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Pagans
TWO COPS. ONE KILLER. HUNDREDS OF GODS.
21st Century London - except the Norman conquest never happened. An uneasy alliance of ancient tribes has formed, but peace is threatened by a series of brutal murders. Detectives Aedith and Drustan must put aside their differences to track down a serial killer with a decades-old grudge.
21st Century London - except the Norman conquest never happened. An uneasy alliance of ancient tribes has formed, but peace is threatened by a series of brutal murders. Detectives Aedith and Drustan must put aside their differences to track down a serial killer with a decades-old grudge.
309 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews
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March 17, 2025Oh my GOD I enjoyed this book.
The concept is pure genius. No Norman Conquest, massively alt history. Europe is mostly an Islamic caliphate, but Pan-Africa is the global power. No British colonising, so no USA. Pathetic rainy basket/charity case backwater Britain is divided into Norse Scotland, Saxon Central/East, and Tribal (Celtic) Wales/South west. And although it's set in a contemporary now with computers and drones, society is heavily Old English / Celtic still. with knives, ritual tattooing, blood feuds etc.
This is bloody great if you know anything at all about Old English. The police officer calls her car Roadfucker, and there are some fabulous lines along the lines of 'are we all reciting from the same saga here, boys?' and lots of delightful little tweaks and flourishes in the language. The mystery is super rooted in the imagined world, with its racial and cultural issues. The relationship between Mercian Aedith and Tribal Drustan is fantastic, as is the sense of immanent gods (very much plural). Basically it manages to be both a great alt-history and a really good mystery thriller and the two are inextricably linked.
Enormously enjoyable, written with great verve and nicely paced. I really hope there will be more!
The concept is pure genius. No Norman Conquest, massively alt history. Europe is mostly an Islamic caliphate, but Pan-Africa is the global power. No British colonising, so no USA. Pathetic rainy basket/charity case backwater Britain is divided into Norse Scotland, Saxon Central/East, and Tribal (Celtic) Wales/South west. And although it's set in a contemporary now with computers and drones, society is heavily Old English / Celtic still. with knives, ritual tattooing, blood feuds etc.
This is bloody great if you know anything at all about Old English. The police officer calls her car Roadfucker, and there are some fabulous lines along the lines of 'are we all reciting from the same saga here, boys?' and lots of delightful little tweaks and flourishes in the language. The mystery is super rooted in the imagined world, with its racial and cultural issues. The relationship between Mercian Aedith and Tribal Drustan is fantastic, as is the sense of immanent gods (very much plural). Basically it manages to be both a great alt-history and a really good mystery thriller and the two are inextricably linked.
Enormously enjoyable, written with great verve and nicely paced. I really hope there will be more!
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March 3, 2025This is a riot. Set in a Britain of 2023 where the Norman Conquest never happened, it's about Saxons and Norse and Celts all with their own little kingdoms, bickering and oppressing each other, on a shitty little island in northern Europe that no one cares about. Without unification, there was no colonisation - and so the Mughal Empire and an EU-type federation of African states are the world's superpowers. And amid this we have a police procedural with riotously imaginative worldbuilding and characters, culture and religion beautifully depicted and a general sense that the author is having an amazing time. It is a bit soppy about Christianity - seen here as a minor 2023 cult - and a little forgetful about Islam and Judaism, but I enjoyed it a lot.
June 15, 2025
A great concept with confusing loopholes in its alternative history, but forgivable because alt history sound very hard without explaining every step. The ones off the bat:
- the dominant religious beliefs in Britain are pagan - despite Britain being Christianised before the Norman conquest
- the unification of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms was 923 (?) before the the Norman conquest
- the lack of knowledge around Jesus despite him having a degree of relevance in Islam (a saint?) which is the dominant religion of Europe in the novel
There could be other alternate things that happened but there only one explained in the blurb is the Norman conquest not happening, but again this is all creative leeway.
The novel itself is good but written as though it wants to be a BBC or ITV crime series - I read the authors description at the end and he normally works on these projects so now that makes sense but it was a little odd going into it.
The female lead is written well but also obviously by a man. Which is fine and creative for him but reads a little odd sometimes.
Overall it’s a good book and a fun read with in incredibly interesting take on alternative history in a modern setting.
- the dominant religious beliefs in Britain are pagan - despite Britain being Christianised before the Norman conquest
- the unification of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms was 923 (?) before the the Norman conquest
- the lack of knowledge around Jesus despite him having a degree of relevance in Islam (a saint?) which is the dominant religion of Europe in the novel
There could be other alternate things that happened but there only one explained in the blurb is the Norman conquest not happening, but again this is all creative leeway.
The novel itself is good but written as though it wants to be a BBC or ITV crime series - I read the authors description at the end and he normally works on these projects so now that makes sense but it was a little odd going into it.
The female lead is written well but also obviously by a man. Which is fine and creative for him but reads a little odd sometimes.
Overall it’s a good book and a fun read with in incredibly interesting take on alternative history in a modern setting.
March 6, 2025
Cannot stress enough how great a time I had with this book! It is such a joy to pick something up with little idea of what to expect and have such a great surprise. Well thought-out plot with deft handling, great dialogue, likable characters and a really well-realised alternate history. Pagans was great fun. It handles its setting seriously but with ironic nods to the reader and some memorable jokes worthy of Pratchett. I kept telling everyone unfortunate enough to be talking to me while I read it about the latest clever thing he'd weaved into the world. The alternate setting is thought-through, exciting, and has plenty of space to grow. Loved it, gobbled it up and will be accepting no criticism and I already can't wait for more.
I was given this copy by the publisher but will be getting my grubby little hands on real edition ASAP
I was given this copy by the publisher but will be getting my grubby little hands on real edition ASAP
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February 16, 2025Did not grab me at ALL. Great concept, looked genuinely fascinating, and seemed fully and thoroughly researched, but I struggled my way through fifty pages and just couldn't get a grip on it. An immediate 'dramatis personae' always puts me off (because there are going to be way too many characters and guess what), and I found the historical/cultural and genre juxtapositions really jarring. On principle, I won't give a star rating to a book I didn't finish, and I suspect this is probably very clever, if you stick with it.
Not for me, though.
Not for me, though.
April 11, 2025
3.75*
Rather enjoyed this police procedural set in a 21st century where the Norman conquest never happened. The result, a world defined by Saxons, Celts and other tribes, is very different to our world and yet so recognisable. You can see how the author had fun portraying this and extrapolating how the resulting political landscape would look.
Rather enjoyed this police procedural set in a 21st century where the Norman conquest never happened. The result, a world defined by Saxons, Celts and other tribes, is very different to our world and yet so recognisable. You can see how the author had fun portraying this and extrapolating how the resulting political landscape would look.
February 25, 2026
not generally a massive reader of either fantasy or crime but this was an intriguing mixture with compelling characters and my sort of humour
February 23, 2026
‘Pagans’ is a fast-paced, high-octane crime novel which spans genres in an interesting and unique way. It is set in a 21st century London, if the population were all Pagan; the world is well crafted and thought out, with fascinating parallels drawn between our own cultural responses to small ‘cult-like’ religions, and this world’s response to a thinly-veiled Christianity cult. Overall, while this is not at all my usual book of choice, I felt invested in the plot and the characters, and enjoyed reading this debut novel.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an advance reading copy.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an advance reading copy.
March 27, 2025
Taken for what it is - so, not holding it being a crime novel against it - five stars, excellent, SO IMPRESSED with the attention to detail in the worldbuilding (they don't have the term 'serial killer', presumably because it was coined by the FBI who don't exist in this setting!) and my gods these cops need defunding, but as characters they were all fantastic.
I would happily devour a dozen sequels if someone will let Henry write them!
I would happily devour a dozen sequels if someone will let Henry write them!
March 28, 2025
A cracker. Futuro-Celtic style police procedural with an edgy, grungy feel. Rivers of London fans, take note. Crime lovers with an open mind will enjoy it too.
January 16, 2026
I loved the world building, the characters and the intrigue. And yet. I didn’t love the book as a whole for some reason. Maybe I wanted more personal interaction between Drustan and Aedith - I felt they barely had the change of getting to know each other. Also, Aedith is the typical badass female character written by a man. Not necessarily a bad *bad* thing, but it shows.
March 14, 2025
I'm a sucker for alternative-history whodunnits, and I love ancient British history. In this book, a Saxon cop and a Celtic cop team up to catch a serial killer against the backdrop of the latest British unification summit.
The crime plot with its political elements is well done, the characters are strong and sympathetic. The alt-history is fun and often witty, with the world dominated by the "Pan-African Unified States" and Britain a developing nation, heavily culturally colonised.
It's a bit difficult to follow the exact timeline -- it has to involve Christianity (and Judaism?) being heavily suppressed by the Romans, to the point that hardly anyone in the present day has heard of it, but Islam is present, with a European Caliphate and a Mughal Empire as secondary powers...and how any of that leads to the failure of the Normans to conquer Britain is anyone's guess. The worldbuilding of the alternative present is deft and detailed, though, cleverly twisting the familiar rather than making up new stuff. (Though a reference to Lycra by name raised an eyebrow.)
Generally huge fun, though, and if you liked Cahokia Jazz or The Yiddish Policemen's Union or Dominion, it seems a fair bet you'll enjoy this.
The crime plot with its political elements is well done, the characters are strong and sympathetic. The alt-history is fun and often witty, with the world dominated by the "Pan-African Unified States" and Britain a developing nation, heavily culturally colonised.
It's a bit difficult to follow the exact timeline -- it has to involve Christianity (and Judaism?) being heavily suppressed by the Romans, to the point that hardly anyone in the present day has heard of it, but Islam is present, with a European Caliphate and a Mughal Empire as secondary powers...and how any of that leads to the failure of the Normans to conquer Britain is anyone's guess. The worldbuilding of the alternative present is deft and detailed, though, cleverly twisting the familiar rather than making up new stuff. (Though a reference to Lycra by name raised an eyebrow.)
Generally huge fun, though, and if you liked Cahokia Jazz or The Yiddish Policemen's Union or Dominion, it seems a fair bet you'll enjoy this.
February 28, 2025
This one wasn't for me I'm afraid. Everything felt too over complicated and forced. Shame. It had a good thing going for it.
February 27, 2026
Was tempted to give this two star but then read all the four/five stars reviews and got mad so now it’s a one star. Sorry, it is out of spite!
Bad book! Bad writing! Many grammar mistakes, clunky sentences, unbelievable dialogue. Simultaneously overly simple while also making no sense. Moved from one event to another without any rhyme or reason. Tracks that the author is a TV writer. Don’t get me started on the female main character…
Whatever never trusting Waterstones book of the month again.
Bad book! Bad writing! Many grammar mistakes, clunky sentences, unbelievable dialogue. Simultaneously overly simple while also making no sense. Moved from one event to another without any rhyme or reason. Tracks that the author is a TV writer. Don’t get me started on the female main character…
Whatever never trusting Waterstones book of the month again.
January 30, 2026
Pagans is a fast-paced crime thriller set in an alternate Britian. It's 2023, and the Battle of Hastings never happened. You have The Celts in the West, Saxons in the East, and an independent Nordic Scotland.
When a Celtic diplomat is found brutally murdered, two cops from rival tribes must join forces to solve the murder and stop political unrest spilling onto the streets.
I'm not really a fan of crime novels, but the whole alternative history pulled me in.
When a Celtic diplomat is found brutally murdered, two cops from rival tribes must join forces to solve the murder and stop political unrest spilling onto the streets.
I'm not really a fan of crime novels, but the whole alternative history pulled me in.
February 20, 2026
This is one of the books I have ever read.
February 20, 2026
re-read feb 2026: i loved it again though the audiobook didnt quite do it justice. I definitely preferred the physical reading experience of my original read
original read 2025 - Everything about this worked for me. The world building, the alternative history, the crime/ mystery / thriller aspect. Left me wanting more of this world!
Vaguely reminiscent of another 5 star favourite - the acts of the Assassins by Richard Beard
original read 2025 - Everything about this worked for me. The world building, the alternative history, the crime/ mystery / thriller aspect. Left me wanting more of this world!
Vaguely reminiscent of another 5 star favourite - the acts of the Assassins by Richard Beard
June 19, 2025
Pagans is a fascinating historical fantasy/murder mystery/police procedural novel that blends the best of multiple genres together in a fast-paced engrossing read that had me hooked from beginning to end.
Set in an alternative history where the Normans never invaded England, the world-building is excellent. The various Saxon tribes control England itself, with a High King and everything. The Celts and Picts are present, and are heartily discriminated against by the Saxons. The African continent has united under Pan-Africa, a wealthy powerhouse of resources and technology, while the Islamic Caliphates control Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The Mughal Empire rules in India, and the Russian federation is loose and disorganized, abutting the Nordic Republics. It is a really fun alternative history showing how radically things could have changed if one critical event failed to materialize. I loved how it treated with religion, with the gods of Norse, Celtic, and Saxon myth all present and given equal treatment. Religion plays an interesting role in the book, but I won’t say more for fear of spoilers.
Our MCs are Aedith of Mercia, a Detective Captain on the Saxon police force and daughter of the powerful Earl-Elector Lod of Mercia, and Detective Inspector Drustan, a Tribal police officer from Dumnonia sent to investigate the murder of a Tribal diplomat in London to attend the Unification summit, held every 5 years to determine if the three loosely allied groups should unify into one political entity. The brutal murder sparks a high stakes investigation that takes the MCs through a variety of challenges and dead-ends, with intrigue and surprises around every turn. The characters are engaging and interesting, and I liked the backstory that the author shared. The side characters are moderately interesting - fitting the stereotypical “sidekick” cast necessary for a good police procedural - but the majority of the plot work occurs within the scope of Aedith and Drustan.
Written in 3rd Person omniscient and alternating between Drustan and Aedith as the character of action, I found the prose to be open and accessible with bits of levity scattered throughout. The writing is well-done, and there were plenty of twists and turns to puzzle out, few of which I managed successfully. I love being kept in my toes by a book and this one did a fantastic job.
I’m definitely excited for the next book, as this ended on a sort of overarching cliffhanger, the main plot of the book being wrapped but opening up into a larger world of possibility. I hope to see more from the Author, and definitely recommend this to fans of alternative history fantasies and police procedurals. The author lists Michael Moorcock’s Gloriana, Naomi Novik’s Temeraire, and Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula as inspirations, and i think fans of those works would also enjoy this. All around, a well-written, exceptionally enjoyable novel.
Set in an alternative history where the Normans never invaded England, the world-building is excellent. The various Saxon tribes control England itself, with a High King and everything. The Celts and Picts are present, and are heartily discriminated against by the Saxons. The African continent has united under Pan-Africa, a wealthy powerhouse of resources and technology, while the Islamic Caliphates control Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The Mughal Empire rules in India, and the Russian federation is loose and disorganized, abutting the Nordic Republics. It is a really fun alternative history showing how radically things could have changed if one critical event failed to materialize. I loved how it treated with religion, with the gods of Norse, Celtic, and Saxon myth all present and given equal treatment. Religion plays an interesting role in the book, but I won’t say more for fear of spoilers.
Our MCs are Aedith of Mercia, a Detective Captain on the Saxon police force and daughter of the powerful Earl-Elector Lod of Mercia, and Detective Inspector Drustan, a Tribal police officer from Dumnonia sent to investigate the murder of a Tribal diplomat in London to attend the Unification summit, held every 5 years to determine if the three loosely allied groups should unify into one political entity. The brutal murder sparks a high stakes investigation that takes the MCs through a variety of challenges and dead-ends, with intrigue and surprises around every turn. The characters are engaging and interesting, and I liked the backstory that the author shared. The side characters are moderately interesting - fitting the stereotypical “sidekick” cast necessary for a good police procedural - but the majority of the plot work occurs within the scope of Aedith and Drustan.
Written in 3rd Person omniscient and alternating between Drustan and Aedith as the character of action, I found the prose to be open and accessible with bits of levity scattered throughout. The writing is well-done, and there were plenty of twists and turns to puzzle out, few of which I managed successfully. I love being kept in my toes by a book and this one did a fantastic job.
I’m definitely excited for the next book, as this ended on a sort of overarching cliffhanger, the main plot of the book being wrapped but opening up into a larger world of possibility. I hope to see more from the Author, and definitely recommend this to fans of alternative history fantasies and police procedurals. The author lists Michael Moorcock’s Gloriana, Naomi Novik’s Temeraire, and Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula as inspirations, and i think fans of those works would also enjoy this. All around, a well-written, exceptionally enjoyable novel.
February 6, 2026
I'll be honest, I didn't expect to enjoy this.
However, after a colleague told me about it I decided to give it a go, and I'm so glad I did.
It's a great concept, with a fast-paced story line, and very entertaining. Also, if you read in between the lines, it's very timely.
However, after a colleague told me about it I decided to give it a go, and I'm so glad I did.
It's a great concept, with a fast-paced story line, and very entertaining. Also, if you read in between the lines, it's very timely.
February 25, 2026
Great concept, loved the world. The whole crime situation I could take or leave (admittedly I never read police crime), I wasn’t keen on the writing and the characters were a bit annoying. I have read it all but a book like this usually takes me a couple of days and I have been at it for a week.
March 4, 2026
2.5 stars 🌟
I wanted to love this book... I picked it up because the premise sounded amazing, but it fell down in its execution for me.
I just felt incredibly unmoved by the entire thing. The characters were bland, the alternate history world felt sterile, the prose was nothing to write home about and the plot never elicited any sort of tension or surprise for me.
It wasn't unreadable, and I didn't hate it despite what I've said above, but I certainly didn't like it either.
I wanted to love this book... I picked it up because the premise sounded amazing, but it fell down in its execution for me.
I just felt incredibly unmoved by the entire thing. The characters were bland, the alternate history world felt sterile, the prose was nothing to write home about and the plot never elicited any sort of tension or surprise for me.
It wasn't unreadable, and I didn't hate it despite what I've said above, but I certainly didn't like it either.
March 2, 2025
Pagans is a riotously fun novel, bucking genre convention to create something wholly original. I was gripped from the very first page, fully immersed in Henry’s timely story of an alternative world.
Rich with new history, fascinating characters and a propulsive plot, I couldn’t put Pagans down, desperate for answers which Henry delivered with expertise.
Pagans is a novel that’s hard to define: crime, fantasy, a reimagined history that creates a vaguely dystopian world, that manages to feel contemporary and very timely. Basically, it’s very good. Set in a world where the Norman conquest never happened, we have Celts, Saxons and the Norse living on the a non-unified, divided island (the one we know as Britain). I’m crossing all my fingers that this is the start of a series of books because I want more of all of it.
Rich with new history, fascinating characters and a propulsive plot, I couldn’t put Pagans down, desperate for answers which Henry delivered with expertise.
Pagans is a novel that’s hard to define: crime, fantasy, a reimagined history that creates a vaguely dystopian world, that manages to feel contemporary and very timely. Basically, it’s very good. Set in a world where the Norman conquest never happened, we have Celts, Saxons and the Norse living on the a non-unified, divided island (the one we know as Britain). I’m crossing all my fingers that this is the start of a series of books because I want more of all of it.
May 12, 2025
“Pagans” is a London police procedural set in an alternative history universe where UK never U’d, and is instead divided into the Norse kingdom in the north, and Saxons in the south, where Celts live on reservations. The western world is dominated by a Pan-African Union, and Great Britain is largely a poor country providing cheap labour where tourists come for spiritual insight tours if at all.
The main characters are complicated people, there are two and a half criminal plots, and there’s a lot of room for future growth.
And yet I did not love it. It has all the components to be one of my favourites, and I just did not.
I think it’s because the author does not write emotions into his characters. The plot is humming, and there are a lot of interpersonal conflict and drama moments which should make the characters - and you - feel something, but they’re mostly over without much comment.
Also, the cover promises “hundreds of gods” but fantasy this ain’t, and religion shows up mostly as background/cultural decoration and “perhaps I saw something”. This is about the level that I’d expect from an alternative history police procedural, but it’s good to know it won’t be Rivers of London level of supernatural involvement.
Did I enjoy it? Would I still recommend reading it? Yeah, but it’s a category of “this could have been much more”.
The main characters are complicated people, there are two and a half criminal plots, and there’s a lot of room for future growth.
And yet I did not love it. It has all the components to be one of my favourites, and I just did not.
I think it’s because the author does not write emotions into his characters. The plot is humming, and there are a lot of interpersonal conflict and drama moments which should make the characters - and you - feel something, but they’re mostly over without much comment.
Also, the cover promises “hundreds of gods” but fantasy this ain’t, and religion shows up mostly as background/cultural decoration and “perhaps I saw something”. This is about the level that I’d expect from an alternative history police procedural, but it’s good to know it won’t be Rivers of London level of supernatural involvement.
Did I enjoy it? Would I still recommend reading it? Yeah, but it’s a category of “this could have been much more”.
February 26, 2026
This was great. Not an alternate history -- too far from history for that -- but an alternate world built on a lot of "what ifs" of our own, and a fascinating one as a setting for a police mystery. Good characters I enjoyed spending time with. I hope this isn't just a one-off and that we'll have more books set in this world to come.
March 15, 2025
An interesting concept with good research but nothing mind blowing, a pretty standard crime set up, with decent but predictable outcomes.
February 20, 2026
One day the BBC will make a really middling 6 episode series out of this.
February 11, 2025
Absolutely amazing. A crime novel set in a world where the Normans never rose to prominence, creating a 2023 radically different from the one we inhabit. This leaves everything open for a follow up and I really hope that happens soon!
February 12, 2025
If I was a fan of crime novels I would have given this a five star. Considering I don't much like crime novels at all a four star means I thought it was very good lol.
It's an alternative universe premise, not a fantasy one. Even though everyone is 'pagan' there's no real magic; instead it's a different take on prejudice, racism and acceptance while police forces from different cultures have to work together. I kept expecting Drustan (an officer from a downtrodden minority group) to say "They call me MISTER Drustan" because it has echoes of In The Heat Of The Night
A really good read and also I think would be enjoyed by people who "don't read fantasy"
It's an alternative universe premise, not a fantasy one. Even though everyone is 'pagan' there's no real magic; instead it's a different take on prejudice, racism and acceptance while police forces from different cultures have to work together. I kept expecting Drustan (an officer from a downtrodden minority group) to say "They call me MISTER Drustan" because it has echoes of In The Heat Of The Night
A really good read and also I think would be enjoyed by people who "don't read fantasy"
May 9, 2025
DNF sorryyyy.. this started strong but it’s just utterly confusing, too much politics between too many groups of people that’s never really explained (seems like author assumes a complex understanding of celts Saxons etc is common knowledge) but seems to be important to understanding the plot. Just couldn’t get to grips with it. Maybe that’ll change if I re read one day but I doubt it
May 15, 2025
Unclear writing that didn’t draw me in. The alternate history feels anachronistic, caricatural, and unconvincing. There’s a noisy layering of politics, ethnicity, religion, and confusing terms... but peel it back and it’s just a family drama in disguise, wrapped around an unamusing murder mystery.
Sometimes, less is more?
Sometimes, less is more?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews