Customer Reviews

Cold Heart, Cruel Hand: A Novel Of Hereward The Wake and The Fen Rebellion of 1070-1071

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I was delighted with Mr. Brown's first book, Housecarle. I eagerly ordered this second book and if I could give it 50 stars I would. I dare say it is even better than the first - which was marvelous itself! Mr. Brown picks up the story of Ranulf, the only surviving Housecarle from King Harold's last stand in 1066, as he and his wife and young son struggle against the terrible Norman slaughter in York. Against all odds, they survive and chance brings them to the camp of Hereward the Wake. Hereward was once a nobleman himself, but displaced when William the Conqueror awarded his lands to a Norman lord and killed his only brother. Hereward had been away fighting a forgein war and did not return in time to fight in 1066. He does however put up a resistance that is inspiring, thrilling and makes a story you won't want to put down! Ranulf's personal struggle against survivor's guilt and his single-minded desire to protect his young family are equally thrilling and inspiring. Mr. Brown has created characters on the Norman side that are both vividly terrifying - the kind you love to hate, and also honorable - the kind you'd love to have known. Without giving away the story - which simply pulls you enthusiastically from page to page, I will say that Mr. Brown has taken a period of English history and masterfully captured the political, military and personal struggles that must certainly have happened much as he has imagined. I reached the last page and could have started it over again immediately. I am not ready to be finished with these characters and I desperately hope that the story has not yet come to an end. BUY THIS BOOK!!!!! You will be thrilled that you did!

I loved Mr Brown's first book. It is an amazing portrayal of life and war in and around the time of the Norman Invasion in 1066.

It is an old saying that the second book is harder to write than the first but this does not appear to be the case with Mr Brown. His writing style has soared in confidence in his portrayal of life after the Norman Invasion. This is a novel which takes you along at pace.You will visualise it so clearly it would be criminal not to turn it into a film for those who are not so keen on reading as the rest of us. It would be a film with the potential of Braveheart.

The book itself is deeply oppressive detailing the harshness of life under the Normans. The brutality is endemic and the drudgery of life for the Saxons is starkly highlighted. In Hereward's camp the players act out their lives in the cetainty that the Norman killing machine will eventually seek them out and destroy them as the last pocket of resistance.

The story is underlain with a forlorn but nonetheless dogged determination not to give in to the enemy. It is that indomitable spirit that makes the British what they are- the very essence of guts and courage.

Oh! And in a book full of bad guys there is one character who truly drips evil. He makes your flesh crawl. You can feel the poison ooze out of the pages and his vindictive atmosphere pervades the whole story. I kept looking round to make sure he wasn't behind me!

This naked malice is in stark contrast to a father's love for his son and his desperate race to find him and reunite his family.

I can thoroughly recommend this novel to you and I will use that hackneyed cliché - It truly is a book you won't be able to put down.

This is the story of Hereward the Wake, the last leader of the resistance against William the Conqueror. He has been stripped of his rightful lands and title by the Bastard. He continues to fight against him and seems to constantly outwit the Normans on his island of Ely in the Fens of East Anglia. He has plenty of help especially when Earl Mortar and Ranulf Redbeard join his cause.

There are many subplots going on behind the scenes and it makes the storyline that much more intriguing. There were many typos, including grammatical, spelling, editing errors but withstanding those the novel was very riveting. I would suggest if this author does any more writing he find better proofreaders & editors, etc.

While this story is based on fact it is historical "fiction." I too noticed the errors of Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent, and Robert of Mortain being described as King William's "cousins" while they were in fact his half-brothers. I'm not sure if the author did this deliberately or not.

However, it is still very much a worthwhile read and a genuine page-turner. I recommend it to anyone interested in this time period. Two other excellent novels of Hereward the Wake are "An Endless Exile" by Mary Lancaster & "Green Saxon Darkness" by Pamela Cottrel.

I was so pleased that my friend recommended LJ Brown's first book "Housecarl" to me, as it really opened my eyes to historical novels. These were not the type of books I thought I would enjoy. Boy was I wrong.

LJB's first novel was so descriptive in content and so thought provoking, it left me hungry for more. I have since become a big fan of these types of books and have constantly looked out for more work by LJB. Well, the wait is finally over, Cold Heart, Cruel Hand is on the shelves, and doesn't dissapoint.

Ranulf, with his wife and son, have joined up with Hereward the Wake on a small island in the Fens. This small army of Saxons is the last pocket of resistence against William the Conquerer, the last hope against norman rule. Friends of Ranulfs that were present in Housecarl, once again join forces to aide this small army. The odds are stacked heavily against them, but every man has their own reasons for loathing King William, and all are willing to fight for their freedom from Norman rule, or pay the ultimate price trying.

Equally, King William needs to destroy Hereward the Wake and his small army of Saxons, and thus prove his ultimate power over England. If it were just a matter of strength, then William could crush this army like a bug, but first he must find a way to get to the enemy. Not an easy task, as the Conquerer finds out at a great cost.

The battle scenes are once again written with such detail that you feel as if you are there witnessing the events as they happen. The book is full of twists and turns that find you holding your breath in places, anticipating how things will end, and finding another turn that takes you in another direction. There are evil foes that Ranulf has to endure, and freinds in unexpected quarters.

This book has been worth the wait, and I am indebted to LJB for whetting my appetite for historical novels.
His write up says he is a lawyer. If he is as good a lawyer as he is a writer, then he is for sure a force to be reckoned with. If he is not as good a lawyer as he is a writer, then he should take up writing full time, we would then not be left waiting two years between books. Roll on book 3 or at least the movie of the first 2 books to keep us going in the meantime. Two thumbs up...

A fascinating chapter of the history of the Norman conquest of the Anglo Saxons, and of their bold defiance in face of overwhelming odds, is here told through the adventures of an erstwhile housecarl of King Harold and his family as they join forces with Hereward the Wake to resist (...). A fast moving, well researched story - one of those books you cannot leave at home in the morning. Enjoy.

I re-enact 1066 and this book really helped me get into the character of a 1066 Saxon Huscarl. Ranulf is a great character and the book is superbly written.

The story is worth the price tag. But, there are irritating typos and the occasional grammatical error. These go beyond awkward. As I started the book I feared that it would prove unbearable. But, the story is enthralling enough to push aside the rough patches. Although no published book should be so littered with typos, the storyline and descriptions mellow the irritation. Overall, it is a very well written book. Brown tells a quick but illustrative story well worth reading. The problems are not a sign of poor craftmanship on Brown's part but just the result of bad proofing.

"Cold Hands, Cruel Heart" could have been a good book. With some decent editing, it might even have been excellent, particularly if you like lots of action and intrigue. Unfortunately, the book has two main problesm. One is that Laurence Brown writes like an American high school junior in an English class where the instructor doesn't know how to write, either. He uses capitals for nouns like they do in modern German or eighteenth-century English. And he doesn't seem to know when to italicize and when to use just plain print. Worse, he seems not to have done adequate research; he has a number of glaring factual errors in his book. For instance, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent, and Robert of Mortain are described as King William's *cousins*. In fact, they were his half-brothers. There is absolutely no question about this. Hereward, the focus of the story, is described as tall and movie-star handsome. Well, maybe, but that's not the way the relevant "stories of his life" describe him. But perhaps that's another story, since very little is actually known about this famous, but basically enigmatic figure. I, personally, would like to see more good fiction about this fascinating period, and some of its equally fascinating characters. Unfortunately, *Cold heart, Cruel Hand* is not one of them.