Customer Reviews

The Forgotten Queen (Warrior Queen Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am an avid reader of historical fiction and I picked up this book with high hopes since it concerns one of my favorite historical persons, Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, and rightful heir to the throne which was stolen by her cousin Stephen. I could only make it a couple of chapters into this book before I threw it aside in disgust. A skimming of the remaining chapters did not give me incentive to carefully read anymore, though I truly wanted to like this book. The writing is immature and absolutely horrid--it reads like a would-be drama that comes off as a comedy. I was ready for a new spin on this worthy tale but the writing was stilted and overdone. Anyone with a sense of British history would be mortified at the way in which Matilda's character is abused in this book. While there may be a slim historical base for some of the author's events, they are poorly told and overly dramatized. With such a wealth of truly outstanding historical fiction available, it would be a shame for anyone to waste his time on this one.

Every now and then, I purchase a novel through amazon.com that I would never have bought in a bricks-and-mortar store. A perusal of a few paragraphs would have been enough to warrant a quick return to the shelves.

Historical novels require a sense of time and place, as well as a cast of compelling characters. For a wonderfully deft portrayal of this turbulent chapter of British history, try Ellis Peter's Cadfael mysteries, or Sharon Penman's treatment of the Empress Matilda, also widely known as Empress Maude. The "forgotten queen" was a complex, contradictory, and utterly fascinating woman, living an extraordinary life during extraordinary times. Unfortunately, little of this comes through here.

The epic conflict between Matilda and her cousin Stephen is reduced to soap opera. Try as I might, I couldn't help envisioning Matilda as she might have been played by Joan Collins. It stands to reason that books about warrior queens should deal with warfare. The complex political and social issues of civil war, never mind actual combat, were absent. The writing style did not serve the subject well. The book is full of syntactic clunkers such as "The silence grew heavy as the three of them fell silent." Plodding dialogue made for slow going, and often was little more than thinnly veiled narrative. Witness the following exchange:

"Is not Westminster Abbey most beautiful during the season of our Savior's birth?"

"Yes, and more so since it is the coronation of Prince Henry, henceforth to be known as Henry the Second, King of England."

"Is not his queen, Eleanor of Aquitance, most beautiful?"

This, from two women, intimately acquainted women, who were actually witnessing the coronation. Throughout the book, the reader is instructed by the characters in what comes off as a converted history lecture -- and not a soul-deep conversion, at that. The writing style, particularly the dialogue, brought to mind a historical play recently presented by my son's sixth grade class.

This book's nomination by Romantic Times Magazine surprised me. I have seen far more compelling and convincing historical romances in Harlequin's historical romance line. The book warranted two stars for its subject and its stated objective. Reviving the history of famous, forgotten women is a worthy goal. The author should be commended for this choice, and for the effort she made in researching the story. I really wanted to like this book.

While the author obviously tried to researched her subject, there is absolutely no natural flow in the dialogue or text of "The Forgotten Queen." I found it a struggle to get through this book, and actually couldn't finish more than half of it. If you are interested in reading the story of Empress Matilda, I would strongly recommend "When Christ and His Saints Slept" by Sharon Kay Penman. Unfortunately, as I'm fascinated by the subjects, I won't be reading any of Dr. Garwood's other books as this one was simply too terrible to subject myself to more of the same.

There is so little information available to the average person about females in history. Dr. Garwood has provided us with a marvelous alternative to the typical male-oriented version. This book is well-researched, and makes me want to find out more about Matilda and Mathilde, as well. Her knowledge of the English countryside, clothing, food, and political alliances of the period is superb. Her imagery could use a little work, & I anticipate that it will improve as she writes.

If you are in a mood of reading some romance staff, go on... If you want real historical fiction, true-to-life characters and atmosphere, go search somewhere else. Although the storyline is within the popular historical myth (or not myth, but I'm afraid we shall never know for sure: That Henry was Mathilda's and Stephen's son etc), the way characters act (especially Mathilda, although she is the King's daughter, would not be allowed by standards of behaviour of her time to spit her newly-wed husband, the King (!), in the face, nor would he tolerate it), is completely unpersuasive. They remind me characters of some modern soap-opera. True, I agree that intrigues and affairs existed in all times, but why dress them in 12th century costumes then?

An accurate account of Empress Matilda's fight to save England.

Fickle barons, adulterous liaisons, battles for power, battles in the name of God, and misplaced loyalties saturate this segment of English history. As a writer I admire Dr. Garwood's ability to make the era spring to life while showing the delicate political maneuvers involved in restoring the throne to its rightful heir.

Often women in history have been forgotten or masculinized. Dr. Garwood accurately revives Empress Matilda as strong and feminine. This twelfth century daughter of King Henry I handles affairs of the heart and affairs of state with panache.

Haley Elizabeth Garwood does a fantastic job of pulling in her readers and keeping the story alive. The persosnalities are real and enthalling. I read this book on the plane trips over Christmas and found that I couldn't put it down. Each chapter makes you want to go on the the next to see what happens. A great book to share with friends. Can't wait for her next installment on the Warrior Queen Series.

If Like myself you enjoy a good historical read that is into a lot of facts and not much romance then this is a book you should try. For a first book it truly is a winner. I look forward to the next installment.

Haley Elizabeth Garwood is both the worst writer and the worst researcher I have ever encountered. For all the research touted on the back of the book, the author clearly made up most of the story, and in the process, trivialized the lifes of some of the most fascinating people in history. Perhaps, had the writing been good enough to carry the story, it would have been worthwhile anyway, but unfortunately, it was not. I was unable to make it through more than half of this book before I threw it away. I felt it would be too unethical to even sell this book at a used book shop as the unwitting purchaser would have been sadly wasting their money and I didn't want to be a party to that.

Thanks to Ms. Garwood's fiction, the identities of the Empress Maud, Countess of Anjou and Matilda, WIFE of King Stephen have been thoroughly confused. How is it that so many other authors have been able to keep the two women straight?? See Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael mysteries and Sharon Kay Penman's "When Christ and His Saints Slept" for more historically accurate fiction, in addition to any good listing of English royalty.