When you read the reviews of Jean's last book the anger from the readership is palpable and after going on this journey with the author for so many years it must have been hugely disappointing to finally reach the conclusion and find it was a fizzer. But I do wonder if some authors are making rods for their own back by keeping a series going year after year and perhaps the author herself was in burnout mode when she wrote Painted Caves. Who knows?
It is also up to the reader to decide if they want to go on this long story telling journey. I know after beginning George Martin's series of books I will now choose not to involve myself in books that don't seem to have a conclusion or where the reader has to wait years in order to find out how everything ends.
"I've seen some of the same comments you have about Lionheart and while I did enjoy it a great deal, I can very much understand why some might not be as enamored of it..."
Now when it comes to Sharon Penman's Lionheart I expected that the book would be immersed in battles and Richard's crusades and less on the emotional side of things. So I wont be disappointed when I finally get to read it, but my hope is that in her sequel to Lionheart that Sharon may reveal more of the personal side of Richard's life. So like many I will probably enjoy Lionheart in that it will be as I expected it to be.
EC2--Also, authors being human can have off moments in their job as well as moments of brilliance. They can get stale and go past their sell by date, or the reader himself/herself can develop in different ways and move on...So I think we should expect high standards of our authors and be fair. That doesn't mean gushing and worshipping the ground they walk on, but it means standing back and looking at their entirety..."
I understand what you mean and it must be difficult to try and bring something new to a subject or a person of history that hasn't been written already but an experienced author can do it, but all the time? Probably not.
Some books will be great and others not so great. As an example I don't mind reading a Jean Plaidy book now and again but I find that at times Jean seems to be in awe of her subject(which may be how they wrote back in her day) and that is fine, but I can only read her in small doses. It doesn't make her a bad writer. When I was in my teens I adored her writing as Victoria Holt but now I simply can't read them anymore....Many book lovers simply grow and move on.
What I love most about reading is the differing slant that the authors take on their subjects. I finished Susan Higginbotham 'The Queen of Last Hopes' and really enjoyed her interpretation of Margaret of Anjou and immediately after I began 'Queen by Right' and you see how Anne Easter Smith has a different veiw of Margaret. Is one author wrong and the other right? No. I suppose it's like looking through a prism and each author see's things in a different light. But I really enjoyed reading both books and will continue to buy their work.
It is the case with your own books. I started with 'To Defy a King' and loved it. Then I went to your website and saw that though each book can stand on its own, many are also a series and so I bought them so I could read them in alignment. I have to admit there are some I like more than others, but that's to be expected.
The mark of a good author is when the writer and the reader can enjoy a long journey together without becoming tired of each other.
I will be looking forward to your Eleanor trilogy and Sharon Penman's Lionheart and its sequel.
Once again thanks ladies for your views.
Bec
