By The Sword's Edge

by Mark Lord

By The Sword’s Edge is the first volume of Stonehearted, a serialized novel.

After a decade of peace England is again at war with France. But England’s warrior king, Edward III, is not the man he was. Ageing and turned to a life of pleasure, he will not lead an army into France again. And his eldest son, the famous Black Prince, suffers from a chronic illness while he tries to hold onto his principality of Aquitaine.

Many men in England have grown rich from war and some, like Sir Robert Knolles, have risen from the lowest ranks to lead great armies, and he will now lead a force into northern France to challenge the French to battle. But first he has a visit to make to a Norfolk manor to visit an old friend.

In By The Sword’s Edge two young people are thrust into the harsh realities of war. Richard Stone is a knight in training and son of a rich Norfolk merchant. Their neighbours are the d’Aubrays, who hold Sarbrook castle, but have sold or rent much of their land since falling into poverty. The lord of Sarbrook is missing in France, captured many years ago and not returned despite the payment of ransom. His daughter, Eolande d’Aubray is desperate for her father to return. Only he, it seems, can save her from the prospect of an unwanted marriage.

51 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2013

About the author

Mark Lord studied Medieval Studies at the University of Birmingham and wrote his M. Phil. Thesis on Medieval Alliterative Poetry. Since then he has worked in publishing and writes historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction in his spare time.

Mark is the author of the novels Hell has its Demons, The Return of the Free and numerous short stories. He is also editor of the popular Alt Hist magazine - one of the few literary magazines to focus exclusively on historical fiction and alternate history.

He lives in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Melisende · Rating 1 out of 5]

First part in a serialised historical fiction tome.
Not worth pursuing - poor characters, poor historical "drama", poor storyline.
Usually tropes - tomboy girl and local rogue, girl must marry horrible rogue to secure family estates.

[Trc · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth the read. Attempts to create an interesting setting, instead just fills the readers head with the same generic perspective of Medieval life a 6 year old would blurt out. The typical poorly thought out and poorly executed story based very loosely upon Medieval understanding with annoying and predictable characters. Blends many different periods of social, economic and political aspects into one non-cohesive story line if you can call it that. I've seen better short stories written on 2 pages in an hour than this monstrosity.

[Mayhem-RW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her name is Eolande, and she is of age. Her father is the only hope she has to not end up in an arranged marriage, but he was captured in France and held for ransom some years ago. Her mother has sold just about everything to pay that ransom, but still, there is no sign of him. Then, one day, after she snuck out of the castle in disguise to hunt for some food, she ran across a man who looked like he was going to steal her horse. In her rush to aim and loose an arrow at him, she dropped her quiver and made a racket. When she finally knocked an arrow, the man was nowhere to be seen. He had many years of war under his belt and knew how to move quietly, so when Eolande dropped her quiver, he moved from where he was and stealthily snuck up behind her. When he captured and disarmed her, he did not know her neighbors were behind him, and for his troubles, he received a cross bolt to his thigh. One thing led to another, and Eolande ended up stabbing the man in the same thigh with an arrow she still had in hand. Then, there was the sound of horses coming up the road, and so they ran from the scene. The three children, not yet adults, had no idea of the repercussions in store for them based on this one encounter.

This is our reality, our past reality, and this story is a recreation of what was or might have been. The physical world-building is good. The ethereal world-building, while not my normal meaning of ethereal, is conveyed brilliantly through this short tale. The character’s interaction is very believable. The character’s history is woven into the story.

This short account easily has its advertised genres. I give this short four stars out of five stars.

[s vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Requires more work

I liked the story, but it lacked depth and character development. Not enough use of pronouns and lots of repetition. A lot of scenes lacked description and came across as vague. As a stand-alone book it is too short; more like a novela. On the plus side there was good use of vocabulary. With more work and more character background and development it could be reworked into a decent sized novel.

[Mrs Susan J Bociek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lacks depth

The book is only the first part of a story, so there is no ending to it, it tapers off. This first instalment has no heart of its own and leaves the reader wondering if it would be worth the effort of getting the second in the series. Leaves the reader feeling unsatisfied.

[Neale Richardson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poor book. Not worth the time

[Literary Chanteuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story with a historical setting had two elements that stuck out in my mind, rich characters and an engaging story which truly develops as it continues. Disheartened Eolande is feisty and admirable. Discovering she is the pawn in a man's game just adds fuel to the fire. The rogue is shrewd worthy of the title and yet...the reader is drawn to see his gallant side. A magnetism that draws you in. The first story of a collection that I am looking forward to reading more of.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Bill Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Words like "stones" really turn me off. Not one of your language choices was necessary "bleeding". Just takes off Swrod's Edge from the YA and young adult shelves.

Ok for a short tale, wondering who the lead really is, or are both Eolande or Richard Stone?