Franz Hansen

Franz Hansen

About

 I hail from Fremont, CA, where I was born, raised, and am currently living with my parents. I am the seventh of seven children, with three older brothers and three older sisters -- three of whom are married and have moved out.

Godwine Kingmaker: Part One of The Last Great Saxon Earls

Godwine Kingmaker: Part One of The Last Great Saxon Earls

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Description

<p><span><span>Harold Godwineson, the Last Anglo-Saxon King, owed everything to his father. Who was this Godwine, first Earl of Wessex and known as the Kingmaker? Was he an unscrupulous schemer, using King and Witan to gain power? Or was he the greatest of all Saxon Earls, protector of the English against the hated Normans? The answer depends on who you ask. He was befriended by the Danes, raised up by Canute the Great, given an Earldom and a wife from the highest Danish ranks. He sired nine children, among them four Earls, a Queen and a future King. Along with his power came a struggle to keep his enemies at bay, and Godwine's best efforts were brought down by the misdeeds of his eldest son Swegn. Although he became father-in-law to a reluctant Edward the Confessor, his fortunes dwindled as the Normans gained prominence at court. Driven into exile, Godwine regathered his forces and came back even stronger, only to discover that his second son Harold was destined to surpass him in renown and glory.</span></span></p>

Story Behind The Book

In 1999, inspired by Star Trek, I began creating my own science fiction Universe. Over the next five years, I wrote a series of 45 short stories and my first novel, all set in that Universe. I first looked into publication in 2001/02, but I was too short (50 pages). In 2004, I had a sudden, unquenchable interest in dragons. But, I still loved science fiction and continued writing in my Universe. By January 2005, inspired by Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern and getting an idea from an episode of the original Star Trek, I created my own dragonworld set in my Universe. And so, Draconia was born. Draconia was originally going to be a trilogy of short stories. But, I found that there was just so much I could do with it. Once I had united the short stories into one story, dropped the word limit, and applied what I had picked up from my novel-reading, ideas flowed. The original story, Draconia: Forging Trust, has since become mother to a series of her own.

Reviews

From a reader:<br /><br />&quot;The book could have benefited from a more diligent editor, but wrong word choice (your instead you're) and stray words left in a sentence as if the author intended to write a passage one way and then changed his mind aside, I found the story entertaining and I recommend this for anyone who likes intelligent dragon stories and who also enjoyed The Dragonriders of Pern.&quot;