Posts by: James Aitcheson
Last week I posted Part One of my list of top reads of 2013. Following on from The Sea Road, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and The Face of Battle, here’s another selection of books to keep you entertained over Christmas and into the New Year. This time round, I thought I’d turn the spotlight on some of my favourite new releases of the year.
Your Brother’s Blood
David Towsey
Jo Fletcher, 336 pp., £19.99
Hardcover
This accomplished debut novel – the first in a trilogy – doesn’t fit easily into any one particular genre. Best described as a post-apocalyptic zombie Western survival/pursuit thriller, it’s also an emotive tale of humanity and sacrifice in a world riven by fear and prejudice. Set many centuries into the future, when society has regressed to a pre-industrial technological level, it tells the story of soldier Thomas McDermott, killed in battle but now back from the dead as one of the Walkin’. Partly burnt and horribly disfigured, but nevertheless in full possession of his mental faculties, all he wants is to return to his hometown of Barkley and to be reunited with his wife and daughter. Therein lies the problem, however, for in Barkley the Walkin’ are seen as anathema, tainted ones and servants of the devil. By returning home, Thomas is placing not just himself in danger but his family as well. A lecturer in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University, Towsey is a master of his craft; lyrical prose and compelling characters combine here to create a novel with real warmth and heart. I eagerly look forward to the sequel, due to be published in 2014.
The Norman Conquest
Marc Morris
Windmill, 464 pp., £8.99
Paperback
First published in hardcover in 2012, Marc Morris’s new history of the Norman Conquest came out in paperback this year and without a doubt stands among my favourite non-fiction reads of the last twelve months. Accessible to the non-specialist and engagingly written, his account of these critical years is underpinned by rigorous source analysis. Wherever the evidence of different texts comes into conflict and the truth of the matter is uncertain – as is often the case when dealing with material from this period – Morris is careful to present both versions of events. This even-handedness extends towards the Normans and the English themselves; while there is a tendency nowadays for us in the modern age to identify and sympathise with the Anglo-Saxons against their foreign oppressors, Morris encourages us not to colour our judgement of past events by taking sides. Beginning his study in the early eleventh century and continuing up to the end of the Conqueror’s life in 1087 (with a postscript extending into the twelfth century), he sets the events of 1066 in their proper context. Throughout the text he combines a historian’s scholarship with a storyteller’s flair and narrative drive, and the result is an absorbing and up-to-date study of the subject. If you’ve already finished Knights of the Hawk and are looking to discover more about the period and the Norman impact upon England, this will serve as an excellent companion. Highly recommended.
With the year drawing to a close, it’s time for an annual round-up of my favourite books of the last 12 months. As ever, my picks include a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, new and not-so-new releases – with any luck, something for everyone. So without further ado, here’s the first instalment of my top reads of 2013.
The Sea Road
Margaret Elphinstone
Canongate, 256 pp., £9.99
Paperback
The slenderness of this novel, first published in 2000, belies its richness and its depth. Set in the Norse colonies of the North Atlantic around the year 1000, and taking the sagas as its inspiration, The Sea Road is the story of Gudrid, an Icelandic woman living on the edge of the known world, who was among the first travellers to and colonists of Vinland, in what is now often identified as Newfoundland. Lyrical and absorbing, told with real insight into the hardships of life in these difficult landscapes, as well great sensitivity towards the mores of the age, The Sea Road represents historical fiction at its finest, and is my pick of the genre this year.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
John le Carré
Penguin Classics, 272 pp., £8.99
Paperback
First published 50 years ago, John le Carré’s third novel is now rightly regarded as a classic of the spy genre, and remains just as readable and as relevant today. A taut psychological thriller full of deception, double-bluff and brilliantly conceived twists, it also highlights some of the difficult choices and moral compromises that often have to be made by those involved in the world of espionage. In Le Carré’s vision, there is no room for idealism; the secret services are seen often to betray the very principles they purport to defend, while the spy himself is presented as a solitary, cynical and unromantic figure, the victim of the very system he has served so loyally and for so long. This darkly compelling, fast-paced novel is an excellent introduction to the works of Le Carré.
The Face of Battle
John Keegan
Pimlico, 352 pp., £11.99
Paperback
In The Face of Battle, originally published in 1976, historian John Keegan examines the various ways in which warfare has evolved over five centuries of European history. Focussing on the battles of Agincourt (1415), Waterloo (1815) and the Somme (1916), he explores not just the physical, but also the psychological and emotional experience of the front-line soldier, analysing and comparing what motivated and inspired men in all three ages to take up arms, and how they were able to withstand the pressures and horrors of combat, whether ranged or hand-to-hand. Although perhaps not quite as revolutionary nowadays as when it first appeared, it nevertheless remains an eye-opening and informative read, and is my non-fiction choice of 2013. For a fuller review, see this blog entry, which I posted earlier this year.
Part Two of my picks of 2013 will follow soon…
I probably speak for a lot of writers in saying that, as a general rule, we tend not to keep to strict daily routines. Novel-writing is, I think, about as far from a nine-to-five job as it’s possible to get, and the pattern of my working day is very fluid. That isn’t to say that I only write when inspiration strikes me. A novel is a big project to take on, and if you’re forever waiting until you feel in the right mood before putting pen to paper, it’ll take a very long time to get even a first draft finished.
I do my best to stay disciplined by setting myself a daily target of 1000 words. Sometimes that will take me only a few hours, which means that I have some time to add new material to my website or update my followers on Twitter and Facebook with my latest news. If I’m some way short of that day’s target, though, or even if I’ve reached it but I’m still feeling in the zone, or if I’m feeling the pressure of a rapidly approaching deadline, I’ll often carry on working into the evening.
That said, I do have an absolute cut-off time of 10pm. At that point, if I’m still working, I down tools and shut up shop for the night, regardless of how much or how little I’ve written. Always. Without exception. One of the benefits of being self-employed is that you can define your own working hours, but one of the difficulties comes in setting limits and preventing work from taking over your life. So imposing that cut-off, and sticking to it come what may, is very important for me.
When I first started writing the novel that developed into Sworn Sword, I would spend hours at a time glued to my computer screen, and I’d sometimes get frustrated when I wasn’t as productive as I hoped. With experience, though, I’ve learned that I’m more efficient – and happier – when I write in short bursts of around one to two hours at a time.
In between those bursts I make sure to take decent breaks, in which I’ll grab a coffee, have lunch, go for a walk in the countryside, read a book or watch some TV: anything to help take my mind off writing. That way, when I do get back to my desk, I feel refreshed, and as a result the words flow that much more easily.
The wait is over! Knights of the Hawk, the third novel in the Conquest series, is published today in the UK by Preface, both in hardback and also – for the more digitally inclined among you – as an e-book.
The cathedral at Ely, built on the site of the Anglo-Saxon monastery which Hereward and his fellow rebels used as their base in their struggles against the Normans in 1071.
Thus begins Tancred’s latest adventure, which sees him facing his greatest challenge yet as he ventures from the marshes of East Anglia to the wild, storm-tossed seas of the north in pursuit of love, of honour, and of vengeance.
Over the course of the next month I’ll be travelling the length and breadth of the country doing talks and book signings and panel events. It all kicks off on Tuesday 29 October when I’ll be launching Knights at the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough. After that I’ll be travelling up to Doncaster to a signing at Waterstones in the Frenchgate Centre on Saturday 2 November, and then over the course of the next few weeks you’ll be able to find me in Salisbury, Bedford and Cambridge.
Knights of the Hawk • James Aitcheson • Preface • 448 pp. • Hardback • £16.99
And before you ask, Knights of the Hawk is not the end of the series. Tancred will ride again soon! I’m currently in the middle of researching my next project, which I’m very excited about. I’ll be revealing more details about that over the coming months.
Knights of the Hawk • James Aitcheson • Preface • 448 pp. • Hardback • £16.99
Almost a year has passed since the end of The Splintered Kingdom, so that by the time that Knights begins, it’s already autumn, 1071. The battle for England has been long and brutal. Now only a desperate band of rebels, among them the feared outlaw Hereward the Wake, stands between King William and absolute conquest. Determined to root out those rebels from their island stronghold at Ely in the Fens, the king has gathered an army numbering in the thousands. Among them, as ever, is our hero Tancred, determined to restore his dwindling reputation. And it is to Tancred and his allies that the king, frustrated by the campaign’s various setbacks, turns to in search of a strategy to crush the rebellion.
The Fens: the setting for Tancred’s latest adventure. (Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve)
If you can’t make it along to any of the venues listed, don’t worry! I’m adding new dates to the schedule all the time. You can also try putting in a request for an event with your local bookshop or library, who are always eager to have authors in.
By the way, there’s also good news for readers in Germany, where The Splintered Kingdom is due to be published in translation, under the title Die Ritter des Nordens, on 16th December – just in time for Weihnachten! I’ll be posting more details of that release closer to the time.
The Normans are coming! Not content with conquering England, they now have their sights set on the USA as well…
And their campaign begins today with the Stateside release of Sworn Sword in both hardcover and eBook editions, courtesy of the hard-working people at my publisher Sourcebooks Landmark, who have done an absolutely fantastic job of making the book a reality.
Sworn Sword • James Aitcheson • Sourcebooks Landmark • 400 pp. • Hardback • $24.99
As readers in the UK already know well, Sworn Sword is the first instalment in the Conquest Series, which tells the story of the violent and treacherous years immediately following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, when rebellion gripped the kingdom and its fate hung in the balance. As will become clear, the fateful Battle of Hastings was not the end of the struggle for England; in fact, it was just the beginning.
Based on real-life events, the series follows the career of the ambitious young knight Tancred, who is hungry for battle, for glory and for vengeance after his lord is murdered by English rebels. To find out more, have a look at the cover blurb and download the first chapter from Sworn Sword to whet your appetite.
The second in the series, The Splintered Kingdom, will be published in the US in summer 2014, followed by Knights of the Hawk in summer 2015, so there are plenty of Norman Conquest-related adventures to look forward to! As always, I’ll be posting the latest information about the novels as and when I have it, so keep checking back from time to time to see what’s new.
