Essex Dogs Series

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The three archers, helped by Millstone and the Scot, had beached the pinnace and were sheltered behind it, waiting to time their run to the cliffside. I thought this might be a Richard Sharpe and the Rifles in the 100 years war type of story based on that comparison. Instead, Jones smoothly crafts the tone and atmosphere in a way that by the end feels so authentic and comprehensive, yet does not overwhelm you once. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.

The opening when they land on the beach is engaging, but once over, very little happens in the first half of the book.There is a great deal of earthy Anglo-Saxon language often interlinked with some rather colourful religious imagery. Rape is heavily implied too by the author without gratuitously dwelling on this dark aspect of medieval conquest. It probably wasn’t much help that, it being war, they were as likely to die within a few chapters of you meeting them as survive. Before the word was out of his mouth, the Dogs saw one of the archers struggling in the water hit directly by a lump of stone the size of an anvil. Christ spare his soul,' said Tebbe, tall and spare, the lankiest of the three English archers, who wore his hair long at the neck, woven in a tight plait that reached his mid-back.

Dan Jones debut into the fictional world brings to life a period in real life history through the lives of well developed fictional characters. Also, I am curious as to his portrayal of the Black Prince (Edward, Prince of Wales) as a whiny, petulant, spoiled brat is something new.Really enjoyed this book, a ragtag group of soldiers storming France during the start of the hundred years war. The first instalment in a new Hundred Years War trilogy, following a tight-knit group of soldiers fighting the 1346 Crecy campaign in medieval France. My thanks to NetGalley and, as ever, Head of Zeus for granting this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This I found far more realistic than other novels where characters often cut down multiple foes without injury.

The first instalment in a new Hundred Years War trilogy, following a tight-knit group of soldiers fighting the 1346 Crécy campaign in medieval France.Brutal, graphic, and gory, the battle scenes viscerally hurl the reader into the heat of 14th-century combat.

Only Dan Jones can carry you through blood, piss and vomit and leave you wanting more' Daisy Dunn 'Vital, earthy, and heart-stopping. It is clear from the off we're in for a no holds barred and gritty novel that depicts the brutality of warfare in the period that it is set.

This could have been a subtle shift on the myth but instead becomes a Blackadder the First style pastiche that doesn't work as effectively as I suspect Jones thinks it does. What unites them is a talent for fighting – whether with axe, sword or bow – a desire to make their fortunes and the bonds of comradeship. The French were more sophisticated but, this was no defence against the pure savagery of the English. Instead we see how fractured the reality of the English army was, as Jones strips away the exaggerated patriotism, the pomp and pageantry, exposing the hearts of those in the army as he believes it was.