Historian and novelist Dan Jone returns to the world of 14th Century Britain for the third of his Essex Dogs books – Lion Hearts. The first two books of this series, Essex Dogs and Wolves of Winter, followed a misfit group of archers as they fought in France in the early years of the 100 Years War. In Lion Hearts, Dan Jones revisits these characters after three tumultuous years which included the first outbreak of the Black Death in Europe.
After a brief prologue, Jones takes readers to the small coastal village of Winchelsea in 1350 where Loveday Talbot, former leader of the Essex Dogs, has purchased a tavern. But Loveday is not particularly good at peacetime life and soon finds himself in debt and working for a local smuggler. The only upside is that this brings him back in touch with some of his old crew. Meanwhile, young archer Romford has become a squire to a high powered knight and when his narrative opens, they are on their way to a celebration at the under-renovation Windsor Castle. Meanwhile the threat of Castilian piracy on British ships and coastal raids grows.
The Essex Dogs series has been characterised by its ability to conjure a time and place but to do so through the eyes of a bunch of likeable rogues. Lion Hearts is no exception as Jones paints a picture of post-plague Britain (during which 60% of the population died) that is also still under threat from European warmongering. He does not spare the hard scabble or the violent lives of these characters but he also leavens this with warmth, camaraderie and humour. While there is a battle to cap off this novel, by setting the action back in England Jones paints a very different picture to the previous two which were both spent on the battlefield in France.
Once again, while Jones checks in on others, the two central characters of this story are Loveday and Romford as they both face very different challenges to those they have faced before. Loveday is trying to put his wartime past behind him and be an innkeeper and family man but still yearns for the time he spent in battle with his crew. Romford, meanwhile, is essentially financially supporting the knight for whom he works while also getting a deep understanding of the problematic way in which the British aristocracy works
Lion Hearts is being marketed as the final volume in this series (although the historical note suggests that more exploits of the Essex Dogs may be in the works). Either way, Jones has once again built out and illuminated a fascinating time and place through a cast of loveably flawed and often dangerous characters.
Lion Hearts by Dan Jones
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