"Beautiful and brilliant, Eleanor is the daughter of the duke of Aquitaine, whose glittering court is the twelfth-century birthplace of courtly love. For all of the duke’s boasts that Eleanor has the brains of a man and the soul of a warrior, everyone knows that a girl of fifteen cannot possibly hold the richest dukedom in France. Everyone, that is, except her dying father, who insists on leaving Eleanor his most valuable provinces---and making her prey to the first baron who rides in to kidnap her.
“Transporting readers into a forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and warfare, A Clash of Kings is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Set against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.”Last year, my boyfriend, Nick, and I read the first book in A Song of Ice & Fire series, A Game of Thrones, together over the course of several months. We wrote a two part review of the first book – you can find my portion here and Nick’s portion here. We started this second book back in early summer of 2010, but then with moving and everything I think it was November before we finished it. Plus it’s over 1,000 pages, so finding time to read that much together takes a little work. I thought it was only fitting that Nick have a little bit of say in this review as well, so there will be asides throughout from him.
Nick says: My personal favorite is not related to the nobility at all - Davos Seaworth. He is a daring rogue who saved the denizens of a castle from starvation by smuggling onions in to them under the cover of night. He is now lovingly referred to as the Onion Knight, and gives us a fresh perspective on the goings-on of the court.The very most basic premise of this volume in the series can be summed up like this – everyone wants to be, and proclaims himself to be, king. Each faction has a representative and they are all doing battle with one another (Renley for House Baratheon, Stanis for House Baratheon (the true Baratheon heir), Robb for House Stark, and Joffrey for House Lannister). And then you have Daenerys of House Targaeyen who is in the Free Cities and believes she is the true heir to the Iron Throne.
Nick says: Throughout all of these battles, a bright red comet blazes across the sky. It is very interesting to read how each hopeful ruler believes that the comet is a heavenly sign of THEIR right to the throne.There are some awesome battle scenes throughout the book. It is also filled with the requisite back-stabbing, intrigue, the best laid plans going awry, and just when you think you have it all figure out – the game changes.
Nick says: I like to think it has to do with the evil lurking beyond The Wall to the North – an ancient force that is in the perfect position to strike while the rest of Westeros squabbles over titles and power.A wonderfully written sequel that never has a dull moment. There is a lot of character development and we get to see some changes happen in some people, but I think there will be much more of that in book 3.
Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page but it is now on a monthly tour. For the month of February it is being hosted by Library of Clean Reads.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Stalina Folskaya’s homeland is little more than a bankrupt country of broken dreams. She flees St. Petersburg in search of a better life in America, leaving behind her elderly mother and the grief of the past. However, Stalina quickly realizes that her pursuit of happiness will be a hard road. A trained chemist in Russia, but disillusioned by her prospects in the US, she becomes a maid at The Liberty, a “short-stay” motel on the outskirts of Hartford. Able to envision beauty and profit even here, Stalina convinces her boss to let her transform the motel into a fantasy destination. Business skyrockets and puts the American dream within Stalina’s sights. A smart, fearless woman like Stalina can go far…if only she can reconcile the ghosts of her past. Obsessed with avenging her family while also longing for a new life, Stalina is a remarkable immigrant’s tale about a woman whose imagination—and force of personality—will let her stop at nothing.What came in your mailbox this week?
Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend and maybe have tomorrow of for President's Day. I know I do and am very happy about it. Yesterday I accomplished little - had to go do the taxes in the morning and then prep and go out to a banquet and some dancing in the evening - where unfortunately my dress ripped (but at least it was on the way home - right down a seam). But had a great time anyway.
“A lush and compelling tale of royal intrigue and artistic longing, set in the sixteenth–century Spanish court.
The Creation of Eve is based on the true but little-known story of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first renowned female portraitist of the Renaissance. After a scandal in Michelangelo’s workshop, Sofonisba flees Italy and joins the Spanish court of King Felipe II to be a lady-in-waiting to his young bride. Sofonisba befriends the queen, only to become embroiled in a love triangle involving the queen, the king, and the king’s illegitimate half brother, Don Juan. The Creation of Eve combines art, romance, and history from the golden age in Spain in a story that asks the question: Can you ever truly know another person’s heart?”
My Review:
When I heard about this book, months before it was to be released, I knew that I just had to read it. See, I had to do a senior project on Sofonisba Anguissola about a year ago and fell in love with her story. I just had to see if it turned out to be everything that I loved about her story.
One of the things that I loved about the style of this book was the way that each segment of the story started with an “item”. These items related to what was going to happen in the chapter and were related to social commentary, art tips, quotes from famous people, etc. These were always enlightening to me about the period and the people. I also really loved the relationship between Sofie and Queen Elizabeth. It was known that they were very close and I could believe that this was how their relationship was.
On the other side of things, I was a little disappointed with the lack of descriptions of her paintings or her even painting at all. She is most known for the fabulous paintings of the Spanish court members, and the only paintings that were described were at the very beginning of the story – before she ever went to the Spanish court! She spent most of her time talking about how she would “like” to paint or how she was “going to” teach the Queen how to draw – but it was much more talk than action. I was also a little disappointed in Sofie’s demeanor. Right from the start when she meets Tiberio, she longs for him, and wishes for him, and all she thinks about is him. I just found her to be too whiny (to be realistic or believable).
Without going into detail about the ending, I will say that it was action packed right up until the very end. It was very enjoyable and exciting – and to anyone who doesn’t know about her, they would probably very much like this ending. I on the other hand, having studied her and her work in depth, found it a little too farfetched and fictional to be believable at all.
I’m going to say that overall I was more disappointed with this book than I was excited. I think if more of her artwork was included and had went a little more into her life after the Spanish court (which was where all of her real romance and love of her life occurred) I would have enjoyed it SO much more. While I enjoyed the story, it just didn’t hit it out of the park for me – but I will say that it could partially because I have researched a lot about her life.
Take this opportunity to read the first chapter and get a taste as to whether this book is for you. Lynn has also written, I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter – a YA book about, who else?, Rembrandt’s daughter. You can visit Lynn’s website to find out more about her and her works.
3 out of 5 stars.
Giveaway:
The giveaway is for one copy of the newly released paperback. Open to the USA only. The giveaway ends on February 27th and the winner will be announced the next day. Just fill out the form to enter.
Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court
In this episode of Caught on Tape we follow the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, Elizabeth I, take your pick of names. I haven’t read a lot of the historical novels on Elizabeth, as she isn’t one of my favorite historical people, and I haven’t seen any of these films either – although after putting together this list there are several I would love to see. I really think my historical movie quota is lacking – after looking at how many movies I have featured in this series of posts, and how many of them I have not seen. Here we will take a look at some of the early movies as well as some of the most recent – it is weird how I didn’t really find any between the 1950’s and 1990’s/2000’s.
“Rachel Marsh, an indentured servant in the household of John Adams, believes she is well treated, and greatly admires Abigail and John Adams. Although not political herself, she worries about friends who support rebellion and have told her that a time will come when she will have to take a stand. It is only when she meets Matthew Kilroy, a young, argumentative British soldier who has been sent to Boston as part of a peacekeeping force, that Rachel begins to question British domination of the colonies and to see herself as an American.”Growing up my favorite author was hands down Ann Rinaldi. I owned probably about a dozen or so of them and I would frequently borrow those that I didn’t own from the school library. After about age 15 I got distracted by other books and really forgot all about this author until a few weeks ago. I was exploring the author’s website for a feature I was doing on YA Historical Fiction and realized that she has still been releasing books, almost every year, and still is. This made me want to take some time to get back to reading those books I loved – this time on audio book.
Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page but it has since went on tour. For the month of February it is being hosted by Library of Clean Reads.
All you have to do is fill out the form below or by clicking on the link. The giveaway is open to those in the USA and Canada and the winner will be announced on February 26th! Best of Luck!
Summer, 1553: Brendan Prescott, an orphan reared in the household of the powerful Dudley family, is brought to court, where he finds himself sent on an illicit mission to King Edward VI’s brilliant, enigmatic sister, Princess Elizabeth.
But soon Brendan is compelled to work as a double agent by Elizabeth’s protector, William Cecil—who promises in exchange to help him unravel the secret of his own mysterious past.
A dark plot swirls around Elizabeth's quest to unravel the truth about the ominous disappearance of her seriously ill brother, King Edward VI. With only a bold stable boy and audacious lady-in-waiting at his side, Brendan plunges into a ruthless gambit of half-truths, lies, and murder.
Filled with the intrigue and pageantry of Tudor England, The Tudor Secret brings this world to life from a new perspective, telling the story of a spy who becomes the protector of England's future queen.
I know it is early in the year to say this and have it carry much weight but…Best…Book…of 2011! I am calling it now. I have never been a fan of the Princess/Queen Elizabeth I but anything that C. W. Gortner writes I will read. This book was amazingly well written – I am so pleased that he was allowed the opportunity to re-release this book (previously self-published under the title The Secret Lion) and thus allow a wider audience to enjoy it. Gortner seamlessly weaves Tudor lore with a mastery of suspense – even with all of the twists and turns you don’t lose anything in this novel.
This novel was a breath of fresh air for me in regards to Elizabeth. She is an important character, certainly, but the central focus of the book is Squire Brendan Prescott. We see him quickly develop from a slightly naïve squire to a dashingly handsome spy. It was so refreshing to have a male central character when the genre is typically filled with the other. We get to know all of the characters a little bit, but I felt the Dudley’s were a little underdeveloped for me. But, with this being the first in a series of books, I expect that there will be a lot more character growth throughout, so this doesn’t bother me too much. It was interesting that the majority of the characters were either fictional or lesser written about which added a new spin to the story being told.
The premise of this story is set mostly in the fictional setting with historical characters and real events weaving in and out. It is amazing to me how well the author was able to blend the historical with the fictional and nothing seemed out of place. Very quickly you are swept up in the intrigue and mystery of what is happening at court. Seeing everything from the viewpoint of Prescott keeps you in the dark more often than not, but that is one of the things that keeps you hanging on to every word. This novel is very fast paced and before you know it you will be closing the cover and be unable to let out your breath. There are some crazy revelations in this novel and it was an absolute joy to read. I cannot wait for book 2!
I have to share with you this one quote that seemed to speak directly to why many of us read:
“But for me, learning became a passion. In those musty tomes I found a limitless world, where I could be whomever I wanted” (Gortner 8).
If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book or watch the below book trailer?
Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia
Also by C.W. Gortner
The Tudor Conspiracy (Book 2)
[My Review]
The Tudor Vendetta (Book 3)
[My Review]
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
[My Review]
The Queen’s Vow
[My Review]
Mademoiselle Chanel
[My Review]
The Vatican Princess
[My Review]
The Last Queen
Marlene
Find C.W. Gortner: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
