This starts off all about Uthred, but not our Uthred, Uthred's Uthred! Seriously, this Saxon habit of naming their first born son after themselves can get a bit confusing! So the story starts with Uthred Snr still recovering from the wound he took at the end of 'The Pagan Lord' and his son Uthred Jnr is leading his war band for the time being. From there on it is all about outwitting those who want to take the crown on Mercia and to make sure Aethelflaed rises to rule. Though for some reason, her personality has completely changed and she's a bit of a cow to be honest now! Uthred(Snr) also has to try and recover and that is going to involve a bit of an adventure, but luckily he has Finan, Uthred(Jnr), Sithric and Osferth(sometimes) to lend him a hand and sword. Also, do not worry, he's still sowing his oats so to speak, he might be Aethelflaed's bit on the side with his own woman - Sigunn, who doesn't really get a look in this time but he's got a new lover as well. This man really doesn't know the meaning of fidelity! The other focus is his relationship with his daughter Stiorra and I feel that it a theme that's going to run and run from now on. I've enjoyed all eight of the books so far but this one really flowed well and had Uthred back to his irascible best! (

After a bit of a lull with previous titles in this never ending but enlightening Anglo-Saxon series, the super-hero, Uthred, (and increasingly his son) is (are) back with a better structured story based on the machinations of the Mercian dynasty and the defence of Chester against the Vikings. A subplot is a slightly dodgy quest to heal his wounds suffered in the battle at the end of the Pagan Lord. An output of this search is the inspired introduction of the Welsh dimension, in particular, the mysterious King Hywel. But dwarfed by this is the beginning of the rise of the Aethelflaed the leading lady of her era and her role in fighting the Danes. Uthred's objective to retake his birthright looks to be on hold for a while