This week, we're pleased to welcome author Octavia Randolph whose novel, THE CIRCLE OF CERIDWEN, is set in 9th century England during the Viking incursions of the Anglo-Saxon countryside. The author will offer a free copy of The Circle of Ceridwen to a lucky blog visitor; please leave your email address in the comments as winners are contacted privately. Here's the blurb:
Saxon against Viking. Christian against heathen. The clash of sword and spear in war-torn 9th century England. A courageous young women risking all to live - and love. Enter the Circle of Ceridwen...
The year 871. Of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, five have fallen to the invading Vikings. Across this war-torn landscape travels fifteen-year-old Ceridwen, now thrust into the lives of the conquerors. Her divided loyalties spur her to summon all her courage - a courage that will be sorely tested as she defies both Saxon and Dane and undertakes an extraordinary adventure to save a man she has never met.
Saxon against Viking. Christian against heathen. The clash of sword and spear in war-torn 9th century England. A courageous young women risking all to live - and love. Enter the Circle of Ceridwen...
The year 871. Of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, five have fallen to the invading Vikings. Across this war-torn landscape travels fifteen-year-old Ceridwen, now thrust into the lives of the conquerors. Her divided loyalties spur her to summon all her courage - a courage that will be sorely tested as she defies both Saxon and Dane and undertakes an extraordinary adventure to save a man she has never met.
Book One in The Circle of Ceridwen Trilogy
**Q&A with Octavia Randolph**
And she does. The Circle of Ceridwen covers six months in
Ceridwen’s life, but with, of course, tremendous changes to her experience and
world view. The entire Trilogy spans ten
years in her life, but now that I’m working on Book Four that is expanding as
well. It’s been a wonderful adventure for me and I’m grateful to my readers for
bringing me this far!
The Circle of Ceridwen Book Trailer
Why did you choose 9th century
England as a setting?
It was absolutely one of the most exciting and perilous
times in all of English history, the very making of what England would become. Danish raiders – who later became known as
Vikings – had been landing sporadically for years, taking weapons, silver, and
of course, slaves. But then they’d sail
home again. But by the late 9th
century, Denmark was becoming seriously overcrowded, and the raiders had a new
focus – emigration. This led to large,
well-organized armies landing, and intending to stay. England was composed of
seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms at the time, and one by one these fell to the Danes.
The year The Circle of Ceridwen is
set, 871, five of the seven kingdoms had already succumbed, with Mercia
dangerously weak. Soon only Wessex
remained, saved by the brilliance of its young king Ælfred.
But the novel is told in 1st
person by a 15 year old girl –
Exactly. I wanted to tell
the story of invasion and survival through the eyes of a young woman. It is a
tale about warriors, but most of the people affected by their actions were not
warriors. As is always the way with war.
So tell us about this girl,
and why you chose her as your narrator.
Ceridwen is really representative of her times on many levels.
She is in the middle of tremendous conflicts. Firstly, she’s half Saxon and
half Welsh, two groups traditionally at odds with each other. Early in the book
she travels from her priory home to a distant fortress now controlled by the
Danes, who are very much the enemy. Then
to add to her conflicts, as she settles into her new home she feels the tug of
her earliest beliefs. Even though she had been baptized, she was raised heathen
by her uncle, in the Old Religion of Wodin/Odin, Thor, Freyja, and all the
other Gods common to both the early Saxons and the Vikings. So she finds some
uneasy common ground there, as well.
Sounds like she needs to
grow up quickly…
The Circle of Ceridwen Book Trailer
Learn more about Octavia Randolph
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