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The Alnwick trilogy by Carol Wensby-Scott

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon June 6th, 2011, 9:17 pm

Sniff, I almost cried when Margaret... (you know).

I really did like Maude and it might take awhile [but she finally gets her happy ending].

The dialog is very good, and she sure can turn a good descriptive phrase.

I've made some progress on book #2 today.
. I love what she's done with Joan Beaufort's character and physical appearance.

What I'm really liking about these in addition to the writing is it is giving me a better handle on these northern families and why there's so much animosity going back through the years. You can read all the books you want on the Wars of the Roses but you still don't get that kind of background.
Last edited by Misfit on Mon June 6th, 2011, 9:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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...is the only place I want to be

annis
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Post by annis » Mon June 6th, 2011, 11:29 pm

I'm impressed with the author's ability to keep so many threads so tightly woven- there's never a dropped stitch (or dull moment) :)

Now I'm wondering what her book about William the Conq and his wife Matilda is like (Proud Conquest). Couldn't be any worse than Mary Lide/Lomer's disappointing Fortune's Knave I guess.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon June 6th, 2011, 11:48 pm

Fortune's Knave was a dull one, I agree with you there. I'm looking forward to see what she does with Duke William.

I agree, she does keep things moving along and as complicated as they are I don't find myself getting lost and having to backtrack. My copy of book #2 is a nice hardback with larger font (yay!!), and a very nice geneology chart that I'll have to scan when I get back to work next week. Just trying to figure out all of the familial relationships has my head spinning.

I've been watching the used listings at Abe and Amazon. Copies are slowly disappearing. Lion of Alnwick is still fairly accessible without paying an arm and a leg, but the other two there's not many cheap copies left.
Last edited by Misfit on Mon June 6th, 2011, 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Misfit
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Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Tue June 7th, 2011, 11:26 am

I hit the halfway point on book two before I nodded off last night. On vacation so I'll make serious progress today. Currently Henry VI is King and I'm enjoying her portrayal as much as I did of RII (wonder what she'll do with Edward IV?).

Some favorite quotes so far,
They were together again, the lion and his wild unruly cub. None would ever part them now.
I won't spoil specifically but this refers to old Hal and Hotsput
Well, I resent the fact that your father holds land that should be mine. I resent the fact that he hacked off my grandfather's head and kept it on London Bridge for ten years. And most of all I resent the fact that I was forced to marry you to get back what was already mine.
I should hate you but I don't. Being a Percy just doesn't seem a good enough reason. A man must be judged by what he is, not his blood, and I've enough of yours and you've enough of mine for me to be confused...But Beaufort blood. That's another thing.
King Henry he Sixth of England and Second of France blinked nervously as Lancaster Herald bawled out his long and mostly mythical list of titles...God be praised, Henry though, that he had forsaken silk hose for a seemly robe. Yesterday the sight of his uncle's bulging thighs had turned him sick with shame. Henry judged vanity of dress to be the worst of sins.
What I'm really finding fascinating is seeing how so many of the disputes from the Wars of the Roses go so far back as to the disputes from the deaths of Edward III and Richard II.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

annis
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Post by annis » Fri June 10th, 2011, 8:26 am

Just finished Book 1 and will take a small break now and head back in time to the Trojan War for a bit.

Lion of Alnwick was an absorbing read. Hal Percy is a wonderful character, a fierce, graceful falcon to the last. I was reminded of Edith Pargeter's Ralf Isambard from The Heaven Tree trilogy. The confusing medieval habit of using the same christian names ad nauseam always leads to a bit of confusion, but on the whole I didn't get too lost among the Hals, Harrys and Henries. Bloody Field at Shrewsbury is another of my Pargeter favourites and it was interesting to see the conflict there from a different angle.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Fri June 10th, 2011, 11:56 am

I blew right through these and finished up book three last night (I'm off work this week). Really interesting see see the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III from Percy's viewpoint.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

annis
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Post by annis » Fri June 10th, 2011, 8:28 pm

After recently reading a couple of novels about the rise of Robert the Bruce, I also found it intriguing to see a portrayal of the collapse of what he had hoped would be a royal Scottish dynasty. The horrific devastation caused by never-ending back-and-forth conflict in the Anglo-Scottish borderlands is a major aspect of Lion of Alnwick.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Fri June 10th, 2011, 8:47 pm

[quote=""annis""]After recently reading a couple of novels about the rise of Robert the Bruce, I also found it intriguing to see a portrayal of the collapse of what he had hoped would be a royal Scottish dynasty. The horrific devastation caused by never-ending back-and-forth conflict in the Anglo-Scottish borderlands is a major aspect of Lion of Alnwick.[/quote]

I know you hear about the border conflict in many novels, but I'd not realized the toll it took on the innocent populace. Wiped out in one more raid.

Looking forward to seeing what you think of the next two. I do like how she's able to draw her characters with plentiful shades of gray, no black and white. R3 was quite interesting.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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