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kenshinj12's review against another edition
5.0
Really loved this one. It was action packed, engaging and a page turner. I couldn’t put the book down. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
laileanah's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I didn't like this installment.
The sexist treatment of Elizabeth Woodville is gross.
It's also historically inaccurate.
Elizabeth Woodville grew up at Court. Her mother, The Duchess of Bedford was a leading lady in Queen Margaret of Anjou's Court. Queen Margaret was related to Jacquetta, perhaps only by marriage but that was sufficient in that time period for strong kinship ties. As a result Jacquetta's children were able to make fairly decent marriages based on the status of their mother and their ability to leverage the family's closeness to the Queen. This is before Edward IV is King, just under Henry VI & Margaret of Anjou.
The Woodville's weren't simple country squires at all. Lord Rivers was already a Baron under Henry VI.
The research by the author is poor and likely biased.
While it's true that Elizabeth Woodville's father was simply a Baron and the 1st Baron Rivers to boot, her mother was not. Her mom was Jacquetta of Luxembourg a part of the French Royal family. Jacquetta comes to England as a teenage bride to John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford who was the Uncle of King Henry VI and highly placed at Court in England. Jacquetta keeps her Royal title as The Duchess of Bedford during her marriage with Richard Woodville.
Jacquetta's connections to Luxembourg via the Duke of Burgundy are why Edward IV makes deals with Burgundy over the King of France. At this time dealing with the Duke of Burgundy is probably a stronger position that dealing directly with the King of France who is already protecting and housing Queen Margaret and her son, Edward the former Prince of Wales. With that in mind it's easy to see why Edward IV chose to make deals with Burgundy instead. It doesn't excuse him embarrassing Warwick but would bolster my belief that Warwick was trying to control Edward IV.
This is a very complicated time in politics and the author chooses to totally omit the French Civil War taking place at this time and instead just pretend that Edward IV made poor choices while chasing his penis. There's strategy at play here and the French Civil War would need make this story much more complicated but also much more historically accurate.
Edward IV was never faithful to Elizabeth so it's doubtful that sex with her was why he made the choices he made.
In fact there's little evidence that Edward IV was influenced by Elizabeth Woodville in regards to her family. Weakening The Neville family's hold over Edward IV and Court made sense and was most likely why Edward IV promoted The Woodville's like he did.
Also Iggulden's research is faulty as fuck because Anthony Woodville had already made a good marriage and become Lord Scales BEFORE Elizabeth became Queen. Anthony Woodville was also highly educated, extremely religious and well respected across Western Europe. He had traveled to multiple Royal European Courts and even spent time in Rome. He was highly educated and deeply respected in his time.
This series mostly focuses on battles and it's mostly very slow because of this.
The sexist treatment of Elizabeth Woodville is gross.
It's also historically inaccurate.
Elizabeth Woodville grew up at Court. Her mother, The Duchess of Bedford was a leading lady in Queen Margaret of Anjou's Court. Queen Margaret was related to Jacquetta, perhaps only by marriage but that was sufficient in that time period for strong kinship ties. As a result Jacquetta's children were able to make fairly decent marriages based on the status of their mother and their ability to leverage the family's closeness to the Queen. This is before Edward IV is King, just under Henry VI & Margaret of Anjou.
The Woodville's weren't simple country squires at all. Lord Rivers was already a Baron under Henry VI.
The research by the author is poor and likely biased.
While it's true that Elizabeth Woodville's father was simply a Baron and the 1st Baron Rivers to boot, her mother was not. Her mom was Jacquetta of Luxembourg a part of the French Royal family. Jacquetta comes to England as a teenage bride to John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford who was the Uncle of King Henry VI and highly placed at Court in England. Jacquetta keeps her Royal title as The Duchess of Bedford during her marriage with Richard Woodville.
Jacquetta's connections to Luxembourg via the Duke of Burgundy are why Edward IV makes deals with Burgundy over the King of France. At this time dealing with the Duke of Burgundy is probably a stronger position that dealing directly with the King of France who is already protecting and housing Queen Margaret and her son, Edward the former Prince of Wales. With that in mind it's easy to see why Edward IV chose to make deals with Burgundy instead. It doesn't excuse him embarrassing Warwick but would bolster my belief that Warwick was trying to control Edward IV.
This is a very complicated time in politics and the author chooses to totally omit the French Civil War taking place at this time and instead just pretend that Edward IV made poor choices while chasing his penis. There's strategy at play here and the French Civil War would need make this story much more complicated but also much more historically accurate.
Edward IV was never faithful to Elizabeth so it's doubtful that sex with her was why he made the choices he made.
In fact there's little evidence that Edward IV was influenced by Elizabeth Woodville in regards to her family. Weakening The Neville family's hold over Edward IV and Court made sense and was most likely why Edward IV promoted The Woodville's like he did.
Also Iggulden's research is faulty as fuck because Anthony Woodville had already made a good marriage and become Lord Scales BEFORE Elizabeth became Queen. Anthony Woodville was also highly educated, extremely religious and well respected across Western Europe. He had traveled to multiple Royal European Courts and even spent time in Rome. He was highly educated and deeply respected in his time.
This series mostly focuses on battles and it's mostly very slow because of this.
arszania's review against another edition
5.0
Simply amazing! Conn Igguladen once more showed his exceptional writing and gave us a great piece of literature.
To be honest at the beginning when I started this series I wasn't convinced to the author and his style. The previous books were really good, I can't say otherwise, however in my opinion too much attention was paid to fictional character and action was slow. This referrals mainly to the first book and I was pleasantly surprised while reading "Bloodline" because this issues were no more problems.
Book starts just after the events that took place in Trinity and since the beginning we see an enormous change in the narration. Not the style and anything technical but it is fair to say the we lost many main characters in to previous parts of the series and in Bloodline it is clearly visible. Author focuses on Yorkists camp while Lancastrians take a backseat (mainly due to many deaths and lack of power). New characters are presented as well as the old ones and thanks to it I personally find it easy to completely forget that I am reading and pay know attention to my surrounding.
Another exceptional thing is also connected to the characters. Igguladen doesn't make them black and white. All of them all complicated and it is difficult (at least for me) to make up my mind about them and not change my opinion.
I musy admit that I am no expert when it comes to battles and militaries but I think that the book shows them quite good. Maybe not in many details but the most important parts and (what I consider to be a great advantage) shows them from different points of view. Battles are not glorified (ad least not really much), we can see how simple soldiers and peasants were affected by them however I thing that this thread could have been developed more.
I will for sure read the next part, clearly.
To be honest at the beginning when I started this series I wasn't convinced to the author and his style. The previous books were really good, I can't say otherwise, however in my opinion too much attention was paid to fictional character and action was slow. This referrals mainly to the first book and I was pleasantly surprised while reading "Bloodline" because this issues were no more problems.
Book starts just after the events that took place in Trinity and since the beginning we see an enormous change in the narration. Not the style and anything technical but it is fair to say the we lost many main characters in to previous parts of the series and in Bloodline it is clearly visible. Author focuses on Yorkists camp while Lancastrians take a backseat (mainly due to many deaths and lack of power). New characters are presented as well as the old ones and thanks to it I personally find it easy to completely forget that I am reading and pay know attention to my surrounding.
Another exceptional thing is also connected to the characters. Igguladen doesn't make them black and white. All of them all complicated and it is difficult (at least for me) to make up my mind about them and not change my opinion.
I musy admit that I am no expert when it comes to battles and militaries but I think that the book shows them quite good. Maybe not in many details but the most important parts and (what I consider to be a great advantage) shows them from different points of view. Battles are not glorified (ad least not really much), we can see how simple soldiers and peasants were affected by them however I thing that this thread could have been developed more.
I will for sure read the next part, clearly.
zwodderybookdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
bristoni74's review against another edition
4.0
Even knowing the outcomes of this period of time, this novel is so engaging and well-written that I wanted to keep reading just wondering if things might have turned out differently! The first part deals with the Battle of Towton between the Lancastrian army led by Margaret of Anjou and the Yorkist army led by Edward and Richard Neville. I found this the weakest part of the novel (hence not quite 5 stars for me). But I really enjoyed the 2nd part of the novel with Edward IV, his wife (commoner) Elizabeth Woodville, her extended family and the Neville's.
I did feel sympathy for Richard Neville (the Kingmaker) as his friendship with Edward deteriorated, and his family also suffers with titles stripped from them. I can understand why such a loyal man felt he had been betrayed by Edward (and the Woodville's). I look forward to reading the final installment.
I did feel sympathy for Richard Neville (the Kingmaker) as his friendship with Edward deteriorated, and his family also suffers with titles stripped from them. I can understand why such a loyal man felt he had been betrayed by Edward (and the Woodville's). I look forward to reading the final installment.
nening's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ariel_bloomer's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kenshinj12's review against another edition
5.0
Really loved this one. It was action packed, engaging and a page turner. I couldn’t put the book down. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
lydia_reads's review against another edition
5.0
I'm honestly running out of things to say in these reviews!!
In the previous two books I loved the...:
- Fast-paced plot
- Realistic characterisation
- Historical accuracy
- Vivid description
There's really nothing else I have to add. I loved it. I can't wait to read Ravenspur!
In the previous two books I loved the...:
- Fast-paced plot
- Realistic characterisation
- Historical accuracy
- Vivid description
There's really nothing else I have to add. I loved it. I can't wait to read Ravenspur!
joabroda's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
4.5
It appears I am officially a Conn Iggulden fan-girl. I just cannot stop reading his books.
This is the third installment in The War of The Roses series, and it was excellent reading. We are at the point in the story where the Lancaster fraction has added a towering inferno to the story by beheading Richard, Duke of York and The Earl of Salisbury . Both men have sons who become "unleashed" as Iggulden puts it. Although the true King Henry is still alive, locked in the Tower of London, the younger York, Edward, declares himself King and builds an army to drive the Lancaster's from England. Edward then secretly marries Elizabeth Woodville, who has her own agenda for the kingdom.
Another great book by this author.
This is the third installment in The War of The Roses series, and it was excellent reading. We are at the point in the story where the Lancaster fraction has added a towering inferno to the story by beheading Richard, Duke of York and The Earl of Salisbury . Both men have sons who become "unleashed" as Iggulden puts it. Although the true King Henry is still alive, locked in the Tower of London, the younger York, Edward, declares himself King and builds an army to drive the Lancaster's from England. Edward then secretly marries Elizabeth Woodville, who has her own agenda for the kingdom.
Another great book by this author.