This character, Laeghaire, is a mercenary, and it quickly becomes apparent that he's a mercenary some time in the Middle Ages. In the beginning, you're just plopped down with the main character with no background of what time period it is, or who he is, or anything really. This was an interesting book that took me a while to get into. Perhaps Laeghaire became frightened of possible success. Suffice it to say that I did not like the ending. He becomes close to William, Duke of Normandy, later styled The Conqueror. Men fear him and follow him into battle but Ms. Laeghaire is not a particularly likeable main character. No division at all in the Kindle edition except for chapters. Another irritating thing is that a scene will end with the next sentence taking the reader elsewhere. This sort of thing is repeated throughout the novel. The writing style in Firedrake uses many short, choppy sentences. FIREDRAKE shows some flashes of her developing skill but is not indicative of the great writer she became. Parts of the other two were used in other works. Of the other three, JERUSALEM was later published after revisions and polishing. FIREDRAKE is her first published novel (1966 I think), but the fourth that she wrote. If you are not familiar with Cecilia Holland's writing, I strongly recommend that you not begin with this one.
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