Review: The King's Champion by Nancy Northcott
Today, I'm delighted to share my review for The King's Champion, a standalone Book #3 in the popular The Boar King's Honor historical fantasy series by Nancy Northcott.
This exciting adventure, set during World War II, is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find other fascinating posts, including excerpts and guest posts, here!
The King’s Champion
The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy, Book #3
Nancy Northcott
In The King's Champion, we are straight away thrown into the midst of a fierce battle raging on the French coast. Kate Shaw, an American photojournalist, had arrived to report on training and preparation of the troops. She hadn't expected to find herself in the thick of it, with the British and French retreating fast from the German advance.
As the evacuation of many thousands of troops gathers pace, Kate is sent packing on a small boat carrying wounded soldiers. Her ears are ringing from the noise of the shells, and her mind is full of the horrors she just witnessed. Then there are the unbidden visions...
Meanwhile in England, Sebastian Mainwaring, incapacitated by a knee injury, is working to help uncover the plans of the Nazis. He is a wizard, who knows how to use his gift – unlike Kate, who is baffled by it.
He is tasked with showing Kate how to harness her energy and to interpret her visions. Impressed by the young woman's determination to do her bit, despite her employers calling her back to the US (ostensibly to keep her safe, but sending a male journalist instead), they find themselves working together. But that close environment also brings them closer as a couple.
When they have to uncover a long-buried, and fiercely guarded, secret, Kate's bravery is put to the test. Will their combined power reveal the secret that may be the key to a curse in Sebastian's family? And will they be able to thwart an attack on British soil? Read this gripping fast-paced adventure full of action and unexpected twists to find out!
I liked Kate. A modern woman, like so many at the time not content with home and hearth, she also insists on helping beat a dark force. She's direct and doesn't suffer the arrogance of some of the upper classes easily.
Seb is the ideal hero: determined, fair, and keen to do right by his country, even though his injury prevents him from active duty at the front. He's not shy in letting his contacts work for him to get what he wants, but he's also not the pushover some English nationalists who seek arbitration with Hitler think he is. Perhaps, Sebastian is just too perfect, but it suits this story well.
As I rarely read fantasy, I was a tad confused at times by the various types of wizards, their organisations, and their actions. But it doesn't distract you from a riveting plot, an exciting adventure full of danger and with a strong dash of romance.
As I rarely read fantasy, I was a tad confused at times by the various types of wizards, their organisations, and their actions. But it doesn't distract you from a riveting plot, an exciting adventure full of danger and with a strong dash of romance.
The King's Champion is a highly recommended read for fans of historical fantasy and of novels set during World War II!
The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy:
A wizard’s misplaced trust
A king wrongly blamed
A bloodline cursed until they clear the king’s name.
Blurb:
Caught up in the desperate evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France in the summer of 1940, photojournalist Kate Shaw witnesses death and destruction that trigger disturbing visions. She doesn’t believe in magic and tries to pass them off as survivor guilt or an overactive imagination, but the increasingly intense visions force her to accept that she is not only magically Gifted but a seer.
In Dover, she meets her distant cousin Sebastian Mainwaring, Earl of Hawkstowe and an officer in the British Army. He’s also a seer and is desperate to recruit her rare Gift for the war effort. The fall of France leaves Britain standing alone as the full weight of Nazi military might threatens. Kate’s untrained Gift flares out of control, forcing her to accept Sebastian’s help in conquering it as her ethics compel her to use her ability for the cause that is right.
As this fledgling wizard comes into her own, her visions warn of an impending German invasion, Operation Sealion, which British intelligence confirms. At the same time, desire to help Sebastian, who’s doomed by a family curse arising from a centuries-old murder, leads Kate to a shadowy afterworld between life and death and the trapped, fading souls who are the roots of her family’s story. From the bloody battlefields of France to the salons of London, Kate and Sebastian race against time to free his family’s cursed souls and to stop an invasion that could doom the Allied cause.
The King’s Champion concludes Nancy’s Northcott’s exciting Boar King’s Honor Trilogy.
Buy Links:
The trilogy is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
The Herald of Day, Book #1
Universal Buy Link
The Steel Rose, Book #2
Universal Buy Link
The King’s Champion, Book #3
Universal Buy Link
The Boar King's Honor Trilogy Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon AU
Amazon CA
About the Author:
Nancy Northcott
Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy, history, and romance.
Nancy earned her undergraduate degree in history and particularly enjoyed a summer spent studying Tudor and Stuart England at the University of Oxford. She has given presentations on the Wars of the Roses and Richard III to university classes studying Shakespeare’s play about that king. In addition, she has taught college courses on science fiction, fantasy, and society.
~~~
The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy:
A wizard’s misplaced trust
A king wrongly blamed
A bloodline cursed until they clear the king’s name.
Blurb:
Caught up in the desperate evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France in the summer of 1940, photojournalist Kate Shaw witnesses death and destruction that trigger disturbing visions. She doesn’t believe in magic and tries to pass them off as survivor guilt or an overactive imagination, but the increasingly intense visions force her to accept that she is not only magically Gifted but a seer.
In Dover, she meets her distant cousin Sebastian Mainwaring, Earl of Hawkstowe and an officer in the British Army. He’s also a seer and is desperate to recruit her rare Gift for the war effort. The fall of France leaves Britain standing alone as the full weight of Nazi military might threatens. Kate’s untrained Gift flares out of control, forcing her to accept Sebastian’s help in conquering it as her ethics compel her to use her ability for the cause that is right.
As this fledgling wizard comes into her own, her visions warn of an impending German invasion, Operation Sealion, which British intelligence confirms. At the same time, desire to help Sebastian, who’s doomed by a family curse arising from a centuries-old murder, leads Kate to a shadowy afterworld between life and death and the trapped, fading souls who are the roots of her family’s story. From the bloody battlefields of France to the salons of London, Kate and Sebastian race against time to free his family’s cursed souls and to stop an invasion that could doom the Allied cause.
The King’s Champion concludes Nancy’s Northcott’s exciting Boar King’s Honor Trilogy.
Buy Links:
The trilogy is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
The Herald of Day, Book #1
Universal Buy Link
The Steel Rose, Book #2
Universal Buy Link
The King’s Champion, Book #3
Universal Buy Link
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon AU
Amazon CA
~~~
About the Author:
Nancy Northcott
Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy, history, and romance.
Nancy earned her undergraduate degree in history and particularly enjoyed a summer spent studying Tudor and Stuart England at the University of Oxford. She has given presentations on the Wars of the Roses and Richard III to university classes studying Shakespeare’s play about that king. In addition, she has taught college courses on science fiction, fantasy, and society.
The Boar King’s Honor historical fantasy trilogy combines Nancy’s love of history and magic with her interest in Richard III. She also writes traditional romantic suspense, romantic spy adventures, and two other speculative fiction series, the Light Mage Wars paranormal romances and, with Jeanne Adams, the Outcast Station space mystery series.
Connect with Nancy:
Comments
Post a Comment