ARC Review: "Sword Brethren" by Jon Byrne ★★★★

ARC Review: Sword Brethren by Jon Byrne

This medieval fiction on the Northern Crusades was a great read, filled with vengeance, adventure, danger, forbidden love and friendship.

When I look back on my time with the Teutonic Knights and the Swordbrothers beforehand, it is the friends and comrades that have come and gone over the years that stand out for me: their courage, their heroism and their humour. That of course, and the battles. Always the battles.

[Contains some spoilers]

PLOT SUMMARY
In 1242, Richard Fitz Simon is taken prisoner by Prince Alexander Nevsky of Russia after being wounded on the battlefield. Alexander allows Richard to write an account about his life to send to his son so he understands his legacy and hopefully bring the family to justice concerning Richard’s past. Alexander has his scholar, a stubborn Irishman Fergus, to transcribe and translate so he has a copy.

We are taken back to the past, to 1203, where 14-year-old Richard’s father Lord Rodger, Baron of Cranham, receives a letter from their relatives. His brother, Richard’s uncle, Gilbert and his wife and son are coming to stay as they no longer have a home. Unfortunately, his father dies under suspicious circumstances – and Richard believes Gilbert is behind it. When there is an attempt on his life, Richard is forced to flee England for Lübeck with his father’s steward, Wilhelm. He vows to one day get his revenge.

They live with Wilhelm’s brother, salt merchant Eberhard. Richard falls in love with Eberhard’s daughter, Elsebeth but she is promised to Richard’s new employer Henkel, a cruel abusive monster of a man. When Elsebeth is abused and falls pregnant with Richard’s child, trouble stirs. Richard once again has to flee and he decides to join the Livonian Brothers of the Sword (also known as the Sword Bretherin) as they embark on a crusade to convert the pagans in the Baltic to Christianity. But the enemy is not only on the other side, for there are those amongst the ranks who would see him killed too.

OVERALL OPINIONS
I have long been a fan of medieval novels, particularly with the likes of Bernard Cornwell and Elizabeth Chadwick, so it was natural I should pick this up. I like that it is told from a dual timeline, switching between an older Richard in 1242 recounting his story thus far, to a teenage Richard from 1203-05 fleeing from one country to another seeking retribution (though we spend the most time in Richard’s past).

Byrne has intricately woven a great tale combining real history with fiction with intriguing characters, decent pacing and oftentimes marvellous descriptions. It is clear he has put a lot of thought and effort into this, down to the last detail, which should not be ignored!

I have included a few examples where similes are used effectively:

The man’s gaze was as cold as a winter’s blizzard.

And:

My heart was beating in my chest like the blacksmith’s hammer that I heard from the workshop.

The best description was this:

It was the way he slyly watched everyone when he thought no one was looking, reminding me of the way a fox or wolf would watch its prey. I wondered if he was a thief and was glad I had nothing worth stealing apart from my sword. If he ever tried to take that I would be happy to give it to him – blade first.

My personal favourite quote:

Love is not something of which most warrior monks have any experience, but I am convinced that it was real. Now I am old, but I can still remember every detail of her – the way she laughed and the habit she had of tugging at her hair as she brushed it from her face. In the subsequent weeks, I found it hard to get her out of my mind. She would haunt my dreams, haunt my waking moments, jumping into my head at the most inappropriate times.

At first, I was not aware this was the first book in the trilogy, so I had expected a faster pace. By the time I was 80% of the way through the book, I realised there would be more to come because I knew all the issues could not be resolved. This is quite fitting, seeing as 40 years on he still feels unsatisfied because he still hasn’t exacted his revenge. I am looking forward to the rest!

I actually have never heard of the Northern Crusades before, having only ever known books that cover the Crusades to the Holy Lands. Indeed, Byrne writes a Historical Note at the back of the book where he explains in excellent details about the Baltic Crusades, where he himself admits that this piece of history is overlooked. This is therefore a wonderful resource of information and I learned much on the subject. I think this story is unique because of this, and it is excellent that Byrne chose to cover this period of history and draw attention to it.

Actual characters from history are here: King John, Wenno von Rohrbach, Theoderich von Treyden and Prince Alexander Nevsky. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, also known as the Swordbrothers or Sword Brethren (where we get our story title) did exist.

<< Positives >>
🠚 A story about the Northern Crusades which are not covered nearly as much as the Holy Land Crusades.
🠚 Excellent descriptions and plot!
🠚 I was especially impressed with the name choices, as their meanings are clever and tell you something about the character. Some examples include: Richard (named after Richard the Lionheart) means “strong in rule” or “brave”, at this moment it is an ironic name but he intends to reclaim what was his and rule it. Henkel means “handle” or “grip”, the latter meaning is rather fitting considering his brute strength and abusive manner. Ąžuolas which means “oak tree”, alluding to the size and strength of the man. Rudolph means “famous wolf”, rather suitable as he is the most renown not only for his deeds but his temper (like a wolf, he can really lash out). His horse’s name Rabe means “raven” which tells you its colour.

<< Negatives >>
I cannot find much fault with its narrative.
🠚It should be clearer it was part of a trilogy.
🠚Although there were some moments I did not like, I knew they served the purpose of propelling the story on. Two such examples are the mistreatment of women and animals. I was rather shocked at the suddenness of what happened to the shepherd girl, but I understood it was to emphasise how much of a monster Henkel was. Same with Rudolph’s warhorse, it is used to illustrate Rudolph’s renowned cruelty.
🠚I thought the abuse and killing of dogs was repetitive and unnecessary.
🠚I was hoping there would be more to Richard and Elsebeth’s storyline. She becomes stubborn and refuses to run away which, while I see it from the practical point of view that wouldn’t be much of a life at all on the run, causes a lot of consequences but also makes her character somewhat cold and it feels like all his efforts to protect her are not appreciated.
🠚I can also understand if some people are uneasy about the ages of these two but it should be remembered that times were different back then and therefore would have been considered normal ages.
🠚The only thing is there are a lot of characters to remember as they come and go, but it should be straightforward to keep up with.

CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Richard꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ Poor, poor Richard Fitz Simon. He cannot seem to catch a break! One misfortune after the next, with the occasional massive catastrophe.
🠚They say to keep your enemy closer – but he has them too close for comfort haha! He has enemies in England, he has enemies in Lübeck, he has enemies in Livonia.
🠚He endures time and time again judgement of being a foreigner, a Lord and a boy. He questions his faith because of his mistreatment. There are times he loses his temper and finds it difficult to control. There are times I dislike him because of his arrogance but that makes him all the more realistic. He is a naïve young man, who loses everything he has ever known, and keeps losing people he cares about. This all makes him a very complex, realistic character who is explored exceptionally well.
🠚I am glad he still has Otto and has developed a friendship with fellow members of the Order. I love the fact that he defends women at every opportunity. In an age like that, that would have been rare.

My name is Richard Fitz Simon and this is my story. It is the truth, as God is my witness, although if I am honest, I think the Almighty gave up on me many years ago.

FAV QUOTES
• At my venerable age, death should come as a welcome relief and I almost felt ready to succumb to it – to give up my fight and drift into the hallowed afterlife. Almost, but not quite. I was not yet ready to die. There was still too much to be done. There was still my vengeance to be had. A vengeance that stretched back to my youth.
• I have always had an affinity with animals, and dogs in particular. Now I am an old man, I think I actually prefer dogs to most people. In my opinion, they are easier to manage and more loyal.
• Some men do bad things and many more men allow bad things to happen without doing what they know to be right. I was *that* man that day.
• Did I really want to go inside and help celebrate the marriage of the woman I loved to the man I hated?
• ‘if you fail to control your temperament it will lead to nothing good. It could very well destroy the both of us.’
• If I thought I had problems before, now they were only beginning. I had killed a man, and if caught I would die.
• Give me an enemy with a sword any day. How could you fight the sea?
• Now, I was heading for a country I had never even heard of only a month before, off to fight for the God I questioned daily in my head.
• Most of the other passengers kept their distance, wary after what had happened in Lübeck, but I felt their eyes on me when they thought I wasn’t looking. Let them look. I had done no wrong and had nothing to hide.
• Theodoric always seemed to have the uncanny habit of being right, as if the Lord personally confided the future to him.
• My heart beat quicker in my chest at the prospect of a battle. In the years since, this sensation has become as common as cold on a lonely night’s vigil, but at the time it was new. And I relished it. There was nothing like the thought that soon my life would be in the balance – dependent on God’s grace and my own skill at arms.
• No one can predict the future or know what will happen, nor the fate that awaits them, and we are ever fools to think otherwise.
• ‘Better an enemy in front than a knife in the back from a friend behind.’
• It was a story worthy of the bards and jongleurs, fit for any lord’s great hall. It was hard to believe it was true. On my journey to this point I may have lost everything that had been dear to me, but my life had also taken on a new meaning.
• ‘Honour,’ I said. ‘You wouldn’t understand it. Honour is everything. Honour is more important than life. If you live without honour you might as well be dead.

’ ══════════ ⋆★⋆ ══════════

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Jon Byrne and Reedsy for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.

“Sword Brethren” is out January 14th!