My Review (5 out of 5 stars)
As Viking longboats head for the shores of England, Saxon Thegn Beornoth has little to look forward to – charged by the farmers of Knutsford to track down a bunch of masterless men, he must locate them and make them pay for their crimes: stealing, looting and killing. Having found them, he kills all but one man, taking him as a prisoner back to the village. Shortly afterwards, a band of men arrive in the village and Beornoth is called to arms to join the Saxon forces against the Vikings. Still struggling to come to terms with his recent fall from grace, can the unhappy warrior put his demons to one side and fight to regain his weapons, home and the honour of his family?
This is the first book I’ve read by this author. The first in his new Saxon Warrior series, it gets off to a good start. Though my knowledge of this period in history is limited, the author has done his research and brings each scene to life vividly and with great style. With lots of axe-wielding and sword-slashing action we get a real sense of how brutal life must have been and how short some of those lives were. The background to the characters and their situation is at times a little complicated and I found myself having to re-read some passages. However, after a while all became clear and my only gripe (and it’s a small one), is that occasionally the amount of detail feels a little unwieldy.
A rollicking good read steeped in the bloody history of our lands.
Author Bio
Peter Gibbons is a financial advisor and author of the highly acclaimed Viking Blood and Blade trilogy. He comes to Boldwood with his new Saxon Warrior series, set around the 900 AD Viking invasion during the reign of King Athelred the Unready. The first title of the new series, Warrior and Protector, will be published in October 2022. He originates from Liverpool and now lives with his family in County Kildare.
Social Media Links
NB This post first appeared on the Blog Tour for ‘Warrior and Protector’, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources.
Colin Garrow 