The Gates of Athens Review | Conn Iggulden

I’m exploring a new historical fiction novel today. I’ve only ever read Iggulden’s fantasy works before so I’m really looking forward to seeing how the different genre is tackled. If you’re prepared to go back to Ancient Greece, then keep scrolling for my Gates of Athens review.

Publisher: Penguin UK/Michael Joseph | Date: 2020 | Genre: Historical fiction

Plot: 490 B.C.

Two great empires are about to go to war . . .

The momentous struggle between Athens and Sparta as rival powers and political systems will last for twenty-seven years (431 to 404 BC).

It will end in the fall of a dynasty.

Filled with cunning political scheming and astonishing military prowess, invasions and treacheries, plagues and slaughters, passion and power, Conn Iggulden brings to life one of the most thrilling chapters of the ancient world.

Book Review: The Head in the Ice by Richard James

Publisher: Sharpe Books

Date: 2020

Genre: Historical/Mystery

Plot: Who would send a madman to solve a murder?

Just released from a Lunatic Asylum, Inspector George Bowman is in no shape to lead an investigation, but the discovery of a severed head in the frozen waters of the River Thames sees him back in service at Scotland Yard. As he delves into the dark heart of the city in search of answers, the memory of the death of his wife threatens to derail his investigation and place his very sanity in peril.

Bowman must confront his demons and the part he played in her demise before he can solve the case; a case that leads him across Victorian London in pursuit of a killer.

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The Last Warrior by M.J Porter

After thoroughly enjoying the first in the series, I was delighted to continue with M.J Porter’s historical series. I’m sharing my review on The Last Warrior today.

Publisher: BooksGoSocial | Date: 2020 | Genre: Historical fiction

Plot: He sent a hundred men to kill two thousand. It had to be enough.

Mercia lies broken but not beaten, her alliance with Wessex in tatters.

Coelwulf, a fierce and bloody warrior, fears no man, especially not the Raiders claiming Mercia as their own.

Coelwulf must travel away from the heart of Mercia, hunting down the Raiders along the bank of the vast River Trent, and what he discovers on his journey to Torksey will determined the fate of Mercia, as well as his own.

The Last King Review | M.J Porter

The time period and the setting grabbed my attention as soon as I saw this one, and I couldn’t resist it. It’s full of historical names and packed with battles and skirmishes, which admittedly took a while to get my head around. But the plot swept me up and I thoroughly enjoyed this. Check out my review on The Last King.

Publisher: BooksGoSocial | Date: 2020 | Genre: Historical fiction

Plot: They sent three hundred warriors to kill one man. It wasn’t enough.

Mercia lies broken but not beaten, her alliance with Wessex in tatters.

Coelwulf, a fierce and bloody warrior, hears whispers that Mercia has been betrayed from his home in the west. He fears no man, especially not the Vikings sent to hunt him down.

To discover the truth of the rumours he hears, Coelwulf must travel to the heart of Mercia, and what he finds there will determine the fate of Mercia, as well as his own.

Lionheart Review | Ben Kane

Good morning! I’m whizzing back in time with one of my favourite historical fiction authors today: Ben Kane. Having always thoroughly enjoyed his work in the Roman era, I was intrigued to see how he would handle a different time period – and it did not disappoint! Check out my review on Lionheart.

Publisher: Orion Publishing House | Date: 2020 | Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: 1179. Henry II’s Norman conquerors have swept through England, Wales – and now Ireland.

Irish nobleman Ferdia has been imprisoned in Wales to ensure the good behaviour of his rebellious father.

But during a skirmish on a neighbouring castle, Ferdia saves the life of the man who would become one of the most legendary warriors to have ever lived: Richard Plantagenet. The Lionheart.

Taken as Richard’s squire, Ferdia crosses the Narrow Sea to resist the rebellious nobles in Aquitaine, besieging castles and fighting bloody battles with brutal frequency.

But treachery and betrayal lurk around every corner. Infuriated by his younger brother Richard’s growing reputation, Henry rebels. And Ferdia learns that the biggest threat to Richard’s life may not be a foreign army – but Richard’s own family . . .

Book Review: Sword of Shadows by Jeri Westerson

Publisher: Severn House

Date: 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

Plot: London, 1396. A trip to the swordsmith shop for Crispin Guest, Tracker of London, and his apprentice Jack Tucker takes an unexpected turn when Crispin crosses paths with Carantok Teague, a Cornish treasure hunter. Carantok has a map he is convinced will lead him to the sword of Excalibur – a magnificent relic dating back to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table – and he wants Crispin to help him find it.

Travelling to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall with Carantok and Jack, Crispin is soon reunited with an old flame as he attempts to locate the legendary sword. But does Excalibur really exist, or is he on an impossible quest? When a body is discovered, Crispin’s search for treasure suddenly turns into a hunt for a dangerous killer.

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Little Women Review | Louisa May Alcott

Little Women feels like one of those books that I should have read years ago but insisted to myself that it wasn’t my sort of book. Thanks to a book club, I finally had the push to read it – and found myself enjoying it far more than expected. Although it wasn’t planned, I’m sharing my full review on Little Women.

Publisher: Scholastic | Date: 1868 | Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: The timeless tale of four sisters – Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth – experiencing both hardship and adventure in Civil War New England.

Though the March family may be poor, their lives are rich with colour, as they play games, put on wild theatricals, make new friends, argue, grapple with their vices, learn from their mistakes, nurse each other through sickness and disappointments, and get into all sorts of trouble. In this simple, enthralling tale, Louisa May Alcott created four of American literature’s most beloved “little women”.

Dark Age Review | James Wilde

After enjoying Pendragon so much, I’m continuing the series. Full of darkness and grit, it’s the type of book that reminds you there is always hope even when things are feeling overwhelming. Here’s my review on Dark Age, the second instalment.

Publisher: Bantam Press | Date: 2018 | Genre: Historical/Fantasy

Plot: It is AD 367, and Roman Britain has fallen to the vast barbarian horde which has invaded from the north. Towns burn, the land is ravaged and the few survivors flee. The army of Rome – once the most effective fighting force in the world – has been broken, its spirit lost and its remaining troops shattered.

Yet for all the darkness, there is hope. And it rests with one man. His name is Lucanus who they call the Wolf. He is a warrior, and he wears the ancient crown of the great war leader, Pendragon, and he wields a sword bestowed upon him by the druids. With a small band of trusted followers, Lucanus ventures south to Londinium where he hopes to bring together an army and make a defiant stand against the invader.

But within the walls of that great city there are others waiting on his arrival – hidden enemies who want more than anything to possess the great secret that has been entrusted to his care. To seize it would give them power beyond imagining. To protect it will require bravery and sacrifice beyond measure. And to lose it would mean the end of everything worth fighting for.

Before Camelot. Before Excalibur. Before all you know of King Arthur. Here is the beginning of that legend . . .

Pendragon Review | James Wilde

Today, I’m returning with my Pendragon review, a historical fantasy that really gets you on an emotional level. A fantastic blend between history and fantasy, this series takes you on a journey where happiness comes at a price too high to pay, and destiny has a way of getting what it wants.

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Publisher: Bantam Press | Date: 2017 | Genre: Historical/Fantasy | Buy it here*

Plot: Here is the beginning of a legend. Long before Camelot rose, a hundred years before the myth of King Arthur was half-formed, at the start of the Red Century, the world was slipping into a Dark Age…

It is AD 367. In a frozen forest beyond Hadrian’s Wall, six scouts of the Roman army are found murdered. For Lucanus, known as the Wolf and leader of elite unit called the Arcani, this chilling ritual killing is a sign of a greater threat.

But to the Wolf the far north is a foreign land, a place where daemons and witches and the old gods live on. Only when the child of a friend is snatched will he venture alone into this treacherous world – a territory ruled over by a barbarian horde – in order to bring the boy back home. What he finds there beyond the wall will echo down the years.

A secret game with hidden factions is unfolding in the shadows: cabals from the edge of Empire to the eternal city of Rome itself, from the great pagan monument of Stonehenge to the warrior kingdoms of Gaul will go to any length to find and possess what is believed to be a source of great power, signified by the mark of the Dragon.

A soldier and a thief, a cut-throat, courtesan and a druid, even the Emperor Valentinian himself – each of these has a part to play in the beginnings of this legend…the rise of the House of Pendragon.

Book Review: The Bear Pit by S.G Maclean

Author: S.G Maclean

Title: The Bear Pit

Publisher: Quercus

Date: 2019

Plot: London, 1656: Captain Seeker is back in the city, on the trail of an assassin preparing to strike at the heart of Oliver Cromwell’s Republic

The Commonwealth is balanced on a knife edge. Royalists and disillusioned former Parliamentarians have united against Oliver Cromwell, now a king in all but name. Three conspirators, representing these factions, plan to assassinate the Lord Protector, paving the way back to the throne for Charles Stuart once and for all.
Captain Damian Seeker, meanwhile, is preoccupied by the horrifying discovery in an illegal gambling den of the body of a man ravaged by what is unmistakably a bear. Yet the bears used for baiting were all shot when the sport was banned by Cromwell. So where did this fearsome creature come from, and why would someone use it for murder?

With Royalist-turned-Commonwealth-spy Thomas Faithly tracking the bear, Seeker investigates its victim. The trail leads from Kent’s coffee house on Cornhill, to a German clockmaker in Clerkenwell, to the stews of Southwark, to the desolate Lambeth Marshes where no one should venture at night.

When the two threads of the investigation begin to join, Seeker realises just what – and who – he is up against. The Royalists in exile have sent to London their finest mind and greatest fighter, a man who will stop at nothing to ensure the Restoration. Has Seeker finally met his match?