Mercedes Rochelle

Some of my favorite historical novels are retellings of famous literary works, or stories surrounding supporting characters from those works. So Heir to a Prophecy was a book that intrigued me from my first reading of the synopsis. Centering around the (short) life of Banquo, his son, Fleance, and the three witches, and mainly their prophecy concerning Banquo and his descendants, from Shakespeare's MacBeth, the book is an exciting incite into what Shakespeare intended...that Banquo was the founder of the royal Stewart (Stuart) line.

This is an interesting and engaging story surrounding the history of Scotland, England and Wales in the 11th century. There is a lot of war and battles, but not overwhelmingly so. The character of Walter, his complexity, balances out the big action parts. As the grandson of Banquo, and son of Fleance, Walter has a lot of revenge on his plate. As the story progresses, we get to see what moves Walter and what makes him the man he becomes.

This being her first book of fiction, I am very impressed. It's obvious that Rochelle is passionate about history and knows her stuff to boot. The historical accuracy and detail in this book is amazing. Her next book is titled, Godwine Kingmaker, and I can't wait to read it!… (mer)

Richard II is one of those kings that I honestly don’t know a lot about. In all of my historical fiction reading I have only had the opportunity to read one other book about him. As is noted in the author’s note at the end of the book, much of how Richard II is perceived by history is thanks to Shakespeare who doesn’t exactly have a strong track record of representing his subjects accurately. As it is always said, history is written by the victors and they often distort the records of those they have defeated.

I don’t know if this is going to be two books or three but this first book is really good read. Anyone who loves history will enjoy this trip back in time to the court of a man far too young to to be king surrounded by nobles who were more concerned with going to war and their own interests rather than the governing of the kingdom. Richard had no strong well of support so he leans on his friends. These friends are hated by the lords of the land for they think they are giving him bad advice. Richard feels his uncles and the other Lords are trying to control him.

It’s a well researched and fascinating look at this enigmatic king. Ms. Rochelle brings Richard to life as a young man who was taught that he was King and that he was in charge. When he wanted to pursue peace with France instead of continuing wars there was uproar. Despite the fact that the taxes that were necessary to pay for the wars caused an uprising that almost cost Richard his reign. Soldiers want to fight and that is that.

It’s the kind of a book that I found myself lost in. Despite knowing what would be I still read each page with hope that history had somehow changed. That will have to wait for the next volume of the book as this one ended with Richard asserting his authority. It was a powerful ending and a perfect place to begin the next chapter.… (mer)