Viking King: England: The Second Viking Age (Earls of Mercia #9)

Harthacnut is king, but a king too long absent from England and reliant on his advisors from Denmark rather than the English earls who’ve long held their positions.

Furious that his despised half-brother was given the crown on the death of their shared father, a relationship he denies, Harthacnut vows to take his revenge on the English and their earls, in any way he can.

Earl Godwine earns the king’s greatest enmity but Earl Leofric, protected from the worst of Harthacnut’s actions, is still left in a compromised situation when it’s Mercia that struggles to pay the king’s exorbitant taxes, and even his wife is forced to protest Harthacnut’s harsh treatment of his new subjects. Only Earl Siward earns the king’s respect, but far from the heartland of Wessex, he’s not easily controlled.

Only then Leofric learns something that might change everything.

The Viking King is the ninth book in the (main) Earls of Mercia series, retelling the story of the last century of Anglo-Saxon England through the eyes of the powerful Earls of Mercia, the only noble family, apart from the House of Wessex, to hold their position for nearly a century.

The Earls of Mercia Series
The Earl of Mercia's Father
The Danish King's Enemy
Northman Part 1
Northman Part 2
The King's Earl
The Earl of Mercia
The English Earl
The Earl's King
Viking King

Side stories
Wulfstan
Swein: The Danish King
Cnut The Conqueror

PRAISE FOR THE EARLS OF MERCIA SERIES

"This is a fantastic series of books, by an author who certainly knows his subject. I was into the Roman invasions but am rapidly converting to the Britons!" Amazon Reviewer

"A must-read for fans of Viking age England. This promises to be a very good series of which I can't wait for the next instalment." Amazon Reviewer

"Intriguing, well-written stories about the early days of Great Britain between Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror... at the time Athelred was King... the story is written from the perspective of one the emerging Earl's who sits on the Witan (counsel). The time period show the interplay between Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries (Viking raiders) as well." Amazon.com Reviewer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm an author of fantasy (Viking age/dragon-themed) and historical fiction (Anglo-Saxon, Vikings and the British Isles as a whole before the Norman Conquest), born in the old Mercian kingdom at some point since the end of Anglo-Saxon England. Raised in the shadow of a strange little building and told from a very young age that it housed the bones of the long-dead kings of Mercia, it's little wonder that my curiosity in the Anglo-Saxons ran riot. I can only blame my parents!

I write A LOT. You've been warned!

Find me at www.mjporterauthor.com and @coloursofunison on twitter