Customer Reviews

The Fool's Tale: A Novel

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great novel about relationships, that just happens to be set in 12th century Wales. It is full of historical details that give a real feel to the time and place, but the importance is on the interaction between some really fun characters! I don't think it should be called a Historical Romance, it is not your typical 'Bodice Ripper'. The emphasis is not on the sex. You get to know the characters, and both love & hate them early on, and then they evolve and change, and suprise you. You then get to a point where you cannot put the book down, you need to know what happens next, and you think you might know, but you could be wrong....!
It's a really fun read, it is very sarcastic & witty at times, but also very entertaining to someone who really does like Historical Fiction, the research is there. I recomend it highly!

I don't generally read historical romances, so was doubtful when I picked up a pre-publication copy. But this is such a good novel -- filled with fascinating, complex characters; intricate plotting, and a good dollop of suspense and surprise -- that I wish there was a whole new genre term to describe it... something like, "Historical Literary Fiction," or "Libidinous Non-Contemporary Narrative Art." Anyway, it's a terrific read, and will make everybody -- those who read lots of historical fiction, and those who turn up their noses at it -- wonder about what they've been missing. Read it the next time you want to be kept up late, trying to find out what happens next.

I didn't like this book very much at first, but oddly, I finished it. I read the whole thing partly because 100 pages in, I was pretty bored so I glanced at the last few pages. I was surprised and relieved at where the book was headed, so I continued reading. The other reason I finished it is because despite its large flaws, this book is strangely compelling.

First, the problems. The scene where Noble explains to Isabel that Welsh men don't hit their wives. It wasn't bad in and of itself, but it was lifted almost directly from Sharon Kay Penman's "Here Be Dragons." I actually know quite a bit about medieval Welsh law, and though historical fiction authors seem to insist otherwise, this was in fact not the only interesting point of their legal system.

I found myself often wondering why she chose to make this historical fiction instead of just fiction. The customs she described seemed to be there only so she could drop some Welsh phrases. They weren't well integrated or even particularly important. Most infuriatingly, the author played too fast and loose with history, even for the genre. She invented two of the three main characters, admits it was impossible for one to exist, and completely changed the few historical events depicted. There's also no reason to think that the real Noble was anything like he was in the book, though there was a Welsh king of the same name in the 6th century with a similar personality. In reality, the book's Noble died a year before "The Fool's Tale" even begins. Why didn't she just make up the king's name, too, and put a fictional character in place of Llewelyn ap Iorwerth and stop trying for historical fiction? Having twisted shards of history didn't help the book, they were just distracting.

She crammed in too many political plots to properly focus on the characters, and focused on the characters too much to make the political plots seem like anything but an excuse to make the book longer. The cat-and-mouse game once the affair starts went on waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long.

All my complaints aside, however, this book was not a disaster. When she hits a good scene, it's really good. She has a knack for dialogue, and I thought the actions of many characters (especially Gwirion) were realistic and sympathetic. She can really get into the psychology of a character without being too heavy-handed about it, though some of them got very tiresome. Isabel and Noble, I'm looking at you. At any rate, I enjoyed the court scene in which Gwirion is called upon to investigate the plantiff's claim, and, among other things, the beginning and end are really very good. This book isn't awful, it's simply a 500 page book that should've been 300 pages and was crammed into an innappropriate mold.

This is a book for all of you who love an intelligent page-turner...compulsively readable and full of wit and several laugh-out-loud moments. Fascinating and fully drawn characters -- watching the emotional events unfold alongside the political is great fun.

"The Fool's Tale" is at its heart a character study of three very selfish people, who, each in their own way, are demanding complete loyalty from the other two. There are those who would argue this point with me, saying the fool in question is more selfless than anything, but I believe in reading the book it is obvious that each character covets an essential piece of the others, with disastrous results. So maybe they're all fools.

The Plot: Nobel is the king of a small welsh kingdom right around the time that Llewellyn the great (the first official prince of Wales-welsh not English) was uniting the country (the 1190's.) Nobel came into his kingship when his father was murdered after being given a writ of safe passage by the English king, which was disregarded by the Mortimers, a clan of marcher barons. His best friend Gwirion is the only other survivor of the massacre, and saves Nobel's life by refusing, under torture, to give away his friends location.

Fast forward twenty years. Nobel is marrying a niece of the Mortimer clan, Isabel. She has high romantic hopes for the marriage, Nobel has high political hopes, and Gwirion, who by this time has become the equivalent to a "King's Fool" sees it as an impediment to his friendship with the King.

But war, hostage takers, and destiny change things. Nobel is reveled as a tyrant, Isabel as a beloved queen to an alien nation, and Gwirion as a man, not just a fool. But bear in mind what I said-everyone in this increasingly complicated equation wants something from the others they are not capable of giving up-until it may be too late.

"The Fool's Tale" is one hell of a novel. I was surprised by a lot of things in it (not the romance-that was predictable) but the endings, and the passions the people displayed for each other were astounding portrayed and very real. I do have to say that I could never get a very clear historical image of any of the settings in the book, which impeded my reading pleasure, but other than that the novel was well written and very surprising. In a good way. This is clearly an author to watch.

And there is an astounding sense of poetic justice to the meaning of Gwirion's name. For what is a true fool but one who speaks the truth when it is better to stay silent?

Four stars.

Returning home after a feast, armed with a note of safe passage, a group of Welshmen is attacked by the English soldiers of Roger Mortimer, who is constantly feuding with the Marcher lords. During the fray, the English assassinate the Welsh King, Cadwallon, while the royal child hides, his small friend waiting by the fallen King's side. At the mercy of the soldiers, Gwirion refuses to give up his Prince, although he is tortured, beaten and left for dead.

Years later, Gwirion is rewarded for his valor by a grateful King, Maelgwyn op Cadwallon of Maelienydd. At Cymaron Castle, Gwirion is a constant companion to the King, as well as his best friend, maintaining pride of place even after Maelgwyn (known as Noble) marries the niece of Roger Mortimer in hopes of a temporary peace. The King realizes that the peace is only a ruse, but hopes to bear an heir with Isabel Mortimer. For her part, Isabel is a stranger in a foreign land, one more primitive and barbaric than her native England.

Isabel makes certain assumptions as Queen, only to be humiliated before the Court time after time, often at the hand of Gwirion, who shows considerable enmity towards his rival, much to Noble's constant amusement. But the King keeps his own counsel, balancing Isabel and Gwirion as his pawns. Riddled with her own insignificance, Isabel's most natural response is to oppose the King's every wish, her stubbornness stimulated by a sense of powerlessness, although she is in thrall to his physical attentions.

So much for window dressing. Galland manipulates some really spectacular plotlines, as her three protagonists act out their assigned roles: the King, more wily and Machiavellian than is first apparent; Isabel, suddenly in the midst of a more tribal civilization, drawn to her husband yet fearing him, hating Gwirion yet saving him from the King's ire; and Gwirion, tied to his role of King's fool, at first pleased to perform, but grown weary of eternal youth and endless machinations, unbalanced by Isabel's presence, yet indebted to her compassion. In a series of skillful maneuvers, the trio parries and feints, each contemplating their fate.

Cymaron glows with the bonfires of barbaric feasts as the Welsh King fends off the English invaders, his fool entertaining the masses and the young Queen grappling with her helplessness as the wife of a brutal man, her naiveté both a weapon and the cause of her undoing. This excellent fictional adventure is based on fact, much of 1190's Wales as depicted. Sword-slinging, bloody, artfully romantic and complicated by human emotions, the story is fueled by love, jealousy and greed, Galland's characters animated and multi-layered. In this complicated web of twelfth century political intrigue, a marriage of convenience and friendship bound of honor, the plot propels toward a shocking ending that leaves the citizens of Cymaron Castle gaping in shock. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

I had to push my self though this book. I kept telling myself to give it a few more pages and it would get better. Well it never did. :( This will not be read again by me. I wouldn't recommend it any one I know.

Please note that the Amazon editorial review is incorrect--this book is not a romance, except in the original historical sense of a Comedy with heroic aspects. It is by no means a romance in the contemporary sense of genre, which requires a monogamous male-female love relationship that ends in marriage or the promise of long-term happiness (see Regis' _A Natural History of the Romance_).

That said, what an unusual piece of historical fiction this is. It will certainly engage and intrigue you, what with the out-of-the-ordinary protagonist (a peurile, irritating, yet emotionally vulnerable court prankster inexorably bonded to a young Welsh king), bizarre love triangle (yes, the "types" involved are older than Le Morte D'Arthur, but the entanglements play out in a most unusual fashion), and tense cat-and-mouse "will the king find out?" head game.

I cannot promise you will "like" all or even ANY of the characters. In fact, most, even the young Queen at times, are not sympathetic. The king especially is guilty of behavior that may have been expected of him in the Middle Ages, but which modern readers may interpret as officious, smug, and emotionally abusive.

And I can assure you that the ending will get a reaction out of you--most likely a negative, throw-your-book-at-the-wall type, but certainly something other than indifference. This is indeed the book's most glaring flaw/contrivance.

Do note, as well, that this is history-"lite." There is little in the way of dense expository historical detailing and description (which, depending on your tolerance for it, may be a boon). There is also little inter-weaving of medieval Welsh custom or culture; the setting is, rather, Generic Middle Ages out of central casting. Finally, very little of the real Welsh political framework is provided, and what IS presented is in a fictionalized form.

But is it worth reading? Yes, I believe so. LArgely through very unusual characterization, Galland has managed to distinguish her all-purpose medieval setting and stock courtly players. You will be left with the distinct impression that you have NOT, in fact, "seen this before."

And that is a pretty impressive achievement, especially for a first-time-novelist.

I have read and loved all of the historical novels of Edith Pargeter and Sharon Kay Penman, who have written about the people and events of medieval Wales and England. I now add Nicole Galland to my list of favorite authors on my favorite subject, and hope she will continue to turn out more books as readable as THE FOOL'S TALE.

The book kept my interest all the way to the end, but barely at times. It seemed repetitive and could possibly have been edited down by at least a hundred pages. There were a couple plot twists that were totally unbelievable. For instance, while the king is away at battle, a baron comes to kidnap the queen. When the jester insists that he is more valuable to the king then the baron sends a note to ask which one is more precious to him. The king, who is portrayed throughout the book as being very crafty, apparently doesn't see anything sinister in the strange question coming to him during a battle. If the baron was smart enough to bluff his way into the castle and take possession of the queen then he certainly wouldn't send such a stupid note to the king and possibly arouse his suspicion, let alone sit around in the castle for days waiting for his answer!!! If he had any doubt he would have taken both and hightailed it out of there. It just seemed a very silly, contrived way to seclude the two so they would fall in love.