Today, it is my day to host the book tour for Son Of Mercia by MJ Porter, on behalf of Rachel’s Random Resources. Thank you to Rachel Gilbey and Boldwood Books for the copy of the book to allow me to join the tour and give you my unbiased thoughts on the book.
Tamworth, Mercia AD825.
The once-mighty kingdom of Mercia is in perilous danger.
Their King, Beornwulf lies dead and years of bitter in-fighting between the nobles, and cross border wars have left Mercia exposed to her enemies.
King Ecgberht of Wessex senses now is the time for his warriors to strike and exact his long-awaited bloody revenge on Mercia.
King Wiglaf, has claimed his right to rule Mercia, but can he unite a disparate Kingdom against the might of Wessex who are braying for blood and land?
Can King Wiglaf keep the dragons at bay or is Mercia doomed to disappear beneath the wings of the Wessex wyvern?
Can anyone save Mercia from destruction?
The beginning of a brand new series The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles and the start of a brand new obsession for me! I have never read any books by MJ Porter before and am really kicking myself now. I have already looked at his previous books and feel like I have discovered treasure.
I am a massive history nerd; anything set in the past catches my imagination, and Son Of Mercia did exactly that. I was drawn into the book immediately, and it held my attention until the last word. I will definitely be reading the next book.
Icel is our main character, and the story is told from his perspective. We see the struggles of Mercia, including the Kings, who take what they want and have no regard for the people or how it affects Mercia itself.
Icel, unusually, is not a warrior and doesn’t want to be. He works with a healer and is a quiet, nervous yet academic male of the time. This created a truly different angle to see this time from. Every book or TV programme based on Anglo Saxon times usually has a warrior as the main character. I liked the fact that this book was different. Even the fact that it is told from the point of view of a person of no importance, almost a nobody. We see the major events of the time and how they played out from a young man who is experiencing his own journey. This creates a deep and almost ponderous personal tale that intrigued me.
That’s not to say that there is no violence in this story. This is the 9th century; no one could keep away from the politics and brutal battles of that time for too long.
The amount of research MJ Porter has amassed to write this single story is crystal clear; the details of the buildings and the towns along with the landscape just immerses you in the story. The healing ways that the Icel and his healer mentor use are fitting to the times and again researched well.
The characters are believable and well-rounded, which adds the depth of this already believable adventure in Anglo-Saxon times. I must say I had no idea of where the facts ended and the fiction started as this was a seamless story with no jarring info drops as you can get with some historical fiction novels. A satisfying and really intriguing story that feels so real as I sit in 2022.
Purchase Link
Author Bio
MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England, and in Viking Age Denmark. Raised in the shadow of a building that was believed to house the bones of long-dead Kings of Mercia, meant that the author’s writing destiny was set.
Social Media Links
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