About The Lion and Leopard Trilogy of historical novels

'The Lion and the Leopard' is a trilogy of historical novels set in Africa.

The first novel, 'The Settler' was published in March 2012, and has now sold over 10,000 copies. It's about loves and wars in the cauldron of Southern Africa in 1890-1902, where a young Englishman and his American companion become accidental soldiers. Can they survive the vicious fighting between settlers and African tribesmen, and between British and Boer armies? Which of four pioneering young women will they choose to share their challeges?

'The Settler' in Amazon.com

The second novel, 'Lake of Slaves', was published in June 2014. “In the 1880s the Lake Nyasa area of central Africa is devastated by Arab slave traders and raids by Angoni warriors. Livingstone's 'Lake of Stars' has become a 'Lake of Slaves'. Alan Spaight is among a handful of British men fighting the slavers. After a year as a trader he starts a coffee plantation, while torn between the enticement of his doctor’s wife and his neighbour’s attractive daughter. He is drawn repeatedly into conflicts with the slavers, in company with mission-educated Goodwill, a former slave who escaped to return to his village. A new Consul, Harry Johnston, brings in British officers and Sikh soldiers in 1891, and the tide turns. After another five years of bitter fighting the slave trade is finally destroyed.”


The third and last novel in the trilogy, 'The Lion and the Leopard', is set in the area round Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika during the 1914-18 War. The 'Lion' in the title is the badge of the British South Africa Police (BSAP), the paramilitary force in Rhodesia. The 'Leopard' in the title is the Nyasaland Volunteer Reserve (NVR). Both outfits served with distinction in the First World War. I served in both of them, many years later!


Monday, October 15, 2012

The Settler is climbing in the historical novel genre !

The Settler is now ranked #27 out of 1,170 in the genre 'Africa historical novels' in Amazon.com, based on 'average customer reviews. There's some stiff competition, particularly when you see that #1 is 'Killer Angels', a novel about the Battle of Gettysburg (the town where I live) - which has nothing to do with Africa!

On Amazon.co.uk The Settler is ranked #2 out of 111 novels in the same genre, again ranked by 'average customer reviews'.

These rankings may be factors boosting The Settler's sales, which are growing steadily, mainly on Kindle, where they are expected to reach one thousand by the end of the year.

'The Settler' in Amazon.com

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