The Bruce Books

"Vella-Bardon has what it takes to become a literary giant." (Yorkshire Evening Post)

A historical thriller, a gripping tale that you will not put aside until it is finished.

Scotland, 1306–After slaying his lifelong rival to the throne in a chapel, Robert the Bruce is crowned king of Scotland at Scone. Yet even his own wife and countrymen laugh at his foolishness, calling him Mad King Robin. For his crowning has enraged the English king, whose army destroys the Bruce’s forces at Methven. The Bruce suddenly finds himself an excommunicated outlaw within his own realm, fleeing his enemies with a handful of loyal men.

During the eight years since Methven, the Bruce’s wife Elizabeth de Burgh has hated every day of her captivity by the English. Rumour and gossip reach her that the Bruce is out of hiding and reclaiming Scotland. Yet she has also heard that the English king is marching north, at the head of the largest English army ever assembled.

For 1314 is indeed the year when the Bruce, long emerged from hiding, has crushed his enemies and taken every castle in Scotland except Stirling. His rise, inspired by a mere spider, is scarcely believable. Yet it will take all of the Bruce’s ingenuity and insane bravery to attempt to end the English hold on Scotland. The last fight for his people’s future beckons along the Bannockburn, but can the Bruce’s army overcome impossible odds to win freedom?

Mad King Robin is a wonderful, riveting thriller, which tells the stirring tale of a nation’s desperate struggle against a much larger, brutal oppressor.