M J Porter

My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
Another excellent edition to this superb series completely recommended, though the beginning and ending had me thinking I had started a John Grisham book by mistake, as we were in court even the Author in his notes claimed surprise at it. As usual our hero Icel managed to find himself in the centre of the action. I have read a number of books by renowned Author's of this genre, and been in a few shield walls, but this one was special, you felt a part of the action, the agony atmosphere gore smell and tension.
AMAZING.
I am already looking forward to the next story, or maybe I should catch up on a couple still in my To Be Read pile first.
Completely and totally recommended.… (more)

945 and the kingdoms of Britain are not settled. In Scotland Constantin has been deposed and lives his life in a monastery, plotting revenge on Mael Cuilum, aided by his son Ildulb. The king of Wales is avoiding getting drawn in to any plots whilst the king of Strathclyde looks to cement his power. Meanwhile the Norse relatives of Ivarr the Boneless are coveting Yorvik but the biggest threat could be from Edmund, king of the English.
This is a terrific book. The source material is not very detailed but Porter has created convincing fiction from this. I loved the style of writing a narrative from the perspective of each player, it's complicated but stops the reader from becoming too invested in any one character.… (more)

This is the first of a trilogy of novels about the queenship of this Saxon lady who is most famous as the alleged murderer in 978 of her step son King Edward (the Martyr) in favour of her son, Ethelred (the future Unready), though this author considers her innocent of this charge. The subtitle derives from the fact that as the third wife of King Edgar she was the first consort to be crowned, alongside her husband at his belated coronation.

The action of this novel begins shortly after Ethelred becomes king and she is one of the members of the Regency Council (the author has written an earlier trilogy of novels about Elfrida which it would have been better to have read beforehand). But the boy king grows up fast and declares himself fit to rule but, at least in Elfrida's eyes, falls under the sway of evil counsellors. The action of this novel ends in 984 when the king banishes his mother from court.

While well researched, and despite my fascination with the Anglo Saxon period, I didn't enjoy this novel that much, partly as I thought the writing was fairly average, though probably more due to the numerous typos and errors in the text. In particular, and this really irritates me, the author, or perhaps a typesetter, has no understanding of the correct use of apostrophes. This infuriated me and reduced my enjoyment of the story a fair bit. Not sure I will read the rest of the trilogy, or the author's other works.… (more)

Purple Magazine's Revolution Issue is filled with stories infused with the love for change and alternative solutions and yet full of heartache as regression and inequalities rise. While Alain Badiou delves on the possibility of the impossible, Evgeny Morozov uncovers the dangers of AI, Byung-Chul Han reflects on its possibilities and limitations, Bayo Akomolafe talks climate collapse and Daniel Pinchbeck interviews Douglas Rushkoff on the impact of The Digital. With further contributions by Cindy Sherman, Carsten Höller, Merlin Sheldrake, Bernardo Kastrup, Isa Genzken, Harmony Korine and many others.… (more)