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A review by kiwi_fruit
The Heaven Tree Trilogy by Edith Pargeter
4.0
Overall, this trilogy was an engaging story with great characterization and faithful to historical events. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Page 378
I loved the first book in this trilogy.
The historical setting is England in the 13th century, the background of Welsh unrest is familiar to me, having read [b:Here be Dragons|77449|Here be Dragons (Welsh Princes, #1)|Sharon Kay Penman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1448657042s/77449.jpg|74826] in 2017. There the POV was from the Welsh side and the story focused on Llewelyn, the rebel prince of Wales. It was good to see the situation from the other side of the conflict (from the English perspective), besides while Penman’s book focuses on the nobility, Pargeter prefers shining light on the life of lower classes, merchants, artisans and villains.
In this first book, the protagonist is Harry Talvace, the second son of a minor Norman noble, turned stone mason who longs to build a splendid church as his masterpiece and legacy. There are obvious parallels with [b:The Pillars of the Earth|5043|The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)|Ken Follett|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388193707s/5043.jpg|3359698] although I liked [b:The Heaven Tree|2054513|The Heaven Tree (Heaven Tree, #1)|Edith Pargeter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1266499178s/2054513.jpg|2059681] more as it is better researched, more historically rich in details and accuracy.
I’m not a big fan of romance, but there have been exceptions in the past and this book is one of them. Harry is a very likeable character, possessing many virtues, such as bravery, loyalty, honor, etc. properly abiding to the chivalry social code. The first book concludes with a tragedy, which is very fitting of this genre, Benedetta emerging as the epitome of the medieval heroine, I loved her!
I’m looking forward to continuing the series with the second book.
Highly recommended to historical fiction lovers and readers who enjoy “chansons de geste” and courtly romance type novels.
4 stars for the fist book
Page: 639
I found this second book weaker than the previous one for a couple of reasons. First, the plot has less action and adventure than “The heaven tree” and a lot more political scheming amongst the lords of England and Wales. Unfortunately, the author assumes that the reader is already familiar with the historical characters mentioned; name dropping and not much explanations had me scrambling for google to make sense of who was who. Secondly, young Henry is a much weaker character than his father, far too naïve, obstinate and hot tempered for my liking, well deserving of a good smack once or twice. Then there’s a change for the worse in the lord of Parfois. While in the first book Ralf Isambard had some depth while fitting the role of the bad-guy, he had motives for his actions, in this second book it appears simply as a villain without reason.
It may well be that this second book serves only as a bridge, and given the Harry’s unresolved issues (No spoilers!) at the end of this novel, I do hope that the third book will be better and bring an enjoyable conclusion to this trilogy that started so well. 2.5 stars
There a clear change in the third and final book, Isambard is not the devil that was painted previously, and Harry has grown up and finally behaving in a responsible manner. A decent ending with some moving scenes and a dramatic siege conclude the trilogy. 3.5 stars
Page 378
I loved the first book in this trilogy.
The historical setting is England in the 13th century, the background of Welsh unrest is familiar to me, having read [b:Here be Dragons|77449|Here be Dragons (Welsh Princes, #1)|Sharon Kay Penman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1448657042s/77449.jpg|74826] in 2017. There the POV was from the Welsh side and the story focused on Llewelyn, the rebel prince of Wales. It was good to see the situation from the other side of the conflict (from the English perspective), besides while Penman’s book focuses on the nobility, Pargeter prefers shining light on the life of lower classes, merchants, artisans and villains.
In this first book, the protagonist is Harry Talvace, the second son of a minor Norman noble, turned stone mason who longs to build a splendid church as his masterpiece and legacy. There are obvious parallels with [b:The Pillars of the Earth|5043|The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)|Ken Follett|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388193707s/5043.jpg|3359698] although I liked [b:The Heaven Tree|2054513|The Heaven Tree (Heaven Tree, #1)|Edith Pargeter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1266499178s/2054513.jpg|2059681] more as it is better researched, more historically rich in details and accuracy.
I’m not a big fan of romance, but there have been exceptions in the past and this book is one of them. Harry is a very likeable character, possessing many virtues, such as bravery, loyalty, honor, etc. properly abiding to the chivalry social code. The first book concludes with a tragedy, which is very fitting of this genre, Benedetta emerging as the epitome of the medieval heroine, I loved her!
I’m looking forward to continuing the series with the second book.
Highly recommended to historical fiction lovers and readers who enjoy “chansons de geste” and courtly romance type novels.
4 stars for the fist book
Page: 639
I found this second book weaker than the previous one for a couple of reasons. First, the plot has less action and adventure than “The heaven tree” and a lot more political scheming amongst the lords of England and Wales. Unfortunately, the author assumes that the reader is already familiar with the historical characters mentioned; name dropping and not much explanations had me scrambling for google to make sense of who was who. Secondly, young Henry is a much weaker character than his father, far too naïve, obstinate and hot tempered for my liking, well deserving of a good smack once or twice. Then there’s a change for the worse in the lord of Parfois. While in the first book Ralf Isambard had some depth while fitting the role of the bad-guy, he had motives for his actions, in this second book it appears simply as a villain without reason.
It may well be that this second book serves only as a bridge, and given the Harry’s unresolved issues (No spoilers!) at the end of this novel, I do hope that the third book will be better and bring an enjoyable conclusion to this trilogy that started so well. 2.5 stars
There a clear change in the third and final book, Isambard is not the devil that was painted previously, and Harry has grown up and finally behaving in a responsible manner. A decent ending with some moving scenes and a dramatic siege conclude the trilogy. 3.5 stars