Blood of the Bear: last of the Fire Born
I have just received the finished cover on what will be the fifth and final book in my “Fire Born” Viking series. I have hugely enjoyed writing about Bjarki and Tor, and also achieved a lifetime ambition, which was to explore the inner life of a Viking berserker, but it is time to move on to other projects. When you read Blood of the Bear, which comes out in October, you will see I have left an opportunity to continue writing about some of the main characters in the Fire Born series. But that is for the future. In the meantime, enjoy this magnificent cover, and don’t forget to preorder the concluding book of the series!
If you don’t know the Fire Born series at all – and I think it is pretty damn good, actually – you should start by reading The Last Berserker (Fire Born 1) and then move on through the whole series in order.
In other news . . .
I have agreed with my excellent publisher the titles of my forthcoming historical Mongol trilogy. This series is to be called The Mongol Knight, and the title of the first book will be Templar Traitor, with the subtitle The Englishman who fought for Genghis Khan. The first novel, which I have already written, will be out in May 2025, and is based in a true story. And the second and third books of The Mongol Knight series will be out each May for the next two years after that. (This is part of the reason I am wrapping up the Fire Born series, to concentrate on writing this new Mongol one.) So that is all pretty exciting, I think.
Also, I have finished the whole of The Broken Kingdom, my Arthurian fantasy series, which I released as five eBook episodes earlier this year. You can buy the books as short, 99p episodes – start with Episode One: Arthur’s Bane – or get the whole novel as an eBook slightly cheaper (for £3.99) from Amazon here. The paperback will, I hope, be out very soon. I’m having a slight problem with the self-publishing at the moment. Maybe an audio version will be created at some point, too. I’m in talks about that right now.
Finally, I plan to write another Robin Hood novel later this year (if I have time). It is going to be set during the bloody Albigensian Crusade in southern France, and this time, the story will be told from Robin’s perspective. I’m curious to find out exactly what Robert of Locksley thinks of his loyal friend Alan Dale. I’m going to try to publish that by Christmas, but I cannot promise that I will. Lots on my plate right now.