Tancred a Dinant, a loyal and ambitious knight, is among them, hungry for battle, honor, silver, and land. If successful, it threatens to destroy the entire conquest-and change the course of history.Įbut.'- Publishers WeeklyJanuary, 1069: Less than three years after the Battle of Hastings, two thousand Normans march to subdue the troublesome province of Northumbria. As the Norman and English armies prepare to clash, Tancred uncovers a cunning plot that harks back to the day of Hastings itself.

Bitterly determined to seek vengeance for his lord's murder, the dauntless knight quickly becomes entrenched in secret dealings between a powerful Norman magnate and a shadow from the past. Badly wounded, Tancred barely escapes with his own life.

Tancred a Dinant,a loyal and ambitious knight, is among them, hungry for battle, honor, silver, and land.īut at Durham, the Normans are ambushed in the streets by English rebels, and Tancred's revered lord Robert de Commines is slain. January, 1069: Less than three years after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the death of the usurper, Harold Godwineson, two thousand Normans march in the depths of winter to subdue the troublesome province of Northumbria. As the two opposing forces battle for conquest, the fate of England hangs in the balance shows great promise as an adventure novelist in this colorful dĮnter into a ruthless, formidable world, where violent warriors seek honor in holy places and holy men seek glory in dark deeds. The Harrowing, James’s fourth novel, was published by Quercus in July 2016 and named by The Times as a Book of the Month.'Aitcheson brings excitement and intrigue to a bloody period of medieval history-one that is underrepresented in the genre. The first volume in the Conquest Series, it has since been followed by two sequels: The Splintered Kingdom and Knights of the Hawk. His debut novel, Sworn Sword, featuring the knight Tancred and set in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings, was published in 2011. James Aitcheson was born in Wiltshire in 1985 and studied History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he developed an interest in the Middle Ages, and in Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest in particular. The Harrowing, James’s fourth novel, was published by Quercus in July 2016 and named by The Times as a Book of the Month.

Sworn sword by james aitcheson