Lionheart

So much is known about Richard the Lionheart. Even people who don't know much about history have at least heard about him. He is a true legend. Yet in this magnificent novel Ms. Penman manages to make him both bigger than life and ordinary man.

Richard ascends to the throne of England upon the death of his father, Henry II. His mother is Eleanor of Aquitaine and he had spent most of his life in her domain thinking he would be ruling there. He never expected to be King of England. He had "taken the cross" and found himself on the third crusade right after he was crowned King. He was unmarried and his heir was his youngest brother John whom he really did not trust. Smart man.

Richard was a soldier through and through. He was a brilliant battle commander and strategist. He and Phillipe Capet of France were joining forces to go on the crusade together but neither man liked nor trusted one another.

The book is a history lover's dream, full of detail and life created from the records left by peoples long dead. Fortunately with Richard there are records from both sides - those that hated him and those that revered him so a somewhat true picture of the man can be formulated. So often with historical records only one side is left to tell the tale.

This is not a book for someone looking for a fast, light read. This is a book for someone who wants to truly immerse themselves in time and place. There are a lot of characters from a number of countries to keep straight - this is sometimes a challenge but they are important to the telling. I have never been disappointed in a book from Ms. Penman, in fact I look forward to each one with a passion.

Lionheart tells only half of Richard's story; the rest will be told in the sequel - A King's Ransom. So my waiting begins. I first discovered Ms. Penman's books in the '80ies with The Sunne in Splendour and drove my husband crazy for every time we went to a book store I had to look for the next book and when it wasn't there I was crushed. This was, of course, before the internet became so ever present.

So if you love history and you want a deep, involving book pick up Lionheart. You will not be disappointed.

I love Penman's other books, and have been looking forward to this book for a long time. I was disappointed to find it didn't live up to my expectations, or any of her other books.
I found the book to be a tale of the crusade and the battles, which is interesting material. However what I loved about her previous books was the focus on the people, and that was missing here. There was not nearly the same level of character development; most seemed fairly shallow to me. There were many main characters from whose point of view she told the story, instead of just one or two. There were several different characters she could have chosen to focus on, and it seemed that she could not make up her mind and used them all in order to convey the battle info, with sort of scattered results.
Too much data, not enough personal.

I have been a lifelong reader of historical fiction and a longtime fan of SKP. Her trilogy about the 10th century Welsh throne was as good as anything I've ever read in that genre.

For that reason, I was shocked at what I found myself reading when the eagerly-awaited Lionheart hit my Kindle. I could not even get through the second chapter and I spent all of my time for as far as I did get waiting to become engaged with the story and the characters, which is the first time this has happened to me with one of Ms. Penman's books. I even skipped to Chapter 10, hoping beyond hope that the author would have gained enough momentum that I could begin to recognize the style I had previously so enjoyed. No such luck.

There is a huge difference between telling a story and TELLING A STORY. Lionheart is so boring and didactic that it almost took me back to high school history class. What is the point in period detail and historical accuracy when you can't care about the characters or what happens to them?

If you want to know what Richard the Lionheart's wife,sister and I think his niece was doing during this time this might be a good book.I put it down at chapter 28 for fear of being bored to death.I thought this was a story about Richard and the Crusades not his relatives travel itineraries.Very disapointing.

I agree with the points made by the other lower rated reviewers who like me have read all of her books as this one just doesn't come together and is somewhat boring. It is far more history than fiction . The fiction part is lacking as the characters were trite and you never identify with any of them. One point I would add that I haven't seen mentioned is her portrayal of Richard was over the top like he was some kind of God except he had a cute little temper. She made him out to be the best looking, strongest, smartest, best fighter, most honorable, etc. of anyone in mankind. Like the others who really love her work (I would give her 5's on all the others). I gave it a 3 just because I know what she can do. In reality it was probably a 2. Or perhaps I gave her a three because I expected another 5 and it was really a 4? I just hope she gets back in form on the next one.

I've read all of Sharon Kay Penman's books, from the Welsh and Devils' Brood trilogies (all worth 5 stars), to the Medieval Mysteries (all worth 4 to 4.5 stars). Lionheart is an exception to her standard and was a disappointment on two major fronts. First, Penman herself says in her Notes that she never had such a wealth of eyewitness accounts and chronicles to draw from. This is obvious as she tries to fit as much as she can into the book, wandering off the story line and, at times, seeming to simply fill pages. Second, while in her previous books Penman is a master at building the personalities and revealing the inner thoughts of her characters, in Lionheart she takes this to an extreme, spending pages on the convoluted self examination and opinions of her characters, especially Joanna and Berengaria. For the first time in my reading of Penman, I found myself skimming these pages out of, I hate to say it, boredom. This all leads to the question of why, after 574 pages of wandering around the Holy Land, we are told that yet another book is forthcoming (A King's Ransom)to detail, in great depth I'm sure, with Richard's adventures and imprisonment on his way back to England. With some proper editing and, perhaps, less of a mercenary outlook, the two books would have been better as one. And that one would probably have deserved the 5 stars we expect to give for a work by Penman.

I love love love Penman's historical novels. She brings history alive, like no other author. HOWEVER, I had a very rough time trying to get through Lionheart.

With all of Penman's other historical novels, I forego eating, yardwork, and housework on weekends and evenings in order to devote myself to the people she brings to life. Lionheart is different. As I tried to slog through yet another battle or skirmish by people whose allegiences I can't remember, a dust bunny under a chair would call out to me and give me an excuse for putting the book aside.

I savored the distressingly short glimpses of Joanna (Richard's sister) and Berengaria (his wife), and I wish Penman had filled in their characters more. Granted, she may lack contemporary written reports of them, but that hasn't stopped Sharon before.

This book was too bogged down in the details and it lacked the context of why everyone did what they did. Yes, it was the Crusades, I get that, but the novel left me feeling no empathy for anyone or any cause. I guess, ultimately, I would have liked to see this look at Richard more from the female perspective, ala Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Mists of Avalon." Maybe a female perspective would have given the book a little less battle, and a bit more soul.

I don't think I'll buy the next novel in the series, "A King's Ransom." Sharon, please go back to writing about the Welsh! They are so much more interesting...

Pretty weak. I'm a huge fan of Penman's Welsh trilogy as well as The Sunne in Splendor, those were awesome!. When Christ and his Saints Slept was also top notch but since then it has been all down hill. Lionheart lacks depth both in the characters and the actual story, feels like she just rambled thru the story with out giving it any life. Disappointing.

I confess that I was put off from the start when I realized I would have to buy still another overpriced book if I wanted to finish this tale. I loved the earlier volumes of this series, and they were worth the money. But this one lacks the care and focus of the earlier work. The plot seems flabby and slow. The characters don't seem to be fleshed out enough for us to care about them. And the style. "Cynosure of all eyes"? Aaarrrgh. Maybe a good editor would have helped too.

I've never had to say that about any previous Sharon Kay Penman novel I've read. Up until now, I've loved all of them. I haven't finished this book yet, but I've read enough to know it isn't one of my favorites. This books reads more like a biography than a novel. Biographies are fine, but if that's what I wanted to read, I would have purchased a biography. As others have noted, this book contains WAY too many characters, too many characters to keep track of. I can honestly say I'm reading without understanding what I've read. I think part of the problem is something SKP notes in the book -- she had an abundance of sources this time. By incorporating so much historical detail (and so many characters) I'm afraid I've lost the flavor of the story. Richard doesn't strike me as a particularly appealing character, either. This is not to say he should be perfect, as most appealing characters are not. Richard almost strikes me as one more in a wide array of characters in the book. The lack of female characters might be a problem, too. Women don't take center stage in a novel about a holy war. Perhaps at heart I'm a bit of a romance fan, and, alas, there's only a limited amount of romance in this novel. But those parts provide what light there is in this book, in my opinion. The relationship between Richard and Berengaria is not a flaming romance by any means, however. And that is how history plays it. Please don't let this review spoil your opinion of Penman, The Sunne in Splendour and When Christs and His Saints Slept are two of the best books I've ever read. Hopefully a new book will be better.