Robin Hood and the Holy Grail – and other news
As some of you may know, I have been writing another Robin Hood book; the twelfth and final one in my bestselling Outlaw Chronicles. And this blog is an update to tell you a little more about Robin Hood and the Holy Grail, my progress in producing it and when you might be able to get your hands on a copy.
First off, what is the book about? It is basically a Grail quest – Robin and Alan are in the south of France searching for the Holy Grail, which fans of the Outlaw Chronicles will know that Robin left in a secret cave beneath Montségur Castle at the end of Grail Knight (book 5 in the original series). I always felt that this was a bit of a loose end and I have been planning for Robin to retrieve it at some point for years now.
The book follows on directly from Robin Hood and the Heretic Prince, which came out in the summer of 2025, and also concerns the brutal Albigensian Crusade in which our heroes became embroiled. Expect lots of action, a few jokes and bunch of crude oaths from Little John and Alan Dale getting the wrong end of the stick, as usual. I’ve written about 25,000 words of it so far, but I know where I am going with the plot, and I am hoping to be able to finish it in, say, June, and publish then or in July. Fingers crossed.
The reason it is taking so long is that I have been busy since the new year with Templar Assassin, which is the second book in my Mongol Knight trilogy, after Templar Traitor (below). I have now more or less finished that book about the adventures of an English knight in the court of Genghis Khan (based on a true story) and I’m just waiting on the copy-edit to come back from my publisher Canelo. I’m told there will not be much more to do to the text. Templar Assassin will be published in late August 2026.
I have to confess that I have been a little disappointed by the sales of Templar Traitor. I think it is the best book I’ve ever written and it is based on the extraordinary true story of Robert, a Templar Knight, who was captured outside Vienna in 1241 riding with a bunch of marauding Mongol scouts.
I don’t really understand why so few people bought it. In my mind, a fascinating story about Mongols and Templars, well researched, endlessly polished and packed with action and adventure and even, unusually for me, a tender love story, should fly off the shelves. It very much did not! If you bought it, and liked it, could you please leave a review somewhere. If you knew about it and decided NOT to buy it, could you do me a favour and tell me why. Was it because you don’t like Mongols? Don’t like Templars? Or did not believe/care that the story was based in truth? I would really like to know. I promise not to argue with you. Anyway, let’s hope that Templar Assassin does better. Maybe the series will be a slow burning one.
In other news
I have finally made a deal with my audio publisher to bring out the audio version of Robin Hood and the Heretic Prince and that should be available in a few months. I’ll post here when I have a date.
Also, I have been asked when the next King Arthur book will be out. Some people really liked The Broken Kingdom, which was going to be the first in the Wormkind trilogy (it’s Arthur plus dragons), but some did not. Basically, I am busy with Robin Hood and Templar-Mongols all this year but I am looking ahead to 2027. Do people want more King Arthur? Let me know. I have to make a decision whether to continue the Wormkind Chronicles, or not, and I while would like to do so, but there needs to be a decent amount of public demand to make it worth my while. I can’t afford to waste six months on a project for zero money.
Anyway, that is where I am at. I’m banging away at the keyboard trying to make a living and any feedback you can give me would be really appreciated, and reviews even more so. If you want to be really kind, buy me a cup of coffee – or a pint! – on my Ko-Fi account. It would be a real boost to my flagging morale.
Comments (4)