Sworn Sword

June 17, 2013
The theme of this first book in a projected historical fiction series is the Norman conquest of England after the Battle of Hastings. Aitchenson brings excitement and intrigue to a bloody period of medieval history—one that is underrepresented in the genre. Set in 1069, three years after Hastings, the book follows a Norman knight, Tancred a Dinant, who is part of the army sent to subdue revolt in Northumbria. However, only Tancred and a few others survive a massacre at the hands of English rebels. Afterward, Tancred falls in with a Norman lord, Vicomte Malet, who sends him and several handpicked knights to deliver a secret message, accompanied by Malet’s chaplain, Aelfwold. While Malet struggles to defend his besieged stronghold in Northumbria, Tancred and his men must fight off a rebel fleet and assassins. At the same time, the knight becomes suspicious of Aelfwold and of Lord Malet himself. Savage hand-to-hand battles with swords, axes, and spears rage between the Normans and the English, and only Tancred’s loyalty, sense of honor, and strong sword arm may yet see him through the slaughter. Aitcheson, though not yet in the same high strata as Simon Scarrow or Angus Donald, shows great promise as an adventure novelist in this colorful debut.

August 1, 2013

History may favor the victors, but in the case of the Norman Conquest, we tend to remember the English who lost at Hastings in 1066. This historical fiction debut, the first novel in a projected series, is set not quite three years after the monumental battle, when the victorious Normans are still loathed by the native English. Tancred, a knight in service to a Norman earl, is on patrol near Durham when the locals revolt and storm the city. Durham is quickly taken and Tancred wounded; he recovers in York. There, another earl commissions him to lead his wife and daughter to safety before the rebels lay siege to the fortress in that city. But moving the women is not all Tancred is tasked with: there is also a secret message to deliver, with some treachery mixed in. And who is the woman in the convent? VERDICT Aitcheson skillfully blends history and fiction, the characters are engaging, and there is plenty of battlefield excitement. Those who enjoy Bernard Cornwell's books will also revel in the historical details and derring-do of Aitcheson's view from the invaders' side.--W. Keith McCoy, Somerset Cty. Lib. Syst., Bridgewater, NJ

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