Category: Blog Tour

#BookReview For Lord and Land (The Bernicia Chronicles Book 8) by Matthew Harffy @HoZ_Books

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Welcome to the opening day of the blog tour for Lord and Land by Matthew Harffy, the eighth book in his Bernicia Chronicles series. My thanks to Jade at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy via NetGalley.

For Lord and LandAbout the Book

Greed and ambition threaten to tear the north apart. War rages between the two kingdoms of Northumbria. Kin is pitted against kin and friend becomes foe as ambitious kings vie for supremacy.

When Beobrand travels south into East Angeln to rescue a friend, he unwittingly tilts the balance of power in the north, setting in motion events that will lead to a climactic confrontation between Oswiu of Bernicia and Oswine of Deira.

While the lord of Ubbanford is entangled in the clash of kings, his most trusted warrior, Cynan, finds himself on his own quest, called to the aid of someone he thought never to see again. Riding into the mountainous region of Rheged, Cynan faces implacable enemies who would do anything to further their own ends.

Forced to confront their pasts, and with death and betrayal at every turn, both Beobrand and Cynan have their loyalties tested to breaking point. Who will survive the battle for a united Northumbria, and who will pay the ultimate price for lord and land?

Format: Hardcover (480 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 1st July 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find For Lord and Land (The Bernicia Chronicles Book 8) on Goodreads

Purchase links
Bookshop.org
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Publisher | Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

For Lord and Land is the fourth book I’ve read in the author’s Bernicia Chronicles series featuring the exploits of Northumbrian warrior, Beobrand. Having not read the entire series from the beginning or even read the ones I have in the right order, I think I’m well-placed to reassure readers new to the series that this latest instalment can be read perfectly well as a standalone. The author comes to the reader’s aid as well because, once the intriguing and dramatic prologue is done with, the opening chapters introduce the key characters you need to know.

Chief amongst these is, naturally, the man himself, Beobrand, whose strength, speed and skill with sword and spear has brought him the reputation as ‘one of the deadliest adversaries in all of Albion’, and as a man who rarely backs down from a fight. However, this all comes at a cost as Beobrand is frequently plagued by nightmares of the dreadful scenes of violent death he has witnessed on and off the battlefield. And then there are the members of the Black Shields, Beobrand’s warband of gesithas, whose oaths of loyalty to him Beobrand never takes for granted. Amongst them is a young man, Cuthbert, who dreams of being a great warrior but may be destined for other things.

Throughout the book, the author weaves into the unfolding story brief recaps of significant events from previous books that help to explain relationships – friendly or, more often, the opposite – between characters. And, as the reader soon learns, family ties don’t always mean closeness or affection. It’s a particular sadness for Beobrand. As he reflects, ‘All he had ever wanted was peace and a family to call his own. But however he tried, he could not cling onto love’.

Cynan, the subject of the parallel storyline, has other problems as he sets out on a quest to prevent an injustice to a woman he once knew (and who first appeared in an earlier book in the series, Warrior of Woden). Not only does Cynan put his own life in danger in doing so but he also risks the ire of Beobrand: not something to be taken lightly.

Those familiar with the author’s books will know the action comes thick and fast with battle scenes so vivid you could believe yourself part of the shieldwall and itching to respond to Beobrand’s rallying cry of “Onward, my brave gesithas!”.  It’s on these occasions, and in one-to-one combat, that Beobrand releases ‘the tethered beast of his battle-ire to do its work’. Is it Beobrand’s wyrd (fate) that he live to fight another day? Wait and see.

For those who like to know how much of their historical fiction is based on fact, you’ll be pleased to know the author provides just this information in his Historical Note. And, although it wasn’t in my digital proof copy, the book also contains a helpful map.

In For Lord and Land, Matthew Harffy has once again delivered an action-packed adventure, immersing the reader in a tumultuous period of history in which ties of friendship and loyalty are constantly tested, and treachery may lie in wait around every corner.

In three words: Action-packed, immersive, pacy

Try something similar: The Serpent King (The Whale Road Chronicles #4) by Tim Hodkinson

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Harffy_MatthewAbout the Author

Matthew Harffy grew up in Northumberland where the rugged terrain, ruined castles and rocky coastline had a huge impact on him. He now lives in Wiltshire, England, with his wife and their two daughters.

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#BookReview Those I Have Lost by Sharon Maas @Bookouture

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Those I Have Lost - BT Poster

Welcome to day one of the blog tour for Those I Have Lost by Sharon Maas which is published today. My thanks to Sarah Hardy for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Bookouture for my digital review copy via NetGalley.

Those I Have LostAbout the Book

A family on a faraway island. Seas crawling with Japanese spies. A terrible war creeping ever closer…

1940. When Rosie loses her mother and is sent to Sri Lanka to live with her mother’s friend Silvia and her three sons, her world changes in a heartbeat. As she is absorbed into the bosom of a noisy family, with boys she loves like brothers, she begins to feel at home.

But the war in Europe is heading for Asia. Searching for comfort from the bleak news and the bombings, Rosie meets a heroic soldier on leave, and falls in love for the first time. Yet the war will not stop for passion; he must move on, and she must say goodbye, knowing she might never see him again. She is left with just a memory.

Meanwhile, one by one, the men she considers brothers leave to fight for their island paradise. As she waits in anguish for letters that never come, tortured by stories of torpedoed ships and massacres of innocent families, she realises that she, too, must do her bit. Rosie volunteers to work in military intelligence, keeping secrets that will help those she loves and protect her island home. But then two telegrams arrive with the chilling words ‘missing believed captured’ and ‘missing believed dead’. Who of those that she loves will survive the devastating war, and who will she lose?

Format: ebook (430 pages)        Publisher: Bookouture
Publication date: 9th July 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Those I Have Lost on Goodreads

Purchase links
Amazon UK
Link provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The early parts of the book deal with Rosie’s childhood, first in Madras and then in Sri Lanka (known at the time as Ceylon) where she is sent to live on the tea plantation owned by her late mother’s friend, Silvia (who Rosie refers to as Aunt Silvia) and her husband Henry.  Rosie spends time with the two younger sons of the family, Victor and Andrew. (The eldest son, Graham, is away at boarding school in England.) She finds the two brothers very different in character. Whilst Andrew is ‘soft and gentle’, Victor is all ‘hard, tight-balled muscle and rough in manner’.

Since the brothers are away at boarding school for much of the time, initially it’s not quite the new family situation Rosie imagined when she left her grief-stricken father behind in Madras. However, she takes comfort in knowing she’s following the wishes of her late mother and in her friendship with a Tamil girl, Usha, the daughter of the family’s housekeeper. Even though their social positions are very different, Rosie has inherited the unusually enlightened views of her parents and their ‘sharp and disapproving eye for racial arrogance’. Unfortunately, things becomes complicated when Rosie can’t stop herself from interfering in affairs of the heart. She clings to the hope that one day she will have an opportunity to put things right.

Although I found the sections of the book covering Rosie’s childhood and early adolescence interesting, it was the outbreak of war in Europe that really brought the story alive for me. When its impact eventually reaches Ceylon it means big changes for all the family, including Rosie. The book description above gives you a pretty good idea how events unfold from this point on but I won’t spoil your reading enjoyment by answering the questions it poses at the end. Safe to say, in war nothing is certain, and grief and loss are only a telegram away. A section of the book I particularly enjoyed was one towards the end which focuses on Rosie’s war work, including an unexpected reunion.

The book’s prologue remained in the back of my mind throughout, making me wonder how the events it described would connect to Rosie’s story. Have patience, because eventually the different strands of the story do come together; in fact, fragments of the picture are revealed before that.

The author skilfully handles the multiple storylines whilst at the same time bringing to life the culture of both India and Sri Lanka through the descriptions of food, clothing and daily domestic life. Although a fairly chunky read, the book’s setting, the wartime backdrop and the element of romance means Those I Have Lost offers plenty for readers to enjoy.

In three words: Emotional, detailed, eventful

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Sharon Maas Author PhotoAbout the Author

Sharon Maas was born into a prominent political family in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1951. She was educated in England, Guyana, and, later, Germany. After leaving school, she worked as a trainee reporter with the Guyana Graphic in Georgetown and later wrote feature articles for the Sunday Chronicle as a staff journalist. Her first novel, Of Marriageable Age, is set in Guyana and India and was published by HarperCollins in 1999. In 2014 she moved to Bookouture, and now has ten novels under her belt. Her books span continents, cultures, and eras. From the sugar plantations of colonial British Guiana in South America, to the French battlefields of World War Two, to the present-day brothels of Mumbai and the rice-fields and villages of South India, Sharon never runs out of stories for the armchair traveller.

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