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The Archer's Apprentice: Race against time
It is 1121 and Sir William Archer's apprentice, his son Robin, wants to attend the early Spring archery tournaments. Lady Alwen is heavy with child but urges Will and Robin to go and return by Whitsuntide in time for the baby. What could possibly go wrong?
176 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2019
3 people want to read
About the author
Tony Spencer
64 books14 followersA Grandfather, happily married for 41 years, who worked in the printing industry for over 40 years as a typesetter and proofreader. Now retired, I am mayor of my small town in Hampshire.
I write a range of fiction from humour, romance through to fantasy; short stories through to novels. I like stories with twists and I hope you will too. My stories are mostly about relationships, with a romantic element to them, definitely not chick-lit, more chap-pap, an aspect of romance from a man's point of view, harder-edged, but soft-centred.
Please leave a review or feedback if you read one of my stories.
I write a range of fiction from humour, romance through to fantasy; short stories through to novels. I like stories with twists and I hope you will too. My stories are mostly about relationships, with a romantic element to them, definitely not chick-lit, more chap-pap, an aspect of romance from a man's point of view, harder-edged, but soft-centred.
Please leave a review or feedback if you read one of my stories.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 12, 2021
Tony Spencer's 'The Archer's Apprentice' is a tale set in 11th century England which in itself is a fascinating draw for admirers of knights and their ladies.
Told from the point of view of three of the characters, the reader is treated to Father and son, Will and Robin as narrators plus the unique female point of view of Alwen, mother and wife respectively to the other two narrators.
Threaded through the story is a very realistic plague-like pandemic that serves both to move the action of the plot and to mirror the current dilemma of the real world disaster we have faced since 2019.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the attention and narration of the young apprentice is focused on a chivalrous quest away from home and involving a comely girl. Meanwhile his parents are left coping separately and as best they can with the oncoming plague.
The story is rich with descriptions of life in days of yore. Research has been done of this historical era, even to explaining the type of marriage Will and Alwen share which is that of Friedelehe, an arrangement which can best be explained to the modern reader as a temporary or common-law arrangement in which no bride-price or dowry is given or expected unless the marriage were to become permanent.
As this second book in the series approaches its climax, threads of the story are drawn together to bring the plague and the rising action to a head where Will is forced to put himself at further risk to rescue his lady.
Told from the point of view of three of the characters, the reader is treated to Father and son, Will and Robin as narrators plus the unique female point of view of Alwen, mother and wife respectively to the other two narrators.
Threaded through the story is a very realistic plague-like pandemic that serves both to move the action of the plot and to mirror the current dilemma of the real world disaster we have faced since 2019.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the attention and narration of the young apprentice is focused on a chivalrous quest away from home and involving a comely girl. Meanwhile his parents are left coping separately and as best they can with the oncoming plague.
The story is rich with descriptions of life in days of yore. Research has been done of this historical era, even to explaining the type of marriage Will and Alwen share which is that of Friedelehe, an arrangement which can best be explained to the modern reader as a temporary or common-law arrangement in which no bride-price or dowry is given or expected unless the marriage were to become permanent.
As this second book in the series approaches its climax, threads of the story are drawn together to bring the plague and the rising action to a head where Will is forced to put himself at further risk to rescue his lady.
Displaying 1 of 1 review