Showing results by author "Griff Hosker" in All Categories

King William has the crown of the Confessor but he has many enemies both at home and abroad. He has to subdue a land that does not want a Norman yoke upon its shoulders. When Richard fitz Malet is given the manor north of York he finds that it is a poisoned chalice and when the north rises against the Conqueror's rule, he finds himself alone and isolated. He has to mould his manor into a fighting force or face death.

When the Earl of Gloucester suddenly dies and the Empress Matilda is forced to return to Normandy it seems that the civil war is about to end and Stephen of Blois will have succeeded in winning his crown. The Warlord of the North takes the fledgling Prince Henry under his wing and begins to train him to become king. When others try to take advantage of the Warlord's position he and his warriors have to dig deep to defeat their enemies. Gradually Henry becomes a man and shows that he has the potential to become a king.

Sir Michael of Weedon might think that his service to the crown ended when the Queen died and he was no longer required as her knight. He is wrong, for his qualities as a true and loyal warrior mean that he can be trusted. King Henry and the Earl of Suffolk send him to France to recover a pyx. Before he can complete his task, he is conscripted back into the army and finds himself, once more, fighting alongside Sir John Talbot.

Sven Saxon Sword was now a lord. He ruled a small village on the river. He thought that his service toking Cnut, now that he had helped him to gain the crown, was over. He was wrong. Not only does he have to deal with Norse raiders but he is also summoned to serve in a war against the Swedes. The Oathsword is called upon again to save, not only King Cnut and his ambitions, but also his home

King Stephen is captured and the Civil War seems over until disaster strikes while the Earl of Cleveland is in Normandy. The Empress' forces are routed and the Earl of Gloucester is captured. Forced to return to rescue the Empress the Earl of Cleveland has to fight King Stephen's army and the English winter to rescue his Empress. With the future King Henry II as his squire the Earl has to wage a war against an increasing number of enemies and a diminishing number of allies.

Sir Thomas and his new bride, Lady Margaret, have been forced to leave the Baltic. They cannot go to England and so he heads for Anjou where he hopes to take over the old manor of Sir Leofric. Upon his arrival, he finds himself thrown into a world of intrigue. Prince Arthur had been the chosen heir of King Richard but King John had taken not only the throne but also claimed the lands of Normandy, Maine and Anjou. Even before he has taken charge of his new manor, he finds threats from the French as well as King John.

The story of a young illegitimate son of a Norman noble and the daughter of an English housecarl. Forced to be little more than a servant Robert fitz Malet shows the world and his half brothers that he has qualities which mark him as different. When he meets the famous troubadour, Taillefer, he becomes one of the most skilled swordsmen in Duke William's army as they prepare to invade England and claim the crown promised to him by King Edward.

Poitiers was in the past, but it changed the life of Sir John Hawkwood, for he gained his spurs and that was another step on his journey. Once he realised that he had more ambition than just to serve the king of England, he joined forces with Albert Sterz and formed a company of mercenaries who hired out their swords. Fighting for the king of England against Burgundy, they gained a reputation which made others both fear and hate them in equal measure.

A hero’s journey begins in an exhilarating new series by Griff Hosker. In 1335 the Black Death was just 13 years away from England, but there were other threats and dangers. Young John Hawkwood is forced to leave his home and seek a life in London. There he learns how to survive and, more importantly, how to fight. Leaving his life as an apprentice tailor he follows the army and King Edward to fight the Scots. He has a skill: he can not only use a bow, but he can use a sword and his mind.

Betrayal by friend and foe alike beset Sir John Hawkwood as he enters the murky world of Italian politics. He will emerge from the experience as a true leader of men but first he has to outwit his enemies of which there are many. With Montferrat secured from the Savoyards and with the White Company now firmly in his hands, Sir John Hawkwood leads his men to Pisa where they have been hired to fight the Florentines. The hero of Poitiers is about to enter a world of treachery, intrigue and double dealing for which he is quite unprepared.

A young Saxon boy and his mother are captured in a Viking raid. Fate transforms his destiny and, thanks to an ageing one-armed warrior, he wins his freedom and becomes one with the Vikings. Clan rivalries force Dragonheart and his new Jarl to sail the seas searching for a new home. Landing on the Isle of Man, they must fight for their very survival with enemies old and new seeking their destruction.

The Black Death! England has won the war with France, but the disease which rampages through the land takes both rich and poor, warrior and worker. John Hawkwood and his two companions spend the winter in the north. It is in the spring that he begins to mould his company into a fighting force, and he serves the Baron Mortimer on the Welsh Border. There his men learn to fight as one, and John Hawkwood begins the change from archer to man at arms.

Alfraed is now the Earl of Cleveland but his new position throws him into a world of intrigue. There are plots and coups as the enemies of England try to wrest the land from King Henry. The Earl has to fight the Scots, the Welsh and Vikings before he travels to Normandy to fight alongside the king. Filled with battles and knightly combat, the fast-moving novel reflects the chaotic times before the first English Civil War.

Henry of Monmouth, Prince Hal, is barely recovered from a near-fatal wound when his father leaves him to retake his land. Owain Glendower and Edmund Mortimer, however, have French allies and the most inhospitable landscape to aid them. All that Prince Hal has to guide him is the guardian of kings, Will Strongstaff. The two of them have to fight treachery and those who count money as well as more traditional enemies, the Welsh archers.

The throne of England is slipping from King Henry’s grasp. His only son has drowned in the English Channel, and the predators are gathering ready to devour both England and Normandy. When the last of King Harold’s housecarls returns to England to die, he brings with him a reluctant hero who will save the kingdom. Alfraed, son of Ridley, is the first of a new breed; he is an English knight.

This story is set at the end of the 10th century and charts the journey of a young warrior, whose father, Bersi, is killed during a raid on Wessex. Sven Bersisson has to grow up quickly and to follow in his father’s footsteps. Sweyn Skull Taker, his uncle, becomes his foster father and they raid Wessex and Frankia, where the young warrior becomes a man. King Sweyn Forkbeard, the king of Denmark, uses their clan to help in his dream of defeating the Norwegians and then taking the throne of England.

With the Empress Matilda about to marry the Count of Anjou, Alfraed is thrown into a world of intrigue and treachery as he tries to hold on to the north with depleted numbers of warriors. When he succeeds he finds that he is punished and sent to the east by King Henry and his family held hostage in the Tower of London. He finds himself embroiled in plots and campaigns there where he finally serves with his father's old comrades: the Varangian Guards. After a journey home which is fraught with danger he finally rescues his family and returns to his beloved castle.

The Dragon Heart has come of age and sets off with his Ulfheonar to fight the Saxons. A chance visit to a cave brings him face to face with his past and changes his life forever. Fighting both Saxons and Hibernians on land and on sea, he and his warriors conquer the land of Anglesey. Before they can enjoy the fruits of victory, they face an enemy from the past who returns to haunt them.

The Scots have decided to take advantage of the Civil War in England and King David invades. The only opposition to his mighty army of 26,000 men is the Warlord of the North and an ancient Archbishop of York. With cruel invaders rampaging through northern England and ravaging the land, enemies must join together to fight off the enemy who threaten to take half of the land.

It is 1940 and Britain is fighting alone against the Germans. With the RAF fighting above the skies of England, it is down to the Commandos to go back to France and cause as much trouble to the Germans as possible. When the Italians join in alongside the Germans, it seems that Britain is about to sink beneath a sea of Fascists.