Have you ever wondered about the secrets behind places like Stonehenge or Avebury? Have you maybe even felt a magic power when visiting stone circles?  Robert Carter is fascinated by the idea that stones can be charged with power: positive as well as negative ones. And his novel is set in a world where this possibility is the reality.

Robert Carter’s novels are set in a 15^th century England where myths of the folks are reality. Carter has therefore done immaculate research into both history and mythology. He has visited all stone circles in the UK and studied their history in great detail. He is also part of the Richard III society and an expert on the Wars of the Roses.

 His new novel ‘The Giants’ Dance’ is the second in the 'Language of Stones' trilogy. It takes us in a world where stones have miraculous power and myths are just as powerful as the reality we believe in. Lines of battlestones crisscross the land with evil energy that causes conflict and war. Only a young lad called Willand, said to be an incarnation of King Arthur, is able to save the country from war and destruction. But the malevolent sorcerer Maskull isdestined to use the battlestones that litter the landscape inciting hatred in all who draw near for his mean motives.
Praise for Robert Carter's previous book,  The Language of Stones:Full of charm and the magic of landscape … an enjoyable read'  Amazon

'A compelling tale that fully utilizes its beautifully crafted characters'Dreamwatch
‘Just the right mix of magic, mystery and mud … Carter weaves his spell’ Lads Mag

Robert Carter has been travelling extensively throughout the world, has a degree in astrophysics, worked as an oil driller in America, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, written computer software, been an editor for the BBC and even worked on the Blackpool trams. For  the time he doesn’t travel around the UK to visit stone circles he lives in West London.

‘The Giants’ Dance by Robert Carter is published 6 February 2006 in Paperback priced £6.99.

Please see opposite panel for an interview with the author.       

Coming in May from Voyager: the final volume in the trilogy, WHITEMANTLE. Press Release follows:

THE THIRD COMING OF ARTHUR.

The final volume in a rich and evocative tale set in a mythic 15th century Britain, to rival the work of Bernard Cornwell.

As civil war tears the Realm apart, the sorcerer Maskull's plans to bring about a catastrophe that will rob the world of magic are coming to fruition. The wizard Gwydion knows that the only hope for the future lies with Willand, the young man he believes to be the reincarnation of King Arthur.

But Will is beset with doubts. He is being stalked by the Dark Child, the twin from whom he was separated at birth and who now serves Maskull. And as the magic gradually begins to fade from the world, the powers of Gwydion, his mentor and friend, seem to be fading too, leading Will to despair that the destruction of the war will ever be halted, or Maskull ever defeated.

Despite the seeming impossibility of his task, Will is not ready to give up quite yet. With the help of his strong-minded wife, Willow, and friends as wise and generous as the loremasters Morann and Gort, Will journeys the Realm seeking his destiny. And soon it becomes clear that only by solving the riddle of his own identity can he save the world he loves so deeply.

What is the story about the stones in your book? The stones in my novel contain power of a rather malevolent kind. They are the working parts of an ancient array built long ago to protect the land from invasion. But the system was corrupted in later times, so that now, instead of calling warriors to repel invasion, they cause men to fight one another and so a civil war.
How did you get the idea to use stones as carriers of power?  I've always been interested in history, and I was surprised to find that if you plot the main battles of the civil war that we call the Wars of the Roses on a map of England, then it is possible to draw three triangles one inside another and all the battles stand on them.

Do stone circles such as stone henge have any special powers?I think the stones are part of the last traces of ancient civilizations that were in many respects greater than those of the Greeks or Romans, and far richer than we've so far been led to believe. Alfred Watkins wrote a book in the 1920's discussing ley lines, and many people like dousers believe in patterns of energy that can be traced in the earth. It makes sense to me -- a sort of earth acupuncture. I think that people who lived much closer to the land than we do today must have had a better feel for it. It stands to reason. I regard these circles as deeply spiritual places -- at least as spiritual as any gothic cathedral, although in a very different way. I challenge anyone to spend the whole night in a place like Avebury or the Rollright Stones and come away unchanged by the experience!

Are there any other magic places in England? The stone circles are the most obvious, but there are many others. Barrows and lone standing stones abound of course, and they are a vastly important part of our heritage. Certain ancient trees have a quality about them too. I know of a lane of sweet chestnut trees that's five hundred years old, and certain ancient oaks that are eight or nine hundred years old, and we have many yew trees that are well over a thousand years old. These special places are, I think, reinvigorating. Just by being there can cleanse you and strengthen you. The White Horse of Uffington, near the Ridgeway is one such. Walk about that hillside for an afternoon and I guarantee you will never regard it as an afternoon that you might have wasted. I'm a strong believer that old battlefields have a lingering strangeness about them. I've visited many of them over the last 20 years, and there is definitely something spooky about them. I think it's a terrible thing that roads and housing estates are built on them. It wouldn't happen in America where they have a very reverential attitude to their civil war battlefields, for example.

Sales and Marketing highlights

• Sumptuous package with gorgeous jacket

• Full of myth, magic and legend

• Will appeal to fans of Bernard Cornwell, especially his Arthurian series

• Final volume in series, follows The Language of Stones and The Giants’ Dance, but also stands alone