I apologise but I'm unable to review this book due to the fact it was originally archived the moment I had pressed 'read it'. I'm not sure what happened and I don't want to really leave this review here but having this book unreviewed is affecting my feedback ratio so I have to say something here and hence the middle rating of 3. If I do get hold of this book in future though I will give it a read and give you a better review. Thanks

An Irish Knight Templar. Whispers about the Holy Grail. Set in the early 1300s during the period when Edward Bruce, the brother of Robert was poised to invade Ireland. Honestly, I requested this book mostly for all that- but sad to say it really proved not to be my cup of tea
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Its decent as a historical thriller goes, but my main issues were the lack of developed characters, and the way that they came over as a little too modern. Yeah, that's the real clincher for me as far as historical fiction goes. If the characters are just "modern people in fancy dress" probably won't return to the book or author. This in turn made me question some of the historical details: I’m pretty sure the Inquisition never made it to Britain or Ireland, and the idea that Medieval people thought all herbalists were witches is being discredited now.

I also didn't much care for the hints of the Da Vinci Code- esque secret societies subplot involving the Templars. I just don't think that's necessary. I've read fight scenes before, and I've read them well done and poorly done, and the ones in this novel fell into the latter camp. Honestly, the battle scenes were almost reminiscent of a video game and not in a good way.

I don’t want to be entirely negative. There were high points in this story, and I did become invested in a couple of the characters.

Thanks to Head of Zeus for approving me for this title. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Templars, the Holy Grail, Robert the Bruce and Ireland make a fabulous combination for a novel, the first in a new series. Tim Hodkinson has a knack for storytelling that really shines the in Lions of the Grail.
Well researched and written, Lions of the Grail is a fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining novel set in 13th century Ireland. Tim Hodkinson skilfully combines the history of Edward Bruce's invading of Ireland with the legend associated with the fall of the Knights Templar and the legends of the Holy Grail, weaving a story that at once draws the reader in to an enthralling adventure.

A rollicking and truculent new series starring an Irish Templar, Richard Savage who at the beginning of this sweeping tale is held prisoner and languishing inside a dark English cell.

It's 1315 & Edward II needs to consolidate his power over Ireland in order to counteract any Scottish shenanigans over the Emerald Isle. Pulled out of his dank gaol, Richard has no other choice but to go to Ireland in order to spy for the English crown.....

A marvellous fictional trip into the ever tumultuous beginnings of early 14th century English politics with all the great knighly trappings and chivalrous razzle dazzle you could possibly need to get totally lost into this very magnificent medieval tale that deserves to be enjoyed without any moderation whatsoever👍

Many thanks to Netgalley and Aria&Aries for this terrific ARC

My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
I have read the first two stories of this Author's terrific Viking series, which are right up there with the best of the genre. Now he has moved forward in time approximately 400 years to a new hero, Irish knight Richard Savage. This story features the Holy Grail, Knights Templars and Robert the Bruce. Well written and researched with a terrific mix of real and fictional characters, full of the action and authenticity that i have come to expect from this writer. A tale of adventure betrayal intrigue and love, even the odd joust as you would expect of heroic knights.
I just hope he does not give up on the Vikings stories.
Totally utterly recommended.

I found this book a Very good factual take on the wars in the early 14th century between the Irish, Scottish and the English. This book keeps you interested right to the end. Well researched although there were a few grammatical errors in it. I would thoroughly recommend this book to other readers and look forward to reading the second book in the series.

As an avid reader of Hodkinson's Whale Road Chronicles, I was interested to see how the Scottish invasion of Ireland under Edward Bruce would pan out.

This is the first in the series, and is focused on events leading up the that point. There is plenty of action, battles, captures, escapes, rescues, disguises, secret codes and assassins to keep the reader entertained. There is a short historical note at the end to let the reader know that the events certainly are based in historic detail. The female character I could take or leave, sometimes they are not necessary to the narrative - the cast of characters does not - in my opinion - always need to be "inclusive" or "politically correct" to tell a good story.

Having said that, this was a period of history I had some fore-knowledge of so the premises did intrigue me from the beginning. I am looking forward to seeing ho the rest of the series progresses.

A bit of a boy’s own type of yarn I found this promising at the start but somewhat underwhelming by the end. Starting with a Knight Templar imprisoned for years discovered by Edward 11 passing by and sent to Ireland to find information on the impending Scottish invasion. A series of wildly improbable events follow including a weak love interest from our hero’s past leading to the climax after being shipwrecked and saved by a Good Samaritan in a castle close to where the Grail is hidden! The love interest has been captured and kept there also so ensues the final scenes with the demise of the bad guys in gory fashion. Not the best historical read ever but a diversion for a short while.

A quite gripping, fast paced and entertaining historical fiction.
I think it's quite well researched and I appreciated the characters and the vivid historical background.
The plot sometimes drags but it never bores.
Even if I think that the characters are fleshed out I found the female characters a bit static and prototyped.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Well this one kept me engrossed! A heady mix of Templar, Irish Scottish wars and the Holy Grail would pique anyone’s interest if you are into action historical fiction and this didn’t disappoint. I did however think the end was a little contrived and also noted some historical inaccuracies but when reading this sort of book I want to be “entertained”, which I truly was and all the better for being introduced to an author not read before so my thanks to Net Galley and publisher. A character and author added to my list.

I don't often not finish a book but I'm afraid I gave up on Chapter 9 due to the errors in the research of a book that begins with o how well the author has researched.

It is well written in other respects, lots of detail and good fight scene, and if you can read it and just withhold believing anything, then so be it - enjoy.

However, if, like me, you expect a better level of knowledge of the era beyond the politics, don't. I only made it to Chapter nine and I found:

- a medieval man counting time in seconds before they even had any idea what the length of an hour was, let alone minutes.

- chain mail. They called it 'mail'. We call it chain mail and we're wrong.'

- King Edward calling himself a Plantagenet. The first use of this name in reference to this family was in 1462 or thereabouts during the Wars of the Roses.

- use of the term 'courtyard'. This is a term that dates from the 1550s. In the 1300s they were either baileys or wards - just look at what castles with them call them e.g Windsor, the Tower of London.

- Edward II looking rather ugly. with a major receding hairline - I mean, why? To what end? He was contemporaneously referred to as being 'comely' i.e notably handsome.

- Edward's marriage the the 'bitch'. This is the woman who wrote to him addressing him as 'my very sweet heart' and presumably hated him so much they conceived Edward III in the prohibited period of Lent rather than keeping their hands off each other until sex was allowed again after Easter.

I didn't get much further. A few slips, OK, but proving that you may have read all the political texts in existence but equally proving you haven't grasped the basic details of the era? Not for me.

If you’re looking for a fast paced historical adventure, this will be right up your street. I enjoyed it and found it fairly well researched. But the style was a little clunky and there was a disproportionate action/ battles to politics and intrigue level for my personal tastes. The characters of Richard and Alys were engaging however and kept me reading to the end. (I try not to get annoyed by the fact that the women are once again relegated to doing nothing but having babies and keeping house when in fact they would have been blacksmiths, involved in medical discoveries and healing, writing and scribing, a third of any army would have been female etc. One day there will be male histfic writers who realise this *sigh*) Overall, despite my pernickety tastes, this was a decent read.