Northman Part 1

The Earls of Mercia #3

by M.J. Porter

Alternate cover edition for B00M039K42

Northman, eldest son of Ealdorman Leofwine, fostered, at the King’s insistence, by Eadric of Mercia, finds himself caught between loyalty to his father and his foster father.
Fighting for his own sense of self, whilst Viking raiders vie for the English King’s land and throne, he must chose his own path, and hold true to his own belief’s amongst murky Court politics and bitter pitched battles.
Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce, must accept his King’s wishes with regards to his eldest son, even though he finds them abhorrent. Simultaneously he must continue to act in the best interests of his King as the English people face their direst threat yet, the raiding of Thorkell the Tall, the King of Denmark’s own Commander, trusted friend and foster-father of his son, Cnut.
And when events become even more dire, will father and son act as one, or will they be torn apart by the machinations of the man who plots to undermine every action the King takes, Ealdorman Eadric?
Covering the year 1007-1013, Northman is the third part of the Earls of Mercia Series. The books can be read either as part of the sequence, or as stand alone novels.

Genres: Historical Fiction

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 19, 2014

About the author

I'm an author of historical fiction (Early English (before 1066)/Viking) and now five 20th-century mysteries..

The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles (featuring a young Icel from The Last King series) is now available from Boldwood Books. As is the complete Brunanburh Series and the first two books in the Dark Age Chronicles, my foray to before Saxon England was Saxon England. Enjoy.

The Ninth Century Series (The Last King), are stories of ninth-century England, but not as it's been written before, (featuring an older Icel and some other familiar faces too).

The Erdington Mysteries now has a third book in the series—The Secret Sauce. (Did you know Erdington would have been in Mercia back in the Saxon period? I know, you can't get me away from the place.) The Barrage Body is coming soon.

The Royal Women Who Made England, my first non-fiction book about the royal women of the tenth century, is available now.

I like to write. You've been warned.

Find me at
www.mjporterauthor.com or at www.mjporterauthor.blog where I blog about books and films and sometimes, writing!
https://linktr.ee/MJPorterauthor
https://mjporterauthor.sumupstore.com

You can join my monthly subscriber newsletters and gain access to the restricted page on my blog at the same time.
https://BookHip.com/MGWHLDC (Saxon stories)
https://BookHip.com/THPKCKP (mysteries only)


(I have odd reading tastes - there's no need to notice though!!) I'm also exceedingly anti-social - that you may notice but must accept!

Reviews

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enthralling and I anxiously want to start Northman Part 2

Though I have always been a fan of historical fiction, I am finding that the story telling by M J Porter to be some of the best I have experienced.

[Josh Harben · Rating 3 out of 5]

plodding plot, too many typos

I’m probably going to keep reading these but I have to say that a bit of editing and proofreading would not be too much to ask. On a couple of occasions I actually needed to re-read sentences to have them make sense. Also, the author uses the expression “for all intents and purposes” far too often.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had been enjoying the Earls of Mercia series until this instalment. I found it incredibly hard to read due to grammatical errors and poor sentence construction. It makes it very hard to concentrate on the story as the reading flow is lost through trying to interpret a poorly constructed sentence. And even elementary mistakes like the word "wondering" instead of "wandering", and completely wrong words used. I understand that when writing, it's easy to make these mistakes, but should it not be the job of the editor of the book to pick up on these things? This feels more like a first or second draft than a finished manuscript. The odd mistake here and there I can handle, but this really interfered with my ability to enjoy the reading experience which was a shame, as I usually love this genre and historical period.

[M.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviews from Amazon.co.uk


5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Good tale based around historical possibilities

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book but when I finished I went to ...
I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book but when I finished I went to my copy of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle to see what happens next. Sadly, there isn't a lot in there so I'll just have to wait a bit longer for Part II to come out.
The main character, Northman, reminds me so much of my younger brother and the book is very good at showing the difficulties between fathers and sons as they grow older/up. The background of the Viking raids and life in the royal court are brought to life with numerous believable situations and characters including the difficult relationships between the bumbling King and and the princes, who could do much more to help if only the King would allow them to, is also well described. Can't wait to continue reading this story when the new book comes out shortly.

5.0 out of 5 starsNorthman Part 1 (The Earls of Mercia Book 3) M J Porter.

Yet again a must read its exciting descriptive colourful riviting could not put down novel. More please as it made me feel as a part of the scenes described thank you

[Scott Vinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story telling at its core.

This is a fantastic story, told from many angles. It trots along at a steady pace, at times a little benign but gradually building the characters.
If only someone would proof read to prevent the wrong words and wrong names that occur at time and make the reading difficult then it would warrant more stars. Even punctuation is lacking at point but the error in the characters names is particularly galling. It feels that this has been dictated to an automatic writing program at times but not thoroughly checked.

[terry bradbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you pick up this book, you will not put it down

Some write good stories, others paint wondrous pictures but few can write words that make you see the story unfold like some epic movie. Not a historical novel in the sense of Cornwell but certainly a period drama awaiting a nomination

[Linda Susan Garman · Rating 5 out of 5]

To The King

I have always wondered how Swein and Canute over ran England. While this is historical fiction it is so well told that it is believeble .

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

- This series is doing well.

[Maggie]

bx,Rokp (1.99)

[M.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 star Reviews from Amazon.co.uk

"I'm definitely going to have to read a lot more from this author because as an avid fan of Viking age fiction mixed with fact, I'm hooked."

"Good tale based around historical possibilities."