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    To Birmingham Castle: A Tale of Friendship and Adventure
    To Birmingham Castle: A Tale of Friendship and Adventure
    To Birmingham Castle: A Tale of Friendship and Adventure
    Ebook616 pages8 hours

    To Birmingham Castle: A Tale of Friendship and Adventure

    By Alicia A. Willis

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    The time is the Middle Ages, a time of clashing arms, valiant knights, and intriguing castles. Join Robert Fitz Hasseltine, a young nobleman of unchallenged character and the heir to his uncles vast earldom. Valiant, yet merciful, Roberts steadfast determination to aid the weak brings him face to face with several individuals who urgently need his protective careindividuals who must throw themselves upon his compassion and rely on his strength to overcome their pasts and lead successful lives.

    Yet the days are volatile, and danger lurks on the horizon. There are dangerous enemies who hate Roberts steadfast character and ever-present mercyenemies who would do anything to vanquish his compassion and shower their malice upon his cause. A thrilling adventure commences, coupling victory, peril, friendship, and rivalry. During his eventful journey from squire to knight to earl, Roberts courage is strongly tested and his strength challenged. Will he be able to overcome the enemies that beset him and proclaim himself the undisputed lord of his shire? And, above all, will he abide true to his resolve and prove to be a kind, considerate master?

    Join Robert and his steadfast friends, Brandon, Strephon, Nathaniel, and Narcissa, in their long journey of friendship and adventure, and experience the thrilling perils of life at Birmingham Castle!

    A novel of adventure, suspense, friendship, and courage, as a young man embarks on a perilous journey to overcome tyranny and reform chivalry in medieval England.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateDec 9, 2015
    ISBN9781512701197
    To Birmingham Castle: A Tale of Friendship and Adventure
    Author

    Alicia A. Willis

    Alicia A. Willis is a home-school graduate and avid historian. From an early age, she has had the desire to write family-friendly, accurate books about the past. She has authored two historical novels and anticipates the Lord leading her on to many more writing projects in the future. When not writing or doing endless historical research, she enjoys being a church pianist and teaching music. She and her family live in New Mexico.

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    Reviews for To Birmingham Castle

    3/5

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    • 3/5
      One could almost call To Birmingham Castle a ‘coming of age’ tale recounting the exploits, challenges and adventures of Robert Fitzhassaltine and the young men who come to be his squires on their journey to manhood, and eventually knighthood (for the latter anyway)learning about courage, honour, loyalty and even finding love along the way.
      There were some interesting historical details, especially regarding weapons, armour and fighting techniques, and occasional French or Latin phrase demonstrates the author’s research in these areas.
      That said, there were some inaccuracies and errors which may have been due to deficiencies in the secondary sources themselves, rather then anything else.

      That said there were a few references which I stood out for me as an English person and history graduate, such as the reference to the ‘shire of Birmingham’. Now I understand that Birmingham Castle is fictional, and some artistic licence has to be used in every story, but the reference above just seems like a historical and geographical misnomer, as there is not and never has been a ‘shire’ of Birmingham and the implication of the name ‘Birminghamshire’ just doesn’t sound right at all.

      The one major issue I had was the writing style, which I could really not get in with. Essentially it was written in the style of the Victorian novels of Howard Pyle and G Henty with much of the dialogue pseudo- Middle English in style. So the characters will say things like ‘verily, methinks thou art right, beausire’.

      It’s not just the archaic language that I had the problem with, (I have read actual Middle English- though not for a prolonged period). There was the way in which the book was written, which seemed a very narrative style telling rather than showing. I personally found it hard-going and slow some of the time, or perhaps rather simplistic or repetitive in style.
      I perhaps prefer my characters more complex than some of the ones here were, some of whom seemed altogether too perfect, and some of the scenarios just seemed rather implausible. Like the way in which a miscreant was able to get into the castle apparently easily and kidnap the Lord’s daughters (who could do nothing but scream) and make off with them by the hand into the forest, or the characters seeming to recover from even relatively serious injures incredibly quickly.

      When the author did ‘show’ the character’s emotions it was almost always in some descriptive passage such as ‘fear and concern mingling in his eyes’ or ‘his whole mien portrayed his feelings of combined expectation and anxiety’. Without meaning to be personal or over-critical, could the author not have used some other way to describe the characters feelings or body language, and is it even possible for people to portray such a range of emotions with only their eyes?

      Altogether, To Birmingham Castle is generally a satisfying ‘old style’ adventure tale, with a sound (and not theologically dubious) Christian theme. I think I was genuinely able to engage with it in parts. I could I think have given in a higher rating had the writing style been different, especially considering the book was pushing 460 pages.
      I would be interested in reading the second book in the series, and might be interesting to see how the character of Nathanial the page of Sir Robert who seemed to do little but cry in this book, develops.

    Book preview

    To Birmingham Castle - Alicia A. Willis

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