To The Eastern Seas ~ and Beyond
My next Kydd tale, To The Eastern Seas, is published in just a couple of weeks, in hardback and ebook on October 17. The audiobook follows a little later this year and will be narrated as usual by the highly talented Christian Rodska. This is the twenty-second book in the series and features the doughty crew of HMS Tyger and her gallant captain Sir Thomas Kydd, along with a number of real-life historical personages such as Stamford Raffles, the First Lord of the Admiralty and Rear Admiral Pellew
Here’s a taster of the book :
With Bonaparte held to a stalemate in Europe, the race to empire is now resumed. Britain’s ambitions turn to the Spice Islands, the Dutch East Indies, where Admiral Pellew has been sent to confront the enemy’s vastly rich holdings in these tropical islands. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd joins reinforcements to snatch these for the British Crown.
The two colonial masters of India and the East Indies face each other in mortal striving for the region – there can be only one victor to hold all the spoils. The colonial genius, Stamford Raffles, believes Britain should strike at the very centre of Dutch spice production, the Moluccas, rather than the fortresses one by one but is fiercely opposed. Kydd, allying himself to this cause, conspires to lead a tiny force to a triumphant conclusion. Subsequently a battle for Java and an empire in the East stretches Kydd and Tyger‘s company to their very limits.
Balkan Glory
A number of readers have asked me what am I working on now. The next Kydd book is provisionally titled Balkan Glory and will be out in October 2020. Kathy and I had a most fruitful location research trip recently for this book and our travels included the iconic city of Vienna and various areas in the Adriatic.
I’ll be offering a Collector’s Set of Balkan Glory. This will comprise a signed, numbered and embossed UK First Edition and a signed cover postcard. The Set is strictly limited to 500. To add your name to the reservations list email julian@julianstockwin.com with your full details, including postal address.
And with Christmas approaching why not check out the items in the Kydd Shop. I’m always happy to add a personal inscription on request to one of the books.
Julian Stockwin 