Monthly Group Reads: NOVEMBER 2013 (Group Read 2) Sworn Sword by James Aitcheson

[Paula]

Terri wrote: "Let us know if your idea pans out. :)"
I had actually worked it out, possibly like a lot of others, however it probably is only something that die-hard battle of Hastings nerds might have known.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

It may interest readers to know that it was the author's intention to make Beatrice whining and irritating. It worked. ;)

[Paula]

Terri wrote: "It may interest readers to know that it was the author's intention to make Beatrice whining and irritating. It worked. ;)"

That is really surprising. I actually thought she was far less irritating than Tancred himself. LOL. BTW I am rating this book 4.5 stars but of course cannot rate it as that here on GR so it will get a 5. Will post my review soon

[Haydn]

Knights of the Hawk
Well I'm only 100 pages into this one but so far it's been a real page turner for me. (work gets in the way of page turning)The prologue sets the pace with a scene from Tancreds past. Without giving anything away it involves him being a young soldier and an event he will never forget. The storyline and action fairly bubble along and the book is a pleasure to read, a real action packed thriller. So far so good.

[happy]

This just came in for me - I should get to it in a week or so - I've got several that need to read first

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I am jealous you guys are getting to it.

[C.P.]

Starting this now, finally, long after everyone else.....

[Dawn]

It will be good to hear what you have to say C.P.

[happy]

I had it out, but the library need it back - so I'm back on hold :(

[Darcy]

I still haven't gotten around to finishing this one either :)

[C.P.]

I'm loving it so far (about 25% through). More soon.

[C.P.]

Finished last night. I really liked this book—especially Tancred—and that means a lot because war books are not my preferred genre.

Beatrice didn't bother me, especially, although neither she nor Oswynn seemed like a fully developed person to me; I saw that as evidence of Tancred's immaturity and the medieval tendency to separate women into ladies (admire from afar) and others (get as close as you can).

But the plot works, Tancred seems like an interesting person, the period is unusual, and the writing is good, at times lyrical. Since I am interviewing James A. next week, I won't give the book a star rating, but if I did, I would rate it high. A very enjoyable read.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

C.P. wrote: " the medieval tendency to separate women into ladies (admire from afar) and others (get as close as you can).
..."

I like this description.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

fellow member C.P has an interview with the author online.
This is the audio of the interview.
http://files.newbooksnetwork.com/hist...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

A heads up. Got to be quick on this one as it is only for another day.
James Aitcheson is giving away some signed copies of his latest book in this series, Knights of the Hawk to people in the UK.
The giveaway competition is running on Twitter.
http://www.jamesaitcheson.com/2014/05...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Fresh of James' blog. A new giveaway to win.

Last time I posted about one of these giveaways it was only for the UK. This time its for the US and Canada! So here's your chance.

Here's the details from the author's blog. The giveaway is via his Twitter page.
https://twitter.com/JamesAitcheson
Giveaway time in the U.S. and Canada
by JAMES AITCHESON on 12 AUGUST 2014

The Splintered Kingdom
James Aitcheson • Sourcebooks
416 pp. • Hardcover • $24.99
Earlier this year I ran a competition for my UK readers to win a signed paperback copy of Knights of the Hawk. I didn’t want my North American readers to feel left out, though, so I’m pleased to announce today that the amazing people at my publisher, Sourcebooks, are kindly offering no less than five signed hardback copies of The Splintered Kingdom. It was only published last week, so it really is hot off the press.
The rules are simple! The competition will run on Twitter, where you can already find me tweeting about 1066 and all things relating to the Middle Ages (@JamesAitcheson).

All you have to do to enter the prize draw and be in with a chance of winning is to RT one of my competition tweets. You’ll be able to tell which ones they are, because they’ll include the hashtag #giveaway.

Entries are limited to those living in the U.S. and Canada. The competition will close at 11.59am EDT on Thursday, August 14th. At that point I’ll use a random number generator to select five winners.

I’ll post the results of the competition both on Twitter and here on my blog, and will contact the winners via direct message (DM) so that they can send me their addresses.

Good luck, and happy tweeting

I'll also post this in the giveaways thread, so as many people get to see it and enter as possible.