Dorset is the setting for much of the second book of the ‘Alfred of Wessex’ series of novels based on the life of Alfred the Great.
The first book, written by Michael Carden, has been described as “gripping” and “first class” in reader comments on Amazon and Facebook, along with requests for the follow-up.
It is in the second book, ‘Alfred of Wessex. Book Two: Vengeance’, where the story moves to Wareham. The ramparts around Wareham from the Anglo-Saxon period are of course still there and Carden’s novel involves the siege of Vikings within Wareham by Alfred and his warriors, despite intrigues amongst his own people.
‘Alfred of Wessex’ has been a long time in the making. Twenty years ago the author submitted the first book to agents and publishers only to find that Bernard Cornwell was just publishing ‘The Last Kingdom’. An agent wrote back to say that Carden’s book might be brilliant or might be terrible, nobody would read it because Bernard Cornwell had just beaten him to it.
So Carden’s ‘Alfred’ was consigned to the attic and instead he wrote three successful cycling books. The first was the humorous tale of a cycle ride from Portland Bill to Berwick-Upon-Tweed on the Scottish border: ‘The Full English: Pedalling through England, Mid-Life Crisis and Truly Rampant Man-Flu”.
Dorset Life reviewed The Full English and wrote “Mike’s relaxed and chatty style is never less than entertaining, making The Full English the sort of book that can put a smile on your face even when it is cold, grey Winter outside.”
The author followed that up with ‘A Bit Scott-ish’ and ‘A Lake District Grand Tour’. Carden says that one of his proudest moments is when an extract from ‘A Lake District Grand Tour’ was selected for an anthology of Lake District writing including Wordsworth, Dickens and Bill Bryson.
During Covid and with time on his hands, Carden retrieved his research and the draft of the first book of ‘Alfred of Wessex’ from the attic. Now, with experience of writing three books, he treated it as a draft and re-wrote.
“Wareham,” Carden says, “is a fascinating place with so much history, particularly the take-over of the town by the Vikings, and the siege led by Alfred the Great. I hope readers in Dorset enjoy my take on the events.”
Like his cycling books, Carden has published ‘Alfred of Wessex’ independently and ‘Book One: Inheritance’ has been very well received. He sees some irony in one of the comments from a reader: “If you’re a fan of ‘The Last Kingdom’ this is one for you.”
Again as with Carden’s cycling books, ‘Alfred of Wessex. Book One: Inheritance’ and ‘Alfred of Wessex. Book Two: Vengeance’ are available on Amazon as paperbacks and e-books as well as on Kindle Unlimited.
