Customer Reviews

Loyalty Bound

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had an old copy of this e-book, but recently downloaded a newer version. It's been cleaned up quite a bit uwhich is great as this book was definitely worth a buy/read and it was a shame that there were so many errors in it previously. Now that it has been edited I can say this book is well worth its price as it is one of the better independent e-books you'll find out there. I like the author's take on events as I followed Richard on his rise to power and inevitable descent into destruction. Although I knew the history rather well, it was still fun to discover what theory the author would adopt. After all, any historical fiction on this subject is going to have its fair amount of theory right?

The author must have uploaded a new edited version because I did not see any spelling errors to speak of and I normally have a keen eye for typos as I utterly loathe a book with such mistakes.

I found the story very interesting. It's historical FICTION so don't bother reading it if you're going to get up upset over the accuracy of the history. The author clearly did his research, but he does have to insert some FICTION into the plot as there are so many gaps in our knowledge in regards to this time period. I don't understand why some people (like the 1 star reviewer below) don't understand that and expect textbook accuracy when reading a work of fiction. Regardless, this was a good tale with an interesting cast of characters. I appreciated that the author jumps right into the thick of the story/action without 100 pages of set-up nor does he get bogged down with cheesy words from the time period like "certes".

As the 4th son, Richard III never expected to become king, so when his older brother (Edward IV) dies, Richard is made Lord protector of Edward's son who is destined to become Edward V.

The young Edward is escorted to the Tower of London and eventually joined by his younger brother Richard who has been persuaded out of Sanctuary and the company of his mother - an enemy of Richard III.

Richard III finds evidence that Edward IV's sons are illegitimate, so, reluctantly, he becomes king. He is aware that his crown in under threat from Henry Tudor (later to become Henry VII) and throughout his short reign tries to protect both his crown and kingdom.

Richard strives to rule with justice in a world that views mercy as weakness. He deals leniently with the man who confessed to killing his nephews (the Princes in the Tower) and later this man again betrays him by leading an uprising against him. The book ends with the battle of Bosworth when Richard III and Henry Tudor meet - and only one survives.

The story was a good one - worthy of 5 stars; however, the spelling & grammatical errors and bizarre word placements (which I presume were as a result of using a spellchecker rather than actually proof-reading the document) were annoying and detracted from the storyline. The spelling errors were even more incongruous when considering the correct use and spelling of dozens of words relating to medieval armour, customs etc. Although the spelling errors were distracting, they didn't stop me reading the book and therefore I would rate the story 5 stars and the spelling/grammar 3 stars - an overall 4 stars. If the spelling errors were corrected, I would happily rate this book 5 stars.

The Richard in this novel is flawed, makes mistakes, tries his best, lets sentiment cloud his judgement and generally acts like a real person. This is what I like about this novel. I'm not sure I believe all the author's theories, but the facts are there as the framework to the story and the result is a picture of a well-rounded, likeable person which makes a refreshing change from the whiter than white or blacker than black portrayals of Richard of other authors. He WAS a real person and would have made mistakes, but overall he comes across as someone who did his duty to the best of his ability, which fits in with what is known of his life before he became King and everything started to go wrong.

Highly recommended.!

Although not a true historical version, this was still a good read. Would recommend this to most people wanting a light history.

Interesting book that gives a different slant on Richard III. He is portrayed not as a deformed, murderous hunchback, hell bent on power but as a loving family man who reluctantly became King. He was too trusting, ill advised and tried to see the best in everyone, which was ultimately his downfall. I got quite frustrated at the spelling and grammatical errors, but on the whole, a very good read brought more to life with the recent discovery of his remains in Leicester.

It would seem that good King Richard was buffetted by fate and betrayed by almost everyone. Poor man. What was he to do? This author presents a scarcely credible Richard, bending fact and ignoring what is known for certain. The lengths to which some (Ricardians) will go to try and rescue the reputation of Richard is truly astonishing. Here, apart from the murder of Henry V1, Richard is pretty well innocent. He is horrified when his brother's children are murdered (by Buckingham) and yet apart from a roughing up the duke, does nothing other than banish him to Wales! He is (of course)the rightful King - and there is a strong argument historically to defend that view though astonishingly the writer never alludes to it.The author argues that his book is just one possible view of the facts but be in no doubt at all - this is pro-Richard propaganda with little acknowledging of facts.( The author in a prologue even casts doubts on whether the princes were murdered at all.)
What truly damns the book however is the paucity of the writer's imagination. His 'characterisations' consists of attributing a single identifiable characteristic to each figure and repeating it over and over whenever that character appears. Hence Buckingham's hand is 'pudgy' he points with a pudgy finger, his pudgy finger stabs..... Henry Tudor is forever muttering 'God's Bones'. Richard's wife uses rose perfume. Richard smells her rose perfume - he senses her behind him from the rose scented perfume, he smells a rose and thinks of her rose scented.... and on and on. Percy has red hair and we are endlessly told it whenever he appears, and I lost count of how many time Stanley pulls at his forked beard. Dennis Wheatley would be proud!
There are anachronisms such as 'backpedalling' and when Richard is given a meal of duck and potatoes. There are many mistakes too in spelling and grammar. Someone pulls his 'horses reigns' for example and I found one line that wasn't even a sentence. Give this a miss. It isn't worth even half its price.