The Silver Falcon by Katia Fox

Published 4 June 2013
Amazon Publishing

 The story opens in England in 1184, and even though eleven year old Will is the son of the famous swordsmith, Ellenweore, he has no interest in learning his mother’s trade. What he would really like to do is train falcons, and so when he inadvertently rescues one of King John’s falcons, he uses this as an opportunity to persuade the king to let him become an apprentice falconer. What then follows is a coming of age story, set during the tumultuous reign of King John, and which simultaneously evokes the art of falconry and life at a medieval court.

My only concern is that this is a follow up story to that which was started in the author’s first book, The Copper Sign, and I feel that it would have been better to have read the books in natural progression. There is occasionally a tentative quality to the narrative, which may well be due to the fact that it is translated into English from its original German.

Overall, this is an interesting historical novel. I thought that the imagery surrounding the falconry scenes were particularly well done.

4****

 My thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.