Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
The main focus is the group of ten men making up the Essex Dogs who we follow through the storiming, pillaging and saacking of whatever towns stood in the way of the King's forces. The Essex Dogs are a motley selection of disparate soldiers thrown together to fight an overseas war, for a cause that they don't really understand or care about. Wolves of Winter follows some of the same characters you have already met in Essex Dogs - Loveday, Romford, Scotsman and the rest of the gang - and introduces some more whom I hope you will find memorable.
Essex Dogs by Dan Jones | Waterstones Essex Dogs by Dan Jones | Waterstones
They are a close and loyal band of men who are part of the army of Edward 111 who travel to France to try to depose the supposed faux king Phillippe. Thanks to Head of Zeus and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this great book.As can be surmised, the Dogs fall afoul of their own side as often as they clash with French defenders, while finding themselves subject to the whims of their own English lords. as well as the background of enigmatic and engaging characters like Pismire, Scotsman and the woman from Valognes. These include ‘Father’, a priest gone rogue and increasingly bereft of his wits, who is a highly original and engaging creation by Jones.
Book Review: ‘Essex Dogs,’ by Dan Jones - The New York Times
The characters, the setting of a bloody and violent period in time, the atmosphere, the pacing - I cannot fault it. The side characters are excellently done and there’s plenty of action to be found, but I was more impressed with how much I cared for the ‘Dogs’, making me eager to read book 2 of this planned trilogy of adventures. I enjoyed seeing the story through the eyes of the Essex Dogs and all the side characters, discovering their backgrounds and their own individualities.
Also, the language they used, while some of it make sure you knew it was set in the 1400's, it was still modern enough to not have to worry about understanding what anyone was saying. When Wellington confronts Bonaparte at Waterloo, the carnage is horrific as cannonballs rip bodies to shreds.
Essex Dogs Trilogy Series - Penguin Random House Essex Dogs Trilogy Series - Penguin Random House
I say ‘almost’, because there is one thing that still drives Loveday: ensuring that he looks out for all of his men and brings them back home safely. The opening chapter, with a brutal French beach landing for the ‘Essex Dogs’, sets the scene for an action packed story displaying just how barbaric war was in the Middle Ages. The writing and storyline are top notch and the language used is authentic to the times; which is not always the case with some historical fiction. All of them having sharp teeth”, are led by Loveday FitzTalbot, a Captain determined to get his boys back home through the most brutal of battles.
This book pulls you along through the dirt and dust of travel, into grisly battle that leaves you drenched in mud, and all this is before you process the emotional side of what you are reading. Among the hell unleashed is a close-knit company of warriors known as ‘Essex Dogs’ who must fight for each other. Personally, I discovered the medieval France travelled by the Dogs with a sense of wonder, for Jones’ description of the country left me feeling as though I was discovering a mystical world in a fantasy novel for the first time.
Essex Dogs: (Essex Dogs Trilogy) by Dan Jones | WHSmith Essex Dogs: (Essex Dogs Trilogy) by Dan Jones | WHSmith
The other band members include two intimidating warriors named Scotsman and Millstone, a shrewd soldier of small stature named Pismire, as well as five English and Welsh archers that include the youngest member of the group: a youth named Romford. Retrieving three knights' publicly displayed skulls in Paris against all odds is an undertaking that's as much fun as a good heist scene. Dan Jones' debut novel is set during the battles of The Hundred Years War, following a group of swords for hire known as the Essex Dogs from their initial landing in France to the thrilling final assault.These admirers and fans include Jones’ fellow historians like Simon Sebag Montefiore, as well as legendary Guns n’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan. The battle scenes are described so well you feel as though you’ve lived through them yourself, and it really does bring history to life. The locations were vividly word-painted, managing to weave many historical details into the fabric of the story without it ever getting in the way.
Great Deal 
New Comment