This is a complete set of the first six books of the great action-packed medieval saga about the ambitious serf who rose to command a company of English archers during King Richard's crusade - and what happened after he led its survivors back to dangerous and gritty feudal England during a time when there was great upheaval in Britain as the barons rose against the king. This is great new saga about an archer and his family who fought for gold and treasure in an effort to rise in cruel and difficult feudal times - and how they did it. It will appeal to the fans of Bernard Cornwell, Jeffrey Archer, C.S. Forester. De Melo, Griff Hosker, Peter Darman, and Jerry Auteri.
This is British and English action & adventure of the medieval war & military historical fiction variety at its action-packed best.
Review of Kindle edition Publication Date: January 8, 2016 File Size: 2534 KB Publisher: martinarcherV@gmail.com (January 8, 2016) Print Length: 790 pages Language:: English Word Wise: Enabled ASIN: B01ADZHHBG
I apologize for not writing the indepth review which I planned. Too much time has passed for me to remember details and I have no interest in rereading or even skimming this lengthy compilation of six novels in Martin Archer's series which begins with English archers in one of the crusades. I forget which one, I think maybe the third. I seem to remember Richard Lionheart making an appearance in the very beginning.
What I do remember is the confusion of left out words, spelling errors and generally poor grammar. I also remember thinking that this was a lot like one of those empire building games. The protagonists start with nothing and build their own little trading and fighting empire based on a Mediterranean island and a castle in England. There is constant fighting. They go over here and beat an unprepared, weak and/or inept enemy. Then they go over there and beat another one. In the next volume they do it all over again and grow their empire. As one may gather from the title the secret of their strength and success is English archers. So, why did I give it three stars if I feel this way about it? Well something kept me reading all six volumes. Mr. Archer is close to being good at this. Maybe if he got a good editor?
I am loathe to criticise a wonderful and engaging story - and this tale is just that. The frequent repetition, changes of tense mid sentence, even changes in font in different chapters and generally abysmal editing, though, become simply too annoying. That is despite acknowledging the author's valiant efforts to recreate an interesting form of old English dialogue.
The storyline was intriguing at first, and I liked the historical setting and knowledge. I got lost on the many, many voyages and pillaging. The characters were not as strongly rendered as I'd like.
I really wanted to like these books as this period in history is one of the most fascinating. However, these books were a great disappointment. I literally forced myself to continue reading hoping the story line would improve. The characters were one dimensional at best and many were not fully realized such as William's son and his mistress. While supposedly the main characters' motivation for their actions was to provide a better life for William's son, it was hard to justify the pillaging, slaughter and piracy. And, 6 books could have been edited down to one. Not only was the action repetitive but boring.
These books are very entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed them, even though they are full of errors that would have been easily caught and corrected by even a mediocre editor. I would seriously suggest that Mr. Archer do something about this problem and then reissue the books; it would immediately improve his reputation to that of a writer of note who cares about the quality of his finished work. Still, these stories do take the reader to the place and time right down to the heat, the chills, and the odors! Recommended.
Action filled, exciting saga of deserted English archers using wit and their mighty Longbows to carve out an empire. The archer empire is templar Iike in its use of medieval banking and passenger shipping, yet no pretence of religious aims here, rather the archers almost cultishly seek coin and castles as they secure their land and sea empire against all others.
I found it intriguing that theses stories were based on parchment from the time. The author did a good job of flushing out the stories. Many parts are repetitive but I enjoyed the character development of William and Thomas.
I enjoyed reading the Archers Story part one and went immediately to Kindle for part two. I will be recommending this series to my friends who enjoy reading novels of this time period.
Fascinating style. I was most impressed by the authors knowledge of food transport in 12th century navel vessels. Archer has researched his subject very well. This was a delightful read!
Good adventure set in the time of the Christian crusades. Interesting, balanced perspective on their politics. But, the storytelling by the tale’s numerous players resulted in far too much repetition of the basic storyline.
I really enjoyed reading these books and will be reading all the others. His style of writing is right up my street…is not it. I will also be looking for the Soldiers and Marines books. If you haven’t tried Martin Archer….please do ***** 5 stars
I loved the first five books immensely, however the last books had some seriously poor editing mistakes that required careful reading. On in all a great series. It he characters were well developed. It was a very fun read
The story line was quite good and would have been more engaging if there wasn't so much repetition. It became annoying to the point of completely distracting from the story line.
A fast paced novel. The characters are complex and the story appears to follow history fairly accurately. An interesting perspective on King Richard the lion hearted.
Rollicking historical fiction stretching from England into Europe and across to the Middle East. Fast action and great characters. Rather than get eat individual book I read this collection on my kindle.
Easy to read and enjoyable. Fight in the shield wall, confront 20,000 for soldiers, attack castles, sail the seas and attack pirate ships. Steal gold and silver, save the lives of pilgrims and travel the known world. High on action and character, low on descriptions of violence and gore.
You will laugh, cry and cheer. I could not stop reading.