Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC.

Oliver Pötzsch has collected facts and reprocessed them as he is wont to do and does so masterfully in a tale that is affecting and heartfelt . In a very successful blend of historically known facts, Goethe's quotes and his own fiction, he has created a great, extraordinary novel.

Having read the first volume, so far, of Hangman's Daughter I was excited to hear about this the first in a series about Johann Georg Faust a man who really existed. Of course coming from Oliver Potzsch I was excited as I view Potzsch as a master of historical fiction. The Master's Apprentice centers around Faust, who was probably born in Knittlingen and was a wandering miracle healer, alchemist, magician and astrologer. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took his biography as the basis for his tragedy “Faust”.

It all starts in Knittlingen, where Johann Georg lives as a young man. He is torn between a sense of duty and his thirst for knowledge. On the one hand, he was supposed to work on the father's farm, take care of his little, mentally retarded brother and take care of his sick mother, but he was urged to spend his time in the library of the Maulbronn monastery. He is also in love with Margarethe, the daughter of the Knittlinger administrator.
When the magician Tonio del Moravia enters Johann's life, the boy is not aware of what he is getting into. A lot changes suddenly, and there are some unforeseen, scary events. At this point in time, Johann is not really aware that he is dealing with an evil force. Johann's development, his experiences and encounters are described in a very rousing way in this book. The characters are sophisticated and well described, and the multi-layered plot hardly takes your breath away. It is a novel with great emotions, with ups and downs. This is about cohesion, friendship and love but also about hate, lust for power and betrayal and not least about the effects of dark powers. Johann's contact with evil, who keeps crossing his path and chasing him, allows many a look into the abysses of the human soul. In addition, the historical novel gives good insights into the everyday life of ordinary people, especially gamblers.

There will be a continuation of this volume but because the first volume has a coherent ending you could stop reading the series but after you have read The Masters Apprentice the question is: WHY WOULD YOU?! Personally I can't wait to find out how Dr. Faust and his companions continue. ( )

A sinister read!

The hairs stood up on the back of my neck as soon as I started, although I had no idea of the dark route the story would travel. Aiding these feelings were the descriptive notes of the places and times, ringing all too true.
In the prologue we're located in Germany in the"Knittlingen, in the Kraichgau 27 October, AD 1486." Further we're told that, "In the fall that the children disappeared, the jugglers came to town." And as the young Margarethe says to her childhood friend Faustus, “jugglers and musicians are children of the devil?...That’s what the church says. Whoever dances to their music they lead straight to hell...“Perhaps they took the children, too. I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Makes one wonder what's coming!
Even in those beginning pages one knows Tonio is more than an itinerant palm reader / astrologer. Later he declares he's "a master of the seven arts and keeper of the seven times seven seals! ...a doctor of the university of black magic in Krakow,” or as Margarethe mutters, a sorcerer!
Eight years on the magician returns. We know there's something foul about him. Faustus, whose suffered at the hand of the village bullies, is sucked into that darkness.
Missing children and Tonio's appearance seem to coincide, along with the disappearance of his lame brother, and the silence of Margarethe who has turned in upon herself. All is startling and unreal. Tragedies keep piling up.
Faustus finds himself escaping the confines and disappointments of his village life, and on the road to studying and practicing the arcane arts, but with what consequences?
In the Historical foreword Pötzsch tells us, Johann Georg Faustus "the symbol of the ambitious, [is a] restless individual who is prepared to make a deal with the devil to gain fame and fortune—but ultimately pays with his soul...This is his true story."
Mmm!Weighty!
As the story unfolds I was struck by the selfishness of Faust. Is that who he truly is or is this the influence of darkness growing inside him? Can he break free?
I also could not stop flashing back to Johnny Cash's song the "Devil Went Down to Georgia", (which I kept mentally singing BTW) which is as far away from medieval Europe as you could get, but then the Faustus archetype still resonates.
(p.s. I took a break from reading, changed gears, and watched the movie!)
A gothic, masterful work if at times challenging!

An Amazon Crossing ARC via NetGalley ( )