Showing results by author "Griff Hosker" in All Categories

Now that he has made a name for himself and shown his courage in battle Sven Saxon Sword becomes not only a leader in battle but also a target for others when he fights. Beginning with the Battle of Svolder when hundreds of ships clashed in the sea, the novel takes us through the maelstrom of war. Sweyn Forkbeard has ambitions in the west, where there is a weak Saxon king, Aethelred. Sven Saxon Sword and his foster father are part of the force that battles in Wessex, Cornwall and Kent.

When Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor declares war on the pagans of Denmark, Pomerania and the Baltic lands, he is unaware of the true might of the storm he is about to unleash. Meanwhile, in a small fjord in the north of Norway, a young Norse warrior is about to embark on a journey that will take him far to the south, beyond the land of the Angles and the Franks.

Jarl Dragon Heart has taken to the seas. With his wolf warriors, he raids further afield than ever before as he seeks his destiny. He has to fight new enemies as well as treacherous former allies. The Norns weave their webs and the Vikings discover the Middle Sea and Africa before they find themselves at the court of Nikephoros 1, the Emperor of Byzantium. A vast moving novel filled with battles both at sea and on land as the Viking Wolf unleashes his pack on the world.

The Vikings on the Island of Man are set on revenge. Their families have been kidnapped and taken to Ireland. They have to find them and rescue them. They find themselves fighting not only Hibernian warriors but renegade Vikings, too. The perpetrator of the act, Tadgh, escapes and a chase ensues.

The Empress has given England a male heir but that single action creates rebels in Scotland and in Normandy who try to wrest Normandy and England from King Henry. When the Earl of Cleveland becomes his champion, it unleashes a storm of murder and treachery at the very heart of the Earl's world. In a fast-moving novel with battles and combats from the borders of Scotland to France itself, we see a world heading towards anarchy and civil war.

When Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson is killed by Saxons and his wife and son slain it throws the clan on Raven Wing Island into disarray. Internal divisions and strife is only stopped when Siggi White Hair becomes jarl. A raid on Frankia gives Hrolf the Horseman a vision of his dream of a new home. When treachery strikes and the Bretons attack it seems that all of his dreams will be destroyed before he can make them a reality.

King Richard is barely buried when the men who opposed him plot and plan to remove the new King, Henry Bolingbroke! With enemies in the north and the west, the new king and his son, Henry of Monmouth, find themselves besieged on all sides not knowing whom they can trust. William Strongstaff, now a lord, is the only one they can truly rely upon, and any thoughts of hanging up his sword are forgotten as King Henry sends the former royal bodyguard to help his son and quash a Welsh rebellion.

Sven Saxon Sword is content with his life but King Sweyn Forkbeard wants to use the Dragon Sword to help him claim a kingdom across the seas from Denmark. With Prince Cnut at his side, Sven has to fight not only the English but also Danes who change sides, Scots keen to grab land themselves and even the oathsworn of the new Danish king.

The Dragon Heart has come of age and sets off with his Ulfheonar to fight the Saxons. A chance visit to a cave brings him face to face with his past and changes his life forever. Fighting both Saxons and Hibernians on land and on sea, he and his warriors conquer the land of Anglesey. Before they can enjoy the fruits of victory, they face an enemy from the past who returns to haunt them.

Sir Thomas, Hero of Arsuf, rides to war again! When a king asks a baron to go on crusade it is an order not a request and, as such, is not to be ignored. The Earl of Cleveland has done his duty for his King and for the Pope many times over but he and his son, William,are chosen as token gesture to placate an unhappy Pope. Leaving England with a handful of men and untried and young knights, the old campaigner travels across Europe to join a crusade which is going nowhere. In a land riven with conspiracies and plots on both sides, Sir Thomas is beset by enemies.

The Emperor Henry of the Holy Roman Empire is dying, and his wife, the Empress Matilda, is in danger from those who would use her to gain the title and the power. King Henry of England sends Alfraed of Norton to rescue her and avoid a war. With enemies from France, Flanders and the empire, as well as Norman traitors, the handful of Northern Knights have to fight across Europe and back. A fast-moving novel that moves from Germany to the Scottish borders in the turbulent times of the early 12th century, when friends could become foes overnight.

Will Strongstaff has achieved far more than he ever thought. He is a gentleman. He has land, a wife and children. Yet he is still a warrior. He still has an oath to honour. King Richard is now under the sway of the evil Earl of Oxford Robert de Vere. When the king’s cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, sends for Will to fight in Galicia for his father, John of Gaunt, then Will has to return to the world in which he grew up, the world of the hired sword. This time he not only has enemies on the battlefield but enemies closer to hand as murderers try to end the life of his new lord.

With the Empress Matilda about to marry the Count of Anjou, Alfraed is thrown into a world of intrigue and treachery as he tries to hold on to the north with depleted numbers of warriors. When he succeeds he finds that he is punished and sent to the east by King Henry and his family held hostage in the Tower of London. He finds himself embroiled in plots and campaigns there where he finally serves with his father's old comrades: the Varangian Guards. After a journey home which is fraught with danger he finally rescues his family and returns to his beloved castle.

When you live at the edge of the world with a volcano for a neighbour and bloodthirsty warriors who wish to end your existence then a voyage towards the edge of the world is possible. Seeking a new home for the Clan of the Fox, Erik the Navigator, with his younger brother and three companions, leaves Iceland for a land he does not know exists. In the smallest of ships, they face seas which would daunt any sailor, and they discover a new land. They find a home but one which is fraught with danger.

The journey of Erik the Viking is almost done but the Norns have not yet finished spinning and their webs threaten to engulf Erik, his family and his growing clan. He may be getting old, but Erik is still a force to be reckoned with and when others falter, the last Viking in the New World is there to steer the clan to safety. This is the last audiobook in the saga that has been the story of Erik the Navigator.

Sir John Hawkwood may be getting old but he is still as wily as a fox. Feared and revered in equal measure, one of the greatest military leaders the world has ever known is drawn once again into a territorial dispute, beginning at the Florentine borderlands. Leading a coalition of city-states, he strikes deep into the nest of Milanese vipers and their allies. Using the skills honed over a long and illustrious career, the English mercenary takes the war to the very gates of Milan, cementing his legacy as ‘Giovanni Acuto’—supreme condottiero.

King Æthelred was the worst King of England but, in his second son, Edmund Ironside, was a king in the mould of King Alfred. Prince Cnut has his own problems, for his brother refuses to share the crown of Denmark with him. It is Sven Saxon Sword, wielding Oathsword, who orchestrates the campaign that brings the Danish fleet to invade England. The oath he made on the sword is now a fetter, tethering him to the fate of Prince Cnut of Denmark.

Sent into exile once more, Don Rodrigo de Vivar has just Will Redbeard and two warriors for companions. Over the next years, he creates the legend of El Cid, defeating enemy after enemy. Fighting overwhelming odds, he succeeds every time until, at last, he has his fiefdom of Valencia. This is the final chronicle in the series and details the last 18 years of the life of the man known as El Cid. Although this is the last in the series, it is a standalone book. Forget the film and listen to the reality of the man who was the greatest knight of his age - some would say, any age!

Poitiers was in the past, but it changed the life of Sir John Hawkwood, for he gained his spurs and that was another step on his journey. Once he realised that he had more ambition than just to serve the king of England, he joined forces with Albert Sterz and formed a company of mercenaries who hired out their swords. Fighting for the king of England against Burgundy, they gained a reputation which made others both fear and hate them in equal measure.

In the unforgiving docklands of east London, young orphan William must do all he can to survive. Like the other ‘wharf rats', his life of petty crime is not a choice; it's a necessity. But William's misdeeds won't remain hidden for long. When the boy unknowingly steals from a murderous pirate captain, escape is his only option. He is forced to stow away and begin a life that will take him to the far side of the world; a life as a soldier of the East India Company.