Ethandun

Oh. My. God. Or should I say 'Oh, crank!' If you've read Ms May's previous books you'll have a fair knowledge of the Elemental side of her stories. Her book The Battle for Arcanon Major filled in some of the backstory of Halika Dacomé but I've been waiting forever to read more.
It wasn't The Circle of Fire as I wanted but I knew this was Ms May's latest and I was lucky enough to get a review copy.

While the emphasis of this story is historical, it isn't the story itself.
Ethandun takes you on a human approach through the last 36 hours before the major battle between King Alfred and the Danes, led by a warlord called Guthrum.
The main character is Lord Tristan Dracanburh. Right from the beginning you know something is different about him. He's 17 and admits he's druid born but as you get into the story you realise he's not just a druid. He's something else too.

He, with Halika Dacomés human avatar called Dee, catch a danish boy who claims the Danes have enlisted Nerído Xipile and some horrible sounding elves, who call themselves the Nine Hundred. Their mission is to kill Halika Dacomé before the main battle because they think if she's dead the Danes will claim victory more easily. Wessex will be lost and King Alfred will fall.
The next hours, Lord Tristan uncovers the plot piece by piece and finds unlikely allies who help him and his close friends thwart (I love that word!) the threat.

What kept me fixated was the unravelling of Lord Tristan in the story. He's a good guy. A really good guy. Possibly swoonworthy. In some ways he's innocent, in others he's not innocent at all. He's killed people, he's a spycatcher, he's loyal to his father who is the King. He held his twin brother in his arms as he died. But he's got secrets too. Lots of them and slowly they come out and you realise that his burden is to carry all those secrets and to keep on going. Keep a brave face. Keep his men's confidence high. Make everyone on his side believe they will win the war. But it all has a price. Personally, I'm surprised he's still sane after all of it.

Any readers of YA fantasy will love this. If you like thrilling suspense, romance, fun and twists, then you'll love this. If you haven't read any of Ms May's previous books it doesn't matter (you can catch up later.) This book is a complete story and ends with a thread which will lead us to Elemental: The Circle of Fire (which I can't wait to read!)

A wonderfully written book!