One gracious Amazon reviewer recently described Enoch’s Device as “like The Da Vinci Code but set in 997 AD.” I appreciate the comparison. Enoch’s Device is filled with religious mysteries that stretch deep into the past. But there is also a fantasy element to the book, along with an epic scope designed to make it…
When Amazon chose The Lost Queen by Signe Pike as its Editor’s Choice for Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, I knew I needed to read it. What I discovered was a book with few fantasy elements but compelling characters in an infrequently explored period that made for a satisfying historical fiction read. Amazon ranks the…
My journey with Uhtred of Bebbanburg has finally reached its end with War Lord, the thirteenth and final book in one of the greatest historical fiction series of all time. I began my foray into Cornwell’s The Saxon Tales back in 2005. Thirteen books later, I’ve followed the life of Uhtred of Bebbanburg, one of…
Twelve books into his Saxon Tales series, Bernard Cornwall has delivered one of his best Uhtred tales yet in Sword of Kings. The novel combines the Game of Thrones-style politics of The Empty Throne with the desperate circumstances of The Pale Horseman. It’s a page-turner too, and I ripped through this book in a few…
It’s been more than a year since I finished reading War of the Wolf, the 11th book in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Tales series. For some reason, I never got around to writing a review. Perhaps it was the pandemic, which broke out right about the time I finished this book. But as they say, better…
As soon as I finished Ken Follett’s The Evening And The Morning, I dove headfirst into the final novel in his Kingsbridge series: A Column Of Fire. I’m glad I did—it might be the best one yet. A Column Of Fire stands out as markedly different from the rest of the Kingsbridge series. While The…
Hot on the heels of finishing Ken Follett’s World Without End, I devoured The Evening And The Morning, the gripping prequel to The Pillars of the Earth. The Evening And The Morning tells the tale of how the fictional town of Kingsbridge came to be. Many of the novels’ elements are similar to those in…
After months of exploring vintage fantasy, my pendulum has swung back 180-degrees to pure historical fiction, having just finished World Without End by Ken Follett. I’ve had this book since 2007, so reading it has been a long time coming. But I’m very glad I did. World Without End is the sequel to The Pillars…
George R.R. Martin based A Games of Thrones on the Wars of the Roses, history’s real game of thrones. It was the Yorks versus the Lancasters, instead of the Starks versus the Lannisters, in a conflict over the English crown. And if you’re interested in this historical game of thrones, Conn Iggulden brings another chapter to life…
Since the New Year began, I’ve been busy writing my next novel, but I’ve also found myself missing Game of Thrones. If you’ve been missing it too, Conn Iggulden’s Wars of the Roses series might offer the perfect remedy. After all, the Wars of Roses were the real game of thrones. The Wars of the…
Saint Patrick’s Day is one of my all-time favorite holidays, so today I’m re-posting an article about Stephen R. Lawhead’s Patrick: Son of Ireland. I had little appreciation for the story of Saint Patrick until I began my research for Enoch’s Device. The novel tells the story of two Irish monks who try to prevent the apocalypse at the end…