Defiant Unto Death (Master of War Book 2)

Gilman's splendid hero, Thomas Blackstone (now "Sir" Thomas) grows on me with every page. This is the second of the author's hundred years war novels. We join Thomas, happily married to Christiana and with two children, ten years after we left him in the first novel. He is now the adored ruler of several small Norman towns and, at last, treated as an equal by the superior Norman Lords who are his neighbours.But life is never straight forward in 14th century France. Thomas finds himself, reluctantly, being drawn in to Norman conspiracies to depose King John of France. And accounts of his extraordinary achievements as a fighter and leader of men quickly spread throughout the land. They spread as far as Paris, to the court of the King himself. Eventually, the King is prepared to stop at nothing to ensure the death of the English knight. And it soon becomes plain that one of the Norman Lords, thought to be an ally of Thomas, is a traitor, happy to assist the King in his efforts to arrange the death of Blackstone.I must say no more about the first part of the book. But I can fast forward to Poitiers (because we all know what happened there). Blackstone, in this account, is the messenger who brings the news to the Prince of Wales that neither his father nor the Duke of Lancaster can come to his aid. And it is Blackstone who chooses the battleground for one of the greatest English victories of the war. The description of the battle, as with Crecy in the first book, is masterful.The love story also proceeds apace, though there is some rocky ground.I am very much looking forward to the next instalment, due next year.CharlesP.S. It is tiresome of Head of Zeus not to provide page numbers on Kindle editions.

This, the second of David Gilman's Master of War series maintains the quality of story telling from the first book. Like its predecessor it is packed with action and exciting incident. I'm on book three at the moment and I will more than likely buy the subsequent titles, there are seven in all I think.If you are a fan of action packed medieval stories you can't go far wrong with this series.

Having read the earlier books in this series, I had high hopes for this one and, boy, I wasn't disappointed. This is a rip-roaring tale, told at a cracking pace, and with characters that are so well rounded that the reader really cares about them. Underlying everything is meticulously researched genuine history that explains, remarkably clearly, the huge complexities of the politics of that time. The manner in which a strong fictional character is used to move the reader through genuine history is highly reminiscent of Bernard Cornwell and that is an accolade that few authors of this genre deserve; David Gilman earns his place alongside Cornwell with ease.As seems to be common these days, there is no preamble to the book explaining the story so far and it just dives into the new plot. So much depends upon what has gone before that it would be all but impossible for a new reader to fully enjoy and engage with book without having first read the earlier books in the 'Master of War' series.Just as the main action in the previous book centred upon the battle of Crecy, 'Defiant Unto Death' has, at its core, the battle of Poitiers, It has long intrigued me that the battle of Poitiers is relatively little known, with Azincourt and Crecy attracting the bulk of the interest when, in fact, Poitiers was, arguably, the most defining battle of the age. In this book, the gritty reality of warfare in general and this battle in particular is so well crafted that the reader can almost smell the odours and hear the noises of battle.This is brilliant stuff and I can't wait for the next in the series, 'Gate of the Dead'.

I read the first book of this series and thought it was brilliant, so I read the second and I wasn’t disappointed. Another great story with very likeable recurring characters on Blackstone’s side. There’s plenty of action and you’re just routing for Blackstone’s men and feel sad whenever one is lost. It’s a very good history lesson too! Highly recommended.

Good, readable escapism.

welcome to the club - of outstanding authors of historical fiction. This book had everything; a fantastic story portraying good against evil of the utmost enormity, historical background with the great Battle of Poitier being its main focal point and brilliantly described in its full gorry detail by the author. It had fantastic descriptions of the people and times during the period of the 100 year war. Even the descriptions of the landscape and the places were wonderfully described. I found the description of the geography of 14 th Century Paris extremely interesting. The storyline is put together extremely well and proved a real pageturner from start to end, with relentless action and drama in every single chapter . On the quality of this book, I can honestly rate David Gilman on par with some of the best works by Cornwell, Iggulden, Scarrow and my most recent addition to this club Angus Donald. Very much looking forward to the next part in the series.

I sort of fell into this series by chance. It's not a period of time that I would normally read about but one boring weekend I decided to read the first in the series. I'm now officially hooked! I find them to be very reminiscent of the Sharpe novels, and I think that you will enjoy these books if you're a fan of Cornwall, Scarrow, Goldsworthy etc. I'm now off to grab a cup of coffee and then dive into book 3 of the series.

I read Book one and moved onto Book2. It was comforting to have most of the same characters and to learn more about his family and closee sidekicks and the loyalty between them.I did enjoy the book but was glad when I finished it. The action was punctuated by excessively long explanitory historic detail which ended up feeling like padding. The action sequences came and went.As Ive said I enjoyed the book but dont think I will venture into Book3...having read the first 3 chapters for a ehile.

Very pleased that I chose to read the Master of War series. Mr. Gilman has been blessed with a great talent. I am very much enjoying the time I spend reading this book series. The battles are spectacular and the development and depth of the characters is awesome. Will begin book 3 as soon as I finish this review.

Great story

Comments the same as for "Master of War". A thoroughly good novel which finished far too quickly, but that is my fault as I could not put it down.

Terrific action threaded with tragedy and suspense as the Master of War fights to save his family from a truly evil antagonist, and takes a hard punch to the heart from the woman he loves. The author's description of the Battle of Poiters is worthy of a Bernard Cornwell. I hope the 100 Years War becomes as popular as the endless Roman stuff.

this book is even better than the first, and really never stops moving along,plus the main character is not some sort of invincible super hero. also I didn't know about the battle at the end and this got me interested in reading more about the 100 year war, but getting to the point if you love Bernard Cornwell and story's like that you will love this.