Battle Lord (The Wulfbury Chronicles, 2)
Nearly a thousand years ago, England endured its last invasion. After the chaos of Senlac Ridge, Cerdic, who is a young scion of a northern noble Saxon house, finds himself a prisoner of the Normans, forced to march eastwards as the Conqueror’s army moves inland. His instinct is survival, combined with a burning desire to reclaim his family’s lands in Northumbria from the Viking warlords who had seized them after the defeat of Harald Hardraada. Cerdic thinks strategically and sees a way of using his Norman captors’ desire for new lands as a way of bargaining his path to freedom. To his surprise, some Normans follow the new code of chivalry; others are simply motivated by ambition and bloodlust. Cerdic has an unlikely ally – Yvette, a fellow prisoner, the bilingual daughter of an exiled French count who had sent her to safety in England as a child. With her help, Cerdic masters the conquerors’ language and is then able to negotiate with the Normans.
The novel follows the journey of this unlikely band of adventurers as they head north through the cold autumn and biting winter, facing the disorder and turmoil in England as various bandit-type groups of fighters try to take advantage of the power vacuum. William the Bastard may call himself king, but he does not yet hold sway in the far lands of Mercia and Northumbria. Evil possesses the landscape as powerfully as the blizzards and ice. What will it take to ensure the success of Cerdic’s fragile plan? Finch’s writing is stylish and assured. His detailed knowledge of Anglo-Saxon England allows him to create a wholly credible world. This is an absorbing read for fans of the era who can also enjoy the prequel, Usurper, and look forward to following Cerdic and Yvette’s story next time.
