Today I’m kicking off the blog tour for Warrior of Mercia by MJ Porter! (The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles Book 3)

It gets better as it’s only just been released today!!! Congratulations to MJ Porter on a cracking new release!

Here’s the blurb

Icel is a lone wolf no more.

Oath sworn to Wiglaf, King of Mercia and acknowledged as a member of Ealdorman Ælfstan’s warrior band, Icel
continues to forge his own destiny on the path to becoming the Warrior of Mercia.

With King Ecgberht of Wessex defeated and Londonium back under Mercian control, the Wessex invasion of Mercia is over.

But the Wessex king was never Mercia’s only enemy. An unknown danger lurks in the form of merciless Viking raiders, who set their sights on infiltrating the waterways of the traitorous breakaway kingdom of the East Angles, within touching distance of Mercia’s eastern borders.

Icel must journey to the kingdom of the East Angles and unite against a common enemy to ensure Mercia’s hard-won freedom prevails.

Review

Firstly.. WOW..

Secondly… WOW..

We are back with Icel but don’t worry if you are not familiar with the series as the author does a nice little recap of events but in such a subtle way, for new readers it will give you the backdrop to Icel’s life to present, for the readers who have been with him from the start it’s a nice refresher and really gets you in the right zone, and puts you right back into the moment so you already feel those emotions brought on by the previous books again.

It’s only been a few months really since all this craziness started and in that time Icel has lost a lot, including his uncle. Friendships have become strained and he’s struggling to find his feet as a warrior. It doesn’t help that the King has singled him out for favour.. this doesn’t go down well with some!

What MJ Porter manages to do so well is setting the scene.. the emotions..the smell.. it feels like you are right there with Icel, you can smell his sweat and feel his heart pumping.

The Wessex King has run for his life but Mercia isn’t safe yet. The Viking’s are inbound and they could be an even bigger threat than Wessex.. but with so many men dead from the previously hard won battle how will King Wiglaf protect his people and repel these forces?

I keep saying it in my reviews but one thing I need to hit that 5* is character development, if characters go stale or seem out of place it just spoils the flow of my reading but there’s never any worry when reading anything by MJ Porter.

The plot is so expertly woven with character development, and you see each character grow as the page turns and I loved seeing characters like Cuthred with his own story arc. It was also great to see Brute and Wine back.. Icel’s trusty steeds, they don’t say anything obviously but their actions are louder than words and Brute especially brings a massive smile to my face.

Icel’s development is at the forefront and the author did a brilliant job showing the internal battle he faces each day, he trained to be a healer, now he’s a warrior, so many faces of those crush beneath feet, or with ghastly wounds.. he’s torn.. he could have saved some of these men.. and did… only to have them return to the fight and die. There’s a real depth to the character that can’t be beaten!

I’m never one to give spoilers but you can tell from the synopsis there’s going to be some battles.. blood and guts and it was beautifully brutal in detail and merged perfectly with Icel’s development, his feelings, his history… His uncle is never far from his thoughts and there’s clearly a hidden secret..but what? And why does the new Queen hate him so much? All will be revealed…. Or will it? Ha.

A wonderous 3^rd instalment packed full or excitement, I’ve got the kindle version but can’t wait to grab hold of a paperback too!

5/5*

To find out more head to Goodreads or Amazon.

My thanks go to the author, the publisher, and Rachel’s Random Resources for having me on the blog tour! I received an ARC of the book as part of the tour but like I say.. this will be added to my paperback collection as soon as possible! This is one of the reasons I review.. Just to get in there early to read the book knowing I’m going to be buying a copy anyway 😊

Why not follow the tour?

Author Bio –

MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England, and in Viking Age Denmark. They were raised in the shadow of a building that they believed housed the bones of long-dead Kings of Mercia – so their writing destiny was set. The first novel in their new Anglo-Saxon series for Boldwood Son of Mercia was published in February 2022.

Social Media Links

Twitter https://twitter.com/coloursofunison

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/m_j_porter/ 

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/MJPorterNews 

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mj-porter