Second Son

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Pub Date 19 Jul 2018 | Archive Date 30 Nov 2020

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Description

It is the dawn of the Renaissance, a time when new ideas are just beginning to emerge.  Alfred — the eponymous second son — comes of age in the enlightened court of his grandfather. Alfred is convinced that his life will be unremarkable, spent in diligent but mundane service to king and kingdom.  His grandfather, however, foresees for him a special destiny. It is also a time when peace and stability are tenuous and threats can arise from unexpected quarters. Taken captive while on a mission for the king, Alfred is held for ransom and taken ever farther away from his home. With his prospects dwindling, he must find a way to survive if he is ever to fulfill that mysterious destiny.

It is the dawn of the Renaissance, a time when new ideas are just beginning to emerge. Alfred — the eponymous second son — comes of age in the enlightened court of his grandfather. Alfred is...


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ISBN 9781684330638
PRICE $2.99 (USD)

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Featured Reviews

The author, although well-versed in the history and social mores of the post-Roman-Occupation of Britain, has chosen to divorce her characters and plot from that specific time-stream and create instead a kind of parallel world based on those real-world features. As such, I kept expecting some sort of fantasy trope - magic, strange gods, epic heroes - to intrude. Instead, it all reads as a superior sort of historical novel - albeit not the history we know.
It's a strange departure from the generic norms we're accustomed to, but it does give the author absolute freedom to construct characters and plot while still using a relatively familiar landscape: it's post-Roman and, judging by the names, post-Saxon invasion.
I was initially doubtful, but, as I became more involved with the story, it began to seem no more unlikely than the host of Arthurian novels I've read, and the protagonists were well-rounded and engaging. I'm now looking forward to the second volume in the series.

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