A review by jmatkinson1
Duke by David Churchill
3.0
After the death of his father, young William is named Duke of Normandy but he has a group of nobles who are acting as protectors until he achieves adulthood. Ralph de Gace is a junior member of the council until he manages to kill off his elders but how will he cope as William grows up? In England Harold Harefoot is dead and his half-brother Edward has come to claim the throne but the earls are politicking to control the throne. As William grows into a strong young man he sows the seeds of his own dynasty by securing his Dukedom.
The back-story of William the Conqueror (or William the Bastard as he is known here) is fairly sketchy, however the connections between England, Normandy and Denmark are well-known. In this book Churchill has built a historical novel around the known facts, he has embroidered on what is known and developed existing and fictional characters in order to tell a coherent story. The story bounces along at a decent pace with lots of thrilling set pieces and a few interesting characters. However the quality of the writing is a little superficial and it does feel like a series of set pieces vaguely linked together. Enjoyable enough but not with a lot of depth.
The back-story of William the Conqueror (or William the Bastard as he is known here) is fairly sketchy, however the connections between England, Normandy and Denmark are well-known. In this book Churchill has built a historical novel around the known facts, he has embroidered on what is known and developed existing and fictional characters in order to tell a coherent story. The story bounces along at a decent pace with lots of thrilling set pieces and a few interesting characters. However the quality of the writing is a little superficial and it does feel like a series of set pieces vaguely linked together. Enjoyable enough but not with a lot of depth.