Today is my stop on the blog tour for Brothers of the Sword by Peter Gibbons!
Here’s the blurb
An epic battle where heroes fight and die to protect a Kingdom from Viking invasion…
991AD
King Aethelred the Unready’s Kingdom of the English is threatened. Olaf Tryggvason and his fleet of Viking warships snap at the coastal edges like ravenous wolves, and Sweyn Forkbeard, King of the Danes, has landed in East Anglia with an army of battle-hardened warriors.Ealdorman Byrhtnoth of Essex must stand against them faced with overwhelming odds, forging his legend in the blood of his deadly enemies.
By his side, his Thegn, Beornoth, a brutal warrior and savage Saxon fighter is torn between his need to protect his loved ones, and his duty to fight for his Lord.
As the Vikings raid and slaughter, Beornoth is forced to fight for the survival of his oath sworn brothers, his Lord, and the Kingdom itself when all roads lead to the fateful Battle of Maldon.
Can Beornoth protect his people and survive one of the most famous battles of the Viking Age?
A thrilling story, packed with war, vengeance and visceral combat.
Review
Brothers of the Sword is book 3 in the The Saxon Warrior Series by Peter Gibbons and picks up where the last book left us.. The Vikings are still on English soil… the last battle cost both sides heavily but the Viking’s won’t be deterred that easily.
A lot happened during the last battle and while Beornoth and his fellow warriors fought one threat another, Sweyn Forkbeard, took advantage and now holds a strategic piece of land.. but why have the locals not sent him packing? Were they overwhelmed? Or is something more devilish at play?
Beornoth is sent to learn his plans under a banner of truce, the idea being if he will leave peacefully all the better but you already know that won’t happen.
A few worrying issues appear quickly.. an old foe is brought before Beornoth which shows danger is mounting and an attack could come from more than one direction.. but also there’s a religious angle at play.. Forkbeard is a Christian and many English have had enough of the Church’s influence and the current King.. so are actually in two minds two welcome Forkbeard in the hope this will change things for the better but can a Viking ever be trusted? Would they ever really see the English as anything other than lambs to slaughter?
Beornoth and the other warriors prepare for the war that they know will come and have little time to be with their loved ones..but a worrying thought plays deeply.. the Viking’s are vicious warriors to a man.. the English however do not have the numbers to match.. The Fryd if called upon for numbers are everyday folk.. farmers.. not killers..If the Viking’s come as one there just isnt enough fighting men to stop them but that won’t stop Beornoth doing what he must.
Beornoth has some wonderful development throughout as he is still reeling from his personal terrors.. his two girls killed in a Viking raid and his wife left broken..but you see the ice thaw a little more each time they are with each other.. the pain will never go but can they grow close again?
What I really love is that Beornoth’s power comes from his pain.. the pure need for vengeance plain and simple.. he’s a good man at heart but he would be the first one to admit he just wants to kill these ba****ds to repay what they did to his, and many others families.
Brothers of the Sword is brutal and full of blood and gore but it offers so much more than that..it’s the characters.. the connections.. the men are brothers by blood oath and they will fight till the death to save their people and the place they call home.
Peter Gibbons clearly knows how to weave a tale perfectly with the right amount of balance of plot and character development, paced superbly leaving the reader with a beautifully murderously delicious tale packed fully of detail. Sometimes I can struggle with historical fiction when you can tell an author is purposefully putting detail in.. so much so it stands out as strange and sometimes distracts from the plot.. Gibbons has no such trouble.. its almost effortless how easily he weaves the different aspects together, nothing felt forced or over done.. just marvellous!
Oh and that cover… AMAZING!
Outstanding 5* read from an author I’m eager to see more from.. Clear knows what his readers want and knows how to take it to the next level.
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 I had the book pre-ordered too!
Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/brothersswordsocial
Why not follow the tour?
Author Bio –
Peter Gibbons is a financial advisor and author of the highly acclaimed Viking Blood and Blade trilogy. He comes to Boldwood with his new Saxon Warrior series, set around the 900 AD Viking invasion during the reign of King Athelred the Unready. He originates from Liverpool and now lives with his family in County Kildare.
Social Media Links –
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