Following the success of his Quintus Roman Thrillers series, we are thrilled to announce that we have signed a new trilogy by Neil Denby.
In Neil’s words:
“The Leinster Chronicles are set in twelfth-century Ireland, a time and place little covered by contemporary historical novels, but one rich in story.
“Geographically, there are three major groups involved in the timeline — the native Irish, the invading Vikings and the Normans across the water.
“The Irish were bound by ancient law. Brehon law was a detailed system with compensation for criminal acts called éraic at its heart. It was not Roman law, but a system better suited to its times. Included was the rule that kings did not inherit their titles. The chieftain was elected — from an eligible pool of royal blood — by his family or clan.
“They were also Christian. St Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, but there was tension between Christian law and Brehon law. The Church in Rome saw the Irish Church as rebellious and depraved, in dire need of reform. The Roman Church was happy to grant overlordship of Ireland to the ‘good’ Christian Norman lords of England and France.
“The Vikings had been raiding and trading for hundreds of years. There were many holy houses for them to plunder, carrying precious relics, silver and slaves back to their homelands. Eventually they settled. There were established Viking trading ports, the chief amongst them being Dublin, probably the biggest slave-trading port in the northern hemisphere. Further south sat Wexford, Waterford and Cork. Other centres were at Wicklow and Arklow (which yielded silver). On the Shannon river, navigable to longships, sat Limerick.
“At this time Ireland had over a hundred kings, many little more than local chieftains. The senior kings ruled the seven kingdoms of Leinster, Munster, Connaught, Meath, Ailech, Airghilia and Ulaid. (The last three later became known as Ulster.)
“From these was drawn the ‘Ard Rí’, the High King of Ireland, traditionally — for at least five hundred years — one of the northern branch of the Uí Neill, whose high seat was in Tara. Though the title sounds impressive, in actuality it bestowed little unless the holder could keep it, usually by invading enemy territory and demanding hostages.
“Many battles were fought between greater kings and lesser kings. The tradition was to let a battle decide an argument; the losing side would then give up hostages against their good behaviour. The warriors would head home.
“These books will tell the tale of one of these kings — one who was castigated and damned in terrible terms by the Victorians for inviting the Normans into Ireland. But the story is more complex than that, the reasons more nuanced; perhaps the central character is not as evil as is made out.
“It is a tale I have wanted to tell for some time and I am grateful to Sapere Books for giving me the opportunity to share it.”
IN THE QUINTUS ROMAN THRILLERS SERIES:
BOOK ONE: Legionary
BOOK TWO: Decanus
BOOK THREE: Optio
BOOK FOUR: Centurion
BOOK FIVE: Scutarius
