Hey everyone! We’re running a giveaway for some advance copies of Dragonslayer over on Goodreads at the moment. If you want to get your hands on a copy in advance of release, this is a good way to try! You can find the giveaway entry page here:
My Christmas viewing revolved around a few box sets and some stuff on Netflix. First off was an A/B session of ‘Borgia’ and ‘The Borgias’. Coming to the European-made Borgia from the US-made The Borgias was a bit jarring, and initially I wasn’t at all impressed with the former. I like Jeremy Irons as an actor, and think he’s one of those actors who has gravitas to burn. However, after a few episodes, I thought John Doman—despite an American accent I gather a great many viewers were put off by—was far better suited to the role of Rodrigo Borgia/Pope Alexander VI. As my esteem for him grew, so to did my opinion of Borgia as a whole.
The supporting cast were excellent, if they can be called that. Any of the major parts, from Cesare and Lucrezia to Alessandro and Giulia Farnese, could be considered leading players. Across the board, I thought the actors in Borgia were far stronger, and far better suited to the parts they played.
Both shows portrayed the period well, although once again I felt Borgia got it a bit closer to the mark. I like watching shows like this in an attempt to immerse myself into that atmosphere, as it is, broadly speaking, the period that the Middle Sea world is set in at the time of The Tattered Banner and The First Blade of Ostia. My inspiration files for weapons, clothes, and architecture are filled with pictures of things from the 1450-1650 period.
Overall, I think both series are worth watching, but if you only have time for one, I’d go with Borgia. This is the area of history that most interests me, and I can definitely see myself watching Borgia again in the not too distant future.
I also watched the new Netflix show ‘Marco Polo’ which I really enjoyed. We go from an area of history that I know quite a bit about, to one I know very little about. I’ve not made anything more than a cursory reading of Asian and Mongol history, which is something I’m going to have to rectify this year, as it really is fascinating. A very good show, with solid acting across the board—I thought Benedict Wong playing Kublai Khan was particularly excellent—and one which I’m eagerly anticipating the second season of.
I have the first season of the recent BBC version of The Three Musketeers next in the queue, which I’m looking forward to. I’ve mentioned before I think that The Three Musketeers is one of my favourite stories, so I’m interested to see what they do with it. From the bits I’ve seen, it looks pretty encouraging.
As a reminder, there are still signed copies of The First Blade of Ostia up to be won over on Goodreads. You can enter the competition by clicking here.
Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and is having a very happy new year!
The First Blade of Ostia is now available in paperback. I recently received my proofs and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turned out. Of my covers so far, I think this one is my favourite.
As usual, I’ve included the paperback in Amazon’s matchbook program, which means if you buy the paperback, you get the Kindle version for free.
To mark the arrival of the paperback, I’m also running a giveaway over on Goodreads to win a signed copy. You can enter it here.
Don’t forget there’s still a giveaway running for signed copies of The Tattered Banner, which you can enter here.
Otherwise, I hope everyone is all set for Christmas, and you all have a really great holiday!
I’m holding a summer giveaway for 2 signed copies of The Tattered Banner. The contest is open now, and ends on the 14th of July. You can enter by clicking here, or on the Goodreads image above!
I have a giveaway running over on Goodreads for my last 2 ARC paperback copies of the The Tattered Banner. As usual they will be signed.
The competition runs until 7 May, and you can enter it here.
The Goodreads giveaway for 2 signed copies of The Tattered Banner is now live and can be found by clicking on the image above or here. It runs for one week and is available worldwide.
The Tattered Banner is now also available for Kindle on Amazon, in the US, the UK, Canada, Japan and other international Amazon sites.
The Tattered Banner will be available on Kindle from Amazon from tomorrow. Be sure to get yourself a copy before it sells out! (oh, wait…)
To coincide with the Kindle launch, I am giving away two more signed copies of the book over on Goodreads. I’ll post the link when it goes live!
There are two copies of The Tattered Banner available to be won in a giveaway over on Goodreads, which can be found here.
I’ll even break with my usual policy of never marking a book and sign them for the winners, if they so desire!
In other news, the Kindle edition is still in the works, and should be available by the end of the month.