The Saxons

[Dawn]

The library is the only place I don't mind paying fines, I look at it like I'm donating money to a good cause. :) And I rack up the fines so often that I pay them through the bank with the rest of my bills, very convenient............;D

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Wow. LOL! You love a good book fine. That's so funny. :)

Does your library charge fines for overdue a few days or after a certain period like three weeks?

[Dawn]

I will confess that I just paid off a $26 dollar fine and then racked up $4 after that....... :) (you have to pay anything over $25 if you want to continue borrowing books)

My library gives you 3 weeks and if it's not on hold you can renew up to twice (potentially a 9 week borrow)and then it's a daily fine. Death of Kings was on hold so I couldn't renew and I wanted to finish the book.......

Thank God it was a good book and worth the fine! :D

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Dawn wrote: "Thank God it was a good book and worth the fine! :D."

That is good to hear! :)

Our library has the same set up. You can renew twice unless there's a hold. No fee for being overdue though....that I know of. lol. Maybe I will get a bill at the end of the financial year for the few I have had overdue this year. :)

[Bernie]

Guess what my son got for Noel that I told him he has about a week to read!!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Um....The Last Kingdom???..:-)

[Bernie]

Yup

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Awesome! Let me know how he feels about it when finished.

[Ireney]

Few minutes ago I watched a great show on National Geographic, Viking Apocalypse. The premise is the discovery a mass grave of 54 headless bodies near an ancient Roman road in Dorset, and the resulting investigation to determine the origin of the people buried there, and probable reasons for their deaths. The result is an interesting little lesson of English history at the time of the Viking Age.

ib.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

That sounds fabulously interesting. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this doco on Nat Geo!

[Lee]

Ireney wrote: "Few minutes ago I watched a great show on National Geographic, Viking Apocalypse. The premise is the discovery a mass grave of 54 headless bodies near an ancient Roman road in Dorset, and the resu..."

I know people who were involved in that excavation.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Did they work out their story? Where they came from?

I assume they never found the heads?
Does that most likely signify that they were stuck on stakes perhaps? the heads I mean. To ward off other raiders?

All very interesting.

[Lee]

Terri wrote: "Did they work out their story? Where they came from?

I assume they never found the heads?
Does that most likely signify that they were stuck on stakes perhaps? the heads I mean. To ward off oth..."

I all got a bit silly in the end. There were even doubts cast that they were Vikings at all.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Ahh..the old 'too many chefs in the kitchen' syndrome? Everyone has theory and a different way with it.

[Lee]

Indeed. I think in that instance the excavator got excited and jumped the gun a bit. Just tried looking for the latest on it online but couldn't find anything. I did find this though, which I think I must have missed at the time:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-env...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Is it definitely the same dig though? The doco page on Nat Geo (via Ireney's link) says over 50 bodies with their heads in a different pit. Do you think it is the same?
Or perhaps the one in Ireney's doco is the other mass grave mentioned in that BBC article. The one found when workers were building the 'Weymouth Relief Road'.

[Lee]

No, this one's a different dig. Ireney's is (I think, without having seen it), the Weymouth road project. One of my friends told me that some of those bodies/heads from there (Weymouth) were women and children.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Oh really? Not all men with their heads off? Harsh.

[Lee]

Terri wrote: "Oh really? Not all men with their heads off? Harsh."

Aye, I have no way of knowing which version is the more true. That Oxford one seems pretty tidy though.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I will be keeping my eyes to the Nat Geo channel to try and catch this documentary. Now I am beyond fascinated.

[Lee]

Maybe some of the controversies have settled now:

http://oxfordarch.co.uk/index.php?opt...

Althugh you've got to laugh at those radiocarbon dates.

[Ireney]

It was the Weymouth road project dig. The documentary did not mention women and children. They've only mentioned the 54 young men that they had uncovered, and focused on some "tantalizing" forensic evidence, such us filed teeth, or the fact that they had been beheaded from the front.

ib.

[Lee]

Ireney wrote: "It was the Weymouth road project dig. The documentary did not mention women and children. They've only mentioned the 54 young men that they had uncovered, and focused on some "tantalizing" forens..."

Thanks Ireney, sounds like an interesting program.

[Ireney]

Lee wrote: "Ireney wrote: "It was the Weymouth road project dig. The documentary did not mention women and children. They've only mentioned the 54 young men that they had uncovered, and focused on some "tant..."

No problem. Always happy to share.

Are you involved in any digs Lee? Judging by some of comments and your profile, my impression is that your line of work does involve some digging, but I don't want to make assumptions >8)

ib.

[Lee]

Ireney wrote: "Lee wrote: "Ireney wrote: "It was the Weymouth road project dig. The documentary did not mention women and children. They've only mentioned the 54 young men that they had uncovered, and focused o..."

Most of my work now is lab-based, but I still get into the field fairly regularly. Currently I'm involved in projects in Mongolia, Britain and various parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. I'm afraid in terms of the actual digging, I seem to supervise more than do these days!

[Joseph]

Death of Kings: A Novel was just released in the U.S. a few days ago (Jan. 17th). I've been reading all these posts dated in October and November 2011, scratching my head at each one, until I realized that it was released months ago in the UK. I'm about to start Death of Kings as soon as I finish A Clash Of Kings.

[Lee]

Joseph wrote: "Death of Kings: A Novel was just released in the U.S. a few days ago (Jan. 17th). I've been reading all these posts dated in October and November 2011, scratching my head at each o..."

Enjoy it. A Clash Of Kings is next on my list.

I'll never understand the point of staggered release dates, especially in this day and age, but at least for once the UK got it first!

[Dawn]

Must have been released in Canada the same time as the UK 'cause I got it from the library in early November.

So odd for Canada to get anything before the States.

[Lee]

Dawn wrote: "Must have been released in Canada the same time as the UK 'cause I got it from the library in early November.

So odd for Canada to get anything before the States."

Maybe BC's trying to balance things out in his own way.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

And we in Australia got Death of Kings shortly after the U.K and I had to suffer, although it wasn't in silence, while Lee got to read it before me.

Staggered release dates are ridiculous. IMO.

[Lee]

Terri wrote: "And we in Australia got Death of Kings shortly after the U.K and I had to suffer, although it wasn't in silence, while Lee got to read it before me.

Staggered release dates are ridiculous. IMO."

Really? I didn't notice.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

lol. Well then, I'll complain louder when the next book comes out, just to make sure you hear me. ;)

[Lee]

Terri wrote: "lol. Well then, I'll complain louder when the next book comes out, just to make sure you hear me. ;)"

It's OK, I think everyone between Australia and the UK could hear you!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

hahaha. Good. I am pleased with my efforts then.

[Ireney]

I see the staggering dates quite often, and they don't really make sense to me either. I'm sure someone involved in the publishing industry could explain it in terms of securing licensing or distribution rights, or whatever it is that influences these dates. I don't think authors themselves have much control here.

The beauty of the connected world is that I can purchase the title anywhere in the world when it becomes available. I've purchased books from UK, for instance, because I could not yet do so here in Canada or in the US.

ib.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Last year I had a friend from the U.S purchase a book for me via The Book depository and get it sent to me. To undermine those release dates. This way I got it on first release instead of having to wait a couple months for it to become available in the Commonwealth.

[Ireney]

Although sometimes you do have to contend with alternate titles and cover art. Those Americans thinks they're so special, they have to have it differently than the rest of the world >8P

ib.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Oooooo, stirring border trouble. :-)

[Joseph]

I just re-read [book:The Pale Horseman|68528. I still can't decide whether it's my favorite in the series, but it's right up there.

[Dawn]

Joseph wrote: "I just re-read The Pale Horseman. I still can't decide whether it's my favorite in the series, but it's right up there."

Do you have a least favorite??

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

The Pale Horseman is probably my favourite of the series, although I did really enjoy The Burning Land.

[Tim]

Hi. I've been trying to (re)start a blog and today's posting is semi-relevant to Saxons if anyone is interested:
http://timhodkinson.blogspot.co.uk/20...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Because of his famous battle with the Saxon's at Stamford Bridge I am adding this book here as well as the Viking thread.

Saw this book on Goodreads..

Harald Hardrada

I don't know if this book is YA or adult as the author John Marsden is better known for his teen books (YA) such as Tomorrow, When the War Began.

[Speesh]

Can recommend by James Aitcheson, if you're looking for a rip-roaring tale of the years after the Battle of Hastings

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I bought this one the other week on sale and it came in the mail this week. Have it sitting here waiting for a time I am short library books.

I see the second book is out too. A follow up to Sworn Sword.

[Speesh]

Erm, on Twitter he told me that the next one, The Splintered Kingdom, is out the 13th September.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I guess when I see it at online bookstores it is preorder and I never noticed. I just see the cover. Which I like muchly.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Was looking at these Alfred Duggan Saxon books. They seem like they woild be good books, however the ratings on them are not very impressive.

(Not in order)

[Chris]

Terri wrote: "Was looking at these Alfred Duggan Saxon books. They seem like they woild be good books, however the ratings on them are not very impressive.

(Not in order)

[bo..."

It's so long since I read these books that it'a hard to remember what they were like. I did love them at the time, but I suspect they may seem a little tame now compared to some more recent HF.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I sure would like to read that one. If it is adult fiction.