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The Scottish Boy

Alex de Campi,

Trungles (Illustrator)

4.21 · Rating details · 442 ratings · 116 reviews

1333. Edward III is at war with Scotland. 19-year-old West Country knight Sir Harry de Lyon yearns to prove himself in the war, and so jumps at the chance when a powerful English baron, William Montagu, invites him on a secret mission with a dozen elite knights. They ride north, to a crumbling Scottish keep, capturing the feral, half-starved boy within and putting the othe 1333. Edward III is at war with Scotland. 19-year-old West Country knight Sir Harry de Lyon yearns to prove himself in the war, and so jumps at the chance when a powerful English baron, William Montagu, invites him on a secret mission with a dozen elite knights. They ride north, to a crumbling Scottish keep, capturing the feral, half-starved boy within and putting the other inhabitants to the sword. And nobody knows, or nobody is saying, why the flower of English knighthood snuck over the border to capture a savage, dirty teenage boy. Montagu gives the boy to Harry as his squire, with only two rules: don't let him escape, and convert him to the English cause. The price of failure? Forfeiting his small, heavily indebted Devon estate to the Baron.
At first, it's hopeless. The Scottish boy is surly, violent, hoards sharp objects, and eats anything that isn't nailed down. Then Harry begins to notice things: that, as well as Gaelic, the boy speaks flawless French, with an accent much different from Harry's Norman one. That he can read the language – Latin, too. That he isn't small so much as desperately under-fed. That when Harry finally convinces the boy – Iain mac Maíl Coluim – to cut his filthy curtain of hair, the face revealed is the most beautiful thing Hary has ever seen.
With Iain as his squire, Harry wins tournament after tournament and becomes a favourite of the King. But underneath the pageantry smoulders twin secrets: Harry and Iain's growing passion for each other, and Iain's mysterious heritage. As England hurtles towards war once again, these secrets will destroy everything Harry holds dear.
The Scottish Boy is the debut prose novel of critically-acclaimed comics writer Alex de Campi (Smoke, No Mercy, Twisted Romance, Bad Girls), with black and white illustrations by Trungles (Twisted Romance, Adventure Time, Fauns & Flora) scattered throughout the book. It also has maps in it because look, if you open a book and find a map and don't do an internal squee of delight? I fear for your immortal soul, I really do. ...more

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Published July 28th 2020 by Unbound (first published May 28th 2020)

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May 15, 2020 James rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. First published in Grimdark Magazine on 25 May 2020.

I suppose that knights’ tales are mostly laughed off by the general reading public as something archaic nowadays. Largely seen as relics from a far-off time when your grandpa, when still a stripling, delighted in the likes of Walter Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’, Ronald Welch’s ‘Knight Crusader’ or Howard Pyle’s ‘Men Of Iron’. Eventually it became fashionable to deconstruct the chivalric myth in Cervantes-like fashion, as your teenage dad discovered when h First published in Grimdark Magazine on 25 May 2020.

I suppose that knights’ tales are mostly laughed off by the general reading public as something archaic nowadays. Largely seen as relics from a far-off time when your grandpa, when still a stripling, delighted in the likes of Walter Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’, Ronald Welch’s ‘Knight Crusader’ or Howard Pyle’s ‘Men Of Iron’. Eventually it became fashionable to deconstruct the chivalric myth in Cervantes-like fashion, as your teenage dad discovered when he picked up GRR Martin’s ‘A Game Of Thrones’. Yet even that approach slowly petered out, so that in time I was certain that there was no literary angle left through which knight errantry might provoke a strong reaction from readers. Boy was I wrong.
Arise Lady Alex de Campi, a heralded Queen of Grimdark. And not idly do I bestow such a lofty title upon this fine debut novelist, for de Campi has to date painstakingly carved out a critically acclaimed career from penning grim and gritty graphic novels. If only there were more risk-taking writers around like her who had half her talent - and it’s not just me saying it. Legendary bestselling author Chuck Wendig probably described her work best: "I have adopted the rule that I will read anything that Alex de Campi writes, and this rule has served me well." This, coming from him, is no mean endorsement.
And it looks like de Campi is set to carry her stellar ability from comic book writing into novels, for her debut ‘The Scottish Boy’ oscillates splendidly between savagery and sophistication, filled as it is with moral ambiguity and a pervasive sense of real danger. It’s a knight’s tale set in medieval times, with as perilous a war-torn setting as our Grimdark hearts could hope for. This is not to mention a fresh romantic angle that is intimately (heh, you can say that again) explored and which is wholly unprecedented in fiction.
This novel is so unbelievably brave in the insane amount of risk it takes, that I doubt that it would ever have been touched with a ten-foot bargepole by the ailing, risk averse big end of town in the publishing industry, battered around as it has been for over a decade by sheer Amazon.com dominance. Let’s just say that I can’t see too many midwestern housewives picking this one up at their book club or while baking Bundt cakes for the bible-bashing, God-fearing hubby. So it’s hardly surprising that it was instead snapped up by the celebrated UK publisher Unbound, known to publish various grim and gritty trope-breaking titles in historical fiction like Paul Kingsnorth’s ‘The Wake’.
This plucky London-based publisher has used online means to successfully revive subscription publishing of yore, which was the method used to publish works by Voltaire, Samuel Johnson and Charles Dickens. Unbound bucks the aggressive discounting trend in modern bookselling by charging readers a premium to fund fiction that can’t break into the mainstream in exchange for having their names listed in the book they support as well as a copy of the same title. Yet despite this added cost, a whopping 834 patrons dived in to fund the production of de Campi’s debut, making it a huge success by crowdfunding standards before it even went into print.
The book’s protagonist, nineteen-year-old Harry de Lyon, is a stout fellow and the son of an impoverished English knight Sir Owen de Lyon who perished at the Battle of Bannockburn, scene of Scotland’s greatest triumph. Despite his mother’s misgivings, our Harry yearns to become a knight, so that he is soon taken into the service of one Sir Simon de Attwood. Unfortunately for Harry, he proceeds to lose both mother and Simon when the former dies of something or other and the latter perishes during the battle on Halidon Hill between the English and the Scots. Harry is late for Sir Simon’s last battle but is still knighted by the English King after a certain Baron Montagu puts in a good word for him. The newly knighted Harry feels somewhat embarrassed by his dream coming true since he thinks that it is undeserved. So that he quickly jumps at the chance to join the ruthless Baron Montagu’s hastily assembled warband in an undercover mission past the border with Scotland. Montagu’s target is a distant keep, where to Harry’s horror there ensues a heartless slaughter of the fastness’ starving and unarmed inhabitants, which include women and children. None are spared, save for a fierce boy, who is bound hand and foot after being dragged away from his home by Montagu’s men, before being hurled into a cage.
To his English captors, this boy is Scottish and therefore nothing short of a wild beast whose life is not worth the steam of their piss. It is only Harry (too shocked to wield his blade in the keep) who offers the rabid prisoner any kindness on the band’s return journey south. Harry feels utterly revolted by every bit of his first knightly venture yet matters further worsen when Montagu orders him to take the Scottish boy into his household and train him up to be his squire. De Lyon is reluctant to do this, yet finally relents when he is informed by the heartless Montagu that the Baron has purchased the debts burdening Harry’s estates, which in turn means that Harry will be rendered landless if he doesn’t take in his Scottish ward and secure his captivity.
Despite his initial misgivings, the recently orphaned Harry has no idea of the nightmare he is soon to suffer at the hands of the Scottish boy named Iain. Iain proves to be as easy to subdue as a wildcat being given a warm bath on a Sunday morning. For a while Sir Harry patiently takes it all on the chin, extending great kindnesses to his fellow orphan Iain. As a result, he endures all manner of threats, insults, jibes as well as wounds while desperately and hopelessly trying to turn Iain into a reliable squire. Yet it all proves in vain, with Harry finally reaching breaking point when Iain mortally injures his favourite horse and then flees Harry’s estate. The escaped Scottish boy is picked up by the local Sheriff who grievously wounds him, before a remorseful Harry steps in to take Iain back into his home. In time Harry’s renewed efforts with Iain bear fruit at the cost of an unexpected and enticing turn of events, when Harry finds himself not only a debt slave to Montagu but also Iain’s slave to love. For as they say, the human heart in conflict with itself is the only thing worth writing about.
I found ‘The Scottish Boy’ an engaging read on several levels. The characters are well-crafted to the point that they are each vivid enough to make them easily recognisable to the reader. This avoids the common pitfall of most historical novelists, who tend to bog down their narratives with a cast of thousands. De Campi is also a specialist on the particular period of history which forms the historical backdrop, so that her references to the paraphernalia, customs and calendar of the period are subtly blended into a brisk writing style in the third person present which also contains some fantastic metaphors.
Although easy to read, her writing is at times also as deep and reflective enough as required to reveal the torment endured by the novel’s protagonist who finds himself increasingly drawn into a highly dangerous relationship with a boy who poses highly dangerous political consequences. De Campi is also careful to leave enough mystery simmering throughout her tale, with the McGuffin being Iain’s true background since his French is flawless for a Scot and it slowly becomes apparent that he is no mere Scottish lordling and a whole lot more than what first met the eye. It would be remiss of me not to add that the warmth and cheer of Harry’s household is well-realised and provides a good backdrop for the grittier events which ensue when Harry and Iain venture onto the jousting grounds as well as the grim wars of the Continent.
The combat scenes throughout the book are a testament to de Campi’s deep knowledge of jousting and fighting techniques, as well as the warfare of the period. These scenes in novels often descend into sword-waving triumphs achieved through sheer will, yet de Campi keeps it all technical and plausible so that it’s pulled off really well. Probably the hardest task she set herself in this literary venture was converting Iain’s blind hatred for all things English into a raging passion for the English knight Harry. The debut author pulls it off magnificently and even makes it look easy, yet this feat requires deft, patient plotting and a deep understanding of her characters’ emotional journeys which are inch perfect and achieved spectacularly well.
What chiefly sets this novel apart from other knightly tales is a homosexual attraction that is kindled between Iain and Harry and which blossoms into a series of full-frontal and graphic sexual encounters. De Campi is uncompromising in her description of these scenes, which are akin to an unexpected burst of roaring power chords ripping through a neatly accomplished orchestral piece. It’s not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea and I learned this first hand when reading this book in serial format on The Pigeonhole, an online book club in which readers can post their comments on the right hand side of the book’s pages.
The extent of de Campi’s bravery was evidenced by the protests and expressions of outrage by a number of readers following these sex scenes. It made me feel privileged, for I felt that I was bearing witness to a historic moment in literature: the birth of a great and timeless classic which had broken literary boundaries to great public outrage, like Thomas Hardy’s ‘Jude The Obscure’ or DH Lawrence’s ‘Sons And Lovers’. Some readers on The Pigeonhole claimed that the scenes were too graphic. I’ll reserve my judgement on this, except to say that I found this reaction from readers to be both awe-inspiring and exciting, in a time in which I thought that there were no taboos left to be broken. Here is a novel which seeks to break new ground in fiction while also exploring a feature of life in martial circles that was probably a lot more common than people dare to admit, and which has largely been swept under the carpet.
So it’s a five on five rating for this daring, accomplished debut. It’s another absolute gem published by Unbound and an impressive first step into the literary world by Alex de Campi, hopefully the first of a few more to come. ...more

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Jun 06, 2020 Exillior rated it really liked it

As the blurb outlines, this is a historical intrigue/romance with a gay couple as the core characters, set in the 1300s mostly in England, Scotland and France. The queer rep includes: the two main characters are queer, there is another important character written as being sex averse aro/ace, a further male gay couple, some same-sex interactions between minor characters. Trigger warnings for: violence, war, murder, slave/captive situations, injury/maiming, cheating, bereavement, homophobia (view ...more

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May 31, 2020 abi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtqiap, fave-fave-faves

oh alex de campi, i love you and your wholly inaccurate historical fiction

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Jun 06, 2020 Teddy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtq

6 June 2020:

3.5 or 4 stars, can't decide

This book was honestly really odd & somehow still ended up being enjoyable?? Some parts were well-researched, but it was also clear the author had no clue what chivalry actually was, or what medieval people considered to be sodomy -- also no mentions of ennobling love, but whatever. (Listen, I specialized in medieval history & I had to write about chivalry in depth for an entire year, I'm allowed to be picky!!!!) Not sure if I'd read it again, but it d ...more

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Dec 05, 2020 Aldi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: crazy-adventures, delicious-paincake, lgbtq, wartime, romance, all-the-feelings, historical

4.5 stars, rounded up because sometimes you gotta, and I'm going by level of emotional engagement. I picked this up on a complete whim after a very brief glance at the blurb and going "14th century Scotland? Hell yeah, let's go!", somehow managed to miss the fact that it's a queer romance as well as a historical (I know, I know, it's right there in the description), and as a consequence of this very inattentive book buying, was not prepared for the sizable onslaught of feels this story swept me 4.5 stars, rounded up because sometimes you gotta, and I'm going by level of emotional engagement. I picked this up on a complete whim after a very brief glance at the blurb and going "14th century Scotland? Hell yeah, let's go!", somehow managed to miss the fact that it's a queer romance as well as a historical (I know, I know, it's right there in the description), and as a consequence of this very inattentive book buying, was not prepared for the sizable onslaught of feels this story swept me up in. Absolutely no complaints, mind; perhaps I should grab books at random more often.

This story just hit lots of buttons for me. It's set during a historical period that I find absolutely fascinating (the thirteen hundreds, a.k.a. arguably the shittiest century in the past millenium! Plague, famine, war, the start of the Little Ice Age, ALL THE AWFUL THINGS! lol), and while not all those events featured, I enjoyed the depth of the world-building a lot. It didn't skimp on politics and the intricacies of court life and tournament culture, while also spending lots of time on what it meant to be a knight but impoverished and struggling to take care of your people at the time. Several historical figures of the time feature heavily (and Isabella of France, whom I adore madly, has several cameos, wooo!) and I really enjoyed how the author blended real historical events with fiction (like the whole existence of Iain). It's also casually inclusive, with multiple POC characters and some ace rep, always a plus.

What absolutely sold me on this, though, were the characters. I am an absolute sucker for a good enemies-to-lovers dynamic, and I LOVED that this didn't rush past the "enemies" part and gave the relationship plenty of space to evolve. Both Harry and Iain were wonderfully written characters and I adored them and their fraught, tender and insanely hot romance. (If you're not a fan of lots of very explicit smut, though, this is probably not for you, lol).

The style is pretty expository and zooms in and out a lot between close-up scenes and summary-type narration in between. You don't see that a lot these days, but I thought it really worked for this particular story, especially once we get to the various war machinations and political manoeuvring. I did think the dialogue was pretty modern-sounding and the occasional anachronism snuck in, but it didn't really bother me, as I was enjoying myself too much.

There were some minor pacing weirdnesses (I get why the development towards the end was necessary, but it did throw me off pace a bit) and a too-sudden ending; it could have done with just a bit of lingering on. Still, overall an absolutely delightful way to have my heart wrenched and make me alternately shout and sniffle at fictional people for a few very immersed days! ...more

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Mar 22, 2021 Clea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I huged the book, in my bed, feeling like crying.
I dont want to let go.

How much I love this book makes me so happy and so sad knowing that, now, I read it all.

It is so well written, so smart and entertaining and romantic. I absolutely adore it.

(It is also really sexy, the book is not erotica but know there is maybe 10 smut scenes and those boys are not chaste)

One of my best friend, with who I read this masterpiece, could tell you, I was loosing it.
Its rarer and rarer for me to find a book which ...more

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Jun 27, 2020 Alex rated it it was ok

Shelves: not-worth-reread, lgbt, fiction, historical-fiction, romance

I'm sort of hesitant to give a mostly negative review to a book that hasn't properly come out yet, but I was really, really disappointed by this book. I borrowed it from my dad, who got an early copy from helping to crowdfund it, so I didn't really know what it was going to be about, but I liked the premise of historical fiction set in 1300s England featuring a romance between two men. Unfortunately, the book executes this premise poorly, and ends up being a mediocre-to-bad romance novel with a ...more

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May 28, 2020 N rated it it was amazing

Shelves: enemies-to-lovers

I got to read this epic historical m/m romance through the author's generosity in putting it up on thepigeonhole app. I spent a whole day completely immersed in Iain and Harry's story. It's the best sort of enemies to lovers romance that I need and full of passion that I want. You get to see Iain slowly trust Harry and see them both through the thick and thin of war. HEA guaranteed! ...more

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Sep 06, 2020 Sonya rated it liked it

An average read, it's more than just a m/m romance filled with politics, suspense and drama but the story could've been better,a little dissapointed as i had high hopes for this book :( ...more

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Sep 18, 2020 M rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: queer-sorting-hat, extraordinary-mm, fairly-filthy, history-buff, mmilitary, why-can-t-we-be-friends, cover-lover, secret-romance, favourite-couples, britishismms

I don't think I can be objective about this book because I loved it too much. It's a very long and immersive historical novel set in the fourteenth century and tells the story of a chivalrous English knight and a mysterious Scottish prisoner. There's a lot of intrigue and tournaments and violence and sex, but at its heart - it's an aching romance between two lost boys and I really, really enjoyed it. I could nitpick, because nothing's perfect, but I'm not going to. I think it was beautiful and I ...more

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Jul 30, 2020 Ralia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: trophies

I am privileged to read this book !!! 🙏🏽

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May 16, 2020 Catalina rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was a bit of a chore to read. But I've signed up to read it(silly goose) so I had to keep at it.
A cross between a historical novel and a LGBT historical erotica(romance) novel. Set in England, around 1300, follows a country knight in his ascension to court and consequent "fall from grace" and his love story with the "Scottish boy". All on the background of political ministrations at the hand of more powerful knights and the beginning of the 100 years war.
A slow start where the writing see ...more

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Nov 11, 2020 C. rated it did not like it

Shelves: historical-fiction, lgbt, worst-of-the-worst

Too. Much. Sex.

Also, I kept thinking it read like fanfiction, and then I go on here and find out I was right. It also explains why I hated the main character so much.

I did not care about the romance in this at all. There is zero actual romantic tension between the two main characters. There is just weirdly graphic sex.

Also, what exact was Scottish about Iain? He kept using the word Sassenach, and was described as fierce and wild and savage. Yay?!

I also have a feeling that A Knight's Tale was ...more

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Jul 05, 2020 Haden rated it really liked it

Shelves: lgbtq, quarantine-reads

been waiting for this since i pledged on unbound and after that wait what a good time!! reads like a fic that deserves being the most popular/most rec'd au in a major fandom. can't speak to the historical accuracy but everything i know about medieval england i learned from a knight's tale or monty python so obviously i'm not the right person to ask.

it's fun and gay! what more could you ask for tbh ...more

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Sep 04, 2020 Emily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, 2020

This was SUCHHHH a total DELIGHT and I could NOT STOP YELLING about the SEXY FEALTY throughout, WOW!!!!! Genuinely super fun and I enjoyed myself 100%, WILL recommend, WILL be reading again.

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Jan 19, 2021 Rachel Reid rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourite-books-i-read-in-2021

This is a new all-time favourite for sure!

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Jul 12, 2020 Caity C rated it liked it · review of another edition

Okay, so was this book a great feat of literature? No.

Was it all that accurate historically? No.

But did I somehow really enjoy it? Absolutely.

I did know going into this novel that it was an adapted Stucky fanfic, so my expectations were lower going in than an average novel. While it is obvious who's who, I do think the book was so different from the canon setting that it could stand on it's own. There was no straight up copies scenes like 50 shades did to Twilight.

The m/m romance at the centre w ...more

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Aug 05, 2020 Ben Howard rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites-2020, read-in-2020

this is perfection

rtc

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Jul 07, 2020 Claire (Silver Linings and Pages) rated it liked it

1333, England is at war with Scotland. Young Sir Harry de Lyon is summoned on a secret mission north to a dilapidated Scottish keep. The noblemen leave no survivors behind, and they capture a feral, emaciated boy who is given to Harry as his squire. With the weight of responsibility of his estates, tenants and debts, Harry is desperate to prove himself a worthy knight at court and jousting tournaments. A passion grows between the two young men, which along with the Scottish boy’s mysterious heri ...more

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Mar 01, 2021 Maria Rasimova rated it it was amazing

4,5 stars
Very nice book. I inhaled it in 2 days. I loved illustrations, that was a pleasant surprise and really helped me with imagining characters and their attire.
I’m not into history, it bores me out of my mind. So the part where Harry went to war was torture for me. Just the dry list of events with dates. I might skipped some part of it.

It also felt like novelty that sodomy was so forbidden that people were burnt. I mean, I know that there are still countries (especially Muslim countries) ...more

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Jun 07, 2020 Abi Walton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, best-of-the-best, favorites, lgbt, history, my-it-books-of-the-year

I really think The Scottish Boy may be my favourite read so far in 2020 and that is saying something considering I have read some brilliant novels this year. Alex de Campi has written an intriguing beautiful book about the life of a country knight, Harry, in Devonshire in 1333 - 1340 who is made to look after a captured Scottish boy after England once again goes to war with Scotland.

We follow Harry and Iain as they grow up together first as close friends and finally as lovers and partners. It r ...more

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Aug 07, 2020 Cleo rated it liked it · review of another edition

In my opinion a cross between a Knights Tale and Captive Prince- with more blood, death and sex (yeah!)

Harry de Lyon is a young (19) squire, son of an impoverished Knight who died in battle against the Scots. Eager to prove himself, get some much needed money to fund his holdings and become a chivalrous knight like his father, he joins forces with a ruthless Knight, Baron Montagu on a secret mission in Scotland. Turns out this mission involves the kidnapping of a young scottish lad (even younger ...more

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Feb 06, 2021 Agnes rated it really liked it

Recommended to Agnes by: Stefanie

Almost 5 Stars from me.

The medieval setting hybridized with a modern language used in dialogues reminded me somehow of the movie A Knight's Tale and I loved it!
It was a very enjoyable, beautiful read with lots of climaxes and big dick energy - until the book just abruptly ended. The ending felt really sudden to me, which was kind of confusing and a bit disappointing. I think, I kind of missed the actual climax of the story.
In that sense, I'm giving the book 4 stars and hope de Campi's next book ...more

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Aug 11, 2020 Mina rated it liked it · review of another edition

it’s mainly centered on harry, a 19-year-old 14th century country boi who prays a lot. i loved him a lot during the first half of the book (i loved Everything a lot during the first half), but things unfold in the second half and he becomes a little more dreary and sullen and Emo. he still prays a lot tho.

this was surprisingly hornier than i thought. the first couple bits were fun and cute but then wow these medieval boys really get off huh and my head is empty, eyes are glazed over, and i no l ...more

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Nov 19, 2020 Devan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance, gay-romance, gay-historical-romance, medieval

A

From the moment I read the summary I knew this was going to be 100% my shit but wow. De Campi writes beautifully, evoking the setting in great detail and covering all the minutia one would expect of tournaments. But this kind of thing lives and dies by the characters and what characters they are. She does a great job of sketching out their personalities from the start and what's most impressive is how she gets their points of view even as it's locked in to Harry's. Like a good enemies-to-lovers ...more

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May 14, 2020 Claire rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, arc, lgbt, pigeonhole

I truly loved this novel, it had intrigue, romance, and sex galore as well as fighting and dirty politics as was consistent with the time of 1333.

This was another Pigeonhole read, one stave a day, and I so wanted to be able to read the whole thing in one hit, I woke each morning hoping that today's stave had been delivered early and I could read it before work. There was a lot of discussion during the read, which I quite enjoy and the majority of us really enjoyed it. There were however a few wh I truly loved this novel, it had intrigue, romance, and sex galore as well as fighting and dirty politics as was consistent with the time of 1333.

This was another Pigeonhole read, one stave a day, and I so wanted to be able to read the whole thing in one hit, I woke each morning hoping that today's stave had been delivered early and I could read it before work. There was a lot of discussion during the read, which I quite enjoy and the majority of us really enjoyed it. There were however a few who were not at all happy with the sex scenes, they felt they were far too graphic, and I wonder if this was just because they were between two males and if it had been a heterosexual couple whether they would have had the same complaint or not. I had no issue with the sex scenes and I thought they built the relationship between the two main characters perfectly, showing what an intense relationship they had in every aspect. But I will say that yes, the sex scenes are quite graphic, so if you don't like this, then maybe this won't be the book for you.

An LGBT historical novel set in the 1300s, a time I knew nothing about, and a time I am glad I didn't live in. It was certainly a violent time with wars going on for land and titles continuously, as well as plots to take France or Scotland or for France to take England, so much scheming going on I don't know how anyone, especially Edward III slept at night.

Harry is young and eager to become a knight, he has very little idea of what this truly entails only having fought and trained in tournaments. Turning up just after a fight he was hoping to be in, he is pulled into a scheme he has no understanding of, but which will change his life completely.

The first fight scenes were gruesome and disturbing, just as fighting would have been in that time, Harry is completely disturbed by this and I stood with him, watching the massacre that was going on with disbelief and horror. There was really no such thing as honour, especially among the men that Harry found himself teamed with. These men scheme throughout the novel, using their love of England as their reason, when really it is their love of power that drives them.

After this first Massacre, a prisoner is taken, Harry has no idea who this Scottish Boy is, but when he is given to him to be his squire, he finds his life entwined with Iain's and both of their lives will eventually depend upon the other. Iain is a tortured soul who with the help of Harry learns who he wants to be and what truly matters. As much as he wants to be left alone, the secret of who he is won't allow this to happen.

The book spans many years, many plots, and intrigues and Harry has to learn who he wants to be and who he can truly trust. There are some surprising alliances formed and I really enjoyed the way I was at times not sure where everything was leading and how it was going to end up.

I have read comments that some of the histories in this novel are not totally accurate, but for me, not knowing the history anyway, it certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of this novel. ...more

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Sep 15, 2020 LibrarianMel rated it liked it

So, I liked it, but it was much more...explicit...than I thought it would be. There are also a ton of anachronisms that took me out of the non-boinky parts. (For example, Harry thinks about being turned on a few times...people in the 1300s had no concept of on or off as relating to things working. It was distracting to me.) I did like that it was soapy and fun, though.

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Aug 31, 2020 rubywednesday rated it liked it

Shelves: historical, romance

This book's description is like my personal fictional content bingo card. I was so here for it.

My assesment is less favourable. it reads like YA with explicit sex. or like fic? it had good characters, a good concept but the pacing was so wildly inconsistent it made it hard to rate highly. it could have been two books. or one book with a different structure. it also had a couple of very annoying plot devices.

so yeah. it was fine. i won't reach for it again but the concept was neat enough that i ...more

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May 23, 2020 Esther rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. First of all I'd like to say that even though I don't think this was a good book, it was in fact a fun book to read. If you want to read a medieval romance between two knights with explicit sex scenes that feel a lot like fanfiction at times, go ahead, you'll probably enjoy yourself.
If you're looking for an interesting take on what gay love could look like in an medieval society filled with intense political machinations, look elsewhere. The love story very quickly becomes the main subject of th First of all I'd like to say that even though I don't think this was a good book, it was in fact a fun book to read. If you want to read a medieval romance between two knights with explicit sex scenes that feel a lot like fanfiction at times, go ahead, you'll probably enjoy yourself.
If you're looking for an interesting take on what gay love could look like in an medieval society filled with intense political machinations, look elsewhere. The love story very quickly becomes the main subject of the story, and it becomes unclear where the political intrigue (which is rather poorly/unexcitingly explained imho) fits in.

Would the romance and sex scenes work in a modern setting? Yes, probably. But it feels like all of the author's research goes out the window when it comes to those moments, whether we're talking about medieval views on romance or the characters' speech which suddenly becomes a lot more modern. I feel like instead of asking what a romance between a knight and a squire would have been like, the author inserted a modern romance inside a political intrigue and that's a pity.
I'm not well versed in this at all, but I feel like our conceptions of what love and its function should be have enormously changed and this could have been very interestingly explored.
Additionally, for a character living in a world where religion is extremely prominent, Harry's (the main character) relationship to religion is not explored much beyond the first chapter or so. The homophobia of the setting is clumsily introduced through another character getting arrested for sodomy, which feels like simple signalling rather than making an effort to work this into the world and the characters. (Although I also understand the wish to write a love story where homophobia, whether internalised or exterior, can be easily vanquished or avoided.) But hell, I do want to know - what did gay life actually look like in the 1300s? Might actually go do some research myself since there's so little in this book.
A couple other things: The transition from Ian being Harry's prisoner to his lover is very quickly glossed over, the main female character is very poorly written and serves essentially as a narrative tool to getting Ian and Harry their happily ever after, Harry is rather one dimensional as well (see some of the other reviews on here).

Go ahead and read this if it seems like your kind of thing, you'll probably enjoy it, but you won't find anything particularly original. ...more

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Oct 24, 2020 K_frost rated it it was ok

I was not sure what to write or how many stars to give.
Because it's fun and easy to read, the kind of book you don't want to put down, although a bit trivial.
And I have no illusions about homosexuality in Medieval Times (Becket!!! XD), but it's sometimes too kitsch and also too unrealistic. A bit more historical credibility would not have harmed. Plus there're better sex scenes out there.
If I ever read annoying phrases containing "the boy" or "the man" does/looks/whatever in sex scenes again, I ...more

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