Reviews

Rise of the Tudors by Conn Iggulden

leilaghanbar's review against another edition

3.0

The descriptions were beautiful buy I should say it was not an easy read. There were so many words that I had to google, as a person whom English is not the first language, and some sentences were long. The description of scenes and battles were nicely rlwritten, but the characters had hardly any depth. As a historical FICTION I was expecting to read more of the thoughts of the characters in order to understand in one way or another, why they did what the did. The story lacked this part noticeably.

jmatkinson1's review against another edition

5.0

Ambushed in the North and surrounded by Lancastrian allies, Edward IV has to flee to Flanders and Henry VI is restored to the throne. However supported by the Burgundians, Edward returns with an army and crushes Warwick's forces at Barnet and Margaret of Anjou's forces at Tewkesbury. The death of Henry and his son mean that the York monarchy is restored to the throne with only one distant Lancastrian heir left, Henry Tudor who is safe in France. Edward rules for 11 years but on his death his brother Richard declares Edward's children illegitimate and seizes the throne but the Tudor invasion force is gathering.

This is the final part of Iggulden's quartet of books about the Wars of the Roses and is the most accomplished by far. Iggulden's strengths have always been around the way that he writes action scenes, brilliantly exciting, visceral and well researched, but in this book his narrative shows greater sophistication. Dialogue is more realistic and characters more carefully drawn. The years from 1461-1485 are very wellknown in history but this book adds another dimension. Historical fiction at its very best.

rayaan_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

aliilman's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

helenephoebe's review against another edition

4.0

Review - I really enjoyed this quite different take on Edward IV. In the likes of Philippa Gregory's 'The White Queen' Edward IV is seen as a handsome, independent, virile and romantic figure, but in Iggulden's take on things he is instead a flawed, dependent and bloodthirsty figure, who is completely dependent on alcohol when he's not fighting battles to save his throne. I thought that the developing portrayal of Richard III was also interesting from the age of 18 until his death - with everything the brothers of York suffered through you can understand some of the reasons why Richard acted as he did. I enjoy Iggulden's style of writing, although sometimes I find the battle scenes too vividly described for me.

Genre? - Historical

Characters? - Edward IV / Henry VI / Elizabeth Woodville / Margaret of Anjou / Prince Edward of Lancaster / Richard III / George Duke of Clarence / Derry Brewer / Richard Neville Earl of Warwick / Jasper Tudor / Henry VII

Setting? - Ravenspur, Tewkesbury & London (England)

Series? - Wars of the Roses #4

Recommend? – Yes

Rating - 17/20

herbalmoon's review against another edition

1.0

Wow, he doesn't waste time getting history wrong, does he?

-Refers to Elizabeth Woodville as Elizabeth of York--her daughter's title. Marguerite d'Anjou didn't become...I don't know...Margaret of London when she married Henry; why would it be different for Elizabeth? If anything, she might be referred to as "Elizabeth of Grafton" or "Elizabeth Rivers"

Spoiler

-Jasper says that if he had met Margaret, their lives would've been much different.

Do you mean "if Margaret Beauchamp had betrothed her daughter" to you? "Met" makes it sound like the Edmund/Margaret pairing was a matter of romance. Not even close!

A woman who marries her daughter off at thirteen and is so hell-bent on getting a grandson that she tells the midwives she doesn't give a damn if the girl lives--just as long as the baby survives--doesn't give a fuck about romance!

m_j_webb's review against another edition

4.0

Slower than previous novels but still an excellent read.

laileanah's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This was slow and the ending was truly rushed.
Meh.
I'm unimpressed for the most part this series focuses on war, battles and lightly skims everything else.
🤷🏾‍♀️

arszania's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

The great conclusion for the series of book of this format. From the beginning I was really excited and have positive feelings about it. Like the rest books of the series it presents history well and at the same time have lots of action. I loved the characters, for some of them I waited for so long to die but to be honest this book changed my attitude towards many of them. Lots of characters lost their position in previous parts and now it was exceptional to get to know new ones. Personally I adored Henry Tudor and I am not even sure why. The one fault I see is the fact that so much history was condensed in only one tome that it wasn't given attention it deserved. In comparison to the first book when almost half of the action was set before Henry VI married Margaret it was superficial. One more book would be perfect. 

zwodderybookdragon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0