Blog Hop: Meet My Main Character!

Blog hopping! I was tagged by Nick Smith, author of “Gentleman of Fortune”, who also writes the Rogue'sNest Blog.

This blog hop is all about the main character of a writer’s novel, finished or still a work in progress, and offers the chance for the reader to hopefully find something that they might be interested in. If you like tales of pirates and adventure on the high seas then hop back and have a look at Nick Smith’s work using the link above; I liked it so much I bought his book!

After my main character has finished answering all the questions I will link you to another author in historical fiction and you can hop forward and discover something new again!

So let us begin to get to know my protagonist from 'The War Wolf'!

1) What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or an actual historical person?

My main character is called ‘Coenred’, he is a Saxon warrior. I needed someone who could link each of the three major battles of 1066 together so he had to be a warrior and fictitious as there are no known personages whose presence at each battle has been recorded.

2) When and where is the story set?

The story is set in 11^th century England, mostly in Northumbria where the first two battles took place. The final part of the trilogy obviously moves to Senlatche Ridge near Hastings. The story is not just limited to the battles, however, I explore the events that led up them and the ramifications of the decisions made by the historical personages. Also, through Coenred, I try to give the reader the impression of what early medieval battles where like and how they impacted upon the everyday people of the time.

3) What should we know about him/her?

Coenred is a huscarl, a member of the Saxon military elite. He is following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps and even carries the latter’s sword. He owns an estate that is managed by his mother and younger brother but he spends most of his time with the sons of the now dead Eorl Aelfgar of Mercia. Huscarls are ruled by a strong sense of honour. They swear death-oaths to protect their lord’s life, if he dies on the battlefield then they either die with him or kill all of his enemies and recover his body for burial. That said they are also free men and they can leave their lord’s service at any time. Coenred is in the prime of his life when the summer of 1066 begins to slip into autumn and he finds life with the young eorls, Edwin and Morcar, very trying, even to the point of contemplating retiring from the life of a huscarl and becoming a theign living a more peaceful life at his estate in Holderness.

4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

Two things. Coenred has dedicated himself to being the best huscarl that he can be, and largely succeeding. He has gone without a wife and family of his own as he sees this as a distraction to a warrior who can lose his life at a moment’s notice. Just when he starts to think of retiring from his life by the sword the young widow Mildryth asks for his protection, something that he is honour bound to give. Much to his own surprise he finds himself falling in love with her. She is of the appropriate social status, beautiful, and blessed with a strong spirit that helps her survive in a world that is often hard on women. Mildryth only makes Coenred’s thoughts of retirement more attractive. However, King Harald Hardrada of Norway arrives in Northumbria at the head of the largest Viking army ever to set foot in England and heads directly for York. Hardrada has Tostig Godwinson for an ally, the younger brother of King Harold of England. He is also the murderer of Mildryth’s family. Coenred’s lord, Eorl Edwin, decides to ignore sound counsel to close the gates of York and defend the walls. He chooses to fight a pitched battle against the Norse army and Coenred finds himself thrown into a fight with the most famous Viking king of his day, The War Wolf, a warrior-chief who has never been defeated in battle.

5) What is the personal goal of the character?

Ultimately to survive. Although 1066 has been relatively peaceful it eventually erupts into deadly violence as the Saxons fight three bloody battles in quick succession; two against their ancient Norse enemy. However, Coenred is also driven by his sense of honour to protect the people who depend upon him, not just Mildryth, his mother and younger brother, but also his fellow warriors as their captain, his lords, Edwin and Morcar, and by extension all of the people for whom they are responsible. Only by defeating the common enemy can he realise his dream of settling down with Mildryth at Holderness.

6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it

I am planning on writing a book for each of the three battles and have the collective title of ‘The Sorrow Song Trilogy’ for them. The first book is called ‘The War Wolf’ in reference to King Harald Hardrada. The second is ‘For Rapture of Ravens’, which acknowledges the fate of the thousands of men left dead on the battle field at Stamford Bridge. The final book is ‘The Blade’s Fell Blow’ and this is inspired by the act of the killing stroke that cut down King Harold of England at Hastings (not the infamous arrow in the eye you might note). All three titles are actually quotes from the Old English poem of Beowulf. You can read more about them and the Saxon world that is the backdrop to the story here: http://petercwhitaker.co.uk/

7) When can we expect the book to be published?

It already is! ‘The War Wolf’ is currently available on Kindle and Kobo. I am hoping to get ‘For Rapture of Ravens’ out very soon.

***

In leaving Coenred to face his violent fate in 1066 we hop over to another author who works in a time a little more recent. Hugh Wilson has set his novel, ‘Caledonian Skies’ in 1930’s Britain and embroils his main character, a flying ace from the Great War, in the intrigues of pre-World War 2 espionage. To get a taster you can visit his Facebook page here: HughWilson - Caledonian Skies. Look out for Hugh’s main character's interview soon on the same page.

His book is on sale here.

Goodbye for now and many thanks for reading.

 

A good story set against an interesting historical background

A review of 'The Northumbrian Saga' by AH Gray.

Aethelwin is the neice of King Osbert of Northumbria and a dedicated supporter of both him and her family, ‘The Peace Weaver’, the first part of this saga, is set against the turbulent times of the 9th century AD when Britain was overwhelmed by Danish and Norwegian invaders; popularly known as the Vikings. This provides an interesting historical backdrop against which the story is told but it can be a little confusing with many unfamiliar names and the particular character of Anglo-Saxon England at this time. You do not have to be a student of the early medieval period to enjoy this book and it is difficult for an author to balance an honest historical account of the time with the need to keep the reader entertained.

For the most part ‘The Peace Weaver’ manages to maintain the balance, never tipping into a historical essay and so becoming dry or forgetting its’ period and resulting in a superficial account of the fall of Northumbria as an independent kingdom. I enjoy descriptive writing and so appreciated reading about York, a place I know well, as the centre of the major events.

The story is told from Aethelwin’s point of view, which offers a female perspective on a period of history that is dominated by men. Unfortunately it also means that the several battles occur in the background with the women waiting for news. This is accurate but it does rob the book of both the tension and the excitement that such events can generate. There is one exception to this when the Northumbrians attempt to recapture York and Aethelwin is caught in the middle of the action, but events appear blurred, lacking a blow for blow account of how the Northumbrians managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I also found the use of modern words somewhat jarring, they don’t occur everywhere throughout the text but when they do they are noticeable. This incongruity can be solved easily with a little editing.

As for Aethelwin she did not have my sympathy throughout the whole of the book. It should perhaps be remembered that she is only 13 at the beginning when she is married off by her family; she lacks experience and has a vaulted judgement of her own importance to her family and the king. Her relationship with her husband could have been examined in further depth perhaps, it would make her fall from grace all the more poignant if the reader believed that at one point there was genuine affection between the two. Her later exploits in a York under Danish rule also do little to endear her as she seems motivated only by a dream to free Northumbria of the Vikings and, consequently, fails to establish any meaningful relationships with anyone who cannot be useful to her in this pursuit. One aspect that I did like was the development of her relationship with her half-sister as this helped to show their growth and maturity.

I did not find any real surprises in the development of the plot, however, but despite the lack of tension I was intrigued enough to want to see what happened next. It was not a chore to get to the end; in fact I enjoyed it. Indeed, Aethelwin’s situation at the close of the book seemed very authentic and made her a character easier to sympathise with.

The War Wolf - first in-depth review of my novel

It is very rewarding when your work attracts this kind of attention.

"This eight week period in our country's history has fascinated me for many years as, not only is it, arguably, the most important series of events in the shaping of this nation ever to occur, but because these events are understood, or even heard of, by so few people. It has become a cliché that everyone in Britain, if stopped in the street and asked to name a single date in history that they remember, would say "1066, the Battle of Hastings". Yet very, very, few of them would have the faintest idea of the dramatic events of the four to six weeks before that. Or the notion that King Harold, just as William (the Conqueror) was about to sail across the Channel, had to rush north to fight against a second invasion from a Viking force, beat that force and then jog back down to the south coast for another fight. Or, incredibly, that Harold need not have lost the Battle of Hastings at all if a large portion of his allies had arrived at the battle 40 minutes earlier, or, even, if his men had not been duped by the Normans into breaking their shield wall. What would our country be like now if King Harold had won at Hastings? Our language, food, laws, governance and almost everything else stem, to a large degree, from William's success at Hastings. This trilogy of books sets out to tell the tale of those few weeks.

The problems, for a writer, in this period of history include the fact that names were very different then and very strange sounding to us. Another problem is that the real events were so incredible that they sound truly 'incredible'; not believable, even to the point of having important characters who happened to have exactly the same name. Peter Whitaker manages that quite well and the index and map at the back of the book are very helpful. Perhaps a 'who's who' might have been a useful addition.

The story itself is quite slow in building and is none the worse for that. This was a very complex situation and an understanding of the politics and family links of the time is important to the whole thing and Mr Whitaker sets this out in a form that is both accurate and yet readily understood and engaging. The characters fall into two categories. Firstly, many of the main characters are real people from history and, although it is almost impossible to know for sure, Peter Whitaker's rendition of them has the ring of accuracy that convinced me and I engaged easily. The second tier of characters are the fictional ones and these too are very well crafted. I could have lived without the 'love interest' story as, to me, it seemed to be unnecessary and inserted only because 'every book needs a love interest'.

The joy that Mr Whitaker takes in his history just shines out of this book and the descriptions of the lives, clothes, weapons and general life of this period are lovingly portrayed in a detail that brings real colour to the story. The scenes of battle are absolutely excellent, taking the reader right into the shield wall and yet flying out every now and then to give a bigger picture (a luxury that the leaders of the day didn't have).

But there are flaws. The main issue I had was not with the author at all but with the very poor rendition of this book into e-book format so that many simple words are misused in a fashion that is jarring to the reader. Come on Amazon, don't do such an injustice to a writer who has invested so much trouble in his work! But Mr Whitaker isn't squeaky clean either. The plot does lurch a bit and it feels, just a bit, as though he has gone back in the proof reading and thought "Oh yes, I'd better insert a bit there". Then there's the place names. It is my personal preference that the names of places contemporary at the time should be used and having an explanatory index at the back is great, so the book should use 'Grimms By' rather than 'Grimsby' and 'Jorvik' rather than 'York'. Yet here, the names change frequently, with one form being used on one page and the more modern form on another. I suspect that Mr Whittaker intended that the Vikings use their older name forms (Jorvik) and the Saxons use modern forms (York) but the result is, actually, a confusing muddle that jars the reader out of the time frame. And then there is a personal gripe of mine in that the invaders' nationality is referred to as 'Viking'. In fact, they were Danes, Norwegians, Geats and a few other Scandinavian peoples and the term 'viking' is a verb, so these people would 'go viking'; a bit like 'go raiding'. Given the historical accuracy of the rest of this work, it would have been nice to have made this distinction, not least because it is important to understand that these thousands of invaders didn't think of themselves as a single national force of 'Vikings'.

This, the first book in the trilogy, ends at a logical point after the Battle of Fulford Bridge and the stage is set for the next set of events as Harold surges north. Minor grumbles aside, this is a really good book and I will buy the next in the series to follow the plot. The fact that we all know how it turns out doesn't matter in the slightest; it's the telling of the tale that counts. If you know your history, then this book will impress with its accuracy, and if you just want a romping saga of sword swinging and medieval action, then it won't disappoint you either."

Clive

Originally posted here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wolf-Sorrow-Song-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00FBZW76E/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

The Slayer Rune by John Snow

The Vikings more as people than as reavers

This is the first book in the Viking Series by the author and is set in around the 10^th century. It centres on the settlement of Vik, a place rule by Harald, a chieftain with domestic and political troubles. The story opens with the visit of King Godred to Vik seen largely through the eyes of Sigurd, Harald’s second son. Of course Harald wants the visit to go off well as it will reflect upon him accordingly but he’s a man with a few secrets and it seems like one of them, a particularly dangerous one, is about to get out.

It is common in popular culture to represent Vikings as blood thirsty killers who did nothing else but invade other lands and kill lots of people, but this staid image is not what we get here. The Vikings had their own laws to live by and the taking of another’s life without good reason was viewed very seriously. Murder is punished by the king and there’s more than one murder associated with Vik for Harald to worry about.

I like the idea of the story, it is original and shows this period of history in a new light. The characters are clearly written but under-developed to my mind. Sigurd experiences quite a lot of trauma by the end of the story but I was never convinced of his emotional depth. Although things happen to him they do not seem to have any deep or lasting impact. I am not sure that I came to care very much for him. This under-development is reflected in other ways, such as his relationship with his father Harald, it should have plenty of depth and back-history but none of this comes across. There seems to be no strong feeling between the two and this is the same with Sigurd’s mother Tora.

That said the narrative is richly embellished with references to Norse mythology and this adds an extra dimension to the tale. Quite clearly John Snow is well versed in his subject and this is definitely one of the books strengths. Indeed, I found the level of authenticity to be quite captivating and I learnt something new about the Viking people just by reading this book.

In conclusion, an original story with a rich cultural overlay that is well worth a read.