Showing results by author "Griff Hosker" in All Categories

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.

Having fought valiantly for Lord–now King–Edward, Gerald Warbow has settled into the life of a country gentleman. He has a comfortable life with a wife he loves and three growing–if occasionally irritating–children. Conscious that time is passing, Gerald devotes his time to farming and to training local archers, including his eldest son, Hamo.

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.

When the rebel leaders prove harder to eliminate than the rest of the mob, Lord Edward is helped in his quest by Pope Adrian V. In thanks, he agrees to join the Crusades with King Louis IX of France. The so-called holy war is a complex and punishing pursuit, and Lord Edward needs help in defeating the Mamluks. He calls upon his trusted comrade Gerald to lead a crusade of his own, to enlist the aid of Abaqa Khan, a Mongol leader and much needed ally. With miles of Muslim-controlled land to cross, can Gerald make the journey unscathed, and will his efforts help to turn the war?

King Richard is barely buried when the men who opposed him plot and plan to remove the new King, Henry Bolingbroke! With enemies in the north and the west, the new king and his son, Henry of Monmouth, find themselves besieged on all sides not knowing whom they can trust. William Strongstaff, now a lord, is the only one they can truly rely upon, and any thoughts of hanging up his sword are forgotten as King Henry sends the former royal bodyguard to help his son and quash a Welsh rebellion.

When Prince Arthur is murdered and the French begin to take Normandy, Sir Thomas finds himself isolated and alone. The Norman barons conspire against King John and the English knight has a dilemma. Does he join the rebels or stay true to his beliefs? Undefeated he and one of his knights leave Anjou and sail to a new life in England but it is not a life without trouble and death. He finds himself, in the midst of conspiracies and plots, forced to defend his land against bandits, brigands and the Scots.

The Earl of Cleveland has managed to put himself in King John's good graces just at the time when other barons decide to rebel. They seek more land and power. The newly appointed Earl is caught in the middle. When the Scots begin to raid once more, Sir Thomas is forced to rally the loyal knights of the north and repel them. Following the actual history which led to the Magna Carta and beyond this fast-moving novel moves from Scotland to Wales and Northampton and Lincoln. It culminates in the battle of Lincoln 1217, when the French army attempted to conquer England.

Erik is Norse but he was left in the new world when his clan returned home. He has to fight not only to protect his new family but his new clan, as hostile tribes try to earn honour by slaying the Shaman of the Bear. Forced to flee from their northern home, Erik and his family head south to the land of the Powhatan tribe, where he hopes to begin life anew. Before he can do so, he has to endure a voyage through strange and uncharted waters and fight enemies as yet unknown.

Hrolf the young Viking has left the service of Jarl Dragonheart and sails with Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson. When they find a home off the Frankish coast they begin to accumulate a vast fortune which earns them the enmity of other Vikings. The novel culminates in a bloody battle where Viking fights Viking but Hrolf begins to fulfill his destiny as Hrolf the Horseman!

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.

Alfraed of Norton is given the task of protecting the Empress Matilda back to the emperor, her husband. He and his men have to fight enemies, bandits and treachery from within as they battle thorough an empire that is a nest of treachery and political ambition. While princes play for thrones, Alfraed must keep the empress safe.

The Emperor Henry of the Holy Roman Empire is dying, and his wife, the Empress Matilda, is in danger from those who would use her to gain the title and the power. King Henry of England sends Alfraed of Norton to rescue her and avoid a war. With enemies from France, Flanders and the empire, as well as Norman traitors, the handful of Northern Knights have to fight across Europe and back. A fast-moving novel that moves from Germany to the Scottish borders in the turbulent times of the early 12th century, when friends could become foes overnight.

The tide is turning, and the forces of the Empress are making inroads into King Stephen's lands. The Warlord of the North rides south to help the Earl of Gloucester with one final push to dislodge the Usurper, but fate has a twist in the tail.

13th Century, Wales and England. To young Gruffyd, life has been unkind. Eking out a meagre living with his father, he has learned very quickly how to look after himself in the hostile borderlands. His father, an archer, has taught him well, and at 17 Gruffyd is a keen and able bowman. Young, loyal and skilled, it’s not long before Gruffyd finds himself following in his father’s footsteps, working as an archer in the bordering castle. But tragedy strikes when his lord commits a devastating deed, and Gruffyd is forced to make a life altering decision.

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 last Viking left in the New World finds fresh challenges when his growing family is forced to leave their home on the Patawomke River to sail north and find a new home amongst tribes who may be hostile. As his clan grows, Erik learns to adapt to this new world and all its wonders.

Will, son of Harry, is about to join one of the freebooting mercenaries who serve the Black Prince in Gascony and Spain. Soldiers of fortune, they fight for pay and for loot. Circumstances mean that he comes to the attention of the heir to the English throne, Prince Edward, and is chosen as the bodyguard for his sons, Edward and Richard. When the Black Prince dies before his father and his elder brother, Edward, also dies, a young Richard of Bordeaux becomes heir to the throne, and Will has a greater responsibility than he expected.

This first instalment in the Chronicles tells of Rodrigo’s rise to prominence when he became the champion of Prince Sancho of Castile. This is but the beginning of a tale which still stirs the blood a millennium after it began. The legend that was El Cid began more than 1,000 years ago, and time has meant that reality and fiction are intertwined like the threads of a spider’s web.

When the Queen of England dies then King Richard suddenly changes. He wreaks vengeance on all those who have slighted him, and only William Strongstaff and John of Gaunt are in a position to curb his excesses. Beginning in the Baltic, where there is a crusade against the Lithuanian pagans, the novel moves to England, Scotland and Ireland before the owner of the crown of England is decided.

Captain Gerald has proven himself an unrivalled archer, but now he is married, he longs to enjoy life's simpler pursuits, raising a family and tending his land. But life on the borderlands brings complications, and King Edward has different ideas for Gerald. Prince Llywelyn of Wales will not toe the line, and once more, Gerald is chosen as royal envoy. He must cross the treacherous Welsh Marches to make strategic allegiances and request Llywelyn bend the knee to the English crown.