

A perfect end to the novel would have been the death of such a stable monarch. It was told in all the detail is should have been. The first three hundred pages or so depicted the final days of Edward IV’s reign. Poor editorial decisions have ruined what could have been a strong ending to an otherwise strong series. I read this book a year ago and it annoyed me so much at the time that I’m only just now bothering to write a review for it. If you’ve read my books, you know an awful lot about the way I think already. If you’d like to get in touch with me leave a comment in the forum or you can tweet me I’ll leave it there for the moment. I suppose the one thing that links all those is the love of a good tale.

I love just about anything by David Gemmell, or Peter F. I still remember the sheer joy of reading my first Patrick O’Brian book and discovering there were nineteen more in the series. I’ve always loved historical fiction as a genre and cut my teeth on Hornblower and Tai-Pan, Flashman, Sharpe and Jack Aubrey. My father loved working with wood and equations, but he also recited ‘Vitai Lampada’ with a gleam in his eye and that matters, frankly. Though it seems a dated idea now, I began teaching when boys were told only girls were good at English, despite the great names that must spring to mind after that statement. Perhaps crucially, he also loved poetry and cracking good tales. My father flew in Bomber Command in WWII, then taught maths and science. My great-grandfather was a Seannachie, so I suppose story-telling is in the genes somewhere. My mother is Irish and from an early age she told me history as an exciting series of stories – with dates. I do miss the camaraderie of the smokers’ room, as well as the lessons where their faces lit up as they understood what I was wittering on about. In truth, I can’t find it in me to miss the grind of paperwork and initiatives. I have enormous respect for those who still labour at the chalk-face. Gregory’s RC High School in London by the end of that period. I taught English for seven years and was Head of English at St. It’s what I always wanted to do and read English at London University with writing in mind. I have written for as long as I can remember: poetry, short stories and novels. I was born in the normal way in 1971, and vaguely remember half-pennies and sixpences.
