An Alien at King Offa's Court

A comical-historical-fantastical novel for Juveniles of all ages.

Mark 77 hails from another planet: the one the Creator made before this one. He lands on earth in 777, when King Offa rules Mercia, and despite his alien appearance wins the hand of Offa's daughter, which is only the start of his troubles. The Astromancer, Taliesin, helps him with his Maths, and eventually discloses the secret of mixing fire and water. But when the new Firewater replaces beer and mead as the tipple of choice amongst the populace, it all starts to go horribly wrong.

Things go from bad to worse when, as Thane of Tamworth, Mark makes some unpopular rulings due to his ignorance of English Law. He is soon out of favour with his wife, and after failing to slaughter the local dragon finds himself under sentence of castration - or castigation, he's not sure which owing the King's unfortunate speech impediment.

How will he escape this terrible penalty? Will he ever return to his home planet? There has to be a happy ending, of sorts, but Mark can't for the life of him see how it's going to come about.