I received an electronic copy of CONRAD MONK AND THE GREAT HEATHEN ARMY from the publisher, and it was an entertaining read. Conrad is not the most scrupulous of people, and he’s pretty funny as he makes his way around, keeping his own needs first and manipulating others at will. The time period was one I don’t read too often, and I found it well done and interesting.
Definitely entertaining, Conrad Monk is a protagonist you won’t soon forget!
Thank you for my review copy!
MEET THE NINTH CENTURY CAD, REWRITING HISTORY (from the publisher)
Conrad is a monk, but he has become a monk through trickery and against his will. So, it is fair to say that his heart isn’t really in it.
Conrad is also clever, charming, entirely self-serving, self-absorbed and almost completely without scruple — but in Anglo-Saxon England, when the Danish invaders come calling, those are very helpful attributes to have.
And so it comes to pass that Conrad finds himself constantly dodging death by various
means, some reasonable, some… less so. His tricks include selling his brother monks into
slavery, witnessing the death of a king, juggling his loyalties between his own people and the Danes, robbing corpses and impersonating a bishop.
By his side throughout is the gentle and honourable Brother Odo, a man so naturally and
completely good that even animals sense it. He is no match of wits for the cunning Conrad, but can he, perhaps, at least encourage the wayward monk to behave a little better?
Conrad and the Great Heathen Army takes the reader on a hugely entertaining and highly informative trip through the Anglo-Saxon world, in the company of a persuasive and likeable — if frequently despicable — tour guide. It is a story that combines painstakingly accurate depictions of history with a fast-moving and often hilarious plot, and as such is bound to appeal to lovers of history, historical fiction and character-driven fiction alike.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Edoardo Albert is a writer of Sri Lankan and Italian descent based in London. He has written a number of full length novels, as well as shorter stories for publications ranging from Daily Science Fiction to Ancient Paths.
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