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From bestselling author MJ Porter comes the
tale of the mighty pagan king, Penda of Mercia.
Britain. AD632.
Penda, a warrior of immense renown, has much to prove if he is to rule the
Mercian kingdom of his dead father and prevent the neighbouring king of
Northumbria from claiming it.
Unexpectedly allying with the British kings, Penda races to battle the alliance
of the Northumbrian king, unsure if his brother stands with him or against him
as they seek battle glory for themselves, and the right to rule gained through
bloody conquest.
There will be a victor and a bloody loser, and a king will rise from the ashes
of the great and terrible battle of Hædfeld.
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FUN FACTS
Very relevant to the story which pitches the Saxon kingdoms of
Northumbria against that of Mercia, I was born in
Mercia but have lived in Northumbria for nearly twenty years. I think I’m
still very much a Mercian at heart.
Much to many people's disgust at the time, my children learned to
ride their bikes on Lindisfarne, as it’s lovely and flat. Lindisfarne, or Holy
Island, is mentioned throughout the Gods and Kings Trilogy as it’s where Bishop
Aidan built his monastery.
Ruins of the later Lindisfarne Priory
(Source: Author photo)
In one of the books, there's a scene where the Northumbrians all
complain that it’s too hot in Mercia without the usual Northumbrian wind. My children said this to me when we went to Alton Towers in the summer
of one year. They missed the cooling wind.
One of the battles in Pagan King, book two of the trilogy, is
based somewhere close to where I grew up, although I changed the name a
little.
Tamworth Castle, while not Saxon era, Tamworth is believed to have been a Mercia capital at this time, and I grew up quite close to Tamworth.
(Source: author photo)
The first time I wrote a battle scene, I used my children’s play
swords, purchased from a castle, to try and determine how my characters might
have been able to fight and defend themselves.
MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set
predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England, as well as three twentieth-century mysteries. Being raised
in the shadow of a building that was believed to house the bones of
long-dead Kings of Mercia, meant that the author's writing destiny was
set.
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