Book Review: The Eagle Will Rise By MJ Porter

It’s a pleasure to be welcoming back MJ Porter to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for their latest book, The Eagle Will Rise, book one in the Sundered Kingdom series.

The king is dead; for Mercia to survive, another must take his place.

Coelwulf, Mercia’s last king, is dead. His legacy and right to rule Western Mercia have been claimed by Alfred of Wessex, but all know Alfred was never to have Mercia. Neither were the Viking raiders, who now command the eastern-most parts of Mercia and the former kingdom of the East Angles.

Icel, the bastion of Mercia’s wars against Wessex and the Viking raiders, lies dying, but he refuses to abandon his beloved kingdom to her long-standing enemies.

Rudolf, the once-young ally of King Coelwulf the second, is summoned by Icel to attend upon him. Grudgingly, he arrives at Budworth, the task laid before him, audacious to say the least; rescue Coelwulf’s acknowledged heir, Æthelred, from Wessex, where he’s held prisoner by King Alfred. To do so, Rudolf must prevail upon the dispersed oath-sworn warrior band of King Coelwulf, and all of them, aside from him, have ignored Icel’s increasingly furious demands to attend upon him. If they won’t obey Icel, then why should they listen to Rudolf?

The fate of Mercia’s survival rests in the hands of a man who should long have been in his grave, and Rudolf, a boy who’s become a man in the most trying of circumstances. They must forge Æthelred into the emblem of Mercian survival. Or die trying. But first they must rescue Æthelred from someone who has always pretended to be Mercia’s ally, and who is anything but.

*****

Although technically the start of a new series, The Eagle Will Rise continues the history or Mercia but with the narrative passing from Icel to Rudolf. You don’t need to have read the previous series, but if you have then you will encounter a few interesting old friends in this new tome.

M J Porter has an uncanny ability to get the balance of pace, detail and language just right. The story pulls you though, there is enough detail to paint wonderful vivid images and imbue characters with depth and life whilst not weighing you down with unnecessary embellishments leading to a relaxing and engaging read – a rare treat.

Reading MJ Porter’s books has caused me to revisit what I know of that part of our history. Many novels focus on the rise of Wessex or the Danes, so it is easy to pass Mercia by. In truth for a long time Mercia was by far the largest dominion within what is now England, although history shows that ultimately it will fall. This adds a certain something to the stories; you know this is all a holding action, but the people of the time do not, and the characters fight as if their worlds depend upon it. Which I suppose they do.

Once again, a fantastic novel from the prolific pen of M J Porter. I look forward to reading the rest of this engaging series.

About MJ Porter –

I’m an author of historical fiction (Early English/Saxon, Vikings and the British Isles as a whole before the Norman Conquest, as well as five 20th-century historical mysteries) and fantasy (now published under a different name).

I was born in the old Mercian kingdom at some point since 1066. Raised in the shadow of a strange little building, told from a very young age that it housed the bones of long-dead kings of Mercia and that our garden was littered with old pieces of pottery from a long-ago battle, it’s little wonder that my curiosity in Early England ran riot. I can only blame my parents!

I like to write. You’ve been warned!

Say hi to MJ Porter on Instagram, BlueSky, Facebook and Threads. 

The Eagle Will Rise is book one in the Sundered Kingdom series and was released on 7th May 2026. Click to buy on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Barnes & Noble and Waterstones. 

by

Chris Parish