When going on holiday I like to pick up a guide before hand so that I am prepared and know what the best places to eat and visit are. Travelogues are also a useful tool as they give a personal experience into someone's holiday. This is all well and good, but what if I decide to take a holiday in time? Who is going to tell me which vicious tribes I should avoid? I could read some history books, but I am too easily bored and a lot of the time they are conjecture (although historians claim they are not). I would need a book from a contemporary about their travels - this would work as a piece of non-fiction. However, would this same travelogue style work for a fiction .  Read the complete review

Ever since seeing Tony Curtis fighting with Kirk Douglas at the top of a tower turret, I’ve been enamoured with the idea of Vikings. That romantic backdrop to a violent, raiding culture makes for a great story and with historical novels all the rage at the moment, what with Conn Iggulden’s Emperor series bringing Julius Caesar’s life and times alive and Bernard Cornwell continuing to thrill readers with his tales of pre-historic Britain as well as shaping the literary shenanigans of the swashbuckling Sharpe; the history genre has never had it so good. Having recently tried one of the Emperor series and enjoyed it, I was keen to try more from the historical fiction range .  Read the complete review