What do you think?
Rate this book
The Battles of Malvern
Grand Britannica is under attack from the mysterious Slimenest. After an unexpected coup in the council of Elders, Lord Malander finds himself having to coordinate all the country's defensive forces.
But how do you fight an enemy that actively welcomes death as a new beginning?
To defeat the Slimenest, he must deploy his wife and her group of magicians. He must invent new technologies and methods of warfare and unravel a mysterious prophecy that appears in the most unlikely of places.
When Merlin himself travels through time to aid his younger self in the war effort, it becomes apparent there is more to this war than Lord Malander could ever have predicted.
Are the Slimenest the true enemy? Or are they just tools of a more sinister force?
But how do you fight an enemy that actively welcomes death as a new beginning?
To defeat the Slimenest, he must deploy his wife and her group of magicians. He must invent new technologies and methods of warfare and unravel a mysterious prophecy that appears in the most unlikely of places.
When Merlin himself travels through time to aid his younger self in the war effort, it becomes apparent there is more to this war than Lord Malander could ever have predicted.
Are the Slimenest the true enemy? Or are they just tools of a more sinister force?
370 pages, Paperback
Published December 15, 2022
1 person want to read
About the author
Alan Frost
38 books7 followersAlan Frost is emeritus professor of history at La Trobe University. His books include Convicts and Empire, The Voyage of the Endeavour and The Global Reach of Empire. His latest work, Botany Bay: The Real Story, was
published in 2011.
published in 2011.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 26, 2024
The Battles of Malvern (2023) Alan Frost
When the armies of English medieval Lords meet an army of alien ‘soldiers’ that turn to slime when dead, worse, they want to die. The Slimies welcome pain and death because it paves the way for them to reach Heaven and if they can take the enemy’s people with them, all the better. This page-turner is packed with medieval military action laced with humour (eg ‘…even the statues were shocked’, a touch of magic, gore and sex. It’s not for the squeamish, which is why I enjoyed it.
A few things made this historical fantasy stand out. Alan Frost is keen on lists. There are so many that at first I was irritated by being pulled out of the fictive dream, then I started enjoying them. This is a military story and commanders live by lists. On page 119 there are three lists! Fair enough one is only one thing long. The other two include an 8-item list of what was needed to slow the Slimies’ progress followed by a list of orders to comply. It gets quite hilarious.
The book is two stories, the second being a sequel. There’s much of the setting of the Malverns, one of my favourite hills. John Langland wrote the wonderful Vision of Piers Ploughman around 1377. Just listen:
‘Ac on a May morwenynge
On Malverne hilles
Me bifel a ferly,
Of fairye me thoghte…’
No wonder the hills inspire writers as good as Alan Frost.
In fact he inserts clue and cue verses at the end of chapters. Eg
‘How can two Merlins meet,
Surely that had to be a cheat,
Or was it just another deceit,
That the circle of life can’t compete.’
But which character or entity penned those cue verses? See if you can guess.
When the armies of English medieval Lords meet an army of alien ‘soldiers’ that turn to slime when dead, worse, they want to die. The Slimies welcome pain and death because it paves the way for them to reach Heaven and if they can take the enemy’s people with them, all the better. This page-turner is packed with medieval military action laced with humour (eg ‘…even the statues were shocked’, a touch of magic, gore and sex. It’s not for the squeamish, which is why I enjoyed it.
A few things made this historical fantasy stand out. Alan Frost is keen on lists. There are so many that at first I was irritated by being pulled out of the fictive dream, then I started enjoying them. This is a military story and commanders live by lists. On page 119 there are three lists! Fair enough one is only one thing long. The other two include an 8-item list of what was needed to slow the Slimies’ progress followed by a list of orders to comply. It gets quite hilarious.
The book is two stories, the second being a sequel. There’s much of the setting of the Malverns, one of my favourite hills. John Langland wrote the wonderful Vision of Piers Ploughman around 1377. Just listen:
‘Ac on a May morwenynge
On Malverne hilles
Me bifel a ferly,
Of fairye me thoghte…’
No wonder the hills inspire writers as good as Alan Frost.
In fact he inserts clue and cue verses at the end of chapters. Eg
‘How can two Merlins meet,
Surely that had to be a cheat,
Or was it just another deceit,
That the circle of life can’t compete.’
But which character or entity penned those cue verses? See if you can guess.
Displaying 1 of 1 review