⋙ Read Free Here Be Dragons Sharon Kay Penman 9780345382849 Books

Here Be Dragons Sharon Kay Penman 9780345382849 Books

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Here Be Dragons Sharon Kay Penman 9780345382849 Books

This is the kind of book that has made me a fan of historical fiction. The characters are rich and complete, the amount of dedication it takes to write a book of this period, with the twist and turns of fate, and the hearts of English kings, barons and lords, flat amazes me!
I don't often get so involved with a character in a book that I shed tears when that character dies on the pages. And I've cried several times reading this series. I love the way the author completes each character, showing the good side, as well as the bad, she has no favorites, but then neither does fate. From Llewelyn and Joanna, to Simon and Nell, I feel like I was there, in the cleaner world of the 12 century, the birds, the sky, the rivers, and mountains, all so crisp and clear.
Every time I finish a book, I am reluctant to start another, for fear that because favorite characters have passed from the story, I will have a hard time starting the next one, but the transitions are smooth and easy to slip into.


Tags : Here Be Dragons [Sharon Kay Penman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. "A masterful picture of Wales in the 13th century...vivdly pictured as grandly beautiful, its people volatile,Sharon Kay Penman,Here Be Dragons,Ballantine Books,0345382846,Great Britain;History;Plantagenets, 1154-1399;Fiction.,Wales;History;Fiction.,Wales;History;To 1536;Fiction.,AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION,FICTION Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction Action & Adventure,Fiction Historical,Fiction Literary,GENERAL,General Adult,Great Britain,Historical - General,History,Literary,Llewelyn ap Iorwerth,,Plantagenets, 1154-1399,To 1536,United States,Wales,d. 1240

Here Be Dragons Sharon Kay Penman 9780345382849 Books Reviews

Someone asked me a few years ago what book I'd like to be buried with.... odd question I know, but an interesting one. Here Be Dragons is my first and favorite choice.

I've read Here Be Dragons at least once a year for the past 20 years - so often, that my book feel apart and I had to buy a new one.

It is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read and it's one of the most interesting historical fictions I've ever read. The combination is a rare find indeed.

I fall in love with Llywelyn every time I read this book. Ms Penman has created a real historical figure who is courageous, valorous, a wonderful leader of men who has the rare ability to laugh at himself.... and he's capable of great love. Oh my, be still my heart.

The book's historical underpinnings are Llywelln's rise to power to become the Prince of Wales and his war with John "Of Evil Fame" who just happens to be his wife's father. We see Eleanor of Aquataine in all her power and John's evolution as the King of England.

The book takes two great stories and makes England's history in the 13th century come alive. I think all of Sharon Kay Penman's books are wonderful (except for the last one "Lion Heart" which has no heart), but Here Be Dragons tops the list. (It could be that it is the only one of her books which has a happy ending.) I really think that George R R Martin took a cue from Penman's historically accurate middle ages and thus felt he had a justifiable historical basis for killing off all his heroes.
I'll always remember the scene in the movie A Man for All Seasons where Sir Thomas Moore, being tried in Henry the Eighth's Star Chamber, confronts the man who betrayed him. Seeing the man's medallion which proclaims him Governor of Wales, he remarks "I can understand a man selling his soul to the devil for possession of the world, but for Wales? This evoked laughter even among Moore's accusers, but the levity didn't help Moore in the end.
In Here Be Dragons, Sharon Kay Penman evokes a Wales that one might indeed be willing to sell one's soul for.
One man who would have sold his soul for Wales is Llewelyn Ab Ioirwerth, Prince of Gwynydd. Having defeated his uncle in a long civil war, and come to power at the age of 21, Llewelyn is determined to unite Wales and to fend off the incursions of the Norman French and stop their encroachments into Wales.
Llewelyn fights his battles on two fronts, the battlefield itself and the diplomatic arena, and he is able and astute at both. To cement an alliance with King John of England, he marries John's illegitimate daughter Joanna.
Penman's book is not only a first rate historical novel, regaling the reader with fascinating historical personalities like Eleanor of Aquitaine, King John of England, Will Marshall, The Earls of Chester and Pembroke, Reginald De Broase, and Llewelyn, but it is also one of the most profound and fascinating love stories you will ever read. Joanna's story is a Cinderella tale of an illegitimate child going from disgrace and poverty to being raised in her father's court and married at age fourteen to a handsome and powerful prince. It is not a "happily ever after" story and Joanna must overcome difficult challenges, not the least of which, is a ten-year-old stepson who hates her. Gruffydd is Llewelyn's son from a long-term relationship he had with his mistress Tengwistle who died in childbirth. Gruffydd wants to be Llewelyn's heir and is mortified when Joanna gives birth to a son, Davydd. Joanna is also torn apart when Llewelyn has a falling out with her father, King John. She arranges a peace between them but it involves Llewelyn humbling himself before King John and giving him hostages, including Gruffydd. The outcome is tragic and casts a long shadow over Joanna and Llewelyn's marriage.
Here Be Dragons is a masterpiece that works marvelously as both historical fiction and romance.
I've read several of her books and intend to read the rest of the Welsh series. She does keep me fascinated with the main characters, but I do often wonder why she feels the need to mention so many of the very minor characters in such detail. I had to make up my mind early in this book not to worry about keeping track, but to instead just think of them as color and texture to support the main stories, although it can get tedious. It's worth it, though - I've really enjoyed the pleasure of learning so much about those times through the imaginative writing of someone dedicated to maintaining accuracy.
I tend to sample fiction about the Plantagenets with some care, inasmuch as a great deal of it does unnecessary and unsatisfying violence to the historical facts we know, hanging thereon a lot of irrelevant and often salacious imagination. Genealogy (the respectable kind) connects me to that family, and I'm interested in insights that help me understand and know them better. Penman has taken care to organize this book with a decent care for such truths as the record supports, while weaving a plausible and entertaining romantic story around them and committing, as far as I've yet encountered, no significant historical howlers.

We're reading Here Be Dragons aloud at bedtime and intend to follow up with the rest of the trilogy. And we're attracted to the rest of Penman's work.
This is the kind of book that has made me a fan of historical fiction. The characters are rich and complete, the amount of dedication it takes to write a book of this period, with the twist and turns of fate, and the hearts of English kings, barons and lords, flat amazes me!
I don't often get so involved with a character in a book that I shed tears when that character dies on the pages. And I've cried several times reading this series. I love the way the author completes each character, showing the good side, as well as the bad, she has no favorites, but then neither does fate. From Llewelyn and Joanna, to Simon and Nell, I feel like I was there, in the cleaner world of the 12 century, the birds, the sky, the rivers, and mountains, all so crisp and clear.
Every time I finish a book, I am reluctant to start another, for fear that because favorite characters have passed from the story, I will have a hard time starting the next one, but the transitions are smooth and easy to slip into.