Book Review – Rage of Swords by David Gilman @AriesFiction @HoZ_Books

whatcathyreadnext1 Comment

About the Book

1368. Amidst the Hundred Years’ War, alliances must be brokered. The Duke of Clarence, second son of King Edward III, journeys from Paris to marry the daughter of the powerful Lord of Milan. Little does he know that he is heading into a trap.

Luckily the Duke is preceded on the road to Milan by Sir Thomas Blackstone, Master of War, on an urgent mission of his own. Blackstone must get his hands on the gold the Prince of Wales needs to wage successful war in France.

But there is a price on Blackstone’s head, and assassins willing to risk everything to claim it before he even gets to Milan. He must outwit a succession of ever deadlier enemies, and the Master of War has other foes to the ambitions of his son Henry, who has inherited his father’s knack of getting into scrapes. Scrapes that could end in a hangman’s noose…

Format: ebook (532 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 6th November 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Rage of Swords on Goodreads

Purchase Rage of Swords from Bookshop.org (Disclosure: If you buy a book via this link, I may earn a small commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops)

My Review

Rage of Swords is the ninth book in David Gilman’s ‘Master of War’ series which has seen Thomas Blackstone rise from humble stonemason’s apprentice, to skilled archer fighting the French at the battle of Crécy, to King Edward III’s Master of War. Between the first book and now there’s been a lot of blood spilt and Blackstone (now Sir Thomas Blackstone) has fought many battles, lost many comrades, suffered personal tragedy and defied death on numerous occasions.

At the end of my review of the previous book, To Kill A King, I posed the question: will Blackstone live to fight another day? Well, unquestionably he has but you can’t fight as many battles as Blackstone has without succumbing to serious injury. However, when has Blackstone ever let a little thing like that get in the way of fulfilling a mission he’s been given?

This time Blackstone and his band of loyal followers find themselves caught up in the rivalry and intrigue between the various dukedoms of Northern Italy. It’s a world where alliances are regularly made and broken, assassination is a path to power and ruthless men rule through fear. Add to that the presence of roving bands of routiers, mercenary soldiers happy to fight for the highest bidder or to change sides when they get a better offer.

Safe to say Blackstone’s mission to ensure the safe arrival of Prince Lionel, Duke of Clarence in Milan to forge an important alliance through marriage doesn’t go entirely to plan. And he has two additional things to worry about. Firstly, he needs to find a way of transporting the huge dowry the marriage will bring to the Prince of Wales in France, something that will take all his cunning to achieve. And secondly Blackstone’s son Henry is riding in the Prince’s escort under an assumed name for his protection. Henry is the chink in his father’s armour (if you’ll pardon the pun), a reminder of the woman Blackstone loved and lost under tragic circumstances, although the father and son relationship is to say the least testy.

It gets even more strained when Henry becomes obsessed with searching for someone he believes to be in danger. Although, as it turns out, Henry’s time studying at Oxford proves just as useful as his swordmanship.

As in previous books, there is plenty of full-throated, bloody action: a riverside ambush, one-to-one combat in an underground vault and a battle against seemingly impossible odds. Fortunately, such is Blackstone’s leadership, his men will follow him anywhere. ‘A swarm of armed men followed him, driving their bodies for a last effort. Ignoring exhaustion. Dry-mouthed, Barely able to bellow defiance.’

On plenty of occasions Blackstone has to rely on his ill-natured ‘bastard horse’, his trusty Wolf Sword or his sixth sense for danger to dodge death. ‘”You risked everything.” “A common failing of mine,” said Blackstone.’ And at the end of the book there remains an implacable enemy who now has even more reasons to want Blackstone dead. As his trusty companion Sir Gilbert Killbere observes, ‘Our path is paved with the dead.’ To which Blackstone responds, ‘It always will be.’

Whether you’ve followed Thomas Blackstone’s adventures from the beginning or you’re looking for a new series where the action comes thick and fast, you’ll find Rage of Swords a thrilling read.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Action-packed, authentic, compelling
Try something similar: Essex Dogs by Dan Jones

About the Author

Author David Gilman

David Gilman has enjoyed many careers, including paratrooper, firefighter, and photographer. An award-winning author and screenwriter, he is the author of the critically acclaimed Master of War series of historical novels, and was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for The Last Horseman. He was longlisted for the same prize for The Englishman, the first book featuring ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Dan Raglan. David lives in Devon.

Connect with David
Website | Twitter/X | Facebook

#WWWWednesday – 12th November 2025

whatcathyreadnext3 Comments

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

What I’m Currently Reading

I’m reading The Sea Road West and Seascraper for Novellas in November and The Assassin of Verona from my TBR pile.

The Sea Road West by Sally Rena (Endeavour Press)

The road from the Scottish mainland to Kintillo lies across a ridge of craggy and forbidding hills, a natural barrier isolating the peninsular from the rest of the world and making Kintillo a place of both refuge and solitude.

But trouble begins when Father Macabe dies, and Father James, a new, young man arrives. Handsome and full of ideals, Father James is totally unprepared for the spell-binding beauty of the lonely country, and for the irrelevance of his philanthropic fervour to the lives of its inhabitants. For company, there is only a retired doctor, a charming and alcoholic wreck, and the inhabitants of the Hall – the Laird and his two pretty daughters.

Meriel Finlay is one of these daughters – a captivating 19 year old yearning for love and adventure. As mutual desire slowly ripens, can Father James continue to keep focus on his profession when it denies him his basic instincts?

Passions hidden below the surface, maturing in loneliness, erupt in a violent upsurge of love, hatred and jealousy which sweep through Kintillo like a storm…

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood (Viking)

Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach and scrape for shrimp, spending the afternoon selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street, and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.

When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?

Haunting and timeless, this is the story of a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows.

The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth (Zaffre)

Venice, 1586. William Shakespeare is disguised as a steward to the English Ambassador. He and his friends Oldcastle and Hemminges possess a deadly secret: the names of the catholic spies in England who seek to destroy Queen Elizabeth. Before long the Pope’s agents will begin to close in on them and fleeing the city will be the players’ only option.

In Verona, Aemelia, the daughter of a Duke, is struggling to conceal her passionate affair with her cousin Valentine. But darker times lie ahead with the arrival of the sinister Father Thornhill who is determined to seek out any who don’t conform to the Pope’s ruthless agenda . . .

Events will converge in the forests around Verona as a multitude of plots are hatched and discovered, players fall in and out of love and disguises are adopted and then discarded. Will Shakespeare and his friends escape with their secrets – and their lives?

What I’ve Just Read

The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly (Bloomsbury via NetGalley)

Adelheid Brunner does not speak. She writes and draws instead and her ambition is to own one thousand matchboxes. Her grandmother cannot make sense of this, but Adelheid will stop at nothing to achieve her dream. She makes herself invisible, hiding in cupboards with her pet rat, Franz Joseph, listening in on conversations she can’t fully comprehend.

Then she meets Dr Asperger, a man who lets children play all day and who recognises the importance of matchboxes. He invites Adelheid to come and live at the Vienna paediatric clinic, where she and other children like herself will live under observation.

But the date is 1938 and the place is Vienna – a city of political instability, a place of increasing fear and violence. When the Nazis march into the city, a new world is created and difficult choices must be made.

Why are the clinic’s children disappearing, and where do they go? Adelheid starts to suspect that some of Dr Asperger’s games are played for the highest stakes. In order to survive, she must play a game whose rules she cannot yet understand. (Review to follow)

Rage of Swords by David Gilman (Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

1368. Amidst the Hundred Years’ War, alliances must be brokered. The Duke of Clarence, second son of King Edward III, journeys from Paris to marry the daughter of the powerful Lord of Milan. Little does he know that he is heading into a trap.

Luckily the Duke is preceded on the road to Milan by Sir Thomas Blackstone, Master of War, on an urgent mission of his own. Blackstone must get his hands on the gold the Prince of Wales needs to wage successful war in France.

But there is a price on Blackstone’s head, and assassins willing to risk everything to claim it before he even gets to Milan. He must outwit a succession of ever deadlier enemies, and the Master of War has other foes to the ambitions of his son Henry, who has inherited his father’s knack of getting into scrapes. Scrapes that could end in a hangman’s noose… (Review to follow)

What I’ll Be Reading Next

Ravenglass by Carolyn Kirby (Northodox Press)

In 18th century Whitehaven, Kit Ravenglass grows up in a house of secrets. A shameful mystery surrounds his mother’s death, and his formidable, newly rich father is gambling everything on shipping ventures. Kit takes solace in his beloved sister Fliss, and her sumptuous silks, although he knows better than to reveal his delight in feminine fashion. As the family’s debts mount, Kit’s father turns to the transatlantic slave trade – a ruthless and bloody traffic to which more than a fortune might be lost.
 
Adventures will see Kit turn fugitive and begin living as ‘Stella,’ before being swept into the heady violence of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s rebellion. Driven by love, revenge and a desire to live truly and freely, Kit must find a way to survive these turbulent times – and to unravel the tragic secrets of the Ravenglass family.