October 2008: The Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 10:04 am

[quote=""1lila1""]I also agree that it can stand alone. Although having read the first two books I found the first 50-60 pages a bit tedious and I wondered if I was going to enjoy the book

! But once we got past the set up for the story it got much better and I'm enjoying it now. SKP is so good at describing the back and forth between Henry and Eleanor and showing the reader exactly how these two people who were once so in love and had the world at their feet ended up hating each other as they did.[/quote]

In reality I am beginning to wonder if they were so in love. I think it's a nice idea to run with, and as a version of fiction I think very few will ever do it better than SKP, but I am not at all sure it's the truth.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 10:12 am

[quote=""Misfit""]Ash is right, its an interesting perspective to see William from the other side of the coin. I noticed Penman's take on William's father is a bit different than what I came away with after reading EC's A Place Beyond Courage.[/quote]

That's because she absolutely does not know John Marshal the way I do.

Even without the Akashic records, if you look under the surface and enquire more deeply of the sources there are so many clues that point you straight at the kind of man he was.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 1:39 pm

[quote=""EC2""]In reality I am beginning to wonder if they were so in love. I think it's a nice idea to run with, and as a version of fiction I think very few will ever do it better than SKP, but I am not at all sure it's the truth.[/quote]

True love or not they do smoke off the pages -- sparks fly whenever they're in a room together. On page 160 now and things are definitely picking up.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 3:26 pm

Dejavu from Time of Singing! Roger Bigod's in the story

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 4:12 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Dejavu from Time of Singing! Roger Bigod's in the story

[/quote]

I think this is one of the reasons I'm not going to read the book at the moment. I had intended to, but have decided I need some distance first. I very strongly know my own versions of the people concerned and deluded or not I believe I've met them across the centuries as well as in Roger's case having done in depth traditional research on him. So I think I'm going to find it very hard to read someone else's take on such aspects at the moment. Once I move away from that same field and I've acquired aforementioned distance, (late next year when I'll be dealing with another century) I'll probably be much more comfortable.
Sometime it would be nice just to be a reader

I'm really glad everyone's enjoying it though!

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 5:23 pm

EC, probably a very wise move. I know I read Harold The King within a month or two of Anand's Gildenford and found quite a lot of been there done that happening. I intend to read the rest of Anand's trilogy, but I'm pacing it so that won't happen again.

Wow, what a confrontation between Henry and Eleanor after her capture.

Question about this illegitimate son of Henry's by the name of Geoff. Is he fictional or did he exist?

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 5:41 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]EC,
Question about this illegitimate son of Henry's by the name of Geoff. Is he fictional or did he exist?[/quote]

Would that be Geoffrey who went on to become the rather stroppy Archbishop of York when he grew up? Yes, there was an illegitimate one called Geoffrey.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 6:05 pm

I enjoyed Devil's Brood much better than Time and Chance. I felt that in the previous novel, the author was trying a bit too hard to "sell" Eleanor as a Strong Woman, and what was probably intended to be strength often struck me as arrogance. Here, Eleanor was strong, but she also had a welcome dash of humility, which made her much more palatable to me.

I was also pleased to see more emphasis on the historical figures and less on Ranulf and Rhiannon--I found them to be somewhat intrusive in Time and Chance.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 6:59 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Would that be Geoffrey who went on to become the rather stroppy Archbishop of York when he grew up? Yes, there was an illegitimate one called Geoffrey.[/quote]

Not sure, right now I get the impression he's on the youngish side and he's out fighting battles for Henry. The list of characters in the front just name him as Geoff, Henry's illegitimate son.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Fri October 10th, 2008, 7:02 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]I enjoyed Devil's Brood much better than Time and Chance. I felt that in the previous novel, the author was trying a bit too hard to "sell" Eleanor as a Strong Woman, and what was probably intended to be strength often struck me as arrogance. Here, Eleanor was strong, but she also had a welcome dash of humility, which made her much more palatable to me.

I was also pleased to see more emphasis on the historical figures and less on Ranulf and Rhiannon--I found them to be somewhat intrusive in Time and Chance.[/quote]

I agree, and Eleanor is getting quite a humbling right now. I still can't quite get her rationale for spurring her sons on to this rebellion against her husband. Hal is just flat out too irresponsible to rule anything.