Martin Wall's Blog

In the Wake of the Comet Star is the second of my "Mercian Trilogy" series. It is a story about two companions who set out on a quest to find a national saviour who will deliver England from its "manifold commotions" (as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle puts it). These commotions include famine, genocide, slavery,the misrule of Ethelred "the Unready", the treachery and scheming of Edric Streona, Earl of Mercia, and ultimately invasion by Viking armies bent on revenge for the St Brice's day massacre of 1002. It was inspired by two lost Anglo-Saxon sagas, whose existence can be inferred from later oral folk-tales, and which may have constituted the underpinning for "Edmund Ironside", an Elizabethan play which many people believe to be a lost work by William Shakespeare. My version is a gripping and complex tale of one man's lifetime quest for redemption during the darkest times of Anglo-Saxon England. Those who appreciate Rosemary Sutcliff, Cynthia Harnett or C. Walter Hodges will enjoy this fast moving romp. Available from Amazon UK, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, Blackwell's and Lulu.com the publishers.