Edoardo Albert

“Edwin: High King of Britain” is a comfortable read in that I found it engaging but not enthralling. Much of the time, the characters are talking about paganism and/or Christianity, which at times is interesting, but never exciting.

Action is infrequent, yet despite this, the narrative is not slow paced. Still, more vivid confrontational scenes, be it verbal or physical, would’ve been more appealing.

The language is inconsistent in that there’s a mixture of archaic phrases, like ‘whence came she?’, alongside modern sayings like ‘toilet seat’ and ‘keep it in your trousers’.

Regarding the period, I felt confused more than once by sudden leaps in time that weren’t made clear by the third-person narrator. For example, Edwin’s thinking about his children – children we didn’t know he had until this moment – so it interrupts the flow because the reader needs to adjust, processing that time has moved on in years.

While the author has done a good job on the research side, he – like several other historical fiction writers I’ve encountered – has neglected principal creative writing skills and quality elements of English style. As a result, much of the prose is passive, plus too many adverbs lead to ‘telling’, not ‘showing’.

For example, to state that Edwin’s sons ‘stood nervously’ is blatant telling. *Show* their nervousness with body language.

The use of weak verbs also leads to passive sentences. ‘Edwin looked at him’ doesn’t show anything. There’s always a stronger verb than ‘look’ that shows *how* a character looks at someone/something, and without the need of an adverb. The phrase ‘looked questioningly’ crops up several times, and on each occasion this could be replaced with one strong verb or a description of body language.

‘Walked’ is another weak verb that should always be replaced. ‘Penda walked rapidly’, for instance, could be ‘shown’ with a stronger verb: ‘Penda marched’, ‘Penda strode’, etc.

Regarding passive prose, numerous sentences or clauses open with ‘there were’ or ‘there was’, such as: ‘Certainly there was fear there’, plus ‘There in the centre of the river he remained’, when each could be made active if changed to: ‘Fear was there’, and ‘He remained in the centre of the river’.

In short, avoid passive prose, weak verbs, and ‘telling’ adverbs, and make every word count. A good read therefore becomes a great read.

Another overused word I must criticise is ‘gasped’. At one point, for instance, everyone ‘gasped’ when seeing a sword. This sounds melodramatic. In real life, you ‘gasp’ if you’ve been doused in cold water or have been holding your breath too long for comfort. You don’t gasp in surprise; you ‘catch your breath’.

This novel also includes some untranslated Latin, which locked me out of the story, as I don’t understand it. Using foreign language in an English text is my ultimate pet hate in literature. I’m pro-language learning, but a novel advertised as being written in English should be just that. Always put the reader first or you’ll lose them.

Despite my criticisms, I liked the story well enough to give it three stars. Anyone who’s interested in the period or specifically in Edwin should give it a read.… (more)

This is a First Reads for me - I won this as a Giveaway.

The story revolves around King Edwin and the struggles he faces both in consolidating small, petty kingdoms into one and also whether or not he wants to follow the new Christian God or remain true to the gods of his fathers. Whatever choices he makes affects the other kings and also all of his people.

The battle scenes were interesting, especially the major one toward the end of the book. There were also scenes in the book revolving around Edwin's wife and his children. I wish there would have been more depth and character development of his family. I would have liked to have gotten to know his wife better and also to have known more of the background of the priests, James and Paulinus.

There is some conflict between the sons, Osfrith and Eadfrith, and also with his wife, Aethelburh. This was not fully developed in the story although there was definitely some foreshadowing about this leaving me to think that it would become part of the novel.

This is the first of three novels. Although questions remain, the novel can be read stand alone with the option of continuing the story of the High Kings when the future books are written.… (more)