The Druid Chronicles

  • The Oath

    The Oath

    The Oath, opens with the arrival of Caelym, a young Druid priest, at the outer walls of the Abbey of Saint Edeth in search of Annwr, the sister of his cult’s chief priestess, who was abducted by a Saxon war band fifteen years earlier and is rumored to be living in the convent. Weary, wounded, and starving, Caelym is on the verge of collapse when he meets an elderly woman who takes him to her hut in the nearby forest. There he discovers that she is the priestess Annwr and that she has spent her years of captivity caring for Aleswina, a Saxon princess who has been consigned to the cloistered convent by her cousin, King Gilberth, after he assumed her father’s throne. ​ Just as Caelym and Annwr are about to leave together, Aleswina learns that Gilberth, a tyrant known for his cruelty and vicious temper—and for having five wives die under mysterious circumstances—intends to take her out of the convent and marry her. Terrified, she flees with the two Druids beginning a journey that unfolds in ways none of them could have anticipated.

    Linden’s knowledge and passion for history is soaked into every word of The Oath, combined with an obvious skill at storytelling, this book truly comes to life. Linden succeeds at every level, but the world building is truly spectacular. Historical fantasy is hard to do well, but Linden makes it look easy. What could be dry details are presented so effectively that the world is elevated to almost being a character of it’s own . . .

    Bishop O'Connell, Author of The American Faerie Tale series

  • The Valley

    The Valley

    ​​The Valley is the story of a young Druid priest’s boyhood and coming of age in a secluded society where oracles are called on to mediate the rifts between the mortal and the spirit worlds, and bards cite ancient myths to settle villagers’ disputes. Llwddawanden is a hidden valley sanctuary where the remnants of a once powerful pagan cult carry on their ancient ritual practices despite the inexorable spread of Christianity. Cut off from the outside world by both geography and conviction, the Druids of Llwddawanden continue to venerate the Great Mother Goddess and to view themselves as the first-born and favorite of Her mortal children. ​ Herrwn, the shrine’s chief priest, has the responsibility of overseeing the education of Caelym, the orphaned son of the cult’s previous chief priestess, as well as adjudicating disputes brought before the shrine’s council—two tasks that grow more diffi cult as the rivalry over which of the three highest priests will claim Caelym as his disciple grows, and as mounting conflicts within their upper ranks threaten to rend the fabric of a society that has endured for more than a millennium..

    A. M. Linden brings her imagined druid community to life with a skillful combination of research and informed guesswork. The Valley provides an intriguing glimpse into an 8th century Britain that might have been.

    Juliet Marillier, author of the Sevenwaters and Warrior Bards series

  • The Sheriff

    The Sheriff

    Forced to flee their previous sanctuary, a small band of goddess-worshipping Britons reach a high mountain valley, believed to be the site of their cult’s ancestral home, to find its stone towers reduced to rubble. With only a matter of months before winter sets in, they face the all but impossible task of making habitable dwellings and gathering enough food stores to survive the coming storms. Time is equally pressing for a pair of Christian, Saxon lovers who have traveled from the capital city of Atheldom to the remote shire of Codswallow to kill the woman’s husband before he finds out that she is pregnant. ​ Meanwhile, fresh from tracking down a run-away princess, Stefan, the sheriff of Codswallow, sets out on a new mission—to capture a band of pagans rumored to be witches and sorcerers—unaware that he is being hunted by deadly enemies of his own.

    In The Sheriff, Book Three of the Druid Chronicles, A.M. Linden has written a compelling portrait of life in eighth-century England. The author has skillfully blended history, politics, romance, and social observation to create a fascinating portrait of a little-known yet intriguing period of English history. To top things off, Linden has added elements of a top-notch detective story. The result is storytelling of a very high order. Highly recommended.

    Christopher Johnson, Author of This Magnificent Place and co-author of Forests for the People