Essex Dogs Series

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The nobility is presented as just as any regular army officer - i don't know if this was the way it was at that time.

Loveday and Romford, because they are given back stories and possess as a result a certain emotional complexity, are by far the most interesting and fully realized characters in the group, and, indeed, in the novel as a whole. He has a great grounding in politics and the events of 1346 in France on the Crecy campaign, but he's lacking the wider social view.

The main POV of Loveday in this sequence seemed very much an ordinary man’s view of combat and he breaks his hand in the fight. The sheer diversity of content in Essex Dogs is astounding, because it does not feel rushed or unbalanced. Then, as if lifted by the hand of the Lord, Loveday was up, grabbing his sword and heaving himself over the side of the pinnace, into the saltwater, losing his breath for a second time as the cold hit him and his clothes became heavy.

Similarly, the plot seemed to have little drive, and I do wonder if this is a series that’s meant to be read all at once, where the plot is one that covers three books, rather than each book having its own self-contained plot. Best known for swashbuckling narrative history like Crusaders and Powers and Thrones, Jones delivers his debut historical novel with this page-turning account of a band of hardened British soldiers deep in enemy territory during the Hundred Years War. Visceral and powerful, the reality of medieval warfare leaping from every page, it's gripping storytelling at its best. Readers who appreciate the camaraderie and brotherhood depicted in "Band of Brothers" may find themselves drawn to the relationships and interactions among the characters in "The Essex Dogs.By implicitly connecting these two very different events, nearly 600 years apart, and, in effect, turning the earlier invasion into a medieval version of D-Day, Jones adds extra drama and interest to the novel’s beginning but at the expense of historical accuracy, since chronicles of the time make clear that in 1346, unlike in 1944, the English troops took the beach unopposed. He also brings us wonderful characters with his ‘dogs’ – a tight-knit group of men who know how to fight but want to get home again in one piece. Globally bestselling historian Dan Jones makes his historical fiction debut with Essex Dogs, the explosive first instalment in an epic new trilogy set during the Hundred Years War. When Loveday had asked what Sir Robert - and the great lords and the king above him - knew as to how many Frenchmen might be minding the beach, with crossbows cocked and lances couched and their bollocks unsevered and hoping to keep them so, Sir Robert had waved airily at him and told him there would be plenty enough to make good sport.

A historical saga about a motley crew of English fighters making life miserable for the French during the early days of the Hundred Years’ War. He certainly gives Scotsman a run for his money when it comes to cursing with just about every utterance being peppered with the f-word and c-word. My thanks to NetGalley and, as ever, Head of Zeus for granting this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

He also shoe horns in events that sometimes could be removed and the novel wouldn't suffer at all for it, and occasionally, he needs to prove a point but they aren't woven into the narrative, just dumped there. You were a good little liar,” Udo later tells Nico, and delights in the prospect of breaking the boy’s spirit, which is more fun and a greater challenge than killing him outright. Character driven medieval fiction that engages us in a range of conflict as well as political intrigue. Either the author got bored/ ran out of steam or as I suspect an over zealous editor butchered the original manuscript. The sense of chaos and dirt and discomfort is brilliant, raw and rough, and captures an idea of the privations of being on campaign.