Customer Reviews

An Involuntary King: A Tale of Anglo Saxon England

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

 

 

An Involuntary King overcomes some daunting challenges: a distant period in history--England before the Norman conquest--with its unfamiliar customs and tongue-twisting names and vocabulary. It's a story about a king at a time when government meant rolling up your own sleeves to build and defend your land. There are some medieval conceits in the story, courtly love, knightly honor and all that, but what leaves the greatest impression is the caring relationship between the rulers and their people. To accomplish this, Hawthorne creates a vivid ensemble of supporting characters who blaze up in their little moments to illuminate what this story is really about.

The thing that most attracts me to a book -- or causes me to put one down -- is character development. I want to feel that the characters are real people, not just cardboard cutouts acting out a part in the book's plot. This book satisfies that demand, not just with the title character (Lawrence, the involuntary king), but with characters at every level of the story.

Of course, we get to know best the main players in this novel - Lawrence and his queen Josephine, the sultry mercenary Elerde, the bards Shannon and Rory. Each of these characters is driven by motivations that seem to rise logically from his/her life experiences -- and by the end of the book, each of them has changed in some way. I have to admit that I didn't care for Josephine too much early on in the book; however, by the end, she had (IMO) matured enough that I could have at least a grudging respect for her.

Most books, however, will flesh out the main characters. I think one of the strengths of Hawthorne's book is that she has taken care to make the secondary characters and even the bit players reasonably well-rounded. There are a couple of villains who are motivated well enough to be truly creepy and not cartoonish (seeing them dispatched to their worthy ends is quite gratifying, ha ha). I really appreciate the way Hawthorne portrays the common people of the story - the barmaids, the healer, the rogue thieves. It gives a sense of the world in which the story takes place, a world Hawthorne has obviously studied.

My main caveat would be that this is not a "bedtime story" - there is far too much going on to think it will relax your mind before sleep (there were a couple of times I had strange dreams all night after reading the book!). The war scenes are also not for the squeamish (although they give a good idea of just what battles must have been like in that time).

I enjoyed the book, and I'm pleased to have King Lawrence, Rory, Shannon, and yes, even Queen Josephine now wandering about in my mind, mingling with other memorable characters in the "cocktail party" of my imagination.

An Involuntary King is the best kind of story, a rich, exciting, medieval saga that skillfully blends adventure, romance, and history. Lawrence, son of Arneth, King of Crislicland, was never meant to be king. When tragedy foists that unexpected honor onto him, he fights to master his own feelings of unworthiness and prove himself worthy of the Crown and to become not just a good king, but a great king, strong, beloved, and wise. This novel charts the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of his reign, the bloody battles to hold his kingdom and vanquish his foes; his marriage to the passionate and lively Josephine, whose beauty draws admirers as honey does flies, and more than once leads to trouble, and much, much more. With a vibrant cast of characters who seem to spring to life right off the page, An Involuntary King is from start to finish a delight to read!

I completely agree with the person that posted "Too simplistic". I'm currently attempting to read historical fiction on all of the kings of England. I knew this book wasn't about a "real" king but I'm only 23% into it and I've got that sickly feeling like when you eat too much candy. It reads like a fairy tale, not a novel.

When I began reading Nan Hawthorne's introduction to this lengthy and gripping tale of Anglo Saxon England, I thought I was in for a fairy tale. An Involuntary King is a story honed from childhood with a friend, a hero named after Peter O'Toole's Lawrence of Arabia (no other connection apart from Hawthorne being a huge fan) and a princess-cum-queen nicknamed Sunshine. Throw in a dark and stormy suitor from across the sea and two fun-loving and slightly reckless Irish bards and you still might have your fairy tale.

But there are no dragons, no trolls and elves, certainly no good faeries.

If there is a question mark with An Involuntary King it would simply be in the names, Lawrence the reluctant king and his bride, Josephine. All others have typical Saxon, Gaelic or Celtic names. Their kingdom, bordering the North Sea, is a fictitious `Crislicland' (I dared to pronounce this `Crelland' for an easier read, an English trait don't you know?) but the settlements and geography are real enough, located more or less in Lincolnshire and its surrounds. The name thing is a quirk that takes only as long as a few pages to discover that here is historical fiction that refuses to be constrained by pigeon holes - it is adventure, romance, intrigue, plotting, betrayal and war, the hint of fairy tale swiftly fading as we are engaged in realistic and exceptionally well researched eighth century Anglo Saxon England.

Lawrence is an involuntary king only as long as it takes to marry his perfect bride and get to grips with ruling a kingdom beset with threats from within and without. Josephine, the queen, is pretty handy with a bow and strong of will, though her spirited self belief does lead her to make the odd boo boo, but hey, it helps a plot to have a few imperfections in otherwise perfect specimens. She's a very good mother, too, even when the chips are down.

Hawthorne is not afraid to take risks, particularly with the gay Irish mercenary O'Donnell who has a Scots lover but also has the hots for one of the bards, the dashingly handsome Rory. This, as well as battle and rape scenes, is handled sensitively. An Involuntary King is written by a woman but it is not just for women. Some men might want more cut and thrust, but Nan is not one for pandering to such demands. Death, mutilation, hanging and pillage are given just enough detail, so we move on. Characters are well formed, endearing or otherwise in appropriate measure.

There's humour, too. For example, Hawthorne has the shorter bard, explaining Rory's unusual height for a Celt, saying: "There was a Norseman in the woodpile." That I found laugh out loud hilarious, one of a number of little gems scattered throughout.

There are shades of Robin Hood (the innocent unjustly treated but they still love the king and queen) and Richard the Lionheart (a bard singing outside King Lawrence's cell to identify him and raise his hopes of rescue). This is a rich, enjoyable read, full of likely and unlikely heroes, nasty and/or crafty baddies, and some who fall in between, struggling with their motivation and usually fancying the lovely queen. And who can blame them?

Well done Nan. More stories like this please, especially if carefree Irish bards have a central role. Read it and escape to another land...

This is a tale of a fantastical Saxon kingdom in an England which so dis-unified that it is broken into a number of small kingdoms, some allied and some antagonistic to each other. The tale of the involuntary king of one of them, Críslicland, reads as a curious amalgam of a historical novel, in some places absolutely dripping with authentic 8th century atmosphere and detail -- and at other places almost a never-never land, splotched here and there with anachronisms, mostly to do with characters' names. The explanation for this is a fairly simple one - the original stories of the matter of Crislicland were created by the then-teenaged author and a friend years ago, and their creations, characters and adventures were colored by their various juvenile obsessions.
It is a long and sprawling story, with many diversions and characters - heroic and villainous or something in between and a labyrinthine plot reminiscent of the Arthurian legends, of a time when a king was expected to take a personal lead in fighting wars as well as administering his kingdom. Lawrence, the title character, never expects to find that responsibility fallen on him. He is a younger son, barely old enough to serve his father and his older brother, the expected heir to the throne, in a relatively minor capacity. He is the `spare' so to speak - but a turn of treachery brings him to a degree of authority that he did not expect. But he is a king's son, and with some skills as a soldier and leader; and among his friends are those who will advise him, in his early uncertainty. Chief among those is the woman that he is betrothed to marry - who becomes one of his most loyal and fearless champions - Josephine, his queen and mother of his own children. These characters and handful of others, like the pair of wandering bards are the most strongly drawn; no wonder, for these were the ones who developed early on, especially the ambiguous character of the foreign mercenary who loves the one and hates the other, allies himself with Lawrence's enemies... and yet proves to be a trusty friend to Josephine.

For all of this, only two characters are historical people - all the rest are creations. It is a satisfactory read, overall; but anachronistic names for certain characters did detract somewhat from the 8th-century atmosphere.

Sorry but I just couldn't get past the simplistic storyline in this book. Let me see if I can outline it for you:
1. King, and two brothers have a close and loving and supportive relationship with no envy, power lust or other conflict. Everyone is strong and handsome and brave and good.
2. The main character is wedded to a stranger (and they both instantly fall in love with one another)
2. His father and brother die leaving him King, and the council decided to endorse him without waiting the 6 months trial period because he is victorious in one battle
3. His father in law (also a King) dies and the foreign kingdom comes to him and offers him the reign.
4. The son and rightful heir (of this foreign kingdom) supports giving the kingdom to Lawrence and practically begs to just serve in his court and watch greatness up close...

By the time I got this far, I was done. It reads like a story written by teenagers, (which it was). Anyone who has done even a little reading on the medieval period will find this story too bland to chew. Sorry but I have no interest in reading further...there is too much really good stuff out there. Try Pillars of the Earth for a start!

A friend of mine sent me An Involuntary King because she knew I was interested in the early medieval period since I often portray a Saxon archer at Society for Creative Anachronism events. I don't read much fiction, so I saved the book for a restless night figuring it would help me doze off. Was I ever wrong! I ended up reading all night and all the next night too, sneaking in a few paragraphs all though my work day in between. Each time I was ready to set it aside and go to sleep the next paragraph ripped that idea to shreds and I read on. Just when it seemed to get predictable it turned a corner toward the unexpected. That is really hard to do when the prologue starts by telling you the hero lives to old age and surrenders to King Offa (the first unifier of central England) becoming Earl Lawrence instead of King Lawrence. Each new threat makes one wonder how in the heck is he going to survive this? Yet none of it is farfetched and it never relies on implausible miracles. Things work out realistically if not predictably.

Everything said about character development and lovability in the other reviews is on target except one reviewer's dislike of Josephine. If you have ever loved a stuck-up blond from a distance for whom you would throw your best cloak in the mud so she could cross over dry, then you experienced Josephine. What's not to love and yet dislike a little because you know she will always be out of your reach. I thoroughly identified with Elerde, Rory, Shannon, and all the rest who could only do her bidding and drool.