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Available
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Series
Collections
Publication
Sixtrid (2015), MP3 CD; 6h27
Description
Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML: "This is the original Game of Thrones." George R.R. Martin. The King is dead. Long live the King. With King Philip IV dead, and the Kingdom left in disarray, as the fatal curse of the Templars plagues the royal house of France. Imprisoned in Chateau Gaillard, Marguerite of Burgundy has fallen into disgrace. Her infidelity has left her estranged husband, Louis X King of France, with neither heir nor wife. The web of scandal, murder and intrigue that once wove itself around the Iron King continues to afflict his descendants, as the destruction of his dynasty continues at the hands of fate..
User reviews
LibraryThing member stefferoo
This is the second installment of Maurice Druon's The Accursed Kings, perhaps better known these days as the French historical fiction series that played a part in inspiring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. The books depict a most tumultuous time in the history of France, leading up to
The previous book (The Iron King - see my summary and review here) ended with the death of King Philip IV. Everyone is thinking the same thing: that it appears the Templar curse is still running rampant through the French court. Eldest son Louis X takes the throne, but with his wife Marguerite of Burgundy and her cousin Blanche still imprisoned in Chateau Gaillard for adultery, he can neither produce an heir to secure the succession nor take another wife while technically still married.
This being a period of time in which the royal court was rife with scandal and corruption and when loyalties could be bought and sold, I have to say that this story practically writes itself. The title itself is a major spoiler, but history also gives us a clue as to what to expect. There aren't too many surprises here, and like a TV producer planning out a season's episodes, Maurice Druon chooses to save the juiciest bits in history for his book's climax and ending.
So it didn't surprise me that this book started out kind of slow; there's a lot of character development and build up of the story. Even though I knew what to expect, the fun was in sitting back and watching how Druon tells it, letting him lead me through the complicated tangle of lies and intrigue.
The writing style continues to be a challenge, but I realized with this book that it's not so much the French-to-English translation that's the cause. Most often it's the author's omniscient narrative mode jumping into different minds and different times, sometimes even talking about future events like a history book that creates the most distraction.
Even past the translation I could tell Maurice Druon was a witty guy, though; there's subtle humor in the writing, especially when we get into the characters' thoughts. I'm really liking the character development in this series so far; some of them in this book you'll simply love to hate, because they are just so despicable. It's this aspect that reminds me so much of GRRM's ASoIaF. The only solace I get is knowing that sooner or later, they'll get theirs.
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the Hundred Years' War.The previous book (The Iron King - see my summary and review here) ended with the death of King Philip IV. Everyone is thinking the same thing: that it appears the Templar curse is still running rampant through the French court. Eldest son Louis X takes the throne, but with his wife Marguerite of Burgundy and her cousin Blanche still imprisoned in Chateau Gaillard for adultery, he can neither produce an heir to secure the succession nor take another wife while technically still married.
This being a period of time in which the royal court was rife with scandal and corruption and when loyalties could be bought and sold, I have to say that this story practically writes itself. The title itself is a major spoiler, but history also gives us a clue as to what to expect. There aren't too many surprises here, and like a TV producer planning out a season's episodes, Maurice Druon chooses to save the juiciest bits in history for his book's climax and ending.
So it didn't surprise me that this book started out kind of slow; there's a lot of character development and build up of the story. Even though I knew what to expect, the fun was in sitting back and watching how Druon tells it, letting him lead me through the complicated tangle of lies and intrigue.
The writing style continues to be a challenge, but I realized with this book that it's not so much the French-to-English translation that's the cause. Most often it's the author's omniscient narrative mode jumping into different minds and different times, sometimes even talking about future events like a history book that creates the most distraction.
Even past the translation I could tell Maurice Druon was a witty guy, though; there's subtle humor in the writing, especially when we get into the characters' thoughts. I'm really liking the character development in this series so far; some of them in this book you'll simply love to hate, because they are just so despicable. It's this aspect that reminds me so much of GRRM's ASoIaF. The only solace I get is knowing that sooner or later, they'll get theirs.
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LibraryThing member Joanne53
It's Hard being Queen, but the story just keep getting better.
LibraryThing member john257hopper
This is the second book in The Accursed Kings series of French historical novels by Maurice Druon set in the early 14th century, cited by George R R Martin as one of the inspirations for Game of Thrones. I read the first in Druon's series immediately after reading the first Game of Thrones book two
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years ago, and at the time I thought I would be reading the second of Druon's before the second of Martin's, but having read book 4 of Martin's before this, it hasn't quite turned out that way. This novel opens with the death of the Iron King, Philip IV, and the accession of his son Louis X le Hutin in late 1314, a much weaker King, whose wife Marguerite of Burgundy, the titular queen, was imprisoned in the first book for committing adultery (as was the wife of Louis's younger brother). The plot turns around the scheming of factions of nobles against Enguerrand de Marigny, Philip IV's chief Minister, and plans for Louis to obtain an end to his marriage and find a new wife to give him an heir (given the title of the novel, no prizes for guessing how that marriage ending is ultimately obtained). This is the kind of colourful history that I sometimes think makes fantasy novels almost irrelevant (great though series like Game of Thrones are); when historical reality reads as so unlikely in some respects, why have fantasy novels that try to emulate aspects of that reality? Great stuff, and my only minor criticism is that the translation from the French is rather stilted in places. Show Less
LibraryThing member ecw0647
Second volume in the Accursed Kings series. You can read the description to gain an idea of the plot. Fun stuff. A medieval House of Cards. On to volume 3.
LibraryThing member wishanem
The second book in the series which begins with "The Iron King."
Every bit as good in all the same ways.
Every bit as good in all the same ways.
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1955
ISBN
3358950002689