The Saxon Tales

No pics. Too many damn books. 

Books: The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, The Lords of The North, Sword Song, The Burning Land, Death of Kings, Pagan Lord

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Series: Warrior Chronicles

Year published: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013

Pages: Between 350 and 400 each

Time It Took To Read: A few hours each

So, I got married. And in doing so, I forgot how much I read when my shiny Kindle came. Mainly because, to alleviate wedding stress, I re-read THE ENTIRE SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series. What a series it is! Bring on Winds of Winter.

Anyway, before I got married, I read this lot. I love the Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell. They were the first fantasy books I read, back when I was about 12. They focus on the deeds of Arthur, and there is magic and Merlin and battles and angry women.

This series is pretty much the same. It covers the world of Alfred the Great, and attempts to be vaguely historically accurate. There is one major problem though. The narrator, one Uhtred of Bebbanburg is an absolute arsewipe. He's a nasty, unlikeable, cocky, vicious twonk. And whereas this is fine in some books because sometimes anti-heros are a good thing, Uhtred is not a good thing. 

As I read, I bitched, and my betrothed asked "Why are you reading them if you hate them so much?" To which the only answer was "I'm a completionist, how do you not know this yet? You don't know me at all. Maybe we shouldn't get married."

Jokes. We did. It was great. 

Book count: 35/50

The White Princess

Author:  Philippa Gregory

Year published: 2013
Series: The Cousins War 5

Pages: 560

Time It Took To Read: A day

This is the book I bought to baptise my new Kindle. I've wanted one for a while, but not been able to justify the expense. Then I got a first in one of my uni modules, and got one, so it is dubbed The Kindle of Reward. 

Anyway, I've read all four preceding books and this one is about Princess Elizabeth of York who married Henry VII after he acceded the throne, and she was the mother of Henry VIII. Their marriage was made for political reasons, to unite the factions of York and Lancaster after the War of the Roses, but Henry VII should have been Elizabeth's mortal enemy, moreso if she really had been having an affair with her uncle Richard III. Instead, their marriage historically seems to have been a success. 

So, the book opens on the defeated York faction waiting to be summoned to court for the proposed betrothal of Elizabeth and Henry. This eventually happens, there's gratuitous and rather unnecessary rape, magic, childbirth, women being sidelined, Margaret Beaufort being every bit The Boss that she seems to have historically been, and an abrupt ending, to make way for Margaret Pole's story, which is coming out later this year.

I love historical fiction, I really do, but sometimes Philippa Gregory's gets a bit cloyingly similar. Oh I hate him! Oh I love him! Oh I'm pregnant! Oh someone I love is dead and I'm powerless to stop it! Every single book. I keep buying them, keep reading them, but I'd love something meatier. 

Book Count: 26/50

Stormbird

Author:  Conn Iggulden

Year published: 2013
Series: War of the Roses, books 1
Pages: 512

Time It Took To Read: A couple of days

You may have sensed a theme in my recent reading. Historical fiction (plus some fantasy), are really the only fiction books I like. And recently, I've been reading buckets of them. I am AGGRIEVED that once again, I have started a series of books that isn't even close to being finished yet. Truly, this makes me cross. My patience is thin, but I only need to wait for September for the next one.

So, the Wars of the Roses. A horrible, bloody struggle between the descendants of Edward III, which ended up in Henry VII - who had the weakest claim to the throne - taking the crown after the Battle of Bosworth Field. This series takes a rather different view of the political machinations that led to it (notably the surrendering of French land in exchange for a French bride), using an invented spymaster as the go-between amongst the factions, plotting and trying to keep the increasingly unwell Henry VI on the throne. There are bloody battles, people die without warning (shadows of A Song of Ice and Fire with this), and it's fascinating. There is real grit.

Most of the historical fiction I read of this period is framed in the eyes of women, and their historical powerlessness.  Much as I love a bit of romantic historical fiction (Alison Weir/Philippa Gregor), women do tend to lack nuance - either weak innocents, or megalomaniac monsters. This book, however, I loved because Margaret d'Anjou is amazing. She cries a lot, but she holds the power of the throne for her incapacitated husband. She's frightened, but doesn't show it. She takes the initiative. 

The historical notes at the end are lengthy, because Mr Iggulden (GREAT NAME) has taken a lot of liberties with the time scale, but I don't mind that. The only thing I have against this book is that I have to wait for more of them. 

Happy news! If I pass my exams, I'm buying myself a Kindle. Until then, I have about 20 books I've garnered and not read yet. BOOKS! THERE WILL ONLY BE BOOKS!

Book count: 21/50

The Constant Princess and The Boleyn Inheritance

Author:  Philippa Gregory

Year published: 2005 and 2006
Series: The Tudors, books 1 and 3 (chronologically)

Pages: 490 and 528

Time It Took To Read: A day each

I read The Other Boleyn YEARS ago, which was Philippa Gregory's first Tudor novel (although the second, chronologically) and decided to read these as something light while revising. Which was a mistake, because these books are bloody addictive. They're not in the same ballpark as Mantel, but still enjoyable, and interesting. 

The Constant Princess covers the life of Katherine of Aragon, my favourite wife of Henry VIII. It tells the story of her first years in England, and her first marriage as well as her second. Katherine, if you didn't know, was married first to Henry's older brother, Arthur. That was his grounds for trying to divorce her years later when she didn't give him a healthy son. God was punishing him for shagging his brother's wife. Except that the Bible actually states you SHOULD shag your brother's widow if he dies heirless. But that's by the by: the crux is that Katherine claimed her first marriage was never consummated, and since Arthur died not long after their marriage, nobody could prove it either way. This book attempts to explain why she stood her ground over the virginity/divorce matter, and also portrays her as a young woman instead of the fat, barren, old hag that hangs in the background of other Tudor fiction as though she was always that way. The glaring historical inaccuracies are annoying if you know your Tudor onions, but it's still a good read.

The Boleyn Inheritance springs forward thirty years to the fourth and fifth marriages of Henry VIII. Anne of Cleves was divorced because of non-consummation, Katherine Howard was beheaded for sleeping with other men. The book speaks through Jane Rochford, who was the sister in law of Anne Boleyn, and narrowly escaped with her head after that due to giving evidence against both Anne and her husband George. She then returned to court, as Anne of Cleves lady in waiting and Katherine Howard's after her. She was complicit in Katherine Howard's adultery, and lost her head for it. That's the historical element: the book weaves a tale of Jane Rochford being an instrument of the Duke of Norfolk, and either really foolish or really evil. I enjoyed this one, as these wives of Henry VIII tend to get overlooked as ugly and slutty, when they were somewhat more complex than that.

Now...I have finished my exams (OH THANK GOD) and reading can commence once more! I have a pile of unread books like you wouldn't believe...

Book count: 20/50

A Place of Greater Safety

Author: Hilary Mantel

Year: 1992

Pages: 880

Time It Took To Read: Over a week - it's MEATY

I've been swamped, literally swamped, with uni work since Christmas. If I'm not ignoring one module to concentrate on a TMA, I'm doing the reverse. This book was a treat for getting my January essays in on time, but I didn't start reading it til last week.

Oh my God, you guys, she needs to crack on with the last Cromwell book.

Anyway, prior to reading this book, I knew absolutely nothing about the French Revolution. I studied it briefly in year 9, but spent more time sniggering about people having to sleep in the corpse of their horse. I was a heartless child. I knew that a lot of people got their head cut off, and that it was probably ultimately not a terrible thing, but no details.

Well, now I feel like I lived through it. That's the power of Mantel's writing; one sentence and you're there. One line, one tiny piece of description and the scene is set. I think, as with her Cromwell books, it's a lot better to read if you already have a fair idea of who's who and what actually happened.

It portrays the lives of Maximilien Robespierre, Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins, three leading revolutionaries who began as lawyers. Their love, their pain, their hate, aggression, anger, humour is all in the book. They become three dimensional, but oddly inscrutable. Their women are as important as the men, acting as a domestic balance to their almost fantastical political world, but also involved in it.
As the book drives on through death, factions, more death, insurrection, and death, you KNOW people that have been fully developed are going to die. As I couldn't remember the facts of the Revolution, I didn't know til the very end who died in what order. The last forty pages were compulsive.
It's brilliant. I am sad that I've finished it.

Book count: 6/50

Bring Up The Bodies

 Author: Hilary Mantel

Series: Thomas Cromwell trilogy, book 2

Year published: 2012

Pages: 482

Time It Took To Read: Two days 

 

I have had a truly awful couple of weeks. I came back from holiday to discover a mouse had taken up residence. I am absolutely phobic about mice - proper hyperventilating, sobbing, vomiting, petrified phobic. We didn't really get anywhere with sorting them out til Thursday, when the exterminator came out and on Saturday we got a cat, so I finally feel able to relax at home. I can't tell you what a mess I've been. Constantly on edge, crying all the time, severe insomnia, not wanting to be here but having no choice because my eldest has started school so I can't just bugger off. My family (extended and immediate) have been brilliant, giving us somewhere to stay when I couldn't handle it anymore. But now, I can actually sit at home without jumping a mile when a fly buzzes, so I got some reading done.

I ordered Bring Up The Bodies immediately after finishing Wolf Hall, and am gutted that Hilary Mantel hasn't written the third book yet. These books are fabulous. Immersive, detailed, realistic and nuanced dialogue and beautiful characterisation. If you're aware of the circumstances surrounding the death of Anne Boleyn, so much the better, and I think you really need to read Wolf Hall first to get the best out of the book, but even as a stand alone volume, it is amazing. Thomas Cromwell remains the central figure, though you get to know other characters a lot better.
I have been and bought more Mantel today, but suspect I will be re-reading David Starkey's Tudor histories over the next few days to remind myself of the historical truth behind these astonishing books.

Book count: 41/50

Wolf Hall

Author: Hilary Mantel

Series: Thomas Cromwell trilogy, book 1

Year published: 2009

Pages: 650

Time It Took To Read: Three days

So, from the ridiculous to the sublime. 

I'm not a big fan of the sort of literature that wins awards, and is doled out to students to analyse. This is probably because my AS level english lit teacher was such a monstrously snobbish idiot about people, books and intelligence. I vividly remember her sneer of disbelief when I told her that I'd read Beloved in one night, as though my general demeanor and appearance meant that I was incapable of reading and understanding a Great Work in a few hours. Bitch, please.

Anyway, this is only the third Booker prize winner I've read, after Midnight's Children (which I should really re-read and see if I understand it better than I did ten years ago) and Amsterdam (tedious). And it was FANTASTIC.

It is a Tudor novel. The establishment, rise and decline of the Tudor dynasty is my favourite, and most fanatically researched part of history. I remember seeing the famous Hans Holbein picture of Henry VIII at Belvoir Castle when I was about 9 years old and being entranced. Since then, I've read most histories of the Tudors, visited their homes, and seen many of the artefacts and portraits of them. I think if I went to Hampton Court Palace, I'd pass out.

This book is largely concerned with Thomas Cromwell, a man exceedingly well placed to initially observe and later steer the events of Henry VIII's first few marriages. Wolf Hall is about the Great Matter of divorcing Katherine of Aragon, the schism from the Roman Catholic church and the marriage to Anne Boleyn. It is a far more political view of events than the corresponding books by Phillippa Gregory, without becoming androcentric. 

I wasn't quite sure if I'd like it or not, and held off reading it for some months in case it was a tedious mire of awful. I was gripped from the first page. It's written in the present tense, with a curious form of third person narrative - Cromwell remains the central character, with events seen only through his eyes, but never in first person. It took some getting used to, but made for a much more interesting read than the usual selfishly driven "I did, I saw, I said" of other historical novels.

The quality of writing is astonishing. Certain paragraphs made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, they were so real and so searing. Even if you have absolutely no knowledge of the Tudor court except for Henry VIII and his myriad wives, you can follow this book, understand the key players and untangle the web. However, if you know more about the court, the actions and the people, then this book is delicious. The characters are fully fleshed, and wholly believable.

I loved it. I bought Bring Up The Bodies this morning, so that's next.

Book count: 40/50

A Dangerous Inheritance

Author: Alison Weir

Year published: 2012

Pages: 528

Time It Took To Read: A day

 

Alison Weir is a historian who has been publishing rather dry books about the Tudors and Plantagenets for over twenty years. A few years ago, she started publishing fictional accounts from this era and they are FAR better than her nonfiction works. She is much better than Philippa Gregory, in my opinion, though they both write Tudor/Plantagenet era work focusing on royal women.

Anyway, it is my (potentially libelous) belief that Weir wrote this book in reaction to Gregory's Cousins' War saga (see here and here). It sems obvious that Gregory is going to attempt to pin the death of the Princes in the Tower on Henry VII, so Weir is attempting to get her version (both historical and fictional) across before Gregory gets the chance. Weir wrote a historical account, firmly pinning the blame on Richard III way back in 1992. 

 

This book concerns Katherine Plantagenet, the bastard daughter of Richard III, and Katherine Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey.  Lady Jane Grey is the subject of an earlier Weir book - Innocent Traitor. She briefly seized the throne after the death of Edward VI, to try and prevent Catholic Queen Mary taking over. It all went awry, she reigned for nine days and then Mary cut her head off. Katherine Grey then switched allegiance to Queen Mary, as her cousin, and later secretly married Edward Seymour after her first marriage was annulled. Queen Elizabeth I didn't take the news well and locked them up.Katherine gave birth to two children in the Tower of London and her marriage and children weren't legitimised until the reign of James I, by which time Katherine had been dead for years.

The story Weir chooses to tell switches between the two Katherines. Katherine P is a very shadowy historical figure. Literally nothing is known of her, except that she was raised in her father's household, so the majority of the story is conjecture. It is based around her quest to stop her father being accused of regicide. Katherine G finds Katherine P's papers in the future, complete with haunting, and follows the story herself. The conclusion is basically "Yes, Richard III did it." 

The whole book feels a bit pointless. There isn't enough historical information about Katherine Plantagenet or her stepmother Anne (The Kingmaker's Daughter) to give them real resonance. There is AMPLE information about Katherine Grey, to the point where the whole book could have been written about her alone. The constant switching of viewpoint is a device Weir uses often in her books, but it is aggravating and confusing that the dual heroines have the same name. The 'dangerous inheritance' seems to refer to the knowledge about the Princes, but that sort of gets ignored til the very end. I think, in short, that the focus for the book is all wrong.

But there's plenty of intrigue, sex and romance for those that like that sort of thing. I'm interested to see how Gregory finishes off her Cousins' War series, and I hope Weir's next book is a bit less cobbled together.

Book count: 38/50

Shadow of Night

No photo. Go look it up on Amazon, it's BLUE.

Title: Shadow of Night

Author: Deborah Harkness

Series: All Souls Trilogy Book 2

Year published: 2012

Pages: 630

Time It Took To Read: Two afternoons

After reading the first of this series, I compulsively bought the second. Then I remembered how horrendously behind on uni work I was and made myself forsake it until my last TMA was in. My last TMA was submitted on Sunday and I picked this book up yesterday. AND DEVOURED IT. 

Now, I don't want to give away any major plot twists, but the story thus far is that a witch has fallen in love with a vampire (as you do) and now they're hiding in time from the Congregation - a scary collection of witches, vampires and daemons who keep order. The witch, Diana, has a very shaky grasp of her power, and is trying to find a teacher. The vampire, Matthew, has his finger in every possible historical pie.He is omnipresent, friends with every luminary of the 1590s, and exceptionally politically powerful. Diana has to cover up her 21st century origins, and Matthew has to try and cover up several hundred years of changing ethics and politics. And then they have to try and get what they came for, and then get home again.

There are, as mentioned before, lots of parallels with the godawful Twilight series. The biggest differences are that Diana is a fully rounded character, not a melancholy teenage idiot, and the author really knows her historical stuff. The book falls down slightly in some of the dialogue, but more than makes up for it in invoking the atmosphere of 16th century Britain. It did slightly rankle at how quickly Diana dropped her modern behaviour, though this is explained away by her learned background. 

Also, my useless vasovagal response kicked in when there was biting of chest arteries, and I nearly passed out. It is no good being triggered by venepuncture, when enamored of vampire fiction.

There will be a third in this series, but Deborah Harkness hasn't BLOODY WRITTEN IT YET. I feel slightly like going a bit Misery to force her to write it faster, but that way madness lies ;-). It really is quite a compulsive read. I am not a patient person, but will certainly be reading it when it finally emerges.In the mean time, if you are a fan of vampire books, or supernatural books, or alternative history books, or just historical fiction, I really recommend this particular book. But read the first one first, or it won't make all that much sense.

Book count: 26/50

The Kingmaker's Daughter

Title: The Kingmaker's Daughter

Author: Philippa Gregory

Series: The Cousins' War Book 4

Year published: 2012

Pages:464

Time It Took To Read: A dreary afternoon

The latest Cousins War book concentrates on Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. He was known as the Kingmaker, due to his key role in overthrowing Henry VI and putting Edward IV on the throne. He wanted to be the power behind the throne, and used his daughters to enable that, choosing to marry one daughter - Isabel - to the King's brother, and the other - Anne - (when the tides turned), to Henry VI's only son. Gregory implies that his eventual aim was to get one of his daughters on the throne, so he could continue to control things after Edward IV's secret marriage (covered in The White Queen) to Elizabeth Woodville altered the dynamic of court.

This was a much better read than the last in the series. Gregory admits there is little contemporary evidence for Anne's actions and reasons, but manages to weave a convincing narrative that places Anne at the heart of events, explaining her second marriage and gradual determination to stop being a pawn in men's games. The book is also littered with heartbreak - the birth of Isabel's first child made me weep, and I so rarely show any emotion. I mean, I had PMT, but even so. 

I really enjoy this series primarily because it covers a period of history which is mainly known for battles and politics. Gregory manages to inject feminism into a wholly misogynist period, whilst also making the familial relationships obvious, and giving these shadowy characters life. It is a shame that the book was written before the body of Richard III was confirmed to suffer scoliosis, as it is dismissed as weakness and witchcraft. It seems that Gregory aims to put the death of the Princes in the Tower at Henry VII's feet. As the final book, The White Princess, concerns his eventual wife, this may be mostly for dramatic effect.

I look forward to reading the final book when it comes out in paperback, and seeing how the strands of story meet in the end.

Book count: 23/50

The Lady of The Rivers

Title: The Lady Of The Rivers

Author: Philippa Gregory

Series: The Cousins' War

Year published: 2011

Pages: 527

Time It Took To Read: 3 days

This isn't really my first book of the year. I started it over a month ago, but never really got into it. I made myself sit and finish it over the last couple of days, in between the revelry/drunkenness of the new year. I was vaguely unimpressed.
I'm quite a fan of historical fiction, especially from the Plantagenet and Tudor eras. I've read the other two Cousins' War books, and much preferred them to this rather sketchy offering. It centres on the life of Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Duchess of Bedford and Lady Rivers. She was the grandmother of the Princes in the Tower, great grandmother of Henry VIII, through the maternal line, mother in law and grandmother in law of two kings.
The book begins with the capture and death of Joan d'Arc, moves through to Jacquetta's virginal marriage to the Duke of Bedford, her passionate and fecund marriage to Richard Woodville and her links to the monarchy of the time. A factual study of her life would be fascinating reading.
This fictionalised account places her at the heart of the beginning of the War of the Roses. However, trying to tell the story from her perspective involves a lot of jumping around, in both time period and place, to ensure that she can witness events that she may not have witnessed. The best historical fiction makes the transition between what is historically known and what is imagined seamless. This book does not manage that.
The focus is on her alleged mystical powers, stemming from her legendary descent from the water goddess Melusina. The book alleges that her first marriage, to the Duke of Bedford, was formed solely so he could use her sorcery. Her relationship with her queen, Margaret d'Anjou is explored in detail, with enormous emphasis on the witchcraft element. The natural conclusion of the witchcraft/Melusina storyline would be to Jacquetta's trial, and acquittal, for witchcraft in 1470. Instead, the book ends with her daughter, Elizabeth Woodville, meeting Edward III, in 1464. The story then picks up in The White Queen, which predates this book by several years.


In short, it's a bit too patchy and I found it difficult to concentrate. I believe the series should have been written and published chronologically, though in Philippa Gregory's defence, she didn't plan to write the book until she was researching The White Queen.
I will definitely be buying the later instalments of this series though.