Conquest by David Field is chock full of drama, fighting, war, and deception. This novel is everything you could want in a medieval tome. Unfortunately, there was a little too much fighting and not enough substance behind the words.

This lack of disparity is a real shame too because the story behind the fighting is brilliant. I wish there was more of it. From the description, I should have known that this was a “man’s man” novel. However, I chose this book because of this passage from the blurb:

“But the initial battle could be the least of their worries as a new king ascends the throne – threatening to annihilate their traditions and customs forever.”

From this, I reasoned that this would be more than just battles waging throughout the entire book. I was wrong.

Wil is a brave soldier, but after King Harald dies, he becomes rather useless and pretty much does the new king’s bidding, even though it is wrong. I couldn’t get behind him because he felt cowardly to me. Selwyn was better. At least Selwyn tried to fight back at times.

The story is there. This novel could have been fleshed out so much better to bring the history of the time to light and not focus so much on the bloodshed. I award Conquest 3 out of 5 stars.

Will Riveracre and Selwyn Astenmede..

A magnificent fictional portrait of England on the cusp of greatness.

The premises of the Norman invasion with lots of rollicking twists and turns, lots of action & exquisitely drawned characters! Historical fiction at its best..👍👍

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sapere Books for this terrific ARC!!!!

This book truly blew me away. I wasn't sure what to expect other then the fact it reminded me of many other period books I have read in the last year or so. What I got reading this book was pure thrill, action and adventure. You get to follow the story of invasions in 1066 through the POV of Will, a miller's son. While this is fiction so many historical people are featured in it and blend seamlessly with the entire storyline. This story is a great read for all the history buffs like me, about the invasions that had happened in the north of England. Despite it being a period novel, it has so many interesting parts within the book that any reader can love the way I did!

I read this book as a teacher who has taught World History for a few years. I'm actually degreed in Political Science so teaching medieval history isn't my forte.
Nevertheless, I took on the book thinking it would help me see the Norman Invasion as it happened.
I found the history in the book to be interesting, but the dialogue was around late Junior High or early High School level.
The main characters, whom the author stated are fictional were interesting--up to a point. I learned to like Will (Wilfred) and his family. But some of the characters I found to be really infantile and quickly lost interest in them.
Nevertheless, I think teenagers might like the book. As an adult it was a struggle to read, but I can see my students enjoying the love stories embedded in the story.
Finally, I found the author's notes to be quite interesting. I am an American, raised in Oklahoma, and living in Texas since I was medically retired from the military after Desert Storm. Therefore I didn't know a lot about the historical characters he wrote of, including the two Harolds and William the Conqueror. Of course, I was aware of their existence, but the more detail into their personalities was very helpful. I wish I'd read his notes first before starting the story.
I do recommend this book for a high school library.

This is another story I just couldn’t get into. I couldn’t get past the first part where the widow was hiding the priest, who I assume was a spy for William of Normandy. If William of Normandy did send priests as spies before the invasion, I would assume that given his vast military experience, he would have sent spies that spoke the local language. And a priest wouldn’t try to speak French of the period to someone in another country, he would have spoken Latin. Sometimes it’s the little things that can turn you off a story.