Ancient

144 AD. Alaric Hengistson, leader of the Ravensworn, revels in his many fear-fuelled names whispered in the hearth flames. Cunning in battle, a ruthless war lord. He sleeps sound in the knowledge that he has been chosen by the Gods for a higher purpose – to rise up against the tyranny of an Empire. For years he has thwarted Rome’s attempts to gain control over the land that has long resisted them. His land. Germania. However the rules are changing, and new deals are struck between the conquering Roman legions and the feuding Germanic tribes. Deals that could prove Alaric’s downfall.

La Ilíada (en griego homérico Ἰλιάς: Iliás; en griego moderno Ιλιάδα: Iliáda; en latín: Ilias) es una epopeya griega, atribuida tradicionalmente a Homero. Compuesta en hexámetros dactílicos, consta de 15,693 versos divididos en 24 cantos o rapsodias. La trama se centra en la cólera de Aquiles y narra los acontecimientos ocurridos durante 51 días en el décimo y último año de la guerra de Troya. El título de la obra deriva del nombre griego de Troya, Ιlión.

In Roman-occupied Britain, the Iceni tribe crowns an extraordinary new queen. Tall and flame-haired, Boudicca is devoted to Andraste, the Iceni’s patron goddess, known for her raven familiar, her fierceness and her swirling blue tattoos. Boudicca and her two young daughters will carry the tribe forward in dangerous times. Roman tax collector Catus Decianus, expecting weakness in a female ruler, launches a devastating attack on the tribe’s stronghold. Boudicca and her family barely survive—but they refuse to bend the knee.

Julia, only daughter of the emperor of Rome, lives a life of excess and freedom. Wine, philosophy, and scandal—she revels in hedonism. But when her father dies and her teenage brother takes the throne, he will stop at nothing to seize control of both the empire and his wayward sister. And now Alaric of the Visigoths, a ferocious warrior who has battled Rome for years, has come to the capital to bargain for his homeland. When Julia rebels against the marriage her brother has ordered her to accept, he responds by publicly punishing her lover in the Colosseum.

This sweeping narrative spans two decades, from Normandy's shores to Constantinople's walls. Following both historical figures and compelling fictional characters, it explores power, legitimacy, and the price of ambition. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell and Sharon Kay Penman, The Bastard's Crown offers a fresh perspective on how one man's determination to prove himself reshaped medieval England forever. Experience the intrigue, battles, and human drama that transformed a single year—1066—into a turning point that still echoes today.