Customer Reviews

Banners of Gold: A Novel

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Alix is at it again. Sequel to "Shield of three Lions," I couldn't wait to read this one. Its a bit different than the last. Less of an adventure and more of a romance. Less talking and more FEELINGS.
Starts off with a one-eyed jew who comes to collect Alix from her precious Wanthwaithe. Enoch has been injured and is away in Scotland. She tries to fight the jew, Bonel but of course has to go with him and once again meet up with King Richard.
Man, this chick gets all the guys is all I'm gonna say!
Everyone is madly in love with her---could it because she, as the main character, is utterly stunning with perfect white teeth?
And her silvery halo of hair----on and on.
This book was harder to pick up compared to the first. Its so into Richard and Alix. Its like, "I wonder what Richard is going to do today? When is he gonna get hit with that arrow?" etc.
We interact with Queen Eleanor, too. Travel all of France's territories and are not in England much. Its a "middle book." Think of it as the "Empire Strikes BAck" or the "Two Towers."
Compared to hopeful trilogies. I was hoping that the rerelease means that the author was going to put out a third book; but the first printing of this story was in 1986. It seems unlikely.
So BE WARNED of two things when reading this book:
THERE IS NO SEQUEL evident
THE ENDING IS A CLIFF HANGER!!!!!
But its good. And if you want to know the further adventures of Alix, sans Enoch, my recommendation is get it!

"Banners of Gold" is a delightful sequal to "A shield of Lions" I think Pamela Kaufman is the best writer of historical fiction. Her novels not only present history in a intresting way, it entertains you just as well as watching a movie, because her story and characters are so alive. Her novel is filled with outrageously funny scenes and colorful discriptions of how life was like way back in the medieval times. This novel is a continuation of the first novel that is about a young woman named Aliex becoming an heiress due to an evil man who kills her family, to get back her land she journeys to King Richard disguised as a boy to ask for her land back and along the way she encounters much adventures as a boy whereas as a young girl she wouldn't have been able to. This second story is basically about the Aliex who goes looking for her husband This novel is also about her relationship with king Richard the I, his mother Eleanor of Aquitane, and a rich jewish lord.

First off, I have to say, I believe that this is a book very much geared towards females, not only because it revolves around a female as the main character, but because it has everything to do with love. The wonderful thing about this kind of love is that it is described with high school vividness...meaning that all of the loves described are new and fresh; every glance, every kiss stolen is enough to make their hearts burst...the wonder of new loves..ahhh...so wonderful to remember those times.

Anyway...getting on to the main story, Alix is apparently a gorgeous woman, enough so that she gets just about every man that she encounters, but mostly because she attracts the eye of King Richard! She is the only woman who can help him make an heir, for the sole reason that she is the only woman he was ever attracted to. At first, she is unwilling to go along with his courtly love, being forced into something she was just not ready for at the tender age of 15. However, as the story goes along, she loosens up a bit at the prospect of being Richard's lover. And that's all I will say on that subject.

Bonel was my favorite character, and in my humble opinion did not make enough of an appearance. The foreign Jew who comes for Alix at the beginning of the story, he has many, many layers that need unfolding, and I'm really not sure that we have even begun to scratch the surface on him, but you read the book and see what you think.

Queen Eleanor and Prince John also play important roles in the story, as well as Queen Berengaria, however small her role was, it was omnipotent in many senses. Robin Hood also makes a small cameo appearance, though quite contrary to the usual Robin Hood tale.

All in all, this book does integrate many historical facts and can make you feel as though you are in that time period, but at it's heart, it's all about love and despair. It's all about simple human emotions that transcend time and place. The only fault that I give this book, dropping it one star, is the cliffhanger it will leave you on...I need more...I need to know what happens next!

The sequel to Shield of Three Lions is not what you would expect it to be. It picks up about a year after the end of the previous book and takes off in a completely different direction. The story is full of fascinating bits of history mixed with an implausible romance and lots of fun. A theme running through the book is the persecution of the Jews.

WARNING - it ends with a cliffhanger and you want to just DIVE right into the next book - but the last book is a disappointment.

This is the third Pamela Kaufman book that I have read and I cannot wait for the next one to be published. This book is the sequel to Sheild of Three Lions, so if you haven't read that book make sure you do before delving into this one. This book has all the elements of a novel that make it unputdownable!! I managed to read the whole thing one a flight from Dublin to Boston. I think what gives the book its main appeal is the pace at which events happen. There is action, adventure, court intrigue, love, loss and exploration of life in the 12th Century. Part of its appeal also stems from the fact that some of the main characters in the novel are actual historical figures, including Richard the Lionheart. A great read that will leave you wanting to know what happens next.

I read the first book, Shield of Three Lions, and didn't know there was a sequel until I went through my bookshelves and found my sister hand lent it to me, god knows how long ago. I loved the first one because of how ingenious the girl was in passing herself as a boy. Many times the scene of her putting the reeds together in order to pee like a boy would pop into my head and I would get a good laugh to myself over it. I was thrilled to see an unread book on my shelf and this book above all.

What I got out of it mostly is the way women and Jews have been historically treated and it made me angry and feeling impotent knowing that it is still going on in the year 2000, which, I may add is mentioned several times in the book as being the year of the apocolypse. Every book I have read about Richard the Lionheart is that he would not love a woman.

I would like very much if Ms. Kaufman would write yet another in this series. This is why I logged on, to see if she had done so.

Perhaps Ms. Kaufman can be reached by Web page to see if she is working on it. Our heroine has a life awaiting her upon leaving the European continent.

Ms. Kaufman graphically shows us the living conditions of this time in history, but she doesn't dwell on it. I have seen several motion pictures which do show this timeframe, i.e., Father Cadfael, and we are talking major filth, both living conditions and body conditions.

I enjoyed it and I will sell it to whomever would like to read it but can't find it. I have searched my house for Shield of Three Lions but it was so long ago that I no longer have it. That one was great too.

This book was absolutely awful! The previous book, Shield of the Three Lions, was great, which only helps to make this book so very disappointing. The first book centered on building the relationship between Alix and Enoch. So for Alix to forsake Enoch and go traipsing off with Richard the Lion-hearted not only made no sense,it made me dislike Alix very much, who continued to become more and more shallow and vapid as the story went on. Throughout the entire book I waited (and hoped) for the return of Enoch, so the book could get back on track, only to be dismally disappointed. It seemed to me that this books should have come to a conclusion several times before it finally finished, as if the writer was stringing this book out, so that she could write a third book. However, I was so mad at Alix by the time I came to the end, I would never bother reading the last book. Truly disappointing.

If you can get past the tiny amount of Old English in this book it is great. Everything works itself out in the end, I can't wait to read the 3rd book. Don't even try to read this book unless you have read the first in the series.

The book picked up from the prior book. The first book spent more time on the history around Richard - but this one was more on the characters childish concerns.

I WISH Pamela Kaufman would write a third book in this series! The character of Alix is so three-dimensional it is a shame to leave her this way (I'm avoiding spoilers so read the book and you will know what I mean!)