[The Hoodsman 09] • Forest Law

By 1076, the Conqueror's neighbours, including Philip of France, were worried enough about his vicious greed to openly enter into alliances against him. The unbeatable Conqueror began to lose battles and ground. The psycho opportunists who had rallied to him while he was a winner, were now drawn to towards other opportunities in the warm islands of the Med.

For any Danelaw men who had survived a decade of rebellion against the brutal regime of the Conqueror, there was a new strategy. Encourage the Norman psycho's to turn on each other. Encourage a Norman Civil War. Captain Raynar changed from a wolf into a fox.

On Saint Lawrence's Day, August 10th, 1103, a Category 5 hurricane devastated southern England. At the time, King Henry was still taming the Norman Earls who did not want him as their king. Vicious slave masters such as Mortain, Earl of Cornwall, were refusing to accept Henry's Charter of Liberties (the predecessor of the Magna Carta), so Captain Raynar sailed his ships to cut Mortain off from fleeing to Normandy.

About The Author

Skye Smith is my pen name. My ancestors were miners and shepherds near Castleton in the Peaks District of Derbyshire. I have been told by some readers that this series reminds them of Bernard Cornwell’s historical novels, and have always been delighted by the comparison.

This is the nineth of my Hoodsman series of books, and you should read the first “Killing Kings” before you read this book. All of the books contain two timelines linked by characters and places. The “current” story is set in the era of King Henry I in the 1100’s, while the longer “flashback” story is set in the era of King William I after 1066.

I have self-published twelve "The Hoodsman ..." books and they are:

1. Killing Kings

2. Hunting Kings

3. Frisians of the Fens

4. Saving Princesses

5. Blackstone Edge

6. Ely Wakes

7. Courtesans and Exiles

8. The Revolt of the Earls

9. Forest Law

10. Queens and Widows

11. Popes and Emperors

12. The Second Invasion