Sworn Sword by James Aitcheson

[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]

Sworn Sword is an historical novel set in the 1060s in England. James Aitcheson is a scholar, and the story of Tancred a Dinant, a knight in the service of William the Conqueror, is painstakingly researched, opening a window into a distant period of British history. There is no fantasy or magic in this book, but it is set in such a distant historical time that it does seem like another world.

Almost everyone knows the date 1066 and the Battle of Hastings, where William of Normandy deposed King Harold. William had relatively little trouble in bringing the south of Britain under his control, but it took another several y... Read More