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Between Two Fires

A Novel

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Between Two Fires

By: Mark Noce
Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
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Saxon barbarians threaten to destroy medieval Wales. Lady Branwen becomes Wales' last hope to unite their divided kingdoms when her father betroths her to a powerful Welsh warlord, the Hammer King. But the fledgling alliance is fraught with enemies from within and without as Branwen becomes the target of assassination attempts and courtly intrigue. A young woman in a world of fierce warriors, she seeks to assert her own authority and preserve Wales against the barbarians. But when she falls for a young hedge knight named Artagan, her world threatens to tear itself apart.

Caught between her duty to her people and her love of a man she cannot have, Branwen must choose whether to preserve her royal marriage or to follow her heart. Somehow she must save her people and remain true to herself, before Saxon invaders and a mysterious traitor try to destroy her.

In Between Two Fires, Branwen's story combines elements of mystery and romance with Noce's gift for storytelling.

 Action & Adventure Historical Historical Fiction Medieval Romance Royalty Fiction Middle Ages Heartfelt
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My favourite genre is Roman and medieval historical fiction which is why I chose to listen to this book. In my opinion, a really compelling story should be set within the correct context of the time so that, although it’s a work of fiction, the setting, customs, places and weapons used should be accurate. Unfortunately this is not the case in “Between Two Fires”.

As an example, this is set in the late 500’s AD. The protagonist, a young well born girl of 17, a gentle member of royalty finds, and uses a long bow during a battle against the Saxons. This wouldn’t have happened for two reasons. First, she simply would not have the strength to use it. Archers who used the long bow in medieval times took years of practice before having the strength or skill to use it, starting with small versions made for them as young boys. Second, the long bow didn’t appear until much later on.

The story itself is mediocre at best, lacking substance, historically inaccurate and unconvincing. If it’s your first historical fiction you might think it’s ok, but once you have read some really good ones you’ll probably find this hard to finish.

I’ve said it before, one of the most important aspects of a good audiobook is in its delivery. Sadly, a lot of them are second or third rate readers. The best ones don’t just read, they perform. The narrator of this book, Barrie Kreinik, performs her part well enough, however, her characters’ accents leave a lot to be desired, especially the men for some reason. Since the story is set in South Wales she tries to present a Welsh accent, but instead it sounds like a mix of Geordie, Indian, Scottish and everything in between!

In conclusion I would say that if you are a medieval historical fiction fan and are well read in that genre this book will not hit the spot for you. However, if this is your first time and have nothing to compare it with you might enjoy it.

Disappointing

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Sadly, this is NOT the book I was looking for, but another of the same name, by a completely different author. I thought it was taking an awfully long time to get to anything I recognized from the reviews that so tempted me, but as both are, broadly speaking, "historical" and set in the Middle Ages, I didn't immediately notice the impossibility that this was the right book. I thought it was just a slow-burn that would get to the point eventually. But this is not the horror novel by Christopher Buehlman, set in France in the 1300s, but a tepid and clichéd romance set in Celtic Britain (Wales) about 600 years earlier. As both are still technically "The Middle Ages", it took a long time for my mistake to become apparent. I considered persevering with this one, but it's formulaic and poorly written. Characters keep having to voice aloud aspects of the historical situation that the reader might not know, which makes them sound stilted and artificial, as it's clearly only for the reader's benefit, and not things they might naturally say to one another. And there's too much dwelling on the physical attributes of every young man from the persective of the heroine, Branwen, as we wait to see which will be her love interest. Too much dwelling on her own looks too, for that matter. We learn she has black hair and green eyes - celebrated as beautiful in our culture, but for some reason she sees herself as the ugly duckling, and thinks this is "peasant" colouring. Another cliché, as it's a sure sign the gawky, awkward girl is going to turn into a real beauty. She's far too educated and feminist for her time; she has read BOOKS, and has freely-voiced ooinions on political and military matters. Unlikely that even a modern teenager would contribute to political discourse in this way, and Branwen, in her day, might have been taught needlework, music, and other domestic arts, but NOT to talk to seasoned warlords about the unification of Wales. If you want Medieval romance done much better, try T. H. White's 'The Once and Future King'.

Load of old piffle!

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