The Canticle

""There are two kinds of people in Sacristan: the quick and the dead.""

- Jonathan Servitor, The Canticle

The Canticle is a series of fantasy novellas by science fiction and fantasy author Micah E. F. Martin.

In High Sacristan, the last city on Earth, a powerful artifact known as the Canticle Engine preserves the remnants of humanity from the ravaged outside world. Thousands of years ago Man's civilization came to a sudden, bitter end and now legions of the restless dead roam endless, lifeless deserts in search of prey. The dead, and their enigmatic High Dead masters, are opposed only by a resurgent church that rules High Sacristan with an iron fist. The city's underbelly crawls with unspeakable monstrosities, and with humanity fast fading every life must be safeguarded. Enter the Inquisition, agents of the Church Militant tasked with cleansing the filth from Sacristan at any cost.

This is not a nice place or time to live.

Jonathan Servitor, a Knight in Sour Armor Inquisitor in the twentieth year of his service to the church, records the city's twilight years in his journals as he struggles with his own duties and beliefs.


 * The Canticle(A Dark Fantasy Adventure)(2011)
 * Prophanitus(forthcoming)
 * St. Anthony's Hammer(forthcoming)
 * Exodus(forthcoming)
 * Servitor(forthcoming)
 * Sanctum(fortchoming)
 * The Quick and the Dead(forthcoming)

The Canticle provides examples of:

 * After the End: The Earth has been devastated by an unknown calamity.
 * Exclusively Evil: The Dead and the High Dead.
 * Anti-Hero: Jonathan is a type III.
 * Apocalypse How: A class 1 forms the backstory.
 * Arc Words: Water, Earth, Blood.
 * Army of the Dead
 * Badass Abnormal
 * Badass Boast: Stephen's prayer.
 * Badass Grandpa: Stephen the Stonewright is hundreds of years old, yet still manages to kick serious ass.
 * Badass Normal
 * Badass Longcoat: The Inquisitors have these.
 * Big Bad:.
 * Black and White Insanity
 * Blood Magic
 * Canis Latinicus
 * Church Militant
 * City in a Bottle
 * Cold-Blooded Torture
 * Cool Sword: The galvanic swords.
 * Crapsack World
 * Dead Little Sister: Amalthea's reason for dabbling in necromancy.
 * Disproportionate Retribution
 * Downer Ending
 * Drop the Hammer: Stephen the Stonewright keeps a sanctified warhammer on hand at all times.
 * Dumb Is Good
 * Dystopia
 * Earth That Used to Be Better
 * Eldritch Abomination: The High Dead.
 * Evil Is Hammy: The High Dead, again.
 * Fallen Hero
 * Functional Magic: Necromancy and stringworking.
 * The Fundamentalist
 * Genius Bruiser: Marius Bute.
 * Good Is Not Nice: Oh god, no it is not.
 * Go Mad From the Revelation
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Jonathan
 * Human Sacrifice
 * Kill It with Fire
 * Knight in Sour Armor: Jonathan
 * Knight Templar
 * Omnicidal Maniac
 * Our Zombies Are Different: Fast, vicious, incredibly difficult to destroy.
 * Mysterious Waif: Amalthea.
 * Necromancer: There are lots of these. Technically, any magic-user can become one.
 * Rage Against the Heavens
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism
 * State Sec
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist
 * The Woobie: Amalthea.
 * Zombie Apocalypse