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

LCW · Post by **LCW** » Tue October 14th, 2008, 4:28 pm

[quote=""Ash""]I'm bogged down a bit, since Geoffrey's death - getting a bit tired of this family. Does anyone else think this could have been edited more? The blow by blow of every fight is starting to get tiresome. Or maybe I am tired, I have been reading this since Wednesday, so it might be good to take a break....[/quote]

I loved it all, but like Misfit said, take a break. I took a break about 100 pages away from the end. Sometimes I get so excited to finish a book, esp. a long one like this, that I rush through to the end and don't savor it. So I took a night off and finished it up last night. Loved it! The end is bittersweet and worth it!

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue October 14th, 2008, 4:35 pm

[quote=""1lila1""]Oh no!! The book didn't get to that point but SKP says in the authors note that Constance will be continued in her next book! That makes me sad as I didn't know that piece of History and now I know that Constance, one of my favorite characters, has a tough road ahead of her!

[/quote]

Whoops sorry 1Lila1 ! I didn't intend it as a spoiler.

I suppose I've known all of this stuff as a matter of course for a long time, so I kind of take it for granted. I've always been a Ranulf of Chester fan and not a Constance fan though. I think this boils down to a close friend doing some detailed research work on his patronage of Dieulacres Abbey and finding out how close he and his second wife were and how they seemed to work so well together.

LCW · Post by **LCW** » Tue October 14th, 2008, 4:41 pm

No no, it's not a spoiler! It's just the history! Imagine if noone ever read a book about Anne Boleyn because they already knew the ending, lol! I just loved Constance (at least how she was portrayed here) and am sad that her life turned out so sad. It was heartbreaking enough when Geoffrey died. I knew he died young but SKP made it come alive for me!

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Tue October 14th, 2008, 6:16 pm

That's the hard part about talking about books of this sort - let alone writing a review. How much is known history and how much is too much and becomes a spoiler? I know I screwed up when reading the Welsh trilogy and got on the internet and really really spoiled myself.

It's going to be interesting to see SKP's take on Arthur's disappearance and who "dun" it.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue October 14th, 2008, 6:54 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]That's the hard part about talking about books of this sort - let alone writing a review. How much is known history and how much is too much and becomes a spoiler? I know I screwed up when reading the Welsh trilogy and got on the internet and really really spoiled myself.

It's going to be interesting to see SKP's take on Arthur's disappearance and who "dun" it.[/quote]

You won't see that because it appeared in Here Be Dragons, or was mentioned in passing I think. It happened in 1203, long past Richard's death, so I don't think it'll be covered, unless she overlaps Lionheart and HBD by several years.
I was fascinated to visit the death of Arthur with my Akashic Record consultant when writing The Scarlet Lion and to see who 'dun' it according to that particular source.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Tue October 14th, 2008, 11:51 pm

Sharon Penman herself will be stopping by the site on October 19!

http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... 1#post8031

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Wed October 15th, 2008, 4:54 am

Oh my.

Finished up DB last night, and just had to sit for a while to take it all in. It's an incredible read, I must say. Review forthcoming, and now I need to go back and reread the previous two books in the set, and then it's back to the Welsh trilogy some time in the future.

I am simply amazed by this one, and just loved how Ms. Penman handled all of these characters so adroitly. Yes, I confess, I am a fan...

Oh yes, the quote is:

"...a game of the novice nun and the lecherous monk."

I whooped when read that, and scared the hell out of the cat, poor boy.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Wed October 15th, 2008, 1:52 pm

Oh yes, the quote is:

"...a game of the novice nun and the lecherous monk."

That's it. My other favorite was when Hal finally showed up to aid in what ever castle they were attacking and Richard zinged him with a sarcastic comment about Hal riding in to save the day.

Tanzanite · Post by **Tanzanite** » Wed October 15th, 2008, 1:58 pm

One of my favorites was when Henry is trying to understand why Eleanor initially helped their sons in their rebellion and he assumes it is because of Rosamond Clifford and Eleanor says "You are good in bed Harry, but not that good."

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Wed October 15th, 2008, 2:12 pm

I really wish I had had some sticky tags while I was reading to mark the pages with my favorite quotes. There were an awful lot of them.