Gisborne: Book of Knights…

The cover for the second book in The Gisborne Saga was launched this week.

GISBORNE_BookofKnights_AvailableJuly

 I was always a fan of the BBC’s Robin Hood and after they had brought Gisborne to his ugly demise, I wondered what would have happened to him had his cards fallen another way. The idea took shape and I decided to write about a different Guy of Gisborne entirely, far from the original canon of the Robin Hood legend. Despite the fact that the saga is still situated within the twelfth century, there is no Robin Hood in the story, no Maid Marian and no Sheriff of Nottingham. It was a risk, but with the support of readers, it is gaining traction. The interest of members of the Armitage Army – a phenomenal group of Richard Armitage fans – has been a huge motivation because they firmly hold the view that Gisborne is ‘So Not Dead’!

This saga is the narration of a subtle love affair and the growth of two maladjusted protagonists in a pre-war (Third Crusade) circumstance and I hope readers will come to love the characters as much as I do.

GISBORNE_SagaCovers

You may ask what’s Book Two about?

Big breath:

 “Lady Ysabel De Courcey thought that if she had been a trobairitz, she might have written a song about herself – her courage in the face of adversity that would have had the men and women in any noble hall sighing and crying as they listened. Now the denouement of the ballad is beginning. Ysabel races across the waters of the Middle Sea to deliver vital intelligence to Sir Guy of Gisborne on the eve of the Third Crusade. And to tell him she values his love above all else and that she will stand back to back with him in a vengeful battle that could threaten their lives.”

GisbornePawns_COVER

I’ve been asked often what other stories I would compare this saga with and my answer is a little glib but there is a reason for that, as I explain further down.

Possibly a small touch of Dorothy Dunnett with the enigmatic nature of the characters, a soupçon of Posie Graeme Evans for the highly visual and sensory nature of the narrative, a tiny smidge of Sharon Penman with the firm emphasis on the twelfth century and maybe a swadge of Angus Donald’s Robin Hood Chronicles for its freshness … but without the bloody bits.’

But I always believe it’s nice for a story to stand on its own merits and not be compared to another writer’s and in the end I hope it’s the reader who might make the comparison anyway.

 And what a thrill! Book One has just got through to Stage Three of the Judging for this:

2012_RONE_Finalist(Historical - Pre Medieval) - 300

 

KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR THE LAUNCH OF GISBORNE: BOOK OF KNIGHTS IN JULY,

and in the meantime:

 Gisborne: Book of Pawns is being offered at a special ‘pre-release of Book Two’ price:

http://amzn.to/zRLHyc

 http://amzn.to/XX2ier

 http://bit.ly/156MlsK