The Wayward Herald: Amazon Giveaway for Enoch’s Device!

For the next 72 hours, the kindle version of Enoch’s Device will be free on Amazon! Here’s what Marty Shaw of Reader Views said about the novel: “If you enjoy tales of magic and adventure that are perfectly blended with reality and history, ‘Enoch’s Device’ by Joseph Finley will be an exciting read for you.” Here’s a link to the book’s page on Amazon, followed by a cover image and brief summary.

 Nearly a thousand years after the birth of Christ, when all Europe fears that the world will soon end, an Irish monk, Brother Ciarán, discovers an ominous warning hidden in the illuminations of a religious tome. The cryptic prophecy speaks of Enoch’s device, an angelic weapon with the power to prevent the coming apocalypse.

Pursued by Frankish soldiers and supernatural forces, Ciarán and his freethinking mentor, Brother Dónall, journey to the heart of France in search of the device. There, they rescue the Lady Alais from a heretic-hunting bishop who insists mankind must suffer for its sins. Together the trio races across Europe to locate the device, which has left clues of its passage through history. But time is running out, and if they don’t find it soon, all that they love could perish at the End of Days.

Enoch’s Device is a fast-paced medieval adventure steeped in history, mythology, and mysteries from a dark and magical past.

Stephen Reynolds of SPR said "Enoch's Device is a wonderfully imagined, vividly described, alternately lyrical and violent romp of a novel that should give lovers of historical fantasy just the kind of fix they're looking for."

You can read more about Enoch’s Device in my interview with author Tyler Tichelaar here.

Update – 5/17/2013 – Thanks to everyone who has participated in the giveaway so far. As of 7:30 AM (ET) today, Enoch’s Device was #1 in the free Kindle store for Historical Fantasy in both the US and UK! A shout out to the websites and blogs that promoted the giveaway: It's Write Now, Free eBooks Daily, Flurries of Words, Awesome Gang, eBooks Habit, Super eBook Deals, Indie Book of the Day, Snicklist, Bargain eBook Hunter, Kindle Books and Tips, and One-Hundred Free Books. Thank you!

Book Review - Cornerstone: Raising Rook

I am taking a brief respite from my series on Medieval Fiction to review a wonderful new contemporary fantasy by author K.A. Krisko called Cornerstone: Raising Rook. While set in our day and age, there are distinct medieval elements to this novel and it was a nice change of pace from the pure historical fiction and historical fantasy that I usually read.

It has great cover art too!

I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book. It began as a quirky tale about an illustrator named Lorcas Felken who, years ago, received a cornerstone from some medieval castle as a birthday present from his father on the day he turned thirteen. The cornerstone, which had been transported from Eastern Europe to the U.S., sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean nearby his family’s summer cottage, which becomes Lorcas’ permanent residence after his relationship with his girlfriend falls apart and he needs a break from his everyday life. The story gets even stranger when he meets Zumar, a 600 year old ghost who was buried beneath the cornerstone back in the Middle Ages. The cornerstone turns out to be a sentient being called “Rook” that wants its castle rebuilt – and Lorcas discovers that he’s the person destined to rebuild it.

The story proceeds to introduce Lorcas to a host of other quirky characters who inhabit the cliffside town and, for reasons that are not immediately apparent, help him find the stones to start rebuilding the castle. The tension and conflict during this part of the story, which lasts about a quarter of the way through, is fairly light, and I was worried it might turn into a breezy little tale about a bunch of odd folks with little else to offer. But I stuck with it, and boy am I glad I did.

By the second quarter of the novel, the tension and conflict starts to really heat up. It becomes apparent that things may not be as they seem and possibly malevolent forces may be at work. There are a number of intriguing revelations as the story progresses, which I won’t spoil here, except to say that there are two factions at play in this book: one that wants the castle to be rebuilt and another that will do anything to prevent it from happening. One of the reasons this story works so well is that the author does a masterful job of keeping the reader guessing about which side is good and which is evil.

By the time I reached the novel’s midpoint, I felt as if I were reading a story by Stephen King or watching the TV show LOST when it was at its best, leaving everyone guessing about what the island really was and whether the Others were good or bad. I must say that the book ends in a way that begs for a sequel since, in my mind at least, I keep coming up with questions that need answers. But the story works well by itself and has more than enough to keep readers entertained. The fantasy elements are well done and they are a big part of the mystery that makes this novel a success. If there is a sequel, I’ll be buying it the day it comes out.

Book Review: Enemy of God

This novel is the second in Bernard Cornwell’s series The Warlord Chronicles. Its protagonist is still Derfel Cadarn, who is now near thirty years old and one of Arthur’s lords. The book begins immediately where The Winter King ended, after the battle among the British kings at Lugg Vale. Arthur is trying to keep the new peace among kings and protect the claim of a 5-year-old Mordred to the high king’s throne. The conflict begins, however, when Arthur arranges to wed the princess Ceinweyn – the women Derfel secretly loves – to Derfel’s enemy, Lancelot.



Arthur wants to strengthen his alliances among the British kings with the hope of uniting them against the invading Saxons, but Merlin has other plans. He is determined to find the lost Cauldron of Clyddno Eiddyn, one of the thirteen Treasures of Britain and a magical gift to the old Gods. Merlin fears the old gods will desert Britain and the land will be lost to Christianity; yet with the Cauldron, Merlin believes he can control the old gods and defeat the Christians. The Cauldron, however, lies in a land ruled by a ferocious Irish king, so Merlin needs warriors for his quest. To persuade Derfel and his men to join it, he gives Derfel a magic trinket with the power to prevent Ceinwyn’s and Lancelot’s marriage. But if Derfel uses it to win Ceinwyn’s love, all of Arthur's carefully constructed alliances may collapse.

Merlin’s obsession with the Cauldron, which comes to replace the story of the Holy Grail in Cornwell’s retelling of the Arthurian legend, is part of a larger conflict between the old pagan (Celtic) religion and the new Christian faith spreading across Britain – a well-portrayed theme in this series. This also provides some of the more thought provoking, and even disturbing, aspects of the story. For as whimsical and likeable as Merlin's character can be, his obsession with defeating Christianity and the things he's willing to do to achieve that goal can be troubling. Yet this was clearly one of Cornwell’s goals: to paint Marlin in distinct shades of gray instead of black or white.



Merlin’s quest for the Cauldron is only one part of the story, however. The rest concerns the growing threat of the Saxons, Camelot and the Round Table, and the love affairs and betrayals that are a hallmark of most Arthurian tales. Cornwell, however, puts a quite a twist on the latter aspect. This is not a story about a young, naive Guinevere falling for a chivalrous Sir Lancelot. No, Cornwell’s Guinevere is a fiercely strong and calculating woman, who, like Merlin, has her own plans in this novel, and the ramifications of those plans could decide the fate of Britain. This final element, in my view, makes Enemy of God as good as The Winter King, and it’s one of the reasons this book has stuck with me the longest of three in Cornwell’s masterful trilogy.



Book Review: 1356

I just finished Bernard Cornwell’s 1356, so I’m jumping ahead about nine centuries this week in my series on medieval fiction to allow for a review of yet another great work by one of my all-time favorite authors.

"Go with God, but fight like the Devil!"

1356 is the fourth book in Cornwell’s Grail Quest series set during The Hundred Years’ War. The series’ protagonist, the English archer Thomas of Hookton, is now a knight known throughout France as le Bâtard, the commander of a fierce band of English longbowmen called the Hellequin. Like the other books in this series, Thomas is set on a quest to find a religious artifact. This time it’s a sword called la Malice – the sword that Saint Peter used in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Black Friars are preaching that whoever possesses the sword will win the war between England and France, so Thomas’ lord, the earl of Northampton, sends Thomas and his Hellequin to find it before the French can.

One of the best things about Cornwell’s novels are the villains, and 1356 has a colorful cast of characters opposing Thomas’ quest. These include a thoroughly malevolent priest called Father Calade and Cardinal Bessières, one of the villains from Book 3 (Heretic) who believes finding la Malice will help him become the next pope. There is also an über chivalrous French knight named Roland de Verrec who becomes lured into the cardinal’s service, as well as Thomas’ old sidekick, the Scotsman Robbie Douglas, who now serves his uncle fighting alongside the king of France.

Genevieve, the heroine from Heretic, is now Thomas’ wife and the mother of their son, and those two characters play significant roles in the story, especially in the novel’s most intense scene set in a French castle. There is also a charming scene in the first third of the book where Thomas learns some key information about la Malice from an old nun who is also a former countess. Cornwell’s portrayal of the nun and her amusing dialogue reminded me why he remains my favorite author. This scene also offers clues to the minor religious mystery that’s embedded in the plot.

The famous battle of 1356 – the Battle of Poitiers, for which the book is named – is the setting for the novel’s climax, but the battle plays a lesser role in this story than in Cornwell’s Agincourt. Edward, the Black Prince of England, and King Jean le Bon of France are important supporting characters, and their battle at Poitiers is masterfully written, but the conflict between Thomas and the cardinal over la Malice dominates this story. Overall, 1356 is yet another great novel from Bernard Cornwell, and a worthy edition to one of his most engaging series. I highly recommend it!

The Wayward Herald: An Author’s Interview for Enoch’s Device!

This month, I gave my first author interview for Enoch’s Device. Author Tyler Tichelaar, who specializes in Arthurian fiction, conducted the interview, which was first posted on Reader Views. It is also being featured in a newsletter going out to readers today. I had a fun time with it. Tyler asked some great questions that allowed me to reveal a few little-known facts about Enoch’s Device. Here are some excerpts.



Tyler: Welcome, Joseph. It’s a pleasure to meet you. To begin, will you tell us a little about the basic premise of “Enoch’s Device”?

Joseph: It’s about two Irish monks, Brother Ciarán and his mentor, Brother Dónall, who are trying to prevent the apocalypse at the end of the Tenth Century. Their quest is driven by a cryptic prophecy that speaks to the End of Days and an artifact called Enoch’s device, which might have the power to prevent the apocalypse. Their journey leads them to a French village whose deceased lord and widowed lady have some mysterious connection to the device. There, they end up rescuing the lady Alais from a heretic hunting bishop, but are pursued by the bishop and seemingly supernatural forces as they race across Europe to locate the device before it’s too late.

* * *

Tyler: Are you able to tell us just what the device is, or is that part of the mystery?

Joseph: I can’t say too much without revealing some huge spoilers, but one of the novel’s central mysteries centers around the questions: what is Enoch’s device? And where is it? Early on in the story, it’s revealed that the device is an ancient weapon with the power to prevent the apocalypse. The device has left clues of its passage through history, yet discovering exactly what the device is, and how it has influenced history, is a puzzle that both the characters and the reader must solve.

Tyler: Why the name Enoch? Who is Enoch in your story?

Joseph: Enoch is a reference to the biblical Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. He is also the namesake of the Book of Enoch, an apocryphal text that features prominently in the novel. In fact, buried in that text is a reference to Enoch’s device. The Book of Enoch was actually well known to first-century Jews, but then it all but disappeared for more than a thousand years until it was rediscovered in 1773 by the Scottish explorer James Bruce during his travels in Ethiopia. Incidentally, a copy of the Book of Enoch was also discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Tyler: For readers who may not know, can you tell us what is significant about Enoch in the Bible, and also, what is significant about the Book of Enoch?

Joseph: In the Bible, Enoch is very close to God. The book of Genesis says that Enoch walked with God until God took him, which many believe means that Enoch never died and was literally carried to heaven. The significance of the Book of Enoch is that it tells the whole story behind Genesis 6:1-4, where the “Sons of God”—who were angels—saw that the “daughters of men” were fair and took them as wives on earth, giving rise to the race of Nephilim. These events lead to the wickedness that convinces God to use the Great Flood to wipe out creation. The Book of Enoch goes into far more detail, explaining how the fallen angels taught men sorcery and revealed to them the eternal secrets before God dispatched the archangels Michael, Uriel, and Raphael to deal with the problem.

* * *

Tyler: The story takes place largely in Ireland and France. Why did you choose those countries as your setting?

Joseph: A good number of my ancestors were Irish, so when it came time to find a home for my two heroic monks, Ireland was the natural fit. Also, in doing research for the book, I read Thomas Cahill’s “How the Irish Saved Civilization,” which further inspired me to make the two heroes of the novel Irish. As for France, a lot of the mysteries in the novel, including the cryptic prophecy, involve the writings of one of the paladins of Charlemagne named Maugis d’Aygremont. As a result, a good deal of the adventure takes place in France, but there’s also a portion of the novel set in Moorish Spain, so I’ve always viewed the characters’ journey as spanning much of Western Europe.

Tyler: Can you tell us more about Maugis d’Aygremont? Are his writings real or did you make them up?

Joseph: Maugis d’Aygremont was one of the legendary paladins of Charlemagne, although I’ve not seen any evidence from the eighth or ninth centuries that he actually existed. That said, he is a major character in the French “chansons de geste” written in the twelfth century. In those stories he’s like a younger version of Merlin, although he’s also a belted knight who adventures alongside Roland and the other paladins. So Maugis, like most of the paladins of Charlemagne, is similar to one of the Knights of the Round Table. He is historical in a legendary sense, but may not have been real. As for Maugis’ writings, the “chansons de geste” are filled with references to his book of spells, which, according to one story, he learned from a Fae (or fairy) named Orionde. This spellbook inspired the Book of Maugis d’Aygremont in “Enoch’s Device.”

Tyler: What can you tell us about the fairies in the novel without giving away too much?

Joseph: In the novel they’re called the Fae and they are the same mysterious figures from many of the Celtic legends. The twist is that in “Enoch’s Device” these beings are actually fallen angels who received clemency following the war in heaven and were allowed to remain on earth instead of being imprisoned in the underworld. The story of these fallen angels is a central topic of the Book of Enoch and is even hinted at in the Book of Genesis. One of the monks in “Enoch’s Device” theorizes that this story became the origin of various legends and myths about the Fae and the pagan gods. The Fae of “Enoch’s Device” have largely faded from the world, but they left behind some of their arcane secrets and entrusted a few of them to the paladins of Charlemagne.

You can read the whole interview here. You can also read more by Tyler’s writing at his website, Children of Arthur.

Book Review: The Winter King

The Winter King is the first book in Bernard Cornwell’s masterful retelling of Arthurian legend. From the very first chapter, it is evident that Cornwell’s version would be different from many tales of Arthur. The narrator, for example, is the little-known Derfel Cadarn, writing his story as a monk in a small monastery to Igraine, the queen of Powys. Derfel is an interesting character: an enslaved Saxon boy who becomes a ward of Merlin at Avalon and matures into a formidable warrior over the course of the novel. And, in typical and brilliant Cornwell fashion, he is based on the real world Saint Derfel, whom local legends held was one of Arthur’s knights.



The story begins in the year 480 with the birth of the grandson of Uther Pendragon, High King of Britain. With the birth going badly, Uther sends a teenage Derfel to fetch Morgan, one Merlin’s priestesses, much to the concern of the mother and her Christian clerics. Using her witchcraft, Morgan saves the mother and her child, who turns out to be Mordred, just the first of many twists in this tale. The Arthur of this story is still Morgan’s brother, but both he and she are Uther’s bastards, which is why Arthur holds no claim to the throne. But when Uther dies with Mordred still a child, rival British lords vie to become high king and only Arthur, as the Warlord of Britain, can save Mordred’s kingdom.

Cornwell’s Arthur is a larger than life hero, which is one reasons, I believe, Cornwell did not make him a viewpoint character and instead chose to tell the whole story from Derfel’s perspective. Arthur is also a conflicted and complex man. As his mistress sadly tells Derfel, Arthur’s soul “is a chariot drawn by two horses; ambition and conscience, but I tell you, Derfel, the horse of ambition is in the right-hand harness and it will always outpull the other.”

A number of other characters from Arthurian legend feature prominently in the novel. Galahad, whom Derfel encounters in Brittany, is Lancelot’s half-brother and becomes Derfel’s most loyal friend. Nimue (aka Viviane, the Lady of the Lake) is an Irish girl who Merlin believes is blessed by the Celtic gods, and he takes her as his lover. She is also Derfel’s companion during their childhood at Avalon, and their relationship plays a key role throughout the series. Merlin is masterfully portrayed and keeps many of the classic characteristics of the wily wizard of legend. But he is also a druid consumed with saving the land by restoring the power of the old gods and recovering the mythical thirteen treasures of Britain (Excalibur is one of them, and the “grail” (here, a Celtic cauldron) is another). Guinevere is a strong and charismatic woman who steals Arthur’s heart, and their love affair leads to a major conflict in the novel. And, in yet another twist, the Lancelot of this story is never Arthur’s friend, but rather Derfel’s rival.

The book features a good number of combat scenes, including some full-scale battles, and as always Cornwell excels at these. There is also a healthy degree of conflict, tension, and intrigue throughout the novel. But it is Cornwell’s portrayal of the many Arthurian characters that shines the brightest, making this novel the perfect beginning to one of his greatest series and a “must read” for anyone interested in medieval fiction.



You can read more about Arthurian fiction in my posts about The Age of Arthur and Who Was King Arthur? Also, if you want to read the opening passage of The Winter King, which is truly magnificent, you can check it out here.

Medieval Fiction: The Late Fifth Century & The Age of Arthur

Medieval fiction set in the late Fifth Century is largely of the Arthurian variety, as I noted last week in my post titled Who Was King Arthur? Many scholars believe that Arthur (assuming he really existed) would have lived during the last decades of the Fifth Century and the early Sixth Century. Saint Bede (a real world English monk) places the Battle of Badon – a classic conflict in Arthurian legend – between the years 493 and 500, so this time frame for Arthur’s life seems fairly spot on.



I could devote the next three months to fiction about King Arthur and probably barely scratch the surface given its ever-expanding volume, so I'm going to limit this post to my two favorite works of Arthurian fiction.

The first would be Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon. Bradley tells the story from the viewpoint of the women of Arthurian legend, most notably Morgaine (known in other tales as Morgan le Fay). Viviane (aka the Lady of the Lake and Nimue in some stories) also features prominently, as does Igraine and Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), while Arthur, Lancelot, and his knights are more supporting characters in this novel. The story covers all the classic elements of the Arthurian legend, including Excalibur, Camelot, Mordred, and the Holy Grail, set amid the growing tension between the old pagan religion and the new Christian faith.

The old pagan way, which is portrayed as a Celtic religion involving an earth-mother goddess, is the faith under which Morgaine and her brother Arthur were raised, and which Morgaine and Viviane practice on the mystical isle of Avalon. Meanwhile, the Christian faith, spread by priests and bishops, is growing throughout Britain and grabs hold of Gwenhwyfar, which leads to conflict between her and Morgaine. The love triangle between Arthur, Gwenhwyfar, and Lancelot is particularly well done in The Mists of Avalon, as is the union between Morgaine and her brother that produces Mordred. Bradley’s telling of the Arthurian legend has stuck with me for a long time, and remained my favorite until ...



I read Bernard Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles. Cornwell’s retelling is more rooted in history than fantasy. The series, consisting of The Winter King, Enemy of God, and Excalibur, is told through the viewpoint of Derfel Cadarn, a character based on Saint Derfel of Wales, a Christian monk who legend holds was one of Arthur’s knights before taking his holy vows. Cornwell’s Arthur is a larger-than-life character who is the bastard son of Uther Pendragon. He never becomes king, but serves as the Warlord of Britain who battles both rival British lords and Saxon invaders. Morgaine is a minor figure in this tale, but Nimue and Guinevere play more significant roles. The Merlin of this series is one of its most special characters, bearing a close resemblance to the Merlin of legend, but with a strong druidic bent that has him more focused on restoring the power of the old gods than mentoring Arthur to rule Briton.

Several other well-known Arthurian tales remain on my to-read list, including Mary Stewart’s The Merlin Trilogy and Stephen R. Lawhead’s The Pendragon Cycle. There are also classic tales, such a T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, along with so many other takes on the story that it has spawned its own subgenre called Arthurian Fiction.



Arthur, however, was not the only legend of the late Fifth Century. Across the Irish Sea there lived a Romazined Briton who was enslaved by the Irish and would live to become their greatest saint: Saint Patrick. In fact, Cornwell, in Enemy of God, has a great exchange between Derfel and another character about Patrick (Padraig) in Ireland:

Oengus laughed. ‘Have to keep them busy, Derfel, you know that. ... Ireland’s going Christian!’ he spat. ‘Some interfering Briton called Padraig turned them into milksops. ... He preached to them with a clover leaf! Can you imagine that? Conquering Ireland with a clover leaf? No wonder all the decent warriors are coming to me, but what can I do with them?’

‘Send them to kill Padraig?’ I suggested.

The best novel I’ve read on Patrick’s life is Stephen R. Lawhead’s Patrick: Son of Ireland. Large portions of this novel take place outside of Ireland and concern the retreat of the Romans from Britain and the defeat of the Romans at the hands of German barbarians. Part of the book even takes place in a crumbling, plague-infected Rome, painting a grim picture of the once magnificent city after its fall. You can read my review of Patrick: Son of Ireland here.

Meanwhile, across the Channel, and with the Romans in full retreat, Clovis I was uniting all the Frankish tribes under one ruler to establish the Merovingian Dynasty. The Merovingians have become popular of late thanks to books like The Da Vinci Code, and who can forget the devilish character named the "Merovingian" in The Matrix Reloaded? But I have yet to identify any good novels on the subject of Clovis and his Merovingians. Perhaps this is fertile ground for writers of historical fiction!

Clovis I leading the Franks to victory!

If you want  to read more about things Arthurian from folks who know a lot more about it than I do, check out writer Leslie Hedrick’s blog or a blog I recently discovered from author Tyler Tichelaar called Children of Arthur. And, until my next installment in this series, which will move into the Sixth Century, let me know if you have a favorite novel about Arthur – or any good novels about Clovis and the Merovingians!