Giles Kristian

Following his acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller, Lancelot, Giles Kristian's new novel returns us to the realms of Arthurian legend . . . Britain is a land riven by anarchy, slaughter, famine, filth and darkness. Its armies are destroyed, its heroes dead, or missing. Arthur and Lancelot fell in the last great battle and Merlin has not been these past ten years. But in a small, isolated monastery in the west of England, a young boy is suddenly plucked from his simple existence by the ageing warrior, Gawain. It seems he must come to terms with his legacy and fate as the son of the most celebrated yet most infamous of Arthur's warriors: Lancelot. For this is the story of Galahad, Lancelot’s son – the reluctant warrior who dared to keep the dream of Camelot alive . . .

For two years Osric has lived a simple life, apprentice to the mute old carpenter who took him in when others would have him cast out. But when Norsemen from across the sea burn his village they also destroy his new life, and Osric finds himself a prisoner of these warriors. Their chief, Sigurd the Lucky, believes the Norns have woven this strange boy's fate together with his own, and Osric begins to sense glorious purpose among this Fellowship of warriors. Immersed in the Norsemen's world and driven by their lust for adventure, Osric proves a natural warrior and forges a blood bond with Sigurd, who renames him Raven. But the Norsemen's world is a savage one, where loyalty is often repaid in blood and where a young man must become a killer to survive. When the Fellowship faces annihilation from ealdorman Ealdred of Wessex, Raven chooses a bloody and dangerous path, accepting the mission of raiding deep into hostile lands to steal a holy book from Coenwolf, King of Mercia. There he will find much more than the Holy Gospels of St Jerome. He will find Cynethryth, an English girl with a soul to match his own. And he will find betrayal at the hands of cruel men, some of whom he regarded as friends...

Bohemia. 1370. A lost soul named Galien leads a band of hardened mercenaries on a mission for Mother Church. But in the dark forests of central Europe, a darker secret awaits. Bestselling author Giles Kristian (Lancelot, The Raven Viking Trilogy) takes us on an unnerving ride into fear and paranoia, bloodshed and redemption.

An exclusive straight to digital short story which also includes the first chapter of Giles Kristian's God of Vengeance AD768, Avaldsnes, Norway Jarl Harald’s mead hall thrums with life. His people have gathered to feast on meat and mead and listen to the old tales. But the village skald, with all his talk of heroes and kings, will have to wait his turn. It is Harald himself who will hold them all spellbound this night. For the jarl has his own story to tell: a tale of adventure and courage. Of honour and of how friendship can be forged in fire and quenched in blood. It is a story of love, too. And of The Terror. Praise for Giles Kristian's most recent novel, GOD OF VENGEANCE: "Action-packed storytelling which stirs the blood and thrills the soul" (WILBUR SMITH) "Unrelenting pace, brilliant action and characters. A masterwork." (CONN IGGULDEN) "A glorious, bloody, perfect Viking saga, rich with the poetry of the skald, ripe with blood and glory, vengeance and heartbreak. The characters stride from the page, alive, hungry, real . . . this is Viking writing at its very best" (MANDA SCOTT) "This is the best kind of storytelling – a saga full of blood and thunder that grabs you and doesn’t let go until long after the final page is turned" (STEVEN PRESSFIELD) About the author: Family history (he is half Norwegian) and his storytelling hero, Bernard Cornwell, inspired Giles Kristian to write his first historical novels, the acclaimed and bestselling Raven Viking trilogy - Blood Eye, Sons of Thunder and Odin's Wolves. For his next series, he drew on a long-held fascination with the English Civil War.The Bleeding Land and Brothers' Fury follow the fortunes of a divided family against the complex and brutal backcloth of the conflict that tore this country apart and ended with the killing of a king. In his new novel - God of Vengeance - Giles returns to the world of the Vikings to tell of the origins of Sigurd and his celebrated fictional fellowship. Giles lives in Leicestershire. To find out more, visit www.gileskristian.com "I loved this. It’s for people who like their historical fiction high-octane . . .a superb, brutal story that pulls no punches" (ROBERT FABBRI)

They came from the North and fought their way through France and Spain. Now this fearless band of brothers sets sail for the greatest city in the world. Plunging through the living hell of Pope Leo’s shattered, perverted Rome, the dragon-faced ships of Sigurd the Lucky are manned by a strange and fearsome bearded Norse raiders who sacrifice their vanquished enemies to Odin, brave Greek warriors, a Moor, and an English monk. Among the Norsemen is Raven, a young man of uncertain parentage who is able—from the depths of his blood-spotted eye—to glimpse the future. Robbed of the woman he loves, Raven is destined to play a cunning role in the boldest of attacks. For the Vikings are on their way to glimmering Constantinople to put a deposed emperor back on his rightful throne—and claim the most magnificent prize of all. “ A masterly achievement. ” — Daily Express “A great tale that held me spellbound.”— New York Times  bestselling author Bernard Cornwell Praise for Giles Kristian’s Raven series “Storming, magnificent . . . one of the best Viking series of all time . . . This is tale-telling at its rip-roaring best.”—Manda Scott, author of  The Crystal Skull “An all-action adventure . . . beautifully told.”— Sunday Express

Years have passed since the clash of shieldwalls echoed across the land. The Saxons are now the lords of Britain. And yet the bards still sing of Arthur - 'In our darkest time, when we need him most, shall he come again.' Yet old Beran has no love of bards' songs. Nor of people, unless they are paying him to steal or kill. He is a mercenary, in the employ of the cutthroat Nabor ap Nabor, and he has been ordered to murder a boy fleeing a burning city. No ordinary boy either. No, this boy is the son of King Constantine and the grandson of High King Ambrosius. And he could be the hope of Britain . . . if he lives. Betraying his companions and returning to a world he thought he had left forever, Beran gives his word that he will take the boy to the one place that still holds out against the Camelot. Crossing a hostile land, they will meet the runaway lovers, Tristan and Isolde. They will seek the help of Guivret, called the Little King, and the Saracen, Palamedes, who once rode beneath Arthur's banner. Hunted by Saxons, Nabor ap Nabor, and Queen Morgana, this unlikely band must fight for their lives and for each other. For if there's to be any hope for Britain, Beran must deliver the boy to Camelot. But to do that, he must also face his own past . . .

Norway AD785. A land of petty kingdoms and ambitious men... When King Gorm betrays Jarl Harald and puts his family to the sword, he makes a terrible mistake. He fails to kill Harald's youngest son, Sigurd. Hunted by powerful men and hiding in a sacred fen, Sigurd believes the gods have turned their backs on his family. His kin are dead or captured. His village is attacked and its people taken as slaves. Honour is lost. Yet all men know that Ódin, whose name means frenzy, is drawn to chaos and bloodshed as a raven is to the slaughtered dead - and Sigurd means to spill blood. Alone but for a small band of loyal men including his red-bearded friend Svein, his father's right-hand man Olaf, and Asgot the godi, Sigurd hungers to avenge the murder of his family. In an attempt to catch Ódin's eye, the young man sacrifices himself - as the god once did - and it is during this ritual ordeal that Sigurd is shown a vision. The Wolf. The Bear. The Serpent. The Eagle. Sigurd will need all these and more if he is to become a man whom others will follow...and if he is to make kings pay in blood for their treachery. But the gods have spoken and Sigurd's quest begins. Using cunning and war-craft he must gather the fiercest warriors of the north - warriors such as Bram who men call Bear, Black Floki who is death with a blade, and the shield Maiden Valgerd, who brave men fear - and convince them to follow him. For whether or not Ódin is with him, Sigurd will have his vengeance and neither men nor the gods can stand in his way... Be assured that when the blood is flowing, the gods are watching...

The legions of Rome are a fading memory. Enemies stalk the fringes of Britain. And Uther Pendragon is dying. Into this fractured and uncertain world the boy is cast, a refugee from fire, murder and betrayal. An outsider whose only companions are a hateful hawk and memories of the lost. Yet he is gifted, and under the watchful eyes of Merlin and the Lady Nimue he will hone his talents and begin his journey to manhood. He will meet Guinevere, a wild, proud and beautiful girl, herself outcast because of her gift. And he will be dazzled by Arthur, a warrior who carries the hopes of a people like fire in the dark. But these are times of struggle and blood, when even friendship and love seem doomed to fail. The gods are vanishing beyond the reach of dreams. Treachery and jealousy rule men’s hearts and the fate of Britain itself rests on a sword’s edge. But the young renegade who left his home in Benoic with just a hunting bird and dreams of revenge is now a lord of war. He is a man loved and hated, admired and feared. A man forsaken but not forgotten. He is Lancelot. Set in a 5th century Britain besieged by invading bands of Saxons and Franks, Irish and Picts, Giles Kristian's epic new novel tells - through the warrior's own words - the story of Lancelot, that most celebrated of all King Arthur's knights. It is a story ready to be re-imagined for our times.