The Waste Land
Subtitle The Waste Land
By Simon Acland
Published by
Charlwood Books
ISBN 978-0-9561472-0-2
Category Historical
Spring 2012
Synopsis
The Waste Land chronicles the adventures of Hugh de Verdon, monk turned knight, during the extraordinary historical events of the First Crusade. He journeys from the Monastery of Cluny to Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem. He encounters the Assassins, endures a personal epiphany and discovers the truth behind the Holy Grail.
Author's Biography
Simon Acland spent twenty-five years as a venture capitalist backing high technology businesses. The sale of his firm in 2007 gave him the opportunity to do something completely different. The Waste Land is the product of his fascination with the original 12th Century grail romances as a result of studying French at Oxford.
Reviews
"Hugely enjoyable, engrossing and engaging from start to finish. I loved this book and it will be going on my list of Best Reads of 2010." Random Jottings "A good piece of historical fiction requires a delicate balancing act between credible period colour and going gloriously over the top. Simon Acland pulls this off brilliantly." Pursewarden "Whether in the depiction of Hugh’s loneliness at Cluny, or the gory battle scenes of the First Crusade, Mr. Acland excels at showing Hugh’s development." Historical Novel Review "This first instalment is terrific and we eagerly await the follow-up." Brothers Judd "A witty grail quest thriller with a difference... The Waste Land is legendary entertainment indeed." Historical Novels.info Price £10.99 Paperback
View interview here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kv4mWdwZHI&list=UU32MUv9x7k5e-oGN0ZHLDVw&index=5&feature=plcp
View interview here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kv4mWdwZHI&list=UU32MUv9x7k5e-oGN0ZHLDVw&index=5&feature=plcp
Reader Comments
excellent stuff - well done Simon
An absolutely grand ride.
A great book. Fats paced and engaging with lots of historical detail and likable characters that were also believable.
A great read, but less sex please. The sex sections were the only stilted passages in an otherwise fine book.
A compelling read
A great read...
A good yarn!
good book but not enough sex.
More sex next time. Look forward to sequel!
A wonderful book. I was grateful for a friend's recommendation.
fast moving, entertaining, keeps you guessing, well researched and therefore informative, great for a Book Club as well.
A real page turner. As a fan of historical fiction I will be recommending this to my friends.
perhaps he should have left the venture capital world earlier - a great achievement.
great read, difficult to put it down!
Highly enjoyable and enterntaining; well researched; an excellent read!
Outstanding historical fiction - transported me to the Crusades and back
Very enjoyable, great characters, really sends you back in time
A compelling read!
Fine book, masterfully written. Held me from start to finish.
A wonderful journey with enchanting characters and a history lesson as a bonus.
Mike Inwards
truly 'an entertainment' ! Excellent fast moving adventure story with roguish main character.
Great story - great history
Wonderful tale and adventures - Hugh de Verdun reminded one of a more decent sort of Flashman, but medieval. This tale should have another book added to make a trilogy...go on Simon, there must be something more for Hugh to do!
You can tell the author had so much fun writing this book and I did too reading it!
An excellent read.
Great book! Very absorbing read!
Highly readable, rascally story .. the pace drives you on, and the central, cynical character is engaging.
Remembered as an enjoyable read with great characters.
Love his style and historical content, strong storyline.
Lots of fund with a bit of history thrown in.
Excellent
Really enjoyed it particularly the historical aspect and couldn't wait to see how it turned out - a page turner as well!
Excellent!
an epic! What T H White is to Merlin, Simon Acland is to the Crusades!
A thoroughly enjoyable new "take" on the historical novel - the thinking man's Flashman. The first, I hope, of many.
An excellent read. So is the sequel. I'm holding out for more!
Really. Who would have known that the 12th century could be so entertaining?
Great read. Carries you back into the crusader age with fantastic historic detail and gripping narrative.
wonderful read
Erudite and enthralling with interesting literary pretensions to appeal to a broader church than the average thriller reader
Very enjoyable.
Fantastic read!
really enjoyed this book and have gone on to read the squel
recommend....
Absolutely wonderful read! Enthralled from start to finish. When's the next one??
This is a rip-roaring boy's own style adventure which I found unputdownable. Simon has a great writing style which I think deserves much wider recognition - escapism at its best.