Following the release of Death of Kings, I started re-reading some of the earlier novels in Bernard Cornwell’s fantastic series, The Saxon Tales. (You can read my review of The Last Kingdom, the first novel, here.) The books are set in England during the reign of Alfred the Great, who defended the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms against…
I’ll admit, I’m excited for the release today of Death of Kings, the sixth novel in Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Tales series. I wrote about the first book in the series, The Last Kingdom, back in September. For those unfamiliar with the novels, they’re about the Vikings’ attempt to conquer England in the Ninth Century….
Byzantium … Constantinople … Istanbul … For fans of historical fiction, these are all names of one of the most fascinating cities that Europe has ever known. In the early Middle Ages (a time period close to my heart), Constantinople was the greatest and wealthiest city in all of Europe, rivaled only by Cordoba in…
On December 29 in the year 1170, a group of knights in the service of King Henry II of England murdered Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. According to legend, the murder was set in motion by an offhand comment by King Henry, who famously uttered, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”…
I’m still immersed in my research on Vikings, which leads me to another of my favorite Viking-related novels, Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn. Lion of Ireland tells the story of Brian Boru, perhaps the greatest Irish king who ever lived. He ruled at the end of the Tenth Century, during a time when Norse…
I love it when dramatic events in history give rise to great works of fiction. Today provides a perfect example. On November 25, 1120, a royal vessel called the White Ship sank in the English Channel leaving only a single survivor. Among those killed was William Adelin, the son of Henry I, King of England….
The little things you learn in research can amaze you. While continuing my studies on Vikings, I came across the story of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark, who died after a battle with his rebellious son, Svein Forkbeard, circa 987 A.D. It turns out that Harald’s surname, “Bluetooth,” provides the name for the ever-popular technology…
Because I was traveling for the past five weeks, I had little time to conduct research on Vikings for my next novel. But I did have enough time to re-read another of my favorite stories about Vikings, Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead. The book is short (about 175 pages), and it has probably been…
To the Celts, October 31st was Samain, a harvest festival that many believe became the inspiration for Halloween. I could write more about Samain, but today I’d like to simply quote the great opening passage of Bernard Cornwell’s Enemy of God. Cornwell, who reimagines the Arthurian myth, writes about a time when the old Celtic…
Happy Saint Crispin’s Day! And happy Saint Crispinian’s Day too! Nearly 600 years ago today, on the feast of Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian, the French and the English fought the famous Battle of Agincourt – the inspiration for at least two great works of fiction and the topic of today’s post. The English won the Battle…
Continuing my musings on Viking-related fiction, I thought I’d talk about a not-so-obvious Viking tale, Stephen R. Lawhead’s Byzantium. When I picked up this novel at my local Borders, the last thing I thought this book would be about is Vikings. Set in the Ninth Century, the novel tells the story of Aidan, an Irish…