‘But most of all, I will sing of battle. Men with red in their hair like the blood of my kin spilt upon the high hills. I will sing of lands soaked in strife.’ I swallowed hard. ‘I will go with them into the abyss, and I will bring out their bodies, make verses of them.’ I thought of Dwywei. ‘I will sing,’ I whispered, ‘of a mother’s wail, which the glory-songs of the dead cannot drown. When minds blunt with the promise of slaughter, I will sharpen them. I shall sing of the price, as well as the promise.’
I had a lovely meeting with my new editor this week to discuss my next books. Official deal news and title reveal coming in the autumn so keep an eye out. But you can expect the bard book to drop Spring 2027. Companion novel to follow 2028, which will be a reimagining of the Mabinogi’s Fourth Branch.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to share both stories. They are some of my very best work. I lean naturally towards lyricism in my writing, so getting to tell a story from a poet’s POV has been the highlight of my creative life. I hope you’ll love my bards, Aneirin and Taliesin, as much as I do.
Read on for a little of what to expect from the first book…
In the tribal courts of yr Hen Ogledd – the Old North – kings fight over territory and inheritance, over women and insults. And bards celebrate their deeds in elegy and epic. Yet the bards do more than merely sing, for their dark speech, gramarye, is a subtle form of magical control with the secret power to topple kingdoms. And no bard is more adept, or held in higher esteem than the legendary Harp Lord, Taliesin.
Aneirin is a young man of the troubled realm of Rheged. He always expected to take up the sword, despite being tutored in music by his mother, a renowned harper. But after a chance encounter with Taliesin, he instead finds himself competing for a coveted place at the bardic school of Ynys Môn, where aspiring bards hope to unlock the mysteries of awen: divine inspiration, and the source of their power. It isn’t long before whispers start to circulate – could Aneirin one day rival Taliesin himself?
But Aneirin will discover that the price of awen is greater than he could have imagined. Beneath Taliesin’s arrogant façade, the great Harp Lord is a man pursued, forced to shift from shape to shape to evade the wrath of the witch, Ceridwen, from whom he stole his power. What begins as a game between the two greatest bards of their age becomes something more, as Aneirin fights to free Taliesin from Ceridwen’s hold.
A witch is not their only foe. While the North squabbles, the Anglian kings of Deira and Bernicia plot a deadly conquest. Uniting the Britons falls to the bards. Aneirin and Taliesin’s journey to save both themselves and their people will take them across the Old North, through the courts of ambitious kings and scheming chieftains, even to the terrifying shores of Annwfn, the Unworld.
The novel is set during the Celtic heroic age when the shadow of the Unworld lies heavy on Britain. This is a place of trickster-magicians, shapeshifters, and death-songs potent enough to revive the fallen. A world where bards are imbued with the gift of prophecy, and where giants – too big to pass through the doors of death – lie motionless, their bones mined for ore. This is Britain in the age of legends.
At its very poetic heart, it’s an epic love story set against the backdrop of war - think a Celtic Song of Achilles. I have drawn on medieval Welsh literature and myth including the Tale of Taliesin, Y Gododdin, the 6th century praise poetry to Uryen, and the Spoils of Annwfn etc. A sprinkling of the Tam Lin ballad. The turbulent history of the Old North plays a major role. This is a dark and shining world that echoes with the death songs of kings. A place of fierce conflict and fiercer love. The imminent, the bright and the terrible.
There’s quite a lot to say about my research, the setting and the poetry that shaped this book, so if you’re interested in early medieval history and literature, please do subscribe.
I have a wonderful artist in mind to bring the main characters to life, and a plan to compose some harp music too. Lots of exciting things in the works!
Can't wait to read it.
I am so excited for this!