Adrian B.

Excellent and Much Better than the Movie!

Revisado: 08-31-17

This is a wonderful rendering of what might have been and an incredibly believable adaptation of the facts of history. The tragic tale of the Boleyn sisters is a favorite among us fans of British royal history. Philippa Gregory masterfully delivers their story to us. Enjoyable from first to last.

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Strange Ending

Revisado: 10-11-16

While the overall book is very enjoyable I would say that it leaves a large part of the story out. It is definitely recommended to read The King's Curse AFTER this book as it fills in the rest of Catherine's story. This book does however paint a vivid picture of Catherine's earlier life and it does it well. I took off one star for the strange ending which is rather abrupt and seems incredibly out of place.

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In NO WAY Christian at all. A VERY Mormon Sarah.

Revisado: 01-27-16

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Mormons

Would you ever listen to anything by Orson Scott Card again?

Yes

What didn’t you like about Gabrielle de Cuir’s performance?

The characters had no depth, although they may not have been the reader's fault.

Any additional comments?

I truly enjoyed some of the flourishes added to the story to make the characters feel so real. Such as making Sarai an actual princess of a minor impoverished house, or providing a reasonable explanation for why Pharaoh would want anything to do with these desert people. Those aspects, while fictional, were reasonable possible truths and gave the story some interest, filling in historical gaps in the Bible.

But, if you are looking for a Biblically accurate account of the basis for this story, offering a Biblical perspective on the actions and reactions of Sarah, Abraham, and their kin, then this story is not for you. Orson Scott Card explains some of the choices he made in a short interview at the end of the book. The reasons he gives to defend these characters' actions are Biblically incorrect and actually contradict the moral standards set by the Bible. For example, the Judeo-Christian God as presented in the Bible does NOT allow for immorality of any degree for the purposes of "saving the righteous from destruction" as Orson Scott Card states at the end. The Bible is ridden with examples of people suffering and even dying for the Truth. The righteous are not promised any sort of protection from persecution, in fact Jesus promises that those who follow him will be persecuted. So sorry, Mr. Card, but this is not a Biblical account of Sarah, as you claim, but an account of Sarah through the very skewed lens of the Mormon belief system. Which, by the way, does not present a God consistent with the Judeo-Christian God at all. The Mormon God and his "truths" are ever-changing based on the whims of a human prophet. The Judeo-Christian God claims to be singular and constant throughout all ages, revealing himself through the Bible alone, a collection of books in which His truth is constant and never contradicting itself. Whether you believe that or not, is for you to search out and determine for yourself, and if you see a contradiction, keep reading and let God show you how it actually all fits together.

This Sarah, and even this Abraham, are not the same ones depicted in Genesis. In Genesis, we are presented with both their righteousness and their unrighteousness, and encouraged to see how God's plan continues and His promises are fulfilled despite the mistakes we make. This book tries to portray sin as something that is permissible for the righteous to pursue their own (or excuse me, "God's") ends. That is just a perversion of God and the Bible, and whether or not you believe in the Bible, that is not what is presented in it.

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The best Cousins' War sequel to The White Queen

Revisado: 01-27-16

Any additional comments?

If you loved The White Queen as much as I did, you'll very much enjoy this sequel. Both The Red Queen and The Kingmaker's Daughter provided insight and fullness to the story presented in The White Queen by presenting that same story from different perspectives. However, this novel was the first true sequel to that story, transitioning from the Cousins' War to the beginnings of the Tudors. A great read but a very sad one as well.

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Best read after The White Queen

Revisado: 11-19-15

This novel is not my favorite of Gregory's stories, but I believe it is a wonderful accompaniment to her novels about the Cousins' War. I do think however that The Red Queen and The White Queen (possibly The Kingmaker's Daughter as well) could have easily been combined to produce a single compelling story, told from different facets. But alas that may not be as true to Gregory's style. I would strongly recommend reading The White Queen first, despite The Red Queen's storyline beginning slightly before. The latter book gives away too many elements of the other's unfolding plotline. Read this way, The Red Queen serves to answer questions that arise in The White Queen, filling in a few gaps and shedding light on some crucial but more obscure characters. All in all, a recommended read for anyone planning on reading/listening to the series. My only qualm with the audio version is the pronunciation of "Regina" which is completely wrong and distastefully close to a very very different word. This was a bit unexpected as the word is pronounced correctly in The White Queen. Made me wince a bit each time it was read!

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Half Perfect

Revisado: 10-20-15

The mither mages world is an utterly enchanting concept. The more you learn about the magic system the more you crave to see what direction the story might take.

The only problem for me was this:
of the two storylines that build the story, I could only fall in love with one. I found it completely bizarre and ultimately rather frustrating that every single one of the characters in the storyline set within our contemporary world was unbearably annoying. I kept wondering why that might be and could only conclude that it was because they were rather flat, lacking depth, and thus incredibly unrealistic. The random inclusion of crude language or insinuations just made it worse. Had this been the whole of the story, I truly would have felt like this was written by a novice.

HOWEVER, the other story was perfection. The depth of each character was almost palpable. No over-abundance of hardly necessary and mind-numbingly idiotic characters was needed. What storyline 2 lacked in quantity it made up for in leaps and bounds in quality. It was particularly strange how easily the reader relates to these more fantastical characters, while feeling completely detached from the 'contemporary' characters of storyline 1.
Only the fact that these two storylines eventually become intertwined in a fascinating way gives me hope for the course of the future novels. I will miss having two storylines though. That's always a fun way to keep us readers in suspense.

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