Followers of this blog may have noticed a howling silence in recent weeks - this isn't due to me running out of things to say (fat chance) but a massive storm that hit my part of the country about twelve days ago and burned out our broadband connection.
It was all very dramatic 'rage of the gods'-type stuff, and splendid to listen to from under a blanket in the downstairs cupboard, but has meant that I have had no internet for almost a fortnight. Thankfully we're now hooked up to The Matrix again, so watch this space for news on a revamp of my White Hawk series, and more...
Friday 17 October 2014
Wednesday 1 October 2014
Leader of Battles reviews
The first two books in the Leader of Battles series are garnering some nice reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I thought I would post a few excerpts of them on here, as well as an idea for the next sequel(s).
"Wow. This was good. Real good. I try everything out there that falls under the title "Arthurian" ' 90 percent of the time I am disappointed and stop reading. Exceptions being the Crystal Cave series by Stewart, Firelord by Goodwin, Rosemary Sutcliffe, and of course Bernard Cornwells trilogy. You can add Pilling to this short list. This book was awesome. I started it this morning after reading a few pages last night, and finished same day, because I could not put it down. Pilling excels here, and I can't recommend this book enough. If you are into literature in the King Arthur genre, then this will be the book for you."
"An interesting interpretation of a rather obscure period of England's history. Very plausible and descriptive. Something I always wondered about was how much of the Roman civilisation remained after the withdrawal of the legions and this book strives to fill that gap, quite successfully, I might say."
"Not a dull moment and so many discoveries to bring history and a hero to live again. Well done. Bravo."
"So good, so good. This is my favorite subject of historical fiction, done by my favorite author of historical fiction. I only wish it were longer. Pilling is a master story teller. Be done with all the lousy Arthurian garbage available out there, and read these instead. Cannot wait for the third, although I dread the end of this trilogy."
Encouraging stuff! As for future developments, I have in mind a mini-series of novellas titled Warriors of Arthur, linked to the Leader of Battles series but not part of the main trilogy. The novellas are intended to focus on each of Arthur/Artorius' most famous warriors in turn - probably Cei, Bedwyr and maybe Tristan or Drustanus - before I move on to complete the series with the third and final instalment of Leader of Battles. This way I can hope to 'flesh out' my version of Arthur's world and explore it thoroughly before coming to the inevitable end.
First, however, I am taking a break from the world of Post-Roman Britain and having a crack at the British/English Civil war...more details to follow soon!
"Wow. This was good. Real good. I try everything out there that falls under the title "Arthurian" ' 90 percent of the time I am disappointed and stop reading. Exceptions being the Crystal Cave series by Stewart, Firelord by Goodwin, Rosemary Sutcliffe, and of course Bernard Cornwells trilogy. You can add Pilling to this short list. This book was awesome. I started it this morning after reading a few pages last night, and finished same day, because I could not put it down. Pilling excels here, and I can't recommend this book enough. If you are into literature in the King Arthur genre, then this will be the book for you."
"An interesting interpretation of a rather obscure period of England's history. Very plausible and descriptive. Something I always wondered about was how much of the Roman civilisation remained after the withdrawal of the legions and this book strives to fill that gap, quite successfully, I might say."
"Not a dull moment and so many discoveries to bring history and a hero to live again. Well done. Bravo."
"So good, so good. This is my favorite subject of historical fiction, done by my favorite author of historical fiction. I only wish it were longer. Pilling is a master story teller. Be done with all the lousy Arthurian garbage available out there, and read these instead. Cannot wait for the third, although I dread the end of this trilogy."
Encouraging stuff! As for future developments, I have in mind a mini-series of novellas titled Warriors of Arthur, linked to the Leader of Battles series but not part of the main trilogy. The novellas are intended to focus on each of Arthur/Artorius' most famous warriors in turn - probably Cei, Bedwyr and maybe Tristan or Drustanus - before I move on to complete the series with the third and final instalment of Leader of Battles. This way I can hope to 'flesh out' my version of Arthur's world and explore it thoroughly before coming to the inevitable end.
First, however, I am taking a break from the world of Post-Roman Britain and having a crack at the British/English Civil war...more details to follow soon!
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