Son of Mercia
The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles
by MJ Porter
The start of a brand-new series 'The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles' from bestselling author MJ Porter.
The once-mighty kingdom of Mercia is in perilous danger.
Tamworth, Mercia AD825
Beornwulf Mercia's King, lies dead and years of bitter in-fighting between the nobles, and cross border wars have left Mercia exposed to her enemies.
King Ecgberht of Wessex senses now is the time for his warriors to strike and exact his long-awaited bloody revenge on Mercia.
King Wiglaf, has claimed his right to rule Mercia, but can he unite a disparate Kingdom against the might of Wessex who are braying for blood and land?
Can King Wiglaf keep the dragons at bay or is Mercia doomed to disappear beneath the wings of the Wessex wyvern?
Can anyone save Mercia from destruction?
An action packed, thrilling historical adventure perfect for the fans of Bernard Cornwell and Matthew Harffy
Praise for The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles:
'Immediate and personal. MJ Porter recounts a sensitive, reluctant hero's coming-of-age within a Dark Age realm riven by chaos and conflict'
~ Matthew Harffy
~ Matthew Harffy
'No lover of Dark Age warfare is going to be disappointed. Son of Mercia is personal, real, fascinating and satisfying.'
~ S.J.A. Turney
~ S.J.A. Turney
'If you love history, fiction, adventure and great stories, grab a copy of Son of Mercia. You won’t regret it!'
~ Eric Schumacher
~ Eric Schumacher
'Refreshing… I was reluctant to put the book down'
~ Historical Novel Society
The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles
Somehow, 16th February 2025 will mark three years since the first book in the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles was released. Since then, readers have enjoyed a further six titles, and I’ve just finished the first draft for the eighth book in the series, as yet without a name. So, I thought it was a good time to go back to the beginning.
The complex political situation in Mercia in the year 826, when Son of Mercia begins, called for something a little different to my norm. I usually write about people who lived and existed, even if their lives are heavily fictionalised. This wasn’t the way to go for the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles so what then should I do?
Luckily for me and fans of The Last King books (which takes place from 874 onwards – so nearly fifty years later), I’d written into that story a really fun to write character. I’d even been liberally scattering references to his earlier days in the narrative, quite by chance. I had no intention of telling his story but then, why not? It was a perfect excuse to take my fictional Icel and explore whether he genuinely succeeded in all of his exploits and boasts from the later series. This in no way means new readers need to know about Icel to enjoy the book, far from it. Instead, it’s a way for fans to engage with a character they know and for new readers to appreciate my character has an intriguing tale to tell that will span many decades, none of them free from turbulence.
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| Image (c) MJ Porter |
Icel is a dour character in The Mercian Ninth Century Series (the later series). For every one of King Coelwulf II’s wonderful success stories, Icel always has a counter and a means of deflating any sense of achievement Coelwulf should quite rightly feel. For every Viking raider Coelwulf fells, Icel has already felled double, if not treble that number. Icel is a character to make my readers smile.
‘‘In the reign of King Wiglaf, I faced a force of a hundred and one warriors alone,” Icel rumbles.
Below is the readers’ first introduction to Icel in The Last King, the first book in the Mercian Ninth Century series.
‘In the reign of King Wiglaf, I first became a man,’ Icel’s fond of saying, although he never explains what act made him a man. Again, I’ve stopped questioning him… Rudolf hangs on Icel’s every word. They’re an excellent match for each other, the boy who never runs out of questions and the man who never answers them.’
What then did Icel do to become a man? Why does he never answer poor, eager Rudolf’s questions? Who is this man who’s been fighting for Mercia’s survival and independence throughout his entire adult life and continues to do so? How has he lived through these years, and what scars does he carry with him? These are all questions to be answered throughout the earlier series.
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| Image (c) MJ Porter |
But first, we must meet young orphaned Icel, a boy of no more than eleven, when the narrative begins in Tamworth, a capital of Mercia. Who was his mother? Who was his father? How does he even become a member of the Mercian king’s warband? Along the way, I must ensure I keep my narrative true to events I’ve already narrated, but still, the scope for Icel’s tale is vast and enticing.
I genuinely hope my readers will enjoy the story of Icel, the youth, in Son of Mercia, as well as Icel, the aged, jaded, and fierce Mercian warrior they will encounter fifty years later.
And here is our introduction to young Icel from the first paragraph in Son of Mercia. He hardly sounds like a warrior.
‘I move through the hall, wishing there were more people to hide behind. But with Beornwulf, king of Mercia, away with the war band battling the upstart, Athelstan, king of the East Angles, there are too few. I don’t wish to feel the gaze of the king’s wife, Lady Cynehild, cutting me, even from such a distance. She sits on the raised dais, arrayed as though she rules without the aid of her husband. A cold woman, I’ve yet to discover why she detests me so much, but hate me she does. I know that. As does everyone else within that great hall, its blackened rafters reaching far above my head. Not that any of them will tell me why she despises me. I doubt they know the cause of her animosity.’
(c) MJ Porter. All rights reserved.
M J Porter
MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England and Viking Age Denmark.
Raised in the shadow of a building that was believed to house the bones of long-dead Kings of Mercia meant that the author’s writing destiny was set.
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Thank you for introducing Icel to our followers, and The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles. It's such a brilliant series, as he's very much the reluctant hero – with a dangerous secret!
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