‘Cradle of Saints’ – pre-order now!

Well, as much as I’ve wanted to release the completed novel today, on the 1500^th anniversary of St. Columba’s birth and the end of the amazing year-long Colmcille1500, ‘Cradle of Saints’ is just not ready yet!

With its uncanny parallels to the Covid era, the story became bigger than I had originally plotted, and there turned out to be so much more to explore! So, if you can bear with me, I’m finishing it up now and will have it ready for you in early 2022. 

That said, on this significant anniversary it gives me enormous pleasure to give you the cover artwork for the book, and to open up Kindle pre-orders.

‘Cradle of Saints’, the fourth book in the series, follows Columba and Aedan mac Gabran as they hunt down their enemies through the wilds of Ireland’s ancient north and west. But an even greater enemy threatens as Bubonic plague ravages Europe yet again, bringing the West to its knees—a mortal enemy from which none of them may escape.

With the tale ranging across the storied landscapes of early-mediaeval Donegal, the north of Ireland, and the Isle of Man, it was a great opportunity to showcase this detail of the ‘Hibernia’ plate from Abraham Ortelius’ ‘Epitome Theatri Ortelani’ of about 1601 for the cover of the book. In the early days before Iona’s enormous and wide-ranging influence really took off, the territory either side of the North Channel, from Argyll to the north and west of Ireland, was Columba’s stomping ground, his and Aedan’s home.

I love this cover. After ‘Exile’, which set the tone for the series and was the fruition of decades of dreaming and hard work, it is my favourite cover yet. I’d love to know what you think of it!

Head over to Amazon today to place a pre-order if you’re keen. But, don’t worry, I’ll also keep you posted as we get closer to the launch date.