Sunday, April 22, 2012

A-Z April Blogging Challenge - SWORN SWORD (The Bloody Aftermath of 106 England's Fate Hangs in the Balance) by JAMES AITCHESON


Sworn Sword:  The Bloody Aftermath of 1066 England's Fate Hangs in Balance  by James Aitcheson seems rather a cumbersome title, until you search "Sworn Sword" and find 4 other novels by the same name, including one by George R.R. Martin - pretty stiff competition.

The year is 1069 and three years have passed since the Battle of Hasting.  Harold Godwineson is dead and Duke William of Normandy is the conqueror of England.  This does not mean there is peace in the realm, however, as the Province of Northrumbia revolts.

Among the 2,000 Normans who march north is a soldier named Tancred.  He is a knight seeking riches.  But, it is not to be.  The English rebels slaughter the Normans at Durham.  Trancred manages to survive, but his lord does not.

Tancred commences his quest for vengeance for his lord's death, while Prince Eadgar, the last Saxon, marches to seize the kingdom he believes belongs to him.  Tancred uncovers a plot that could sabotage William the Conqueror's victory.

From the synopsis, this sounds like a novel packed with action.

3 comments:

  1. I love historical novels, and English history is one of my favorites. This sounds like a book I need to add to my to-buy list for the next time I'm in "civilization" (civilization being defined as anywhere with a halfway decent selection in books). Thanks!

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  2. Thanks for sharing this! I wonder how long it took the author to come up with this synopsis? ;)


    Elizabeth
    A to Z co-host

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  3. Guilie - thank goodness for ereaders! And, Elizabeth, this was a short summarization of the synopsis of the book on goodreads. It is actually longer but I condensed it for the sake of the blogging challenge.

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