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The Serpent Sword (The Bernicia Chronicles Book 1) by [Matthew Harffy]

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Matthew Harffy

The Serpent Sword (The Bernicia Chronicles Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Matthew Harffy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,399 ratings

Book 1 of 8: The Bernicia Chronicles

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'HISTORICAL FICTION DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS' ANGUS DONALD

AD 633

Beobrand is a young man with a shadowy past. As an outsider in the kingdom of Bernicia, he is compelled to join his brother, Octa, as a warrior in the household of King Edwin. He must learn to fight with sword and shield to defend the war-ravaged kingdoms of Northumbria.

In a period of great upheaval for Dark Age Britain, all he finds is death and war. Men and women strive to seize control of their destinies in a time of despair, and the land is rife with danger as warlords vie for supremacy and dominion. Amongst the blood and the betrayals, Beobrand learns of his brother's near-certain murder. Inexperienced but ruthless, Beobrand must form his own allegiances and learn to fight as a warrior with sword and shield.

Driven by a desire for vengeance and a relentless pursuit of his enemies, he faces challenges which transform him from a boy to a man who stands strong in the clamour and gore of the shieldwall. As he closes in on his kin's slayer, can Beobrand mete out the retribution he craves without sacrificing his honour... or even his soul?

Praise for Matthew Harffy:

'Nothing less than superb ... The tale is fast paced and violence lurks on every page' Historical Novel Society

'Beobrand is the warrior to follow' David Gilman

'A tale that rings like sword song in the reader's mind' Giles Kristian

'A brilliant characterization of a difficult hero in a dangerous time. Excellent!' Christian Cameron

'A terrific novel. It illuminates the Dark Ages like a bolt of lightning' Toby Clements

'Battles, treachery, revenge and a healthy dose of Dark Age adventure' Simon Turney

'Matthew Harffy tells a great story' Joanna Hickson

'Harffy's writing just gets better and better ... He is really proving himself the rightful heir to Gemmell's crown' Jemahl Evans

'Harffy has a real winner on his hands ... A genuinely superb novel' Steven McKay

'A breathtaking novel that sweeps the reader into a dark and dangerous world' Paul Fraser Collard

Print length

347 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Head of Zeus -- an Aries Book
Publication date

June 1, 2016
File size

8601 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Matthew Harffy lived in Northumberland as a child and the area had a great impact on him. The rugged terrain, ruined castles and rocky coastline made it easy to imagine the past. Decades later, a documentary about Northumbria's Golden Age sowed the kernel of an idea for a series of historical fiction novels that became THE BERNICIA CHRONICLES.

Matthew has worked in the IT industry, where he spent all day writing and editing, just not the words that most interested him. Prior to that he worked in Spain as an English teacher and translator. He has co-authored seven published academic articles, ranging in topic from the ecological impact of mining to the construction of a marble pipe organ.

Matthew lives in Wiltshire, England, with his wife and their two daughters.

Matthew was the singer in Rock Dog.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"A stunning debut." —Manda Scott

“With strong, believable characters and plot, this is a remarkable debut novel.” —Historical Novels Review

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01DBZ51FO
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Head of Zeus -- an Aries Book (June 1, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 1, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 8601 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 347 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1508995702
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #41,188 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #7 in Medieval Military History
- #10 in 449-1066 History of UK
- #52 in General Great Britain Travel Guides

Customer Reviews:
1,399 ratings

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Matthew Harffy

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Matthew has worked in the IT industry, where he spent all day writing and editing, just not the words that most interested him. Prior to that he worked in Spain as an English teacher and translator. Matthew lives in Wiltshire, England, with his wife and their two daughters.

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Customer reviews

5 star		51%
4 star		37%
3 star		8%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Darian

Historial Fiction at its best

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2020

Verified Purchase

The Serpent Sword is, in my mind, a great piece of historical fiction that deserves the attention of every fan of the genre. Taking place smack-dab in middle of the middle of the European Dark Ages in early 7th century Great Britain, the author succeeds in transporting me to this chaotic and violent world, where warlords vied for supremacy and the people struggled to survive. Focusing on a likeable and complex main character, Beobrand of Cantware, I felt that the character developed a fleshed-out personality over the course of the story that made him feel like a real human being. With this debut novel, Matthew Harffy has shown an ability to weave together a story that can stand alone and as part of a saga. He joins my list of other favorite historical fiction authors such as Adrian Goldsworthy, Harry Sidebottom and Eleanor Cooney.

Rather than risk spoiling the story, I will list the pros and cons of this story below:

Pros
*Atmospheric and immersive writing

*Mostly fleshed out characters

*Riveting plot of revenge (if a little derivative)

*Good pacing

*Bloody action scenes (described in vivid detail)

*Attention to historical accuracy and detail

Cons

*Main character felt a little overpowered in his fighting ability

*Villain should have been more rounded out and less derivative, given a better motivation for their actions. It has been said that the greatest and most fascinating villains are those that you can understand and empathize with on some level.

8 people found this helpful

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Mara S. Hardy

The making of a warrior

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2016

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When I purchased this book I wasn't sure that it wouldn't be a Bernard Cornwell knockoff. Cornwell's Saxon Tales are a hard act to follow. The Serpent Sword is set several centuries earlier but the historical situation was very similar. Harffy introduces Beobrand, a farming boy who becomes unmoored and sets out to find his brother who has made a name as a warrior. Upon hearing that his brother is dead he becomes certain that it was murder. He vows to find the killer. Step by step he learns the ways of the warrior, under the tutelage of Hengest, a superb swordsman with a mercurial temperament. This book is both a coming of age story and a quest to find his brother's killer.
The book is well written. There is a lot going on, but there is no confusion. I was impressed by Harffy's knowledge of that era; it seems very well researched. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. The characters are well developed, not a single cardboard cutout among them.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was certainly worth taking a chance on. I have already preordered the next installment of the Bernicia Chronicles. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in England in the early Middle Ages.

36 people found this helpful

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Reader

Lovers of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Series need to read this!

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2015

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Any comparison to Bernard Cornwell's popular Saxon series intrigues me, and this book was no exception. I must admit that I picked it up a bit skeptically, wondering how in the world Matthew Harffy would pull it off -- there can only be on Uhtred of Bebbanburg after all, so how would he manage to keep me interested? I needn't have worried.

Just because I like a book doesn't automatically qualify it for 5 stars. But this book -- this book -- kept me coming back, hungry to read more, to find out what was next, and where the characters were going and how they were growing. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about reading it.

Beyond that, Harffy does several things with this book which led me to a 5 star review. First, his characters. Beobrand is young, hot-headed, and he makes so many mistakes. The plot doesn't hold back anything authentic -- there is violence and gore (some of which may be difficult for some readers to handle), but it's what happens to Beobrand that makes it significant to me -- he learns, he wrestles with what happens around him, he thinks about it, suffers through it, and it changes him in ways both good and bad. But it's all authentic, and I found myself cheering him on every step of the way.

Secondly, Harffy doesn't just write to progress the plot. He tells a story in a way that makes it feel like it's happening all around me as I read. Descriptive detail, language use, sentence structure, etc. all are polished throughout, even when a battle is raging. I felt hungry, thirsty, sick, injured, and tired whenever Beobrand was. I could feel the cold water splashing on my face as he washed in the early morning. Harffy writes in a way that invites us into the pages of the book.

I highly recommend this book to HF readers, to Bernard Cornwell fans, and to anyone wanting to learn more about a period of history often overlooked by modern readers. I eagerly await the next book and will be worried about Beobrand until it comes out!

24 people found this helpful

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Christopher

In Harffy, I've found another excellent author to follow!

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2017

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I was hesitant. Harffy is a new author to me and this was my first time committing to one of his novels. You all know how disappointing getting a bland or poorly written book is, right? Well, let me say that I'm really impressed with his writing style and story development. it's not all blood, guts, spears, and swords, although the realities of battle are appropriately covered. He makes characters very real and easy to recall from book to book. I love the realistic approach to people of the period. Some historical fiction writers focusing on medieval periods make all in their book seem either hateful inhuman brutes or cowering pawns on a chessboard. Harffy does a much better job at portraying characters as people truly behave. They love, they hate, get angry, experience remorse, seek vengeance, and seek forgiveness. Excellent job bringing out the humanity of the time that was likely much more true to the human experience. I've been and always will be a fan of Bernard Cornwell. but I have to say I think I enjoy Mr Harffy's writing a bit more, as the characters come through as more true to life and easier to buy in to as real. I'm on book #3 of this series, still enjoying the tales of his imperfect hero, Beobrand.

12 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Clive

UNSURE

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2020

Verified Purchase

Hmmmm, I'm really not sure about this book but, as I intend to buy the next in this series, perhaps my three-star rating is a little harsh.

Book seven in this series is centred on Bebbenburgh castle or, Bamburgh castle as it is today, just down the road from where I live so, as that tweaked my interest, I thought that I'd better start at the beginning of this series, with 'The Serpent Sword'.

Here's the problem; the story itself is pretty good, well constructed with rounded out characters and it moves along nicely, but the writing style leaves much to be desired and has the naivety of a young and inexperienced author. The poor writing style jars the whole story and I found myself, after the first couple of chapters, deciding that I'd flog through to the end but not buy any more from Mr Harffy. At that point, this wasn't a book that drew me back to it, keen to read the next thrilling installment; I was getting through it because I very, very, rarely fail to complete a book once I've started it.

Gradually, things changed. The story drew me in and it seemed to me that the writing style improved a little; it now felt as though it had been written by a sixteen year old rather than a twelve year old. When i reached the end, I was hooked on the story and I want to know what happens next so, on that basis, I'm prepared to give Mr H another chance and I'll buy the next in this series. If his writing improved over the course of one novel, then perhaps his next outing will show some further improvement.

So, on the basis that I do intend to read the next in this series, I wanted to give a three and a half star rating and, as you can see, I opted for three rather than four. Harsh but, hey, that's me!

6 people found this helpful

Martin Lake

Stunning and engrossing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

The Serpent Sword is a stunning book. I can’t recall when I read a book as engrossing and entertaining. It’s a gripping story told with style and verve.

This is an epic tale of men and women swept up by terrible events. The hand of fate lies heavy on them but they strive their utmost to seize and shape their destinies. In doing so they court disaster and despair. The novel is powered by an intricate interplay between character and plot, each driving the story forward with unstoppable momentum.

Matthew Harrfy creates a world of unforgettable characters. Beobrand is a young man forced to face terrible choices. Sometimes he chooses wisely, other times less well. His journey is one of pain and peril and kept me reading non-stop. His enemy, Hengist, is a masterly creation, complex, beguiling and utterly ruthless. Other characters, men and women, are drawn so well I almost felt I’d met them. I walked with them in the wilds of 7th century England.

The story moves at a fast pace, with one heart-stopping event followed hard on the heels by another. There’s no time to rest for the characters in the novel and no time for the reader to do so either. I read the book in one sitting. I went to bed thinking about it and woke up the same.

Matthew Harrfy is a master story-teller; the Serpent Sword a wonderful book. I can’t wait to read the sequels.

40 people found this helpful

Andy Whitley

Brilliant read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2020

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I have returned to this book after finishing the 6th in the series.
I feel a review is required in case anyone checks before reading. From the beginning I loved this book and the following ones. If you want adventure great fighting and wonderful descriptions through out these are the books for you.
I can't wait for number 7. Mathew Harffy has a great skill of story telling and within each book is a poetic descriptive phase which I read over and over it was that captivating. I won't reveal one as each person is different. But this writer has class.
I have read lots of these historical tales and can say, for me , these books are amongst the best.

5 people found this helpful

Best British historical series ever!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

I have bought 100s of books from Amazon but have never been compelled to write a review until now.
The Serpent Sword grabbed my attention from the start. I found it difficult to put down and sometimes my school marking suffered as a result of reading this book. The main character is believable and has to fight his way through every page of the book.
One of the best British historical series that I have come across. I am reading the third book now 'Blood and Blade' and it is every bit as good as the first one.
If you have an interested in the history of Britain in 600 AD start reading today - you will not regret it!

4 people found this helpful

JPS

Believable hero and story and meticulous research

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

I came across this book a bit by accident and, after reading some of the reviews on both of Amazon’s site (the UK and the US one), I decided to give it try and read a historical novel set in what he rapidly becoming a fashionable period: seventh century Britain. Others have already noted that the story told by Matthew Harfyy has been inspired by Bernard Cornwell’s hugely successful “Warrior Chronicles”. It is, however, also original in its own right and not set during the same period with the action taking place some 250 years before. The inspiration, in my view, mostly comes from Matthew Harffy’s methods and efforts in bringing together the main ingredients of a successful historical novel, those that I have mentioned in this review’s title.

First, the author has meticulously researched his topic. His historical note, although only five pages, is to the point regarding both the military retinues of major Saxon warlords and their equipment. Also accurate are the small numbers involved in what were the major “battles” of the time: a few hundred or, at most, a couple of thousand on each side. There were several reasons for this. One was that most of this battles occurred during raids and counter-raids, when one “King” attacked the lands of another to gather the loot and plunder that was necessary for him to reward his military followers as the “ring-giver” that he was supposed to be. Another, perhaps even more important, was about logistics and transport. With roads in a poor state and logistics very limited, keeping a large army in the field for more than a few weeks was an impossible task. Limited transportation capability was also the reason why early Anglo-Saxon Kings tended to move with their respective courts and following from one domain to another.

Another well designed feature is the interactions and relationships between the Anglo-Saxon warlord lord and the members of his trusted warband of retainers. These are described in a way that “looks and feel” realistic, with different levels of status and equipment. An interesting feature around which much of the novel is built is the relative rarity of hugely expensive good quality swords, with these, in addition to torques, rings of silver or gold but also armour and helmets, being among the main gifts and rewards that a King to bestow onto his followers.

Second, the characters are well-designed and their behaviours reflect what may have been those of the times. At the very least, they are plausible. The hero himself, one Beobrand from Kent who follows his brother to Northumbria and wants to become a warrior like him, is believable. He is subject to fear and unsure of himself, but he is also driven by vengeance and blood feud and experiences to battle rage. He survives his first battle and fights at least as much through luck than because of skill. He also gets “bashed about” and wounded and is far from being constantly successful and heroic. In, other words, he comes across as a gifted and brave warrior, but also as a believable human as opposed to some unbelievable “super hero”. Other characters and their human emotions are also well drawn, including the murderous and sadistic Hengist who has lost his way because of jealousy and envy or Strang, the huge, bitter, dour and brave smith, who is so afraid of losing his daughter after having lost his wife.

Third, there is the historical context. Here again, the author mostly scores high marks, even if he does “confess” to having distorted some events. For instance, it does not seem that Oswald was already in Bernicia and he was not holding Bebbanburg. It seems rather than he came from the west with a large following of Dal Riata warriors in addition to his and his brother’s own retinues of exiles. Together, they defeated Cadwallon, probably catching him by surprise, somewhere near to (or at) Hadrian’s Wall, but this will no doubt be for the next book. Another relative weakness is that the book essentially focuses on the last months of Edwin’s reign and does not show how he became the Bretwalda of Britain.

I can only highly recommend this rather superb read and will rate it five stars, despite my little grip above. Finally, and for those wanting to read more about this period, but something non-fictional, I can also warmly recommend “King of the North” by Max Adams, which is very readable, much more than only about Oswald and covers the whole period.

17 people found this helpful