Sword Brethren is going on tour with Rachel's Random Resources, if you wish to participate please contact me on rachel@rachelsrandomresources.com with your name, blog name, preferred post type and availability.
Sword Brethren by Jon Byrne
Genre: Historical fiction, medieval adventure
Tour Dates: 28th November 2026
Publication Date: 28th November 2024
Publisher: The Book Guild
Estimated Page Count: 416
Standalone Book 1 of The Northern Crusader Chronicles series
Formats available: Epub or PDF
Types of post available: Reviews, extracts, guest posts and Q&As
Author Content Warning: A non-graphic scene including rape, mild swearing, some violence.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DM5Z68VJ/
Sword Brethren (Book 1 of The Northern Crusader Chronicles)
Bound by faith. Forged in battle. Haunted by doubt.
1242: Wounded at the Battle on the Ice, English knight Richard Fitz Simon becomes a prisoner of Prince Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod. Intrigued by his captive, Alexander orders his scholar to record Richard’s life story.
Richard’s chronicle begins in 1203, when betrayal shatters his training for knighthood and forces him to flee England. In Lübeck, he finds work with a ruthless salt merchant and becomes entangled in an illicit affair – until scandal and violence drive him onward.
Forced to flee, he joins a crusade to convert the pagans of the eastern Baltic. Here he must come to terms with his new life of prayer, danger and duty – despite his own religious doubts, with as many enemies within the fortified convent as the wilderness outside. But when their small outpost is threatened by a large pagan army, Richard is compelled to make a crucial decision and fight like never before.
About Jon Byrne
Jon Byrne, originally from London, now lives with his German family by a lake in Bavaria with stunning views of the Alps. As well as writing, he works as a translator for a local IT company and occasionally as a lumberjack. He has always been fascinated by history and has studied the Medieval world for over twenty years, building up a comprehensive library of books. In his research, he has travelled to all of the locations mentioned in the book (East Anglia, Bremen, Lübeck, Latvia, etc).
Sword Brethren (formerly Brothers of the Sword) made it to the shortlist of the Yeovil Literary Prize 2022 and the longlist of the prestigious Grindstone International Novel Prize 2022. It is the first book in The Northern Crusader Chronicles.
Follow Jon Byrne
Website: https://www.jonbyrnewriter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JonByrneAuthor/
Blog Tour Schedule
Confirmed blogs will appear here.