King’s Gold
"Jecks builds into every paragraph a deep sense of time and place which evoked sounds and smells of medieval England"
Synopsis:
1326 sees the year close out with London in flames and King Edward II held prisoner thanks to his queen and her lover Sir Roger Mortimer. They are claiming the succession of the King's son Edward III and have demoted Edward II to Sir Edward of Caernarthon.
As the kingdom's elite fight over the spoils of the invasion, the Bardi family, who were once the King's bankers, are in a quandary as to which side to back.
Guarding the deposed King on behalf of his usurpers are Sir Baldwin and Simon Puttock who once again are drawn into a web of deceit, lies, greed and murder.
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Review:
I owe both this book and its author an apology as I very nearly did not get past the first hundred pages. The reason for this was because I was not giving the book the full attention it deserved and demanded. Some books you can read a few pages at a time without ever losing track of the plot or characters. King's Gold is not one of these books; instead it is a book which will reward the dedicated reader who puts in the effort to read the book without distraction. If you cannot devote enough time to read this book in sizeable chunks then I urge you to pick up something else. If you can do this, then you will find your reward in the pages you read. Once I had overcome my own mistakes I looked at the book with fresh eyes and was drawn inexorably into the book and loved every minute of it. Jecks builds into every paragraph a deep sense of time and place which evoked sounds and smells of medieval England. The prose has a master's touch and is entirely responsible for the tickling of my senses which the book endlessly did. The plot is myriad to say the least and when you see a glossary and cast list at the start you really do know you have to pay attention (Lesson learned). The differing factions all have different agendas be they of national, feudal or personal interest. This at times is on the verge of clouding things for the reader but somehow Jecks manages to stay on the right side of the clarity and confusion divide. The novel is written purely as a narrative, flitting between characters so there is no real hero or baddie to root for or despise, instead you are left to decide who is right and wrong. With a cast so large it would be unfair to single out just one or two for a special mention but I'm going to do it anyway as some of the laws mentioned in King's Gold were unfair in the extreme. They are Father Luke and the joyous Sir Richard along with the surprise who is John.