I’m introducing The Eagle Will Rise and reading the first chapter. Enjoy.
Here’s the blurb
The king is dead; for Mercia to survive, another must take his place.
Coelwulf, Mercia’s last king, is dead. His legacy and right to rule Western Mercia have been claimed by Alfred of Wessex, but all know Alfred was never to have Mercia. Neither were the Viking raiders, who now command the eastern-most parts of Mercia and the former kingdom of the East Angles.
Icel, the bastion of Mercia’s wars against Wessex and the Viking raiders, lies dying, but he refuses to abandon his beloved kingdom to her long-standing enemies.
Rudolf, the once-young ally of King Coelwulf the second, is summoned by Icel to attend upon him. Grudgingly, he arrives at Budworth, the task laid before him, audacious to say the least; rescue Coelwulf’s acknowledged heir, Æthelred, from Wessex, where he’s held prisoner by King Alfred. To do so, Rudolf must prevail upon the dispersed oath-sworn warrior band of King Coelwulf, and all of them, aside from him, have ignored Icel’s increasingly furious demands to attend upon him. If they won’t obey Icel, then why should they listen to Rudolf?
The fate of Mercia’s survival rests in the hands of a man who should long have been in his grave, and Rudolf, a boy who’s become a man in the most trying of circumstances. They must forge Æthelred into the emblem of Mercian survival. Or die trying. But first, they must rescue Æthelred from someone who’s always pretended to be Mercia’s ally, and is anything but.
https://amzn.to/3PqbUGb (Kindle – it will be in KU as soon as I tick the correct button).
Also available in paperback, large print and hardback.
If you’re in the UK/US you can buy direct from IngramSpark below.
Check out The Sundered Kingdom Series Page on the blog
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MJ Porter 
hello M J Porter, thank you for your sharing your knowledge of the Dark Ages. I have searched for years to find works that are informative, yet not so dry & lifeless I become so disconnected it is difficult to absorb or enjoy.
my only request would be that in the beginning when describing who your characters are and their relationships, you also provide correct pronunciation of their names. at times I find myself stumbling over possible ways to pronounce, it interrupts the flow of the story. I then sometimes need to go back a few sentences or even paragraphs to get back on track.
Just a suggestion, but i can’t help but feel others may find this helpful also.
please keep up this amazing journey for all of us.
Blessings to You and Yours,
robin dalton
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Hi Robin, Thanks for your message. I do struggle with pronunciation myself, but for the Dark Ages Chronicles, I was able to ask an academic to help me with the names (for the audio narrators) and here I am trying to say those names the way she does. https://mjporterauthor.blog/2025/09/01/its-the-first-day-of-the-blog-tour-for-warriors-of-iron-the-second-book-in-the-dark-age-chronicles-trilogy-im-sharing-a-recording-of-me-trying-to-say-the-character-names-correctly-newreleas/
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