Here be Dragons

by Sharon Kay Penman

This is the first book in another trilogy by Penman. This trilogy is about 13th century Wales and this book is about Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of Wales and his wife Joanna, illegitimate daughter to King John of England. Like Time and Chance (below) this book is also historical fiction and it's extremely good. In fact, I'd argue that it's better than Time and Chance.

Penman has a real gift for bringing historical figures and their time to life and Joanna and Llewelyn practically leap from the pages. It also helps that their real lives were so fascinating and that the subject matter is so riveting. Their relationship was deep, complex, stormy and moving. Their marriage was formed for political reasons (as were nearly all royal marriages of the day) but over time they developed a deep and abiding love for one another that weathered nearly insurmountable challenges.

Once I got beyond the first few chapters I found it difficult to put this book down. The only reason it took me so long to finish it is that my life has been so busy lately that I've barely had time to read.

The Vicomte de Bragleonne

by Alexandre Dumas

This is the first of a four part series of etexts from Project Gutenberg that make up the third book of Dumas' D'Artagnan Romances. This covers the first 75 chapters of that third book which takes place in the year 1660. The next etext is Ten Years Later, the third is Louise de la Valliere, and the last is The Man in the Iron Mask.

Like The Three Musketeers, and Twenty Years After which came before it, this is a classic adventure story set in the French court. This time, D'Artagnan finds himself in the services of the fledgling king Louis the XIV, acting as a spy and (as usual) becoming involved in various court intrigues.

It's good fun.