Abandoned
(A Light in the Dark Ages Book 1)
By Tim Walker
Publication Date: 13th July 2018
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 196 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
ABANDONED BY ROME, INVADED BY BARBARIANS
In the year 410 CE, news reaches the town of Calleva Atrebatum in southern Britannia that the last Roman administrators and soldiers have left the island, never to return. Worried townsfolk look to youthful auxiliary commander, Marcus, to organise their defence when reports reach them of a roving band of raiders. Marcus’s Roman centurion father has long since passed away and he is influenced by his Briton mother to adopt her family name, Pendragon, in a tactic to appeal to the locals for support. What follows is a tense defence of the walled town from determined Saxon raiders who have marched along the Roman road from the south coast in search of plunder.
Marcus is challenged to forge a defence force from locals and a handful of Roman legionary deserters, and by doing so establishes the foundations of a post-Roman plan for survival. Elsewhere, a Christian Bishop persuades a Gallic prince to come to Britannia and lay the foundations for a post-Roman kingdom. King Constantine meets Marcus at Calleva and together they set out to unite the tribes and bring stability to the fractured, traumatised island of Britannia.
Abandoned is book one in a thrilling series – A LIGHT IN THE DARK AGES – and is followed by Ambrosius: Last of the Romans; Uther’s Destiny; Arthur Dux Bellorum and the final part - Arthur Rex Brittonum. This series is an imagining, based on slender historical sources, that covers the years from 410 to 535 CE, a time of bitter infighting between tribes and against seaborne invaders. The series builds to the coming of Arthur, a Lord of War who leads the Briton tribes against aggressive colonists, the Angles and Saxons.
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Tim Walker
Tim Walker is an independent author based in the UK.
In November 2023 Tim published his second book of short stories, London Tales. This is a collection of eleven stories that echo London's past, reflect the present and imagine its future. London Tales is a companion volume to Thames Valley Tales, re-published as a second edition in March 2023. Also in March, Tim released his first audiobook of Thames Valley Tales, narrated and produced by actor Richard James. These stories cut across a range of genres - historical fiction, crime thriller, contemporary drama and comedy. The rationalisation of Tim's Thames stories into these two volumes marks a personally satisfying conclusion to what had been a dragging conundrum. Now it all makes sense.
His most recent novel is a thrilling dual timeline, Guardians at the Wall, published in June 2021. Inspired by a visit to Hadrian's Wall in 2020, it tells the story of a team of archaeologists who uncover artefacts that connect them to the life of a Roman centurion who had guarded the wall in second century Roman Britannia. The story of centurion Gaius Atticianus of the VI Legion is told in alternating chapters, shadowing the efforts of student archaeologist, Noah Jessop, to piece together an account of Gaius's life and struggles for his thesis. How close will Noah's assumptions be to Gaius's real fate?
Tim published three books in 2020 - Perverse (April); Arthur Rex Brittonum (June) and Charly in Space (September).
Arthur, Rex Brittonum, a re-imagining of the King Arthur story, is book five in his historical series, A Light in the Dark Ages, and follows on from 2019's Arthur Dux Bellorum. Book one in the series is Abandoned (second edition 2018), followed by Ambrosius: Last of the Romans (2017); and book three is Uther's Destiny (2018). Series book covers are designed by Canadian graphic artist, Cathy Walker. The series connects the end of Roman Britain to elements of the Arthurian legend, presenting an imagined history (inspired by early historical sources) of Britain in the early Medieval period, once called the Dark Ages.
Tim lives near Windsor - close to the River Thames - the inspiration for his first book of short stories, Thames Valley Tales (2015, revised second edition, 2023). In September 2017 he published a second book of short stories, Postcards from London (unpublished in August 2023 to make way for London Tales). These stories draw on the local history and current affairs of towns and cities along the course of the Thames where the author has lived and worked. A new collection of poems and short fiction, Perverse, was published in April 2020.
His first novel was a political thriller, Devil Gate Dawn, that received pre-publication exposure on the Kindle Scout programme in March/April 2016. It found a wide readership due to its unnerving predictions of a post-Brexit Britain beset by political turmoil under King Charles III's rule and buckling under attacks from terrorist groups and includes a chapter that anticipated life in Trump America, written a year before his election.
In early 2017 he published his first children's book, co-authored with his daughter, Cathy - The Adventures of Charly Holmes. Another adventure story was published in 2018 - Charly & The Superheroes, followed by Charly in Space (2020).
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Thank you Tim. I have just downloaded my copy onto my kindle!
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