Winter Pilgrims (Kingmaker, #1)

Posted on 14 September 2017 by Toby Clements

February, 1460 in the bitter dawn of a winter s morning a young nun is caught outside her priory walls by a corrupt knight and his vicious retinue In the fight that follows, she is rescued by a young monk and the knight is defeated But the consequences are far reaching, and Thomas and Katherine are expelled from their religious Orders and forced to flee across a land caught in the throes of one of the most savage and bloody civil wars in history the Wars of the Roses.Their flight will take them across the Narrow Sea to Calais where Thomas picks up his warbow, and trains alongside the Yorkist forces Katherine, now dressed as a man, hones her talents for observation and healing both on and off the fields of battle And all around them, friends and enemies fight and die as the future Yorkist monarch, Edward, Earl of March, and his adviser the Earl of Warwick, later to become known as the Kingmaker, prepare to do bloody battle Encompassing the battles of Northampton, Mortimer s Cross and finally the great slaughter of Towton, this is war as experienced not by the highborn nobles of the land but by ordinary men and women who do their best just to stay alive Filled with strong, sympathetic characters, this is a must read series for all who like their fiction action packed, heroic and utterly believable. Read Winter Pilgrims (Kingmaker, #1) – kino-fada.fr This book has thrilling characters, brilliant battle scenes and well established historical foundations The opening is immediate and swift From early on in the book we know what to expect, as a reader, and from the ending of the book those expectations are met The two central characters in this book are very well round...Clements debut novel is, in a word, magnificent Every historical novelist tries to pitch his reader into the time about which he writes, but few succeed to this degree, or with this degree of skill This book oozes historical authenticity, yet the details are subtly painted, softly delivered Through the various characters lives, we learn about the religious, the peasants and ordinary soldiers, and the nobility We see that the existence of most people in the 15th century was short, sharp and Clements debut novel is, in a word, magnificent Every historical novelist tries to pitch his reader into the time about which he writes, but few succeed to this degree, or with this degree of skill This book oozes historical authenticity, yet the details are subtly painted, softly delivered Through the various characters lives, we learn about the religious, the peasants and ordinary soldiers, and the nobility We see that the existence of most people in the 15th century was short, sharp and brutal These details aren t what makes this novel wonderful, though It s the story Writing with verv...Boring and thoroughly predictable, rich in set piece fight and battle scenes that too rarely do anything to develop character or move the narrative forward Full of cliche, stock characters pilfered from the history as televisual melodrama genre the girl dressed in boys clothes the anonymous and irrational giant the unaccountably evil feudal lord, all set in the inaccurate filth and stench of the late Middle Ages as imagined by those who ve never looked at the scholarship on daily life in 15t Boring and thoroughly predictable, rich in set piece fight and battle scenes that too rarely do anything to develop character or move the narrative forward Full of cliche, stock chara...view spoiler Bettie s Books hide spoiler Kingmaker Winter Pilgrims is a unique look at the Wars of the Roses among a large supply of novels focused on this era Rather than following the addled King Henry VI, ambitious earl of Warwick, or the illustrious earl of March, our main characters are the accidentally paired Brother Thomas and Sister Katherine.The opening scene of the book places these two together through life threat...This is a really well written, solid and very interesting history book about the War of the Roses A period I haven t read a lot about yet The story is rather complicated, I had to look at the historic organisation chart the heritage tree in the beginning of the book regularly Who is who, who is connected to who Weird, the English fighting the Englishthe Yorkist faction against the Lancastrian faction Anyway, the story starts in 1460 with Thomas, a monk and Katherine, a sister, who ar This is a really well written, solid and very interesting history book about the War of the Roses A period I have...2.5 starsThis is what I ve been doing most of the time in the last few weeks listening to audio books I m still very new to them which means I can t really compare it with other narrators That being said, I enjoyed Jack Hawkins narration As for the book itself It was okay It covers the time from 1460 1461, ending with the Battle of Towton, won by the Yorkist faction, making Edward of York king and dethroning Henry VI who had turned out to be a weak monarch, unlike his famous father, Henr 2.5 star...This sweeping, historical novel , is set during the Wars of the Roses although our two central characters are not really aware of worldly matters when we first meet them Sister Katherine is a young nun, left at the Priory of St Mary in the County of Lincoln as an infant Brother Thomas is a young monk, who spends his time thinking of the manuscripts he works on However, one cold morning in February, 1460, their lives change forever Sent out in the snow to release a fox from a trap, Brother This sweeping, historical novel , is set during the Wars of the Roses although our two central characters are not really aware of worldly matters when we first meet them Sister Katherine is a young nun, left at the Priory of St Mary in the County of Lincoln as an infant Brother Thomas is a young monk, who spends his time thinking of the manuscripts he works on However, one cold morning in February, 1460, their lives change forever Sent out in the snow to release a fox from a trap, Brother Thomas is disconcerted b...I have to confess to knowing next to nothing about the Wars of the Roses, and have never been overly interested in the period I am always amazed that people can get so het up about whether Richard III was a good king, or a ruthless despot So, despite having heard great things about this book, I had put off reading it for longer than I should have In the end I picked up the audio book on Audible, and I cannot believe I waited this long to read it.Story The blurb on the book is as follows Feb I have to confess to knowing next to nothing about the Wars of the Roses, and have never been overly interested in the period I am always amazed that people can get so het up about whether Richard III was a good king, or a ruthless despot So, despite having heard great things about this book, I had put off reading it for longer than I should have In the end I picked up the audio book on Audible, and I cannot believe I waited this long to read it.Story The blurb on the book is as follows February, 1460 in the bitter dawn of a winter s morning a young nun is caught outside her priory walls by a corrupt knight and his vicious retinue.In the fight that follows, she is rescued by a young monk and the knight is defeated But the consequences are far reaching, and Thomas and Katherine are expelled from their religious Orders and forced to flee across a land caught in the throes of one of the...I have Ben Kane to thank for this fantastic read, When an author of his calibre posts about a book Magnificent An historical tour de force, revealing Clements to be a novelist every bit as good as Cornwell, Gregory or Iggulden Kingmaker is the best book I ve read this year by some margin Ben Kane You have to sit up and take notice.What I didn t expect was the scope and style of the book Having just read excellent Stormbird by Conn Iggulden, set in roughly the same period, i had some ex I have Ben Kane to thank for this fantastic read, When an author of his calibre posts about a book Magn...

English
14 September 2017

Toby Clements