the dawn of the 17th century, it was believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth. Yet some men knew that the Heavens did not move as they should. They began to believe exactly the opposite, a heresy punishable by being burned alive. The Sky's Dark Labyrinth follows the stories of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei-two men of science who pursue the light of truth into dark and dangerous territory. Kepler, a German Lutheran, was the first man to demonstrate how stars and planets moved according to mathematical laws. Galileo, an Italian Catholic, tries to claim Kepler's success for his own Church. Both men are soon enmeshed in a web of intrigue orchestrated by forces within the Vatican itself. The Sky's Dark Labyrinth is the first novel in a trilogy that explores the personal and professional struggles of these iconic figures.

It is the late seventeenth century and still the movement of the planets remains a mystery despite the revolutionary work of Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Tycho Brahe almost a hundred years previously. Edmond Halley - dynamic adventurer and astronomer - seeks the help of Isaac Newton in unravelling the problem, but though obsessed with understanding the orbits of the planets, Newton has problems of his own which could undermine the essential work. The reclusive mathematician and alchemist has a guilty secret. He stole some of his ideas from Robert Hooke, and the quarrelsome experimentalist is demanding recognition. While capable of the loftiest ideals and theorising, the three men are just as quick to bicker and hold petty grudges which could derail scientific advancement. The men's lives and work clash as Europe is pushed headlong towards the Age of the Enlightenment and science is catapulted into its next seismic collision with religion.