Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...

Friday, 27 May 2022

My Coffee Pot Book Club Guest: A. M. Linden - The Oath

(The Druid Chronicles, Book One)

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through wonderful worlds
real and fictional,
meet interesting people,
visit exciting places
and find a few good books
to enjoy along the way!

Book Title: The Oath

Series: The Druid Chronicles, Book One

Author: A. M. Linden

Publication Date: 15th June 2021

Publisher: She Writes Press

Page Length: 319 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

The Druids and the struggles they faced.

The Druids of this chronicle are imagined as the remnants of a cult that had once been among the most influential in Iron-age Britain. Like their ancestors, they are practitioners of a polytheistic religion focused on a supreme mother goddess that they view as being the ruler of a vast pantheon of deities to whom She has given birth. Committed to carrying on what they hold to be sacred traditions, they are currently sequestered in a hidden valley where they continue to tell their ancient sagas and conduct their arcane rites supported by servants and laborers who have remained loyal to them and faithful to the goddess they worship. It is with this ongoing support, along with continued tribute from covert believers living outside of their valley, that they have been able to keep alive beliefs and practices that otherwise would have been lost.

Now, however, they are faced with escalating challenges as their own numbers and the numbers of their supporters, both inside and outside of their valley sanctuary, fall. As vital as the supplies their workers provide are to the shrine, its priests and priestesses can survive on less than they’ve become accustomed to, cutting portions of bread smaller, watering their wine, and having their cook add more turnips to her stew, but the purpose of their lives is not merely to survive but to pass on what was passed down to them.

In the days when their cult was in its ascendency, would-be disciples had flocked to their original shrine eager to sit at the feet of their three highest priests—their chief bard, their master oracle, and their foremost physician. Aware that they are the last of their kind, they face the fact that they have only their own off-spring to train in those three prized fields, which taken together, comprise an ancient heritage of wisdom that, once lost, can never be recovered.

Faced with the reduction of the number of new initiates by declining births and the losses of young children to illness, there is a growing conflict among the shrine’s three ranking priests over which of them will claim the best of the small number of young priests-in-training for his disciple—a rivalry that threatens to divide their fellowship just when the unexpected death of their supreme priestess leaves them without a designated successor to take her place. Along with these challenges and the ever-looming threat of their hidden valley being discovered by their Christian Saxon enemies, the Druids must also make decisions about how to respond to the growing discontentment among the laborers who had previously been willing to supply the shrine’s needs without complaint.

About the Book

When the last of members of a secretive Druid cult are forced to abandon their hidden sanctuary, they send the youngest of their remaining priests in search of Annwr, their chief priestess’s sister, who was abducted by a Saxon war band fifteen years ago. With only a rudimentary grasp of English and the ambiguous guidance of an oracle’s prophecy, Caelym manages to find Annwr living in a hut on the grounds of a Christian convent.

Annwr has spent her years of captivity caring for the timid Aleswina, an orphaned Saxon princess who was consigned to the cloistered convent by her cousin, King Gilberth, after he assumed her father’s throne. Just as Caelym and Annwr are about leave together, Aleswina learns that Gilberth, a tyrant known for his cruelty and vicious temper, means to take her out of the convent and marry her. Terrified, she flees with the two Druids—beginning a heart-pounding adventure that unfolds in ways none of them could have anticipated.

Praise:

“Linden's well-researched tale eloquently brings to life a lesser-known period of transition in Britain. . . . The author has created a strong foundation for her series with well-developed characters whom readers can embrace. . . . [a] layered, gripping historical fiction.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“The story rolls along at a lively pace, rich with details of the times and a wide cast of characters. [The] plotting, shifting points of view of the three engaging protagonists, and evocative writing style make The Oath a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.”

—Historical Novel Review

“Linden uses a fairy tale-like style almost as though this story has been passed down orally over the centuries.”

—Booklist Review

Trigger Warnings:

Sexual assault, child abuse

Buy Links:

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oath-Druid-Chronicles-Book-One-ebook/dp/B08F2JGG56

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/Oath-Druid-Chronicles-Book-One/dp/1647421144

Amazon CA:

https://www.amazon.ca/Oath-Druid-Chronicles-Book-One-ebook/dp/B08F2JGG56

Amazon AU:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Oath-Druid-Chronicles-Book-One-ebook/dp/B08F2JGG56

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-oath-am-linden/1137420415

Waterstones:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-oath/a-m-linden/9781647421144

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=the+oath+druid+chronicles+book+1

Apple Books:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-oath/id1525843259

About the Author

Ann Margaret Linden was born in Seattle, Washington, but grew up on the east coast of the United States before returning to the Pacific Northwest as a young adult. She has undergraduate degrees in anthropology and in nursing and a master’s degree as a nurse practitioner. After working in a variety of acute care and community health settings, she took a position in a program for children with special health care needs where her responsibilities included writing clinical reports, parent educational materials, provider newsletters, grant submissions and other program related materials. The Druid Chronicles began as a somewhat whimsical decision to write something for fun and ended up becoming a lengthy journey that involved Linden taking adult education creative writing courses, researching early British history, and traveling to England, Scotland, and Wales. Retired from nursing, she lives with her husband and their cat and dog in the northwest corner of Washington State.

Social Media Links:

Website: https://druidchronicles788ad.com/index.html

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B08YTL5XT5

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54810317-the-oath

Follow the Tour

Twitter Handle: @shewritespress @maryanneyarde

Instagram Handles: @shewritespress @coffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #HistoricalFiction #Medieval #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page:

https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2022/04/blog-tour-oath-druid-chronicles-book.html

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note: Helen has not yet read this title - it is on her TBR list!

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Website: https://helenhollick.net/

Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick

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the events that led to 1066

the Battle of Hastings

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Harold the King (UK edition)
I Am The Chosen King (US/Canada edition)
1066 Turned Upside Down -
an anthology of alternative stories

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(from Amazon: UK/world edition - US/Canada edition)

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Tuesday, 24 May 2022

My Coffee Pot Guest: N.L. Holmes - Bird in A Snare

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through wonderful worlds
real and fictional,
meet interesting people,
visit exciting places
and find a few good books
to enjoy along the way!

Bird in a Snare (The Lord Hani Mysteries, Book 1)

By N.L. Holmes Narrated by Thomas J. Fria

What would it be like to live in the ancient Egypt of Hani’s time? First of all, if one had to drop down into the Late Bronze Age, Egypt would be the best place to drop. In terms of health care and women’s rights, for example, they were far ahead of their contemporaries, but life would still seem primitive in the extreme, unless one was lucky enough to be an aristocrat. Let’s look at some of the differences between our times and Hani’s that would immediately strike a time traveler.

One is the hierarchical nature of society, so different from our own democracy. The king was unimaginably rich and powerful. King Tut’s tomb contained goods that would have cost a thousand years of an ordinary workman’s salary! High nobles lived in luxury in spacious houses with big gardens, had indoor baths and toilets (flushed by servants with buckets), ate meat-rich food off exquisite plates, and enjoyed well-fed, sedentary, secure lives. The working class huddled with their average of ten children into poorly lit little houses, worked hard from sunrise to sunset, and could hardly afford to buy furniture. But they did at least have “weekends” off every ten days and plenty of festivals to supplement their bread-and-beer basic diet. People were very conscious of their class, but it wasn’t unheard of for the dissatisfied to stand up to their betters. Royal workmen sometimes went on strike, and every village had a council of citizens—including women—that ran their local affairs in a democratic way. Nobody had money. Business was carried out by barter, sometimes using bronze or silver, but there was no coinage. Taxes were paid in labor or foodstuffs, and wealth was reckoned mostly in grain and cattle, hence land.

Marriage consisted of the simple decision to live together, with both partners bringing to the marriage what they could. The Egyptians seemed to marry monogamously for love (they had some red-hot love songs!) and to be devoted family folks, but divorce was easy if things went bad. If a man’s wife was childless, he could take a concubine to give him heirs. Women had essentially equal legal rights with men, could testify in court, leave and receive inheritances, run businesses, and even give orders to men subordinates. Yet people still sometimes took advantage of widows and orphans, and the very poor might have to sell themselves into temporary indentured servitude to pay debts.

Egyptian medicine was highly advanced for its day, with doctors consulting casebooks that showed what had worked against symptoms in the past. They were good at surgery, and medicines varied from solid “folk” remedies like willow bark for fever (it contains salicylic acid like aspirin) or honey as an antiseptic to strange magical procedures. Nowhere near as good as modern healthcare, but way better than that of the Middle Ages! Still, it would strike our time traveler that Egypt was, as it is today, a tropical country with lots of diseases and a slew of horrible parasites carried by the river. If you were working class, you strained your body so hard that it showed up in the bones. If you were rich and sedentary, you might suffer from cardiovascular problems. The life expectancy was about 35 for ordinary people, but there were individuals who lived to be seventy, eighty, even ninety years old —although there wasn’t much anyone could do for their cataracts or arthritis. As far as dentistry goes, the only thing to do about a rotten tooth was to pull it out if you could grab it. If you were rich enough, you could fill in the gap with a bridge attached with gold wires.

One thing that would strike a modern immediately was how slow life was and how much physical effort everything required except for the fortunate few who had servants. Most travel was by boat at five miles per hour, or by foot at three. Donkeys went no faster. It took days to get anywhere! People like Hani, who traveled frequently to foreign parts, spent much of their lives in transit. Messages had to be sent by runners or horseback couriers—no phone calls or texts. Calculations and writing were done laboriously by hand in a system so complex that only 1% of the population had the luxury of mastering it, and it was literacy that gave a person status. There was no running water; it had to be raised from wells. Light was provided by dim oil lamps, and “air conditioning” was just a vent in the ceiling, maybe with some servants to fan up a breeze. Even the king, the most powerful man on the planet, lived a life of far less comfort than an ordinary person today, although he had prettier jewelry. And for the ordinary man, every giant block of stone or heavy beam had to be cut without any power tools. Manpower was the secret of Egypt’s greatness. There was no unemployment, but life was pretty disposable.

In short, the Egyptians lived in a society of contrasts. While they seemed to have been free of racism, there were sharp social divides. Their engineering and craftsmanship have never been equalled, yet everyday life for most people was primitive. Their science was far more sophisticated than almost anything else around, yet little of that got translated into labor-saving gadgets. I would love to visit their world, but I sure wouldn’t want to live there permanently!

About the Book

W hen Hani, an Egyptian diplomat under Akhenaten, is sent to investigate the murder of a useful bandit leader in Syria, he encounters corruption, tangled relationships, and yet more murder. His investigation is complicated by the new king’s religious reforms, which have struck Hani’s own family to the core. Hani’s mission is to amass enough evidence for his superiors to prosecute the wrongdoers despite the king’s protection—but not just every superior can be trusted. And maybe not even the king! Winner of the 2020 Geoffrey Chaucer Award for historical fiction before 1750.

Book Title: Bird in a Snare

Series: The Lord Hani Mysteries, Book 1

Author: N.L. Holmes

Publication Date: 21st March 2020

Publisher: WayBack Press

Page Length: 425 Pages

Genre: Historical Mystery

Trigger Warnings:
Sexual abuse of children

BUY THE BOOK

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bird-Snare-Lord-Hani-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B08682L3NC

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Snare-Lord-Hani-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B08682L3NC

Amazon CA:

https://www.amazon.ca/Bird-Snare-Lord-Hani-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B08682L3NC

Amazon AU:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Bird-Snare-Lord-Hani-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B08682L3NC

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bird-in-a-snare-nl-holmes/1136704008

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bird-in-a-snare

iBooks:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/bird-in-a-snare/id1503986661

Audio: https://www.audible.com/search?keywords=bird+in+a+snare&ref=a_search_t1_header_search

LINKS:

Bird in a Snare (Book 1): https://books2read.com/u/3n2YL9

The Crocodile Makes No Sound (Book 2): https://books2read.com/u/47QZpL

Scepter of Flint (Book 3): https://books2read.com/u/4jPDjZ

The North Wind Descends (Book 4): https://books2read.com/u/bPy5Md

Lake of Flowers (Book 5): https://books2read.com/u/3Ly0MX

About the Author

N.L. Holmes is the pen name of a professional archaeologist who received her doctorate from Bryn Mawr College. She has excavated in Greece and in Israel and taught ancient history and humanities at the university level for many years. She has always had a passion for books, and in childhood, she and her cousin (also a writer today) used to write stories for fun.

Social Media Links:

Website: https://www.nlholmes.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nlholmesbooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook/nlholmesbooks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/n-l-holmes/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/n.l.holmes/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nlholmesbooks

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-l-holmes

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/N-L-Holmes/e/B0858H3K7S

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20117057.N_L_Holmes

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