These are the keyprints of a happy chap. Happy because my old mate Simon Fonthill is riding again. I have just left him at the end of Chapter One of the ninth Fonthill adventure, he having escaped the clutches of the famous Boer commando leader Christian de Wet, with Alice, Jenkins and their black tracker, Mzingeli, and boarded a British armoured train in the Orange Free State in late September 1900.
Yes. It's the Boer war - the second, because loyal readers will remember that Fonthill & Co fought in the first Anglo-Boer War, then called the Transvaal War, which ended in 'Last Stand on Majuba Hill.'
In fact, it should be admitted that the trio have been back for some time, having gone through the perils of the Boxer Rebellion in China in the eight novel, 'The War of the Dragon Lady,' which will hit the bookstalls in hard back in January and then in paperback the following September.
But for me I only know that the intrepid army scout - poor horseman, indifferent shot but inventive opponent of all enemies of Queen Victoria in so many of her 'little wars' of the last quarter of the nineteenth century - is alive again when I write about him. And it is good to have his company once more.
This novel (working title, which won't survive, is 'Commando!') is due out early in 2013. I am already saddle sore.
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Delighted to hear you are continuing the adventures, I really thought book 8 would be the last. The series is always a pleasure to read and in a genre were there are many average tales yours stand out. I plan to pick up The War of the Dragon lady on the day it comes out and curl up for a good read.
ReplyDeleteFantastic. Simply can't wait to read how Fonthill engages the Boers and their intrepid leadership, along with Alice's stand on the morals of a war once concentration camps for women and children were introduced.
ReplyDeleteHard to locate your books in US Book stores. I am sure folks here would love them
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