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Every week, for the next six weeks, I will be giving away one of my shorter books on Amazon, starting on 30th May 2025. The giveaways will run from Friday to Tuesday. The purpose of the giveaway is to get my name out there and to advertise my forthcoming release of Halfdan of Jorvik. So please take a look at the back matter. Scroll down to see the latest free books. If you miss any of the offers and want to read the book, just email me at BoothamBooks@proton.me.
First up, on 30th May, is Cyra, the Byzantine Siren.
William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and Lord of Conisbrough Castle, is filled with zeal to free the Holy City from the depredations of the Infidel, but when passing through Constantinople, he is distracted from his quest by a willowy Greek dancing girl named Cyra.
From 5th June is The Frisian Slaughter
When a brutal Frisian raid destroys young Hengest's village and slaughters his kin, he swears a solemn oath: to avenge the blood spilled and make the Frisians pay. Hengest grows into a fierce warrior, carrying his hatred like a sword at his side. But vengeance breeds vengeance, and the blood feud he begins will not be easily ended. As war rages across the northern seas and loyalties are tested, Hengest must choose between conflicting demands of loyalty and honour.
The pentalogy of which this book is a part, is a prose version of the “verse-novel-saga”, English Morn, the first edition of which was published as Angleland in 2010. The poem grew bit by bit until, by 2012 it was a book-length narrative poem telling the story of England’s founding father, Hengest. This prose retelling follows the text of English Morn closely. A much freer and much longer version, with many additional characters and incidents, can be found in my “masterpiece” pentalogy, English Dawn, which runs to 268,000 words. The books of The Englaland Pentalogy are: Book 1: The Frisian Slaughter, Book 2: Martial Master, Book 3: War-Keels, Book 4: Soldier of Christ, Book 5: Dragons of Doom.
The rest of the pentalogy will be posted in the next few weeks.
From 12th June is Martial Master
Attila. The devil made flesh. A savage, a warlord, a king. He killed his own brother to seize the kingship of Hungvar. That tale alone made Rome tremble. But one man stands up to him—Waldere, master of Nordic martial arts and possessor of the fabled sword, Mimming. When Waldere escapes, Attila sends 12 of his finest warriors to bring him back, dead or alive. Will his martial skills enable him to survive?
My first book about the Anglo-Saxon master of martial arts, Waldere, was written in 2012, and was an attempt to put the surviving Waldere fragments in context but integrating them into a Latin version of the poem known as Waltharius. A free copy of that book can be found here.
Waldere is also the subject of Book II, Warrior, in my "masterpiece" pentalogy, English Dawn.
From 19th June is War-Keels (NOTE: I was away on the 19th and forgot to make the free offer, so it will be available from 26th June)
The third volume in the Englaland Pentalogy, this instalment brings to life the fierce struggle for Britain in the 5th century, as the Anglo-Saxon tribes carve out new kingdoms from the ruins of Rome. It is a tale of conquest, settlement, and the birth of a new nation.
This book originated as a verse narrative in English Morn, which had a more humorous tone, for example, this stanza about Hengest's voyage acroos the North Sea:
It wasn’t like P&O Ferries:
there was no hot meal or a bunk,
or a cabaret bar or a disco –
but men in those days had more spunk.
Or this, describing Hengest's arrival in Britannia:
Though not pleasant to face an armed warrior,
at least, then, you didn’t have to queue
and be harassed and searched and pay duty,
and there was no paperwork to do.
Instead, I tried to keep the tone elevated, as befits a pentalogy about such epoch-mkaing events.
The pentalogy is now available in audio-book format, War Keels is here.
Next week, from 3rd July, I will be giving the Englaland Pentalogy a rest (coming back to it later) and giving away 1317 - a novella about the siege of Conisbrough Castle.
England, 1317. As baronial unrest simmers beneath the crown's uneasy peace, a scandal erupts that threatens to ignite open war. Alice de Laci—heiress to vast northern lands and wife of the powerful rebel Thomas of Lancaster—is abducted under mysterious circumstances by William de Warenne, a loyalist with ambitions of his own. Furious and humiliated, Lancaster leads his army to Conisbrough Castle determined to reclaim his wife—and his honour.
This novella was later developed into a full-length novel, entitled The Squire and the Lady.
Both the novella and the novel are available in audio-book format.
From 10th July, I will be returning to the Englaland Pentalogy, with a free offer of Book 4, Soldier of Christ.
Germanus, Bishop of Autissiodorum, is sent to Britannia, to fight heresy and heathenism. Even the Britons are divided, between the former king, Vortigern and the new King, his son, Vortimer, who has usurped him. Somehow, Germanus has to unite Britannia's warring factions before he can even begin the task he was sent for. But powerful forces are ranged against him - invading Scots from Ierne, and, most powerful of all, Hengest, the Angle warlord who is striving to build a new kingdom, Englaland, in the ruins of Britannia.
Don't worry, it's not too "pi" -- is that word still a thing? (it means "pious"), for, as well as priests, prayers and miracles, there is plenty of fighting, and even some (tasteful) erotic interest (provided by Rowena and her maid, Mildreth).
From 17th of July, Blood and Slaughter and Cannel's Daughter will be on free offer.
This is the story of a feud which began in the time of Edward the Confessor and continued into the 1350’s and beyond. It begins when Wilfrid Elland gives hospitality to a young Norman by the name of Hugh d’Eckerslée. Hugh is much taken by Wilfrid's beautiful young wife, Edith, and seduces her. A duel, a death – and a long-running feud are the consequences.
Blood and guts again, but it includes a tragic romance between a youth called Lockwood and Cannel's daughter, Aline.
I wrote this in 2014, most of it on a long train journey, cross country (very slow, stopping at every station), from York to Oxford. Even now, when I re-read this book, I can picture my window-seat and table and the views out of the window.
From 22nd July Dragons of Doom is available free for 5 days.
When Vortigern's tower crumbles and two dragons rise from the depths—one red, one white—only Merlin can uncover their meaning. Summoned to make sense of the omen, he reveals a vision of Britain's fate: the Red Dragon of the Britons locked in deadly struggle with the White Dragon of the Saxons. Though Merlin banishes the beasts, their battle spills into the world of men. Now, as Aurelius marches under the Red Dragon and Hengest rallies his warbands beneath the White, the ancient prophecy begins to unfold. Which dragon will triumph—and at what cost to the land as they fight it out?
Book 4 in the Pentalogy didn't do very well, with 0 (ZERO) downloads! Is it because it is about a man who became a saint? Despite that, there are some steamy sex scenes, and some gory battles, one of which included a naked shieldmaiden. It just goes to show: don't judge a book by its cover (or title)!
If saints are seen as boring, dragons are popular (witness the huge number of Fantasy novels out there), so perhaps this book will get a few more downloads.
From 1st August, Serpent Well is available free for 5 days.
When a monstrous worm begins terrorising the countryside—devouring poachers, knights, and sinners alike—fear grips the town. With nobles fleeing and crusading lords absent, hope falls to an unlikely hero: Tom, a humble blacksmith's apprentice with dreams of glory, helped by a dog named Toby.
From drunken monks and gossiping townsfolk to chivalric tragedy and comic misadventure, this richly woven tale follows Robert's journey from forge to fame, through peril, heartbreak, and one unforgettable fight with a legendary beast.
A riotous reimagining of Yorkshire folklore, Serpent Well is a story of courage, cunning, and the kind of loyalty that only comes on four legs.
I am particularly fond of this story as it is based on a legend of my home town, Conisbrough, and I have several of the characters speaking the local dialect (now sadly dying out). As a bonus, I am also making the 2012 version available, though — be warned! — this version is a narrative poem.
From 7th August, Allan-A-Dale and Adela is available free for 5 days.
This story of amour courtois, senile lust, and true love is based on the ballad of Robin Hood and Allan-a-Dale. I have given it a Conisbrough setting at a specific date in history, 1190, one year after King Richard I left England to go on crusade, leaving his brother John to wreak havoc with the kingdom, and with the heart of his mistress, Adela, at Conisbrough Castle. Deserted by her royal lover, Adela makes a play for Allan-a-Dale, putting his life in jeopardy.
Allan-a-Dale visits Conisbrough Castle and Adela takes a fancy to him. To make matters worse, Allan falls in love with her sister Ela - a complicated love triangle which imperils Allan's life.
Of all my Conisbrough books, I like this one the best because of the way I managed to merge a traditional ballad of Robin Hood with history and storytelling. However, at 109 pages, it is only a novella, so I plan to write a Part 2, based on “The King’s Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood” (Child 151), also blended with history and storytelling, and with Allan and Ela still in the lead roles.
The cover, by the way, is the original version (not the one now on Amazon) and features an old painting of a lutanist superimposed on a photograph of the great hall of the castle keep.
From 16th Oct for 5 days: The Skeleton Viking
When struggling novelist Arthur Roberts retreats to a windswept cottage on the Yorkshire moors, he hopes for solitude, silence, and maybe—finally—a new idea. What he doesn't expect is the sudden appearance of Skeggvard, a long-dead Viking warrior with a story to tell: one of love and war, forgotten gods, and a journey that ends not in death, but in bones that will not rest.
Night after night, the ghost appears by the hearth, recounting his grim saga. But is Skeggvard truly a revenant, or just a fevered figment of Arthur's imagination—conjured from whiskey fumes, isolation, and desperation?
As the line between fiction and madness begins to blur, Arthur must decide: is this tale—whether spectral or self-made—the one that could resurrect his dying career… or destroy what's left of his mind?
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