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The Silurian #3
Arthur's Army
Here begins Arthur's brilliant and annihilating South Saxon campaign; where he destroys the Saxons of the south coast weald in battle after battle. Yet does he push his cousin, Medraut, too far? Traitors begin to arise from within the ranks of his army as he takes his warriors to the limits of their endurance.
- GenresHistorical
250 pages, Paperback
First published January 24, 2010
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
L.A. Wilson
26 books22 followersUnique writer of Arthurian fiction; this is King Arthur like you have never read before, called The Silurian: the Silurian is Arthur, and this is his story told by his closest companion and foster-brother, Bedwyr, called The Fox.
There are ten books in the Silurian series, with book ten issue only as part one, The Wounded Bear. Part Two will follow in 2013.
Book One: The Fox and The Bear
Book Two: The King of Battles
Book Three: Arthur's Army
Book Four: Hunters and Killers
Book Five: Longhand, White-tooth and the Fox
Book Six: Bedwyr's Loss
Book Seven: The Blacksmith's Hammer
Book Eight: Facing the Bear
Book Nine: The Fox on the Water
Book Ten, Last Man to Avalon; Part ONE: The Wounded Bear
Book One of the series received an 'Honorary Mention' in the London Book Festival of 2007
My work has been describe as 'art', as intense and full of passion. The Silurian, a battleground of Saxon invasions and British survival, of loss and love and enduring resistance. Whatever The Silurian is, it is not in the mould of 'Lancelot loves Guinevere'; but in the true mould of Dark Age warriors, who fight for their lord in war-host to the very ends of the endurance, with Arthur at their head. This is not the romance of Merlin, Tristan, Lancelot, or the 'knights of the round table': this is real life in the raw,told in a unique first person narrative, in the unique style of Bedwyr, the Fox...
There are ten books in the Silurian series, with book ten issue only as part one, The Wounded Bear. Part Two will follow in 2013.
Book One: The Fox and The Bear
Book Two: The King of Battles
Book Three: Arthur's Army
Book Four: Hunters and Killers
Book Five: Longhand, White-tooth and the Fox
Book Six: Bedwyr's Loss
Book Seven: The Blacksmith's Hammer
Book Eight: Facing the Bear
Book Nine: The Fox on the Water
Book Ten, Last Man to Avalon; Part ONE: The Wounded Bear
Book One of the series received an 'Honorary Mention' in the London Book Festival of 2007
My work has been describe as 'art', as intense and full of passion. The Silurian, a battleground of Saxon invasions and British survival, of loss and love and enduring resistance. Whatever The Silurian is, it is not in the mould of 'Lancelot loves Guinevere'; but in the true mould of Dark Age warriors, who fight for their lord in war-host to the very ends of the endurance, with Arthur at their head. This is not the romance of Merlin, Tristan, Lancelot, or the 'knights of the round table': this is real life in the raw,told in a unique first person narrative, in the unique style of Bedwyr, the Fox...
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 25, 2014
Love, battle and death. Words of power that are fully realised in ‘Arthur’s Army’, book two of L.A. Wilson’s astonishing Arthurian series, ‘The Silurian.’
‘I wondered how the quiet of the day, beautiful and sun-drenched as it was, could be so shattered by the violent death that was to come. Away northward, hills bathed in sunlight.’
Bedwyr, Arthur’s greatest warrior, voices the heroic, tragic, passionate story of Arthur and the warriors of the Clan Bear. The reader goes with him into battle, fighting for survival and living through the pity and disgust of it all. We learn what it means to kill so that others can live in peace. A potent theme, with universal and ongoing significance.
L.A. Wilson is a rare talent, a poetic writer who creates accessible books that, for me, are compulsive reading. The words used are simple but made into potent sentences that fly as accurately as Bedwyr’s javelin, right on target, taking us to the troubled heart of 5th century Britain.
In this book Arthur fully forms and organises the Clan Bear. How I wish I could join! Camelot. Another word of power for me, from my earliest memories, here convincingly recreated as Caer Cadwy. Home, as Arthur calls it. Arthur, unloved and abused as a child has created his own family and special place.
Arthur and Bedwyr never forget to joke and laugh and there are moments of extreme happiness in ‘Arthur’s Army’. Arthur’s wedding is ecstatic. I’m not revealing the name of his bride but Bedwyr describes her, seated on a horse after the wedding. ‘She looked up at the sky and gave out a cry of delight and flung out her arms and laughed, while over me I saw a bird with outstretched wings soaring into the heights, up and into the clouds that burned under the sun.’
Events in the Black Mountains, at the villa in Siluria are also incredible. I cannot describe what happens as I don’t want to plot spoil, but what amazing images! This is visual writing, intense, haunting and mysterious. Arthur’s cousin Morganna shares something of his dark glamour and with her, as throughout the book, LA Wilson references Arthurian myths but makes them real. Brilliant.
Where there is power, traitors lurk. Not everyone is happy to accept Arthur’s rule. Trouble comes and so this endlessly fascinating story continues. As for the narrator, Bedwyr, the Fox, I find him irresistible and I can only quote Arthur. ‘I am going to love you, Fox. Long and hard and forever.’
I’m just so glad that this series has seven books, with another one on the way.
‘I wondered how the quiet of the day, beautiful and sun-drenched as it was, could be so shattered by the violent death that was to come. Away northward, hills bathed in sunlight.’
Bedwyr, Arthur’s greatest warrior, voices the heroic, tragic, passionate story of Arthur and the warriors of the Clan Bear. The reader goes with him into battle, fighting for survival and living through the pity and disgust of it all. We learn what it means to kill so that others can live in peace. A potent theme, with universal and ongoing significance.
L.A. Wilson is a rare talent, a poetic writer who creates accessible books that, for me, are compulsive reading. The words used are simple but made into potent sentences that fly as accurately as Bedwyr’s javelin, right on target, taking us to the troubled heart of 5th century Britain.
In this book Arthur fully forms and organises the Clan Bear. How I wish I could join! Camelot. Another word of power for me, from my earliest memories, here convincingly recreated as Caer Cadwy. Home, as Arthur calls it. Arthur, unloved and abused as a child has created his own family and special place.
Arthur and Bedwyr never forget to joke and laugh and there are moments of extreme happiness in ‘Arthur’s Army’. Arthur’s wedding is ecstatic. I’m not revealing the name of his bride but Bedwyr describes her, seated on a horse after the wedding. ‘She looked up at the sky and gave out a cry of delight and flung out her arms and laughed, while over me I saw a bird with outstretched wings soaring into the heights, up and into the clouds that burned under the sun.’
Events in the Black Mountains, at the villa in Siluria are also incredible. I cannot describe what happens as I don’t want to plot spoil, but what amazing images! This is visual writing, intense, haunting and mysterious. Arthur’s cousin Morganna shares something of his dark glamour and with her, as throughout the book, LA Wilson references Arthurian myths but makes them real. Brilliant.
Where there is power, traitors lurk. Not everyone is happy to accept Arthur’s rule. Trouble comes and so this endlessly fascinating story continues. As for the narrator, Bedwyr, the Fox, I find him irresistible and I can only quote Arthur. ‘I am going to love you, Fox. Long and hard and forever.’
I’m just so glad that this series has seven books, with another one on the way.
August 25, 2014
Love, battle and death. Words of power that are fully realised in ‘Arthur’s Army’, book two of L.A. Wilson’s astonishing Arthurian series, ‘The Silurian.’
‘I wondered how the quiet of the day, beautiful and sun-drenched as it was, could be so shattered by the violent death that was to come. Away northward, hills bathed in sunlight.’
Bedwyr, Arthur’s greatest warrior, voices the heroic, tragic, passionate story of Arthur and the warriors of the Clan Bear. The reader goes with him into battle, fighting for survival and living through the pity and disgust of it all. We learn what it means to kill so that others can live in peace. A potent theme, with universal and ongoing significance.
L.A. Wilson is a rare talent, a poetic writer who creates accessible books that, for me, are compulsive reading. The words used are simple but made into potent sentences that fly as accurately as Bedwyr’s javelin, right on target, taking us to the troubled heart of 5th century Britain.
In this book Arthur fully forms and organises the Clan Bear. How I wish I could join! Camelot. Another word of power for me, from my earliest memories, here convincingly recreated as Caer Cadwy. Home, as Arthur calls it. Arthur, unloved and abused as a child has created his own family and special place.
Arthur and Bedwyr never forget to joke and laugh and there are moments of extreme happiness in ‘Arthur’s Army’. Arthur’s wedding is ecstatic. I’m not revealing the name of his bride but Bedwyr describes her, seated on a horse after the wedding. ‘She looked up at the sky and gave out a cry of delight and flung out her arms and laughed, while over me I saw a bird with outstretched wings soaring into the heights, up and into the clouds that burned under the sun.’
Events in the Black Mountains, at the villa in Siluria are also incredible. I cannot describe what happens as I don’t want to plot spoil, but what amazing images! This is visual writing, intense, haunting and mysterious. Arthur’s cousin Morganna shares something of his dark glamour and with her, as throughout the book, LA Wilson references Arthurian myths but makes them real. Brilliant.
Where there is power, traitors lurk. Not everyone is happy to accept Arthur’s rule. Trouble comes and so this endlessly fascinating story continues. As for the narrator, Bedwyr, the Fox, I find him irresistible and I can only quote Arthur. ‘I am going to love you, Fox. Long and hard and forever.’
I’m just so glad that this series has seven books, with another one on the way.
‘I wondered how the quiet of the day, beautiful and sun-drenched as it was, could be so shattered by the violent death that was to come. Away northward, hills bathed in sunlight.’
Bedwyr, Arthur’s greatest warrior, voices the heroic, tragic, passionate story of Arthur and the warriors of the Clan Bear. The reader goes with him into battle, fighting for survival and living through the pity and disgust of it all. We learn what it means to kill so that others can live in peace. A potent theme, with universal and ongoing significance.
L.A. Wilson is a rare talent, a poetic writer who creates accessible books that, for me, are compulsive reading. The words used are simple but made into potent sentences that fly as accurately as Bedwyr’s javelin, right on target, taking us to the troubled heart of 5th century Britain.
In this book Arthur fully forms and organises the Clan Bear. How I wish I could join! Camelot. Another word of power for me, from my earliest memories, here convincingly recreated as Caer Cadwy. Home, as Arthur calls it. Arthur, unloved and abused as a child has created his own family and special place.
Arthur and Bedwyr never forget to joke and laugh and there are moments of extreme happiness in ‘Arthur’s Army’. Arthur’s wedding is ecstatic. I’m not revealing the name of his bride but Bedwyr describes her, seated on a horse after the wedding. ‘She looked up at the sky and gave out a cry of delight and flung out her arms and laughed, while over me I saw a bird with outstretched wings soaring into the heights, up and into the clouds that burned under the sun.’
Events in the Black Mountains, at the villa in Siluria are also incredible. I cannot describe what happens as I don’t want to plot spoil, but what amazing images! This is visual writing, intense, haunting and mysterious. Arthur’s cousin Morganna shares something of his dark glamour and with her, as throughout the book, LA Wilson references Arthurian myths but makes them real. Brilliant.
Where there is power, traitors lurk. Not everyone is happy to accept Arthur’s rule. Trouble comes and so this endlessly fascinating story continues. As for the narrator, Bedwyr, the Fox, I find him irresistible and I can only quote Arthur. ‘I am going to love you, Fox. Long and hard and forever.’
I’m just so glad that this series has seven books, with another one on the way.
August 30, 2011
The jealousy and desire Arthur inspires among his followers threaten to defeat him as surely as his military setbacks in this third novel in Wilson's series about Britain in the Dark Ages, narrated by the High King's conflicted lieutenant, the berserker Bedwyr. Despite losing a quarter of his troops, Arthur knows his success depends on fighting the just war . . . in the brutal sense of the word in those days: no indiscriminate slaughtering of women and children, only those who take up arms, though starving them out by burning crops and killing livestock is acceptable.
With the introduction of Myrddin (Merlin) and a family Arthur never knew, his quest to reclaim the Saxon Weald takes several unforeseen twists, as those who love him best must decide whether to betray him or their own interests. The magic and mysticism of the druids and the hillfolk who were never brought under the sway of Roman Britain lurk just under the surface in the pages of this volume, providing a tantalizing hint at this world, so foreign to modern readers.
Bedwyr's devotion becomes problematic in the politics of the court, as the story shifts over to his life as a mere man rather than Arthur's right hand. This heart-wrenching look at what warriors must become once the battles are over does advance the story arc of the whole series, but this volume does not quite fulfill its promise, feeling like a transition rather than a full story in itself.
The man-love in this volume develops naturally from the previous books and may be the most interesting aspect of Bedwyr's development. But having a conflict between religions and the spooky fox/bear story grafted onto what would have been a sufficiently complicated plot on its own left me wishing the author would have focused this volume a little more.
(Disclaimer: I received a free evaluation copy of this book as a judge for the Global e-Book Awards)
With the introduction of Myrddin (Merlin) and a family Arthur never knew, his quest to reclaim the Saxon Weald takes several unforeseen twists, as those who love him best must decide whether to betray him or their own interests. The magic and mysticism of the druids and the hillfolk who were never brought under the sway of Roman Britain lurk just under the surface in the pages of this volume, providing a tantalizing hint at this world, so foreign to modern readers.
Bedwyr's devotion becomes problematic in the politics of the court, as the story shifts over to his life as a mere man rather than Arthur's right hand. This heart-wrenching look at what warriors must become once the battles are over does advance the story arc of the whole series, but this volume does not quite fulfill its promise, feeling like a transition rather than a full story in itself.
The man-love in this volume develops naturally from the previous books and may be the most interesting aspect of Bedwyr's development. But having a conflict between religions and the spooky fox/bear story grafted onto what would have been a sufficiently complicated plot on its own left me wishing the author would have focused this volume a little more.
(Disclaimer: I received a free evaluation copy of this book as a judge for the Global e-Book Awards)
July 29, 2011
Arthur begins his reign of terror against the Saxons. Bedwyr struggles to understand his love for Arthur as he begins a relationship with an orphaned Saxon woman named Rowena. Everything they've trained and fought for will be tested like never before, as questions of loyalty abound. Bedwyr also grieves for what might have been.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews