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

Tuesday, 27 September 2022

My Coffee Pot Guest: Dr Justin Newland - The Old Dragon’s Head

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!

My novel, The Old Dragon’s Head, is set in Ming Dynasty China. It’s based in a real place – a fortress town called Shanhaiguan. It’s located at the far eastern end of the Great Wall, where it meets the sea for the only time.

The 1400s mark a turning point in China’s history and world history. In Europe, after centuries of dormancy, the Renaissance was blooming. It’s the era in which the seeds of the modern world are sown. How they have grown and how they have been reaped is another story.

Like in any era, the question is always the same, whether for an individual, a tribe, a people, or a nation – Are they ready for what is happening at that time? Are they prepared to meet what is onsetting? Can they translate its needs and its motives into their lives?

If they are, they can prosper. If they’re not, they are out of time; it’s as if they’re singing out of tune.

In ancient times, the Egyptians were ready, the Greeks were ready, and the Romans were ready. Because they were in tune with the spirit of the times, they formed great civilizations - that was until the times changed, and they failed to change with them.

As Shakespeare said in King John:

“There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

is bound in shallows and in miseries.”

The invasion in 1211 by Genghis Khan rocked the stability of China. In 1368, when the Chinese finally ejected the Mongols from their borders, the newly-founded Ming Dynasty set out to restore the Han people’s greatness. Because they believed in the equalizing effects of karma, the Chinese were convinced they had invited the invasion. They had to stop, change direction, and re-align themselves.

The Chinese had their own firm idea of what constituted the spirit of their times, of what was ‘on the flood’ for them and for the world. To meet the new permission, the Ming Dynasty set out to align every person in its society, from the wood gatherer to the emperor, to the will of the highest of the high, the Supreme Deity itself. Whatever it wanted, they wanted. This was perhaps the last time in history when an entire people tried to align themselves on a spiritual quest and to put God and God’s purposes before their own.

The Chinese weren’t just superstitious. They were obsessed with pacifying the deities and staying on track. The Supreme Deity had a legion of servants, deities, and other heavenly beings, down to the god of the kitchen and the god of the hearth. Seers and folk of the Yin-Yang eyes, clairvoyants to us, were consulted. Feng Shui experts were asked to decide on the location and alignments of the Forbidden City. Almanack experts decided which day was best for this ceremony, that ritual. The Ming Dynasty sought to harmonize its people with the heavenly beings. All manner of sacrifices and punishments were put in place to rectify any falling away from that high endeavour.

In 1400, was China ready to sail the incoming tide of the times? Was humanity?

Read The Old Dragon’s Head to find out.

Justin Newland

About the Book

Book Title: The Old Dragon’s Head

Author: Justin Newland

Page Length: 257 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural Thriller, Speculative Fiction

The Great Wall of China may be constructed of stone and packed earth, but it is home to a supernatural beast – the Old Dragon. Both wall and dragon protect China’s northern borders from Mongol incursion. Just beyond the fortress of Shanhaiguan, the far eastern end of the wall protrudes into the Bohai Sea – that’s the Old Dragon’s Head.

Bolin, a young man working on the Old Dragon’s Head, suffers visions of ghosts. The local seer suspects that he has yin-yang eyes and other supernatural gifts. Bolin’s fief lord, the Prince of Yan, rebels against his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor. In the bitter war of succession, the Mongols hold the balance of power. While the victor might win the battle on earth, China’s Dragon Throne can only be earned with a Mandate from Heaven – and the support of the Old Dragon.

In every era, a man endowed with the powers of heaven – the Dragon Master – is born. Only he can summon the Old Dragon, providing he possesses the dragon pearl. It’s the year 1402, and neither the Old Dragon, the dragon pearl, nor the Dragon Master, has been seen for twenty years.

Bolin’s journey of self-discovery is mirrored by that of old China, as both endeavour to come of age. When Bolin accepts his destiny as the Dragon Master, heaven sends a third coming of age – for humanity itself. But are any of them ready for what is rising in the east?

Buy Links:

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Dragons-Head-Justin-Newland/dp/1789015820

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Head-Justin-Newland-author/dp/1789015820

Amazon CA:

https://www.amazon.ca/Old-Dragons-Head-Justin-Newland/dp/1789015820

Amazon (AU):

https://www.amazon.com.au/Old-Dragons-Head-Justin-Newland-ebook/dp/B07J4PHG7Y

Amazon (India):

https://www.amazon.in/Old-Dragons-Head-Justin-Newland-ebook/dp/B07J4PHG7Y

Other stores:

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-old-dragons-head-justin-newland/1129713719?ean=2940161772904

Waterstones:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-old-dragons-head/justin-newland/9781789015829

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-old-dragon-s-head

Author’s Website (where buyers can enter a dedication to be signed by the author):

https://www.justinnewland.com/the-old-dragon%27s-head~100

Blackwell’s (UK):

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Old-Dragons-Head-by-Justin-Newland/9781789015829

Bol (NL):

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/f/the-old-dragon-s-head/9200000095280103/ Books.Telegraph (UK):

https://books.telegraph.co.uk/Product/Justin-Newland/The-Old-Dragons-Head/23393626

Publisher’s Website:

https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/fantasy-and-horror/the-old-dragons-head/

Saxo (DK):

https://www.saxo.com/dk/the-old-dragons-head_justin-newland_paperback_9781789015829

Scribd:

https://www.scribd.com/book/390467997/The-Old-Dragon-s-Head

About the Author

JUSTIN NEWLAND is an author of historical fantasy and secret history thrillers – that’s history with a supernatural twist. His historical novels feature known events and real people from the past, which are re-told and examined through the lens of the supernatural.

His novels speculate on the human condition and explore the fundamental questions of our existence. As a species, as Homo sapiens sapiens – that’s man the twice-wise – how are we doing so far? Where is mankind’s spiritual home? What does it look or feel like? Would we recognise it if we saw it?

Undeterred by the award of a Doctorate in Mathematics from Imperial College, London, he found his way to the creative keyboard and conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies.

Next came the supernatural thriller, The Old Dragon’s Head (Matador, 2018), set in Ming Dynasty China.

His third novel, The Coronation (Matador, 2019), speculates on the genesis of the most important event of the modern world – the Industrial Revolution.

His fourth, The Abdication (Matador, 2021), is a supernatural thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.

His stories add a touch of the supernatural to history and deal with the themes of war, religion, evolution and the human’s place in the universe

He was born three days before the end of 1953 and lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.

Social Media Links:

Website: https://www.justinnewland.com

Twitter: @drjustinnewland

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/justin.newland.author/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-newland-b393aa28/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/drjustinnewland/

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Justin-Newland/e/B06WRQVLT8

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13741278.Justin_Newland

Follow the tour

Twitter Handles: @Matador @drjustinnewland @cathiedunn

Hashtags: #HistoricalFiction #TheCoffeePotBookClub #BlogTour

Tour Schedule:

https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2022/07/blog-tour-old-dragons-head-by-justin.html

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

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Sunday, 25 September 2022

On This Day... 25th September 1066 - The Battle of Stamford Bridge

The Battle of Stamford Bridge (Old English: Gefeoht æt Stanfordbrycge) took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada and the English king's brother Tostig Godwinson. After a bloody battle, both Hardrada and Tostig, along with most of the Norwegians, were killed. The battle has traditionally been presented as symbolising the end of the Viking Age.

#BookSpotlight

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!

Harold the King (UK) / I Am The Chosen King (US/Canada)

same book different titles

About the Book

The events that led to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 - told from the English point of view.

Two men. One crown.

England, 1044. Harold Godwinesson, a young, respected earl, falls in love with an ordinary but beautiful woman. In Normandy, William, the bastard son of a duke, falls in love with power.

In 1066 England falls vulnerable to the fate of these two men: one, chosen to be a king, the other, determined to take, by force, what he desires. Risking his life to defend his kingdom from foreign invasion, Harold II led his army into the great Battle of Hastings in October 1066 with all the honour and dignity that history remembers of its fallen heroes.

In this beautifully crafted tale, USA Today bestselling author Helen Hollick sets aside the propaganda of the Norman Conquest and brings to life the English version of the story of the man who was the last Anglo-Saxon king, revealing his tender love, determination and proud loyalty, all to be shattered by the desire for a crown – by one who had no right to wear it.

“Helen Hollick has it all! She tells a great story, gets her history right, and writes consistently readable books”

Bernard Cornwell

“A novel of enormous emotional power”

Elizabeth Chadwick

“Thanks to Hollick’s masterful storytelling, Harold’s nobility and heroism enthrall to the point of engendering hope for a different ending…Joggles a cast of characters and a bloody, tangled plot with great skill”

Publisher’s Weekly

“Don’t miss Helen Hollick’s colourful recreation of the events leading up to the Norman Conquest.”

Daily Mail

“An epic re-telling of the Norman Conquest”

The Lady

“If only all historical fiction could be this good”

Historical Novel Society Review

Enjoy An Excerpt

(King Harold has marched north to assist the earls of Northumbria and Mercia to fight against Hardrada...)

They reached Tadcaster an hour before noon on the Sunday, hot, tired, dusty, but confident. Some of the mounts were lame and men nursed blisters to heels, thighs and backsides: minor injuries, nothing that goose grease, a rest and a meal of wheat-baked biscuits and nourishing barley broth would not cure.

The news was grim, but information plentiful and readily given. Tostig had entered York, putting to the sword without mercy men who had played a part in removing him from his earldom. Had retrieved tribute and sworn homage from York’s leading citizens. Hardrada himself had returned to his army encampment at Riccall on the northern bank of the River Ouse. Now was the time when Harold must make good his promise to Morkere and Eadwine – that he would not allow Tostig to take vengeance. York had capitulated to the invaders through lack of choice, but York was only too willing to declare for their king – if that king was willing to fight for them in return. And he was. More than willing.

At Tadcaster they paused, letting the sweating ponies gain their breath and the men take their ease for an hour. Harold and his commanders were gathered beneath the shade of an oak, thankful for this short respite from the heat of the day. At least these last three hot, dry days had ensured no mud-deep roads and miserable tempers from wet and damp – although the heat of early autumn had its own annoyances. The ponies’ coats were already thickening, thirst increased for mount and man, the road wore harder on ponies’ hooves and raised a dust cloud that choked throats and irritated noses and eyes, flies were a nuisance. But these discomforts meant little to a fighting man whose thoughts were focused on an invading army and an approaching battle.

Harold pointed a sharpened stick at the map scrawled in the dirt at his feet. “Hardrada and Tostig are removed to Stamford Bridge, eight miles east of York, where four roads meet.” He looked for confirmation at the fourteen-year-old lad who had brought the information. “They await the arrival of hostages and further tribute, I assume?”

Waltheof, the young son of Siward, had judged it prudent not to surrender and plead homage to Tostig. As with many another, he had fled leaving hurriedly through the north gate as Tostig had ridden in through the south. Morkere was his guardian and because of that Waltheof had been certain as to his fate had he decided to stay. He nodded slowly at Harold, answering for all those who had fought so valiantly. “Stamford is most suited for meeting with those who have no choice but to surrender – good to march to or from in all directions.”

“They know of our coming?” That was Gyrth, Harold’s brother.

A laconic smile spread across Waltheof s face, which was, as yet, unshaded by beard growth. “They must know, my lord, only a fool would not expect the king of a land such as this to sit idle in London while usurpers attempt to wrench the crown from his head. But they cannot know how fast you have come, nor how near you are. For if they knew this, would they be resting easy with their wine, their stolen meat and their captured women? Would they not, instead, be preparing to come to meet you or defend themselves?”