So far this trilogy has offered everything I love in historical fiction. The characters and plots are intriguing and surprising, and I am learning so much history along the way. Very much looking forward to the final book!

Wolves of Winter is the second book of a 3-book series about a group of mercenaries. I have not read the first book about the Essex Dogs, who are 10 mercenaries who primarily fight in France in the early days of the 100 Year Wars. I am always honest in my book reviews, and so right up front, I have to say this novel was a difficult read for me. I do not think I am the target audience. I love history and historical fiction, but I had a tough time with this novel. I need characters who speak to me on some level, and I did not find that in Wolves of Winter. I had hoped to learn more history about this period of time, but this novel primarily moves from battle to battle, and like most wars, is so focused on violence that I could not find a character whose life mattered all that much.

The setting is the siege of Calais in 1347. The characters are mercenaries who fight for pay. I found the Scotsman and Hircent most engaging of the characters. The reviews of Wolves of Winter note the humor, but my sense of humor must be different. War is certainly not glorious, and as Wolves of Winter describes it, war is graphic, brutal, and gruesome. In many ways, Jones novel is tough to follow--too many battles and too many characters, who quickly disappear. Shakespeare wrote historical fiction, also, but his characters were compelling. Jones characters need more depth. I do realize that Jones is not comparing himself to Shakespeare, but in many ways, both writers focus on medieval history via war and battles. Historical fiction does not require total honestly. It does require characters who matter. The most gruesome battle scenes are meaningless if the characters cannot compel readers to read.

I thank Jones, Penguin Group Viking, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for me to read and review. Because I am clearly not the target audience, I am scoring this novel based on the target audience who will most likely enjoy this novel. 3.5 stars, bumped to 4 stars.

The book uses language that is, by turns, both lyrical and properly coarse. To read it is to luxuriate in delicious verbiage. The camaraderie of a brotherhood of soldiers in arms is not only impeccably portrayed, but so is the impossibility of battles, whether civilian or military. A joy to read.

In this follow up to Essex Dogs, the Dogs are off on another campaign -- still unpaid, still in the service of unscrupulous nobles, still in France, still longing for home. Jones clearly knows his history and the accuracy of this story is its best feature. Essex Dogs was a brutal and profane (blasphemous?) depiction of battle in the mid-1300s. This one is all that only more so. The blood and brutality that was graphic and realistic and the profanity that was almost humorous in the first one became tiresome and gratuitous in this one. in addition, there are scenes in which one of the characters ingests "magic mushrooms" and hallucinates -- these are many and endless! I grew quite weary of that. The mystery woman from the first book makes several appearances here, again with no explanation or real connection to the rest of the story.

I'm aware that Jones is a noted historian and generally I love historical fiction. While I'm quite sure of the accuracy of the situations depicted here, the storyline and the characters could use some depth. I actually skimmed a lot of the book, hoping it would get better. Not worth the effort, in my opinion.