Review - Wars of the Roses: Stormbird by Conn Iggulden

 Wars of the Roses: Stormbird

By Conn Iggulden 

 

King Henry V - the great Lion of England - is dead.

It's up to his son to take the throne, but frail in body and mind, he is dependent on his supporters to run his kingdom.

Richard, Duke of York, believes that without a strong king England will fall.

And as the threat from France grows, and rebellion on home soil spreads, his fears seem justified.

Who can save the throne?

Who will defend the kingdom?
 

Review

The War of the Roses - the bloodiest family feud ever!! I was really looking forward to read this novel because I had heard so many great things about it. I am pleased to report that it did not disappoint, and I loved every minuted of it. 

From the setting to the characters themselves, everything screamed realism and it was as if I had taken a step back in time and was watching over the proceedings. This novel certainly deserves your time.

 

 

 

Review - God of Vengeance (The Rise of Sigurd 1) by Giles Kristian

 

God of Vengeance

(The Rise of Sigurd 1)

By Giles Kristian 

 

IT BEGAN WITH THE BETRAYAL OF A LORD BY A KING...

Norway 785 AD. When King Gorm puts Jarl Harald's family to the sword, he makes one fatal mistake - he fails to kill Harald's youngest son, Sigurd.

His kin slain, his village seized, his taken as slaves, Sigurd wonders if the gods have forsaken him. Hunted by powerful men, he is unsure who to trust and yet he has a small band of loyal followers at his side. With them - and with the help of the All-Father, Odin - he determines to make a king pay for his treachery.

Using cunning and war-craft, Sigurd gathers together a fellowship of warriors - including his father's right-hand man Olaf, Bram (who men call Bear), Black Floki who wields death with a blade, and the shield maiden Valgerd, who fears no man - and convinces them to follow him.

For, whether Ódin is with him or not, Sigurd WILL have vengeance. And neither men nor gods had best stand in his way . . .

 

Review

 

I love to read a well throughout and scripted battle scene; I think it takes a lot of skill to portray the horrors of battle in words, and to make it as realistic as possible. This novel is battle scene heavy, it is literally one fight to the next with hardly a rest in between. To be honest, I thought there was a little too much warfare in this novel and some of it came across as really unrealistic. 

 

Saying that however, the story, if you skip all the battle scenes, is really fast-paced. I did enjoy this novel, but I thought if there had been more story, and less fighting, it would have appealed to me a little more than it did.

 

 

Review - The Berlin Girl by Mandy Robotham

 

The Berlin Girl

By Mandy Robotham

 

Berlin, 1938: It’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war. When fledgling reporter Georgie Young is posted to Berlin, alongside fellow Londoner Max Spender, she knows they are entering the eye of the storm.

Arriving to a city swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis, Georgie feels helpless, witnessing innocent people being torn from their homes. As tensions rise, she realises she and Max have to act – even if it means putting their lives on the line.

But when she digs deeper, Georgie begins to uncover the unspeakable truth about Hitler’s Germany – and the pair are pulled into a world darker than she could ever have imagined…

 

Review

Since reading The Secrets of Saffron Hall I have decided to explore other eras in historical fiction. I have never read a book set in World War 2 and, I am ashamed to admit, that I only have a very rudimentary understanding of the events that happened, so, yes, I did feel a little out of my depth when I stared to read this novel. But the author has done such an amazing job of bringing this era to life that my concerns that I would not understand the story because of its setting vanished.

This novel was deeply moving, and I did shed a few tears while reading it. It is certainly work checking out.