– The Magic of Wor(l)ds is a hobby, reviews and other bookish stuff on this site are done for free.
I’m grateful of receiving a free copy from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review of this book. –
Today I’m delighted to be on the ‘King of Kings’ blogtour, organised by Rachel’s Random Resources.
To promote this book I’ll be sharing my review, but first I have some information
About the Author :
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.
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About the Book :
In the battle for power, there can be only one ruler.
AD 925
Athelstan is the king of the English, uniting the petty kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, the Danish-held Five Boroughs and York following the sudden death of his father, King Edward.
His vision is to unite the realms of the Scots and the Welsh in a peace accord that will protect their borders from the marauding threat of the Norse Vikings.
Whilst seemingly craving peace and demanding loyalty with an imperium over every kingdom, Athelstan could dream of a much bigger prize.
But danger and betrayal surround his best intentions, namely from his overlooked stepbrother, Edwin, who conspires and vies for what he deems is his rightful place as England’s king.
As ever, powerful men who wish to rule do not wish to be ruled, and Constantin of the Scots, Owain of Strathclyde, and Ealdred of Bamburgh plot their revenge against the upstart English king, using any means necessary.
An epic story of kingsmanship that will set in motion the pivotal, bloody Battle of Brunanburh where allies have to be chosen wisely…
And now it’s finally time for my
Being from Flanders myself I know some stuff about Athelstan and his predecessors/successors, but not a lot I must confess.
That’s why I was intrigued to start reading ‘King of Kings’ by M.J. Porter and learn more about the history of the English which always held my interest.
I admit that I was quite flabbergasted when I saw all the characters/names at the beginning of the book, but I needn’t to be worried as the author did a great job on telling who is who through the whole story.
By using multiple POVs M.J. Porter not only drives the readers on to read, but also makes them acquainted with all the players in this intricate chess game.
You get to know what they think, how they feel and how they see each other and more importantly how they see themselves!
A very well-written and well-researched book on the intrigues at court and how everything is played out, not only in battle, as in fact there’s not a lot of fighting going on in this part of the series, but more in words and invitations and strategies.
An interesting game to watch and of course read about and one I definitely want to see developing further as the ending left me wanting for the next installment right away.
The Magic of Wor(l)ds
The Magic of Wor(l)ds 