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    Master of War: Defiant Unto Death
    Master of War: Defiant Unto Death
    Master of War: Defiant Unto Death
    Audiobook17 hours

    Master of War: Defiant Unto Death

    Written by David Gilman

    Narrated by Gildart Jackson

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    France, 1356.

    Ten years ago, the greatest army in Christendom was slaughtered at Crecy when Thomas Blackstone and his fellow archers stood their ground and rained death on the steel-clad might of French chivalry. Blackstone left that squalid field a knight. Now, Blackstone commands a war band and has carved out a small fiefdom in northern France. But the wounds of war still bleed and a traitor has given the King of France the means to destroy first his family, and then the English knight himself. As the traitor's net tightens, so the French King's army draws in.

    Blackstone will stand and fight-in pitched battle and in single combat. He will defy his friends, his family, and his king. He may yet defy death, but he can't defy his destiny as Blackstone: Master of War.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 3, 2018
    ISBN9781541484238
    Master of War: Defiant Unto Death
    Author

    David Gilman

    David Gilman has enjoyed many careers, including paratrooper, firefighter, and photographer. An award-winning author and screenwriter, he is the author of the critically acclaimed Master of War series of historical novels, and was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for The Last Horseman. He was longlisted for the same prize for The Englishman, the first book featuring ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Dan Raglan. David lives in Devon. Follow David on @davidgilmanuk, www.davidgilman.com, and facebook.com/davidgilman.author

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    Reviews for Master of War

    4.5/5

    19 ratings2 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Master of War: Defiant Unto Death follows the events of the Hundred Years War between England and France loosely the 10 years following the Battle of Crecy to the aftermath of the Battle of Poitiers (1356). Thomas Blackstone, now a local lord in Normandy, has earned the animosity of the French king, who hires a devious assassin to scourge his holdings and kill him and his family. The tale takes us across France from Normandy, Paris, Avignon, and eventually down to the Italian states. I liked this installment a bit better than the first. Gilman painted a vivid picture of battle and there’s lots of fighting scenes in the book. While I enjoyed the tale, I took issue with two things. First, things just seemed to happen to Thomas, the main character lacked any sort of direction or impetus on his own, going from one skirmish to another. Second, wife Christiana has turned from Thomas Blackstone’s loyal lover in the first book to a wretched dingbat in this installment. The story overplayed the technique of contrary Christiana’s bad decisions leading to something going disastrously wrong for Thomas or her family. For that reason, I hold her right up there with Two Nights in Portugal’s Ariel on my ever-lengthening Characteribus Horribilis list.
    • 4/5
      Gelungene FortsetzungThomas Blackstone lebt mit seiner Frau und den Kindern noch immer in Nordfrankreich. Er hat seinen Ruf als Ritter des Königs von England weiter ausgebaut. Aber König Johann von Frankreich ist erbost darüber, dass anscheinend niemand diesen Mann stoppen kann. Er hetzt ihm deshalb einen gefährlichen Gegner auf den Hals. Jetzt heißt es für Thomas nicht nur für den König kämpfen, sondern auch die eigene Familie schützen. Dies ist nun der zweite Band um den ehemaligen Bogenschützen Thomas Blackstone. David Gilman schildert, wie das Leben des Mannes weiterging. Dabei gibt er interessante Einblicke in die Zeit nach der großen Schlacht von Crécy. Gilman erzählt von den Intrigen am Hofe, von den Versuchen des Adels die eigene Macht weiter auszubauen und eben von Thomas.Dieser zweite Teil hat mir ebenfalls gut gefallen. Erzählt er doch, wie es weitergeht und wie hart das Leben in dieser Zeit war. Der Erzählstil ist weiterhin leicht lesbar und lässt ein bisschen erahnen, wie die Menschen damals miteinander umgingen. Allerdings werden auch wieder einige Kämpfe detailgetreu geschildert. In dieser Geschichte hat Blackstone aber nicht nur gegen die Franzosen zu kämpfen, es kommt auch noch ein persönlicher Feind dazu. Das macht die ganze Geschichte noch ein bisschen spannender. Mir hat gut gefallen, wie Thomas mit der neuen Situation umging. Auch wenn es so einige Szenen gab, wo man beim Lesen schon dachte, also diese Falle musst du doch sehen, aber Thomas ist eben Thomas und hält sich an den Kodex der Ehre. Ein ausführliches Nachwort klärt auch hier, was an der Geschichte rein fiktiv ist und wo der Autor sich an historische Details hielt, soweit sie eben bekannt waren. „Der Ehrlose König“ ist in meinen Augen eine gelungene Fortsetzung zu „Das blutige Schwert“. Auch wenn 10 Jahre zwischen den Handlungen liegen, sollte man Band 1 gelesen haben, um richtig in die Handlungen zu finden. Schon allein, um zu sehen, wie Thomas sich weiterentwickelt und um zu verstehen, warum er wie handelt und nicht anders. Ich jeden Falls bin gespannt, wie die Geschichte um Thomas Blackstone weitergeht, auch wenn der Ausgang des Krieges ja bekannt ist und Blackstone das Ende ja nicht miterleben wird.