One more “main” character is a young 15 year old kid with a mysterious backstory, fighting some personal demons that are slowly revealed. Similarly, the plot seemed to have little drive, and I do wonder if this is a series that’s meant to be read all at once, where the plot is one that covers three books, rather than each book having its own self-contained plot.

This particular expedition led by Edward lasted several weeks as his invasion force pillaged its way across Normandy and culminated in a famous battle at Crecy. In addition to viewing the conflict through their eyes, we also get the perspectives of renegade priests, the ever-scheming aristocrats and merchants, and the ordinary people who are caught in the conflict mostly against their will. He follows a small band of men attached to Edward III's invasion of France in 1346, culminating in the Battle of Crecy. The Essex Dogs aren’t given too much depth and there’s a thread in the story where some of them try to protect a naive and wayward young recruit to their band when I couldn’t quite see why they should apart from a feeling of comradely brotherhood which didn’t quite mesh with their personalities.

My problem isn’t so much with the book itself but rather the expectations and hype surround this novel. I thought this might be a Richard Sharpe and the Rifles in the 100 years war type of story based on that comparison. Few books manage to be as compelling on every level as Essex Dogs: it’s adventure, history, and heart. The history is impeccable as you would expect, but the characters left me cold and I just never felt I knew them properly.

Dan Jones debut into the fictional world brings to life a period in real life history through the lives of well developed fictional characters. In between the bloodshed, of which there is plenty, they drink a lot, loot, insult one another and complain about the incompetence of their leaders: “[Expletive] Lords. Instead we see how fractured the reality of the English army was, as Jones strips away the exaggerated patriotism, the pomp and pageantry, exposing the hearts of those in the army as he believes it was. The narrator, soon established as Elliot Chase, then zooms out to address the reader directly, introducing the players—most importantly movie star Lana Farrar. I never really felt like I engaged with them as much, and I never really felt like many of them had personalities.He captures the sights and sounds of knights and men at arms in the fury of battle in blood-soaked, mud-sodden fields and brings the hell of fighting up close and personal.

The action scenes were great; particularly the opening scene which is clearly inspired by the opening of Saving Private Ryan; and the final battle which was really exciting. Northampton was enjoyable and provided comic relief, however, at times it made me think of Rik Mayall acting as 'Flash-heart'. There are periods of boredom when they talk and boast, and sometimes consider why they're doing all this.So authentic that I am just as bored reading this book as the soldiers are when they have to stop on the march. In that city, Nico Krispis is an 11-year-old Jewish boy whose blue eyes and blond hair deceive, but whose words do not. Yet readers coming to the novel hoping for new perspectives on the Hundred Years’ War or on the experience of soldiering in 14th-century Europe are likely to come away disappointed or perplexed, since this is a book that, for better or worse, consistently prioritizes excitement and action over probability or fact.

Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. I found the story dragged for quite awhile before plot elements were developed sufficiently enough to initiate some drama.The book is part of a trilogy, but the ending stops with a character (who disappeared for a good chunk of the book) reappearing to drop a minor cliffhanger. EDIT: My initial review now complained about some unexpected revelations at the very end of the story which were left hanging.