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J. Michael Radcliffe

J. Michael Radcliffe

About

An avid reader of fantasy and science fiction novels all of my life, Michael Radcliffe published his first novel, The Guardian's Apprentice in 2010.  He lives with his family in rural Kentucky, along with their five cats. When not acquiring more ferocious felins for their plan of world domination (cat armies are terribly hard to train), he enjoy spinning stories from the wisps of magic around him.  His writing is supervised by Idris, a small dragon statuette that has a place of honor next to his computer.  Idris frequently advises Michael on all things magical, especially dragons.

Connect with Michael online at http://www.michaelradcliffe.com or http://www.theguardiansapprentice.com 

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

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<p>Emerging from the long shadow cast by his formidable father, Harold Godwineson showed himself to be a worthy successor to the Earldom of Wessex. In the following twelve years, he became the King's most trusted advisor, practically taking the reins of government into his own hands. And on Edward the Confessor's death, Harold Godwineson mounted the throne—the first king of England not of royal blood. Yet Harold was only a man, and his rise in fortune was not blameless. Like any person aspiring to power, he made choices he wasn't particularly proud of. Unfortunately, those closest to him sometimes paid the price of his fame.<br /><br />This is a story of Godwine's family as told from the viewpoint of Harold and his younger brothers. Queen Editha, known for her Vita Ædwardi Regis, originally commissioned a work to memorialize the deeds of her family, but after the Conquest historians tell us she abandoned this project and concentrated on her husband, the less dangerous subject. In THE SONS OF GODWINE and FATAL RIVALRY, I am telling the story as it might have survived had she collected and passed on the memoirs of her tragic brothers.<br /><br />This book is part two of The Last Great Saxon Earls series. Book one, GODWINE KINGMAKER, depicted the rise and fall of the first Earl of Wessex who came to power under Canute and rose to preeminence at the beginning of Edward the Confessor's reign. Unfortunately, Godwine's misguided efforts to champion his eldest son Swegn recoiled on the whole family, contributing to their outlawry and Queen Editha's disgrace. Their exile only lasted one year and they returned victorious to London, though it was obvious that Harold's career was just beginning as his father's journey was coming to an end.<br /><br />Harold's siblings were all overshadowed by their famous brother; in their memoirs we see remarks tinged sometimes with admiration, sometimes with skepticism, and in Tostig's case, with jealousy. We see a Harold who is ambitious, self-assured, sometimes egocentric, imperfect, yet heroic. His own story is all about Harold, but his brothers see things a little differently. Throughout, their observations are purely subjective, and witnessing events through their eyes gives us an insider’s perspective.<br /><br />Harold was his mother's favorite, confident enough to rise above petty sibling rivalry but Tostig, next in line, was not so lucky. Harold would have been surprised by Tostig's vindictiveness, if he had ever given his brother a second thought. And that was the problem. Tostig's love/hate relationship with Harold would eventually destroy everything they worked for, leaving the country open to foreign conquest. This subplot comes to a crisis in book three of the series, FATAL RIVALRY.</p>

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<span style="color:#333333;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px;"><strong style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:bold;font-style:inherit;font-size:12px;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;">Review by: </strong><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MariaSavva" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:12px;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:#336699;">Maria Savva</a> on May. 07, 2011 : <img src="https://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" height="16" width="16" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:12px;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <img src="https://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" height="16" width="16" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:12px;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <img src="https://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" height="16" width="16" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:12px;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <img src="https://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" height="16" width="16" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:12px;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <img src="https://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" height="16" width="16" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:12px;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <br />A spellbinding tale. With this short story, Michael Radcliffe is introducing the world of the Guardian's Apprentice, his fantasy novel. I haven't read the book yet, but this story has definitely given me an idea of what to expect from the novel. If you want to discover more about the world Radcliffe has created in his book, I would highly recommend you read this story. <br />If you like books about witches, wizards, magic, curses etc., you will love this story. It kept me interested and I loved the little twists contained within it. <br />Nisha wants to save her father, a powerful Wizard who is dying. Will she be able to find the stone that will cure him, and at what cost?</span>