Bane of Bernicia

 My bedtime reading is Matthew Harrfy's latest book (number 11) in his Bernicia Chronicles series. This follows the story of Beobrand, a fighting warlord with his Black Shield followers. After his excursion to Europe in the last book, he is back home defending his land from the Picts.

While this is historical fiction, Bernicia is not a fantasy setting. The Anglo-Saxon territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Durham, as well as the Scottish counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian, stretching from the Forth to the Tees. It also controlled Deira during this period.

This book takes place during the rule of King Oswiu (642-670). At this stage, he is struggling to hold back Penda, the pagan King of the Mercians. Peace is bought through marriages, but Penda is pushing to open the door to greater control. Oswiu's son Ealhfrith married Penda's daughter Cyneburh, while his daughter Ealhflæd married Penda's son Peada. Oswiu gets a better write-up in the limited historical documents, probably because of his support for Christianity, than Harrfy gives him. However, these were tough times, and Kings had to be ruthless. 

Beobrand's land is to the north of the kingdom, facing the Picts. They had lost the land he held and wanted it back. They raided the territory constantly.

I won't spoil the plot, but as you would expect, there is plenty of action, including the usual climactic battle. However, there is a bit more retrospection in this book, as Beobrand is getting older. The author reminded me that he is not that old, in his 30s, but Beobrand does mention his age quite often. Thankfully, there will be more books, and there is plenty of history to come. Oswiu goes on to become the dominant king in England, and although Beobrand has a habit of going his own way, Oswiu will need his battle skills to get there.

I have been testing Pillage as a skirmish game, and this book is a great basis for those skirmish rules. We did a skirmish game against the Picts this week.