Customer Reviews

Champion

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the incredible story of Monday de Cerizay and Alexander de Montroi. She is the daughter of a tourney knight and he the brother of one, soon to become one himself. The story moves rapidly from place to place and event to event. Never is there a dull moment in this book! I couldn't get enough of it fast enough. You feel as if you are transported back in time and are a part of all their lives. I would stay up until 1 a.m. (sometimes later) absorbing all the details of jousting and tourneys to relationships ending, changing, and new ones beginning. Tragic events effect everyone's lives in the story, mostly for the better. The plot twists and turns and you have no idea where you're going next.

I did not find this to be a predictable book at all! It kept revealing surprise after surprise and kept me hooked from start to finish! This is one of EC's best novels yet. If you do not like dull predictable reads this one is for you!

Other books that I've read by Elizabeth Chadwick that were also outstanding are: The Winter Mantle (available at amazon.co.uk), The Love Knot, Lords of the White Castle, and I am looking forward to reading The Marsh King's Daugher next.

I read Elizabeth Chadwick's "The Wild Hunt" and I was none too thrilled with it. I didn't find it particularly memorable so when I picked up "The Champion" the name of the author didn't quite click, though it did sound familiar. As I was reading it, it finally dawned on me why the name sounded familiar. Although I had my doubts about the book, I persevered because I'm a staunch believer that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. And I'm glad I did.

When I read the inside of the jacket, I felt pretty sure I saw how this book would go. I'm glad to report I wasn't able to entirely predict the story, which is always a thumbs-up in my book. Nothing is more disappointing then being able to tell the story yourself.

Indeed, it's a cliche to say it, but it's the truth--I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN. God knows I had dozens of things to do but the book drew me on.

Having read two of her books, Elizabeth Chadwick has learned subtlety (among other things).

I highly recommend this book, I know I will now make an attempt to read more of her work

This is a wonderful book that tells the epic story of a young man that leaves the monistary he is put in and joins the tourney court with his brother and ends up a knight with a son and a wife that is happy that the father of her son is "home." Even though I am only 14 this was a great book I belive and I would recomend it to anyone. It has a great plot and it combines romance, history, adventure, and human ethics to make a briliant tale of a knight and his strugle through life and the strugle of those who he encounters. This was the first book I ever read all the way through, in previous grades i would read books asigned and i would skip chapters or just read the back and "wing" the test. This book kept me on the "edge" of my "seat." I read this book for a week straight, I only stoped to eat or go to the bathroom. If you read one book this week, this year, or even in your life it should be this.

I really enjoyed this story of Alexander de Montroi and Monday de Cerizay. They began as friends, then set off individually to make their way in the world. Years later they are reunited and find that during their separation they have fallen in love with each other.

Still, I found this story a little too predictable to give 5 stars. The 'good' characters were beautiful and the baddies were mean and had ugly scars. For a more unpredictable story, with three dimensional characters, try Sharon Penman's "Here Be Dragons", or Barbara Erskine's "Lady of Hay" or "Child of the Phoenix".

The Champion takes a pretty romantic ideal and gives it new life in the story of two lovers that go through a great deal before fate gives them a chance to be together. What makes this one the surprise are the settings, the characters, and the level of research in creating a medieval world that is believable and honest.

Alexander de Montroi arrives at a tournament in Normandy in 1193. He's fled the sexual advances of a corrupt prior at the monastery where his family has pledged him. With his own home closed to him, he's come to his brother's encampment for help. And Alexander is determined to become a knight, just as Hervi is. If he can survive the brutal conditions and fighting, he can carve out a name for himself, and with luck, find a spot in a powerful lord's household. Hervi is doubtful about his brother having any success, but a daredevil stunt in the middle of a melee shows that not only can Alex fight, but also he has a rare talent for it.

In the rough life of the tournament, there are also families. One of them is that of Arnaud de Cerizay, working hard to keep his wife, Lady Clemence and his daughter, Monday, fed and well. Monday is a bright, pretty young woman, using her talents for sewing and knowing nothing of her real heritage. Alex and Monday get to know each other well, but Monday is well-protected enough to know that she and Alex can't have any sort of romance, and Alex is just inexperienced enough to moon after Monday.

But it isn't all glory. Alex makes powerful enemies, especially Eudo le Boucher. Eudo is a brutal man, intent on crushing the life out of Alexander, and lusting after Monday. And for Monday, after a tragedy strikes down her mother, and facing an unwanted pregnancy, is forced to fend for herself and finds herself the mistress of a powerful lord, none other than Lord John, the Count de Mortain, and Richard the Lionheart's brother.

Through these eyes we get to see the not-so-glamourous life that those on the tournament field went through. There's constant travel, the risk of losing one's life, or being defeated in battle and losing the horse and armour that is so desperately needed. It's a real switch from the usual setting of most historical novels where the characters are lords and ladies in fine castles or royalty. Instead, this is life that is being lived on the edge, where a sudden change of fate can mean fortune or disaster.

What really struck me about this is the wealth of detail that the author, Elizabeth Chadwick, is able to weave into her story. What's even better is that she makes it all very believable. I could smell campfires, know the chill of an early morning, the uncertainty, and the yearning for security that infuses this novel with real life. Chadwick has drawn on her own experiences in the world of medieval reenactment, and has put it all to good use. And naturally, one of the first rules of writing is to write what you know.

Lest the reader think that this is all just slogging about in the mud and mire, there are some really great touches of history as well. Readers of her novels The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion will be pleased to see the appearance of William Marshal and his wife Isabelle de Clare. Too, she handles the character of John, he of the wicked reputation in all those Robin Hood legends, and makes him not just interesting but also motivated.

In conclusion, Elizabeth Chadwick has become one of my favourite authors in historical fiction. Her writing style is exciting, sounds and feels right for the time, and is happily, realistic. Her use of history and the actual people who shaped that world is a delight to read, and those who want to move on from the mass-produced tales of knights and ladies would do well to seek out her work. Sadly, her publishers here in the States have allowed her novels to become hard to find and out of print. Happily, her publishers in the United Kingdom are keeping her books in stock, and at a very reasonable price -- go to www.bookdepository.co.uk to get your hands on her titles.

Four stars. Recommended.

The plot of Elizabeth Chadwick's _The Champion_ is fairly standard romance fare. An innocent young girl and a handsome but arrogant and promiscuous young man fall in love. After many misunderstandings, and after the couple defeat the Bad Guys, the man changes his ways, and they live happily ever after.

What makes _The Champion_ worth reading, despite its predictability, is the attention to historical detail, painstakingly researched by the author. Many novels set in the Middle Ages feel like they're set on a Hollywood soundstage, rather than actually in that gritty, violent period. Chadwick brings the Middle Ages alive, showing us what was beautiful and what was terrible about them. For example, I never knew before that jousting was actually sort of a professional sport, providing an income for social "undesirables", and possibly permanent jobs as mercenaries, if a nobleman in the stands was impressed with their skills.

Basically, this is a predictable story with a very rich background. I wasn't very sucked-in by the characters--they seemed a little flat and stereotypical--but this book is better than its peers because of the research, and I will probably read Chadwick again.

I have to say that the slightly flawed plot line, stereotypical love story and predictable and somewhat tidy ending did not stand in the way of my enjoyment of this book on the whole.

This is the second Elizabeth Chadwick novel I have read. The first being 'The Greatest Knight' about the rise of William Marshall. While I enjoyed the details of that novel the narration was somewhat dry. And while the emotional aspect of this novel seemed more predictable the details of the setting and time were very enjoyable.

The first half of the book is written so well that I was completely unaware of the author. It was as if the events in the story were simply unfolding on their own and I was a witness to them.

I love reading about this period in history and enjoyed learning a few more tid-bits of history. I liked the back drop of the tournament life and enjoyed the characters Chadwick created. I also thought the thread of fertility and birth control woven into the story was a interesting one.

I will be reading more from Elizabeth Chadwick very soon.

A great book, very well researched with interesting characters. Actually the reason they don't mention the death of King John's first wife is because she didn't die. He divorced her and married a 12 year old with whom he had become infatuated. If you want a more in-depth look at this try Sharon Penman's "Here be Dragons."

Elizabeth Chadwick is one of those mercurial writers of historical fiction who always seems to be treading on the edge between strait history and strait romance (though not trashy romance, she's far too skilled for that.) Because of this her books tend to be on a sliding scale that runs from history with sex to romance with a historical background. Being as I like a little romance with my history (and there really isn't any period that doesn't have something romantic to be exploited in it anyway) this works for me. "The Champion" is spite of all of its many, varied and very vivid historical details, is at its core, a romance. A fairly typical romance.

Boy meets girl, boy and girl act like brother and sister, boy in one blinding moments realizes girl is a desirable sexual being(!!!); girl and boy get drunk immediately following aforementioned blinding moment of insight and have sex. Girl freaks and runs off though boy is willing to do the honorable thing and marry her. Girl has baby, though boy has no idea, eventually boy and girl meet up again and boy is struck by the resemblance between himself and much smaller boy!!! Stuff ensues and eventually...well to actually spell it out would be a spoiler.

I'm making fun of it; I know, it's just that the romance plot of this book isn't really original or imaginative. The backdrop is though. Alexander (the boy) first appears after running away from a pedophilic molesting priest at the monetary he was dumped at, and his brother Hervi takes him up on the Norman tourney circuit, where Monday (the girl) also lives with her parents. I still think that how Chadwick described tourneys makes them sound remarkably like a giant game of capture the flag with horses, but the point comes across about the nomadic lifestyle, living hand to mouth in a tent and constantly moving to the next competition, striving for recognition from someone noble who would pay you to be a real soldier, the bitter rivalry that sparks up between the men who "play" fight each other so often.

So while I wouldn't say this is Chadwick's best novel (for now I think that's "The Conquest") it is quite good. I did find all the numerous references to William Marshal annoying since I just read (and disliked) her novel about him, "The Greatest Knight" but it's clear that the man is Chadwick's historical obsession (you know we all have them...that person we feel the need to know EVERYTHING about) and anyway it's probably just that I read the two books back to back that made this annoy me. Other than that the novel is typical Chadwick, vivid history, warts and all, spicy sex scenes (she's so good at them!) and romance-with a few long dead King's and princes thrown in for good measure. If only all author's "typical" was so good.

Four stars.

I knew I was in trouble after the first five pages when a camp follower is termed "a minx" and a few lines later we hear about her "undulating bosom." OK. So this is not going to be a serious work of historical fiction. That expectation being out of the way, I was still able to enjoy what is a very plot-driven narrative for the sheer pace of it. Forget about character development; that is not a matter of interest for Ms. Chadwick, at least not in this work. If I were 16, I would have loved this book. It has all the standard romantic fiction stereotypes, no more poorly drawn than in any other book of its ilk. What it does not have is anything resembling a depiction of real people, of that time or any other. We are dealing with the cartoonish here. If that works for you, by all means read this book. If you are looking for historical fiction for grown ups - this is not it.