Tag: Celtic Fervour series

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Before Beltane is on its way!

This post is by Nancy Jardine.
Before Beltane, the Prequel to Nancy Jardine’s Celtic Fervour Series, is now a few days old and it has gained its first review on Amazon. The 5***** star review has come from a paperback book reader and is a brilliant start to sharing impressions of the stories with potential readers.

Here’s the review:

“The Prequel to the Celtic Fervour Series by Nancy Jardine is a very enjoyable read which takes the reader back to the early years of the first century AD in Iron Age Britain before the full Roman invasion of Brigantia. The book gives an early sense of the Celtic people and has something for every reader of historical novels.“

Nancy Jardine (and Ocelot Press) heartily thanks the reviewer. Receiving a review really helps to give the book visibility in online settings and it endorses the writer’s time, diligence and effort in creating the fiction.

Before Beltane is effectively Book 0 (Zero) and is the introduction to the Celtic Fervour Series of historical adventures set in late 1st Century Roman Britain.

Before Beltane and the other 5 novels in the series can be bought from Amazon in kindle and paperback formats. You can also order a paperback in bookstores like B&N, WH Smith, Waterstones or independent bookstores.

Happy Reading!

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Before Beltane – A Prequel to the Celtic Fervour Series!

Ocelot Press has a new addition to its list of titles. Nancy Jardine’s Celtic Fervour Series, set in Late 1st Century Roman Britain/ Roman Empire, now has a Prequel to the series named Before Beltane.

Before Beltane was written to provide a deeper historical backdrop to the beginning of the series, to describe in more detail what was happening in Brigantia, northern Roman Britain, in AD 71. It also gives a glimpse into the lives of Lorcan of Garrigill and Nara of Tarras – the two main characters of Book 1 The Beltane Choice – prior to them meeting each other in Book 1.
Civil War between Queen Cartimandua and her ex-husband King Venutius caused strife amongst the Brigantes for some years, though by AD 71 it was time for all of the Brigantes to be at peace and to live together in harmony.
Unfortunately, the downfall of Queen Cartimandua (a Client Ruler of Rome) caused an escalation of the threat of Roman legionary invasion. The armies of General Cerialis, the Roman Governor of Britannia, not only invaded Brigantia, but by AD 71 they settled down and built wooden forts.
Before Beltane is a book of two intermingling halves. It presents an incident in Lorcan of Garrigill’s daily life, followed by an incident in Nara of Tarras’ daily life, a process that’s repeated throughout the book.

Two lives. Two stories. One future.

AD 71  Northern Britannia

At the Islet of the Priestesses, acolyte Nara greets each new day eager to heal the people at Tarras Hillfort. Weapon training is a guilty pleasure, but she is devastated when she is unexpectedly denied the final rites of an initiated priestess. A shocking new future beckons for Princess Nara of the Selgovae…

In the aftermath of civil war across Brigantia, Lorcan of Garrigill’s promotion of King Venutius is fraught with danger. Potential invasion by Roman legions from the south makes an unstable situation even worse. When Lorcan meets the Druid Maran, the future foretold for him is as enthralling as it is horrifying…

Before Beltane is now available in paperback format from AMAZON and can be ordered in bookstores.
The AMAZON eBook launch is April 29th 2022 and the eBook is on Pre-Order till then.

Wishing you Happy Reading!

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Beathan The Brigante is *FREE* 15th Oct.!

Ocelot Press is delighted to announce that the eBook of Beathan The Brigante, the latest addition to Nancy Jardine’s highly-interlinked Celtic Fervour Series, is *FREE* on the 15th October 2020 across the Amazon network!

(Psst! And if you’re quick, you should find that some of the other books in the series have a reduced price during this special promotion.)

Book 5, Beathan The Brigante, features young Beathan of Garrigill, but it also depicts the interlinking of his life and that of the Ancient Roman General –  Gnaeus Iulius Agricola who is a main character in Books 4 & 5.

Having been captured by the Ancient Roman legions, after the battle at Beinn na Ciche in north-east Caledonia, we pick up Beathan’s story in AD 85 at Trimontium Roman Fort where he is used as a menial fort slave. General Agricola, having been summoned back to Rome by Emperor Domitian, collects Beathan and some other high-ranking hostages at Trimontium Fort and drags them all off in chains.

During the long trek to Rome, Beathan learns surprising things about General Agricola. In turn, Agricola finds aspects to grudgingly admire in young warrior Beathan. Escape from, and revenge against, his captors doesn’t come quickly for Beathan. However, by AD 89 he is back in Brigantia – the land of his birth – where revenge blazes for him at Vindolanda Roman Fort. It’s gratifying that by then he is closer to a reunion with his much-missed Garrigill kin ,and it’s even better that romance with a young Brigante warrior-woman named Torrin has lightened his eventful life, even though he is still only seventeen.

Moving from place to place is a regular feature for the Garrigill Brigantes in the Celtic Fervour Series novels, especially as they become refugees fleeing from Brigantia to Caledonia, but young warrior Beathan can truly say that he is the most widely-travelled across the Roman Empire!

It’s a reasonable assumption that youths matured into men much faster in 1st Century AD, especially if they were subjected to the treatment that’s meted out to Beathan of Garrigill!

Link for Beathan The Brigante

Amazon UK HERE

Amazon Universal HERE

You can find out more about the Celtic Fervour Series HERE

Wishing you a happy time reading this week!

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Historical Fiction or Historical Saga?

Book 1“…combines a very human and personal story with a very believable vision of Late Iron Age society in Northern Britain.”

Ocelot Press author Nancy Jardine’s Celtic Fervour Series, set in 1st-century Roman Britain, has also been called a historical saga by some reviewers. Across the 4-book series, you can read of the adventures of Brigante warriors from the Hillfort of Garrigill. The clan members sometimes take centre stage in one novel or become background characters in another and allow new clan members to shine. As the series progresses, Ancient Roman characters also take up prime slots.

Continue reading “Historical Fiction or Historical Saga?”
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Look at the History on Your Doorstep, Advocates Nancy Jardine

 

Ocelot Press author Nancy Jardine is a mine of information about the Romans in the north of England and Scotland, knowledge that she’s put to good use in her Celtic Fervour series: four novels, soon to become five. The series concentrates on a particular clan and its struggles to oust the Romans. Each book focuses on a specific character. Continue reading “Look at the History on Your Doorstep, Advocates Nancy Jardine”

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