1980–1990 Bradshaw's first published novels were the
Arthurian historical fantasy trilogy,
Down the Long Wind. These three
young adult books —
Hawk of May,
Kingdom of Summer, and ''
In Winter's Shadow'' — were released between 1980 and 1982. Set in
Sub-Roman Britain, the trilogy's main character is
Gwalchmai (Gawain), who must choose between supporting his evil mother
Morgawse or his maternal uncle
King Arthur. The title
Down the Long Wind is taken from
Alfred, Lord Tennyson's
Idylls of the King: :"And fainter onward, like wild birds that change :Their season in the night and wail their way :From cloud to cloud, down the long wind the dream :Shrilled; but in going mingled :with dim cries." Bradshaw next began writing adult
historical fiction. Her 1986 novel,
The Beacon at Alexandria, features Charis of
Ephesus, a female
doctor cross-dressing as a
eunuch in 4th century
Alexandria, in
Roman Egypt. ''The Bearkeeper's Daughter'' tells the story of
Theodora,
empress consort of
Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. Theodora was born into the lowest class of Byzantine society, and was the daughter of Acacius, a bearkeeper for the circus.
Imperial Purple (UK title:
The Colour of Power), released in 1988, features Demetrias of
Tyre, a woman who was born into slavery but who is becoming a skilled weaver. The plot focuses on her discovery of a plot to depose
Theodosius II and remove from power his sister
Pulcheria. In 1990 Bradshaw wrote
Horses of Heaven, about a marriage alliance between the
Saka Kingdom of
Ferghana and the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. The marriage of King Mauakes and Princess Heliokleia occurs around 140 BC, and brings many changes at court.
1991–2000 Bradshaw next turned to writing three
children's books — starting with two linked tales involving
Ancient Egypt,
The Dragon and the Thief in 1991 and
The Land of Gold in 1992. The latter features a
Nubian princess who survives her parents' murder, and attempts to regain her throne with the assistance of the dragon
Hathor. These two books were followed by
Beyond the North Wind (1993). The novel features a young
magician assigned by
Apollo to protect a tribe of
griffins from a hostile queen. The title is again a reference to an earlier work, in this that of case
Aristeas of
Proconnesus, a 7th-century BC Greek, who reported that the griffins lived in
Scythia, near the cave of
Boreas, the North Wind.
The Dragon and the Thief,
The Land of Gold, and
Beyond the North Wind all began as stories for the pleasure of her own children. Bradshaw then continued her works of serious adult historical fiction with
Island of Ghosts in 1998. The novel tells the story of Ariantes, one of 8,000
Sarmatians in military service to
Marcus Aurelius. In 2000 she wrote her first
science fiction novel,
The Wrong Reflection, about an
amnesiac who finds his given identity of "Paul Anderson" to be a fabrication. This was followed by historical novel
The Sand-Reckoner, a telling of the story of
Archimedes of
Syracuse, Italy, from his studies at the
Library of Alexandria to his involvement in the
Second Punic War (218 – 202 BC).
2001–present In 2001, Bradshaw published her second science fiction novel,
Dangerous Notes. It features Valeria Thornham, a young classical guitarist and composer whose brain was implanted with
cloned stem cells in childhood after an accident. She is considered a potential
psychotic and is arrested and detained at a mental research facility, where she is threatened with the prospect of undergoing surgery to remove the part of her brain that is responsible for her extraordinary musical talent. Bradshaw's 2001 historical novel
The Wolf Hunt was based on
Marie de France's
Breton lai Bisclavret, and features Marie Penthive of Chalendrey, a
Norman kidnapped and taken to the
Duchy of Brittany. Marie then becomes involved in the life of the late 11th-century Duchy's court and its plots. Her next historical novel, ''Cleopatra's Heir'' (2002) tells the tale of
Caesarion, son of
Julius Caesar and
Cleopatra VII of Egypt, who managed to escape execution at the order of his adoptive brother
Caesar Augustus. The young man is then forced in a life of poverty in his new environment, the
Roman Empire. In 2002 Bradshaw also wrote a short story set in
Ancient Egypt,
The Justice of Isis, taking place in
Alexandria in
58 BCE, during the reign of
Ptolemy XII. It was published in
The Mammoth Book of Egyptian Whodunits. This short story was also published in
Czech as
Esetina spravedlnost in 2004. This was followed by another historical novel,
Render Unto Caesar (2003), featuring Hermogenes, a Roman citizen of
Greek origin, meeting
prejudice in the city of
Rome when he tries to collect a debt, and his body guard, "Cantabra", a former
gladiatrix, originally from
Cantabria. In 2003, Bradshaw also wrote a short story set in the last decades of
Imperial Rome,
The Malice of the Anicii. Written in the style of a scholarly edition of
Ammianus Marcellinus's
History of Rome, the story was published in
The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunits. Bradshaw returned to science fiction with
The Somers Treatment (2003). The novel features
neurosurgeon David Somers advancing his own unique treatment of
specific language impairment. However, his research receives its funding from
MI5, for reasons that remain secret to the public. Her 2004 historical novel
The Alchemy of Fire takes place in
Constantinople under
Constantine IV. Anna, former concubine to a prince of the
Heraclian Dynasty, attempts to raise her daughter Theodosia on her own while protecting the secret of the girl's noble birth. Meanwhile,
alchemist Kallinikos of
Baalbek works in creating
Greek fire.
The Elixir of Youth (2006) was Bradshaw's next novel, looking at the complex relationship between a philosopher daughter and her molecular biologist father, who walked out of the family when she was a child, and whose serum to repair the effects of aging on the skin has gone missing. Like her earlier novel
Dangerous Notes (2001), the use of stem cells in research is a theme.
Bloodwood was published in 2007. This novel is set in contemporary Britain, and focuses on Antonia Lanchester, a terminally ill employee of a home-furnishing company, who hands over incriminating files about
illegal logging and corruption from her employer's computer to an environmental campaign group. Her next novel,
Dark North (2007), was a return to
Roman Britain for Bradshaw. Set in 208
CE, it looks at the troubled reign of Emperor
Septimius Severus — and his attempt to conquer
Scotland — through the eyes of Memnon (an African cavalry scout) and members of Empress
Julia Domna's household. ''The Sun's Bride'' (2008) is set in
Ancient Greece, in
Rhodes in the year 246 BCE. Shipping, piracy and the politics of the eastern
Mediterranean Sea are the well-researched backdrop to the story of two people caught up in the end of the reign of
Antiochus II Theos and the beginning of the
Third Syrian War, and how these change their lives.
London in Chains (2009) is her first historical novel of a planned two set in the
English Civil War. Like many of her novels, it focuses on one woman's struggle for independence in a male dominated world. Starting in 1647, it is set around a Lucy Wentor, a young woman establishing herself in the politically sensitive publishing trade in London.
A Corruptible Crown (2011) follows Lucy's career in publishing: printing news-books and avoiding censors. ==Impact and critical reception==