Picture of author.

James Aitcheson

Autor(a) de Sworn Sword

4 Works 268 Membros 13 Reviews

Séries

Obras de James Aitcheson

Sworn Sword (2011) 136 cópias
The Splintered Kingdom (2012) 58 cópias
Knights of the Hawk (2013) 38 cópias
The Harrowing (2016) 36 cópias

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome padrão
Aitcheson, James
Data de nascimento
1985
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
UK
Local de nascimento
Wiltshire, England, UK

Membros

Resenhas


This is a book mostly forgetten and overlooked part of history told by an unconventional character. I have vague memories of William the Conqurerer conquering England. In the pivotal Battle of Hastings William the Conquerer defeated Harodl. This story is told three years as William the Conquerer has to deal with another claimant to the thrown: Edgar.

Tancred is a fictional Norman knight who was at both battles and is the main character of the story. In the end, I found him a bland hero. It was the story that kept me interested in trying to find out what was written on the note and why he was sent on such a bizarre mission.

It was a book I would think enjoy more. But when I realized there would be sequels, I was not particularly jumping.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
wellington299 | outras 5 resenhas | Feb 19, 2022 |
A very readable historical novel about England just after the Norman Invasion. Set in 1068, this story shows the chaos and violence as the English fought to loosen the foothold that the French Normans had gained on their island, from the perspective of a Norman soldier working to protect and support King Guillaume against the 'rebels' in Northumbria.
Written by an author who is a scholar of English history, this book uses the place names and Old English that would have been in use in 1068, though not to an extent that it gets in the way of the story. I was amused by how hard Old English was to understand even with my having studied German, which share a similar linguistic origin. And, while some of the details from history have been changed a bit to work better within the novel, for the most part this is a good retelling of history, so you can learn some history along the way. I always like books that teach real stuff while I am being entertained by adventure stories.… (mais)
 
Marcado
JBarringer | outras 5 resenhas | Dec 30, 2017 |
The Battle of Hastings is over and William the Conqueror is ensuring that any rebellion is crushed. When Edgar, the Aethling, retakes York the Norman revenge is swift. This is the Harrowing of the North, where bands of Normans burn and destroy anything in their way and the people are killed or displaced. In the midst of this mayhem a band of travellers join forces - Merewyn the lady and her maid Tova, the priest Guthred, the bard Oslac and the warrior Beorn. All have secrets and over the course of a week their secrets are revealed.

This is a wonderfully creative take on a historical story. Taking some inspiration from the Decameron, a disparate group of individuals tell their stories, Aitchison has woven a tale of suffering and betrayal at all levels. Each individual has committed a crime in order to survive but with winter closing in and the Normans close behind them, not all will survive. The sense of time and place is really strong and I particularly like the fact that there isn't a conventionally happy ending, just the opening of another chapter for the surviving characters.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
pluckedhighbrow | outras 2 resenhas | Jun 26, 2017 |

Prêmios

You May Also Like

Estatísticas

Obras
4
Membros
268
Popularidade
#86,166
Avaliação
3.8
Resenhas
13
ISBNs
34
Idiomas
2

Tabelas & Gráficos