Customer Reviews

Lady Blue (The Lady Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The author of this book writes on her website that she is a history buff for whom the medieval era has always held a fascination. She says that while reading her books "the reader actually learns history." Well, I hate to break it to you, but there are so many historical flaws in this book that most of the time all the reader will learn is utter balderdash. I mean, the book is supposed to be set in the late medieval era, but many of the props, places and plot twists in it could not have existed in medieval times -- most are from the Regency through to Victorian eras. I'm sorry, but you can't fob off a Regency novel as a Medieval one; it's like painting stripes on a dog and calling it a zebra -- no matter what you tell people it is, it's still a dog. And so is this book! In case you're interested, here are just a few of the historical innacuracies: The book opens in a big, bustling harbour town called Hunstanton in the year 1499...only, in reality, Hunstanton was nothing more than a tiny rural village until the mid 1800s, when the developers moved in. The heroine, Willow, claims to be a huge fan of Michelangelo. But how could she, a girl living in a small rural English town who has never been abroad, ever have seen his work? On ye olde medieval internet, perhaps? Willow is supposed to have learnt to paint at a travelling art show, and sells her work through the local art museum...except that England didn't have any museums at all until at least the late 1700s, and there certainly wouldn't have been travelling art shows, either! Willow serves tea from a teapot. However, tea wasn't available in England until at least the 17th century, and teapots weren't invented yet either. Willow is worried that if she is disobedient her father will send her away to a stuffy boarding school for girls...but schools like that didn't exist until centuries later (schooling for girls really wasn't a medieval priority!) Willow is given a dowry by her new husband of fifty thousand pounds. That's a really huge amount for that era. I mean, taking into account what the average yearly English working wage was back then compared to what it is now, in modern times that dowry would probably be worth about 67 million pounds. I doubt that any man back then would have that sort of money to give away, least of all a youngest son in a family! Willow withdraws this money from her bank account using a bank book, and walks away with it in her bag...but not only did they not have bank books back then, they also didn't have paper money. They only had coins. Can you imagine trying to carry 50 thousand pounds worth of COINS? You'd need a wagon or ten to haul it all away in. Later, Willow goes to France, and feasts on such foods as potatoes, tomatoes, wild rice and chocolate mousse...none of which were available in Europe at that time. She also catches carriages in Paris...but Paris didn't have carriages until much later in the 16th century. (Even in 1550, they only had 3 in the whole city.) I also doubt medieval Paris had prison wagons or local police stations, either. Furthermore, the ship Willow's father owns has an insurance policy on it...even though marine insurance didn't exist in England until the late 17th century. And so the list of historical flaws goes on and on...

Look, if this was a great and interesting book, I probably could have suspended logic enough to enjoy it. But it wasn't a great book. The plot twists were silly, the storyline was predictable, Willow was as dumb as a paintbrush, and there were inconsistencies and impossibilities galore. Also, as in the author's other books, a proof reader was desperately needed! More than one page in every four had MAJOR grammatical or spelling errors. It bugged me. The first error appeared as soon as the second line of the first page of the book. Even the blurb on the back was flawed. Here are a few examples of actual errors in the book: "By the saints, child, is all you do is sleep?", "Oh posh.", 'confidant' (instead of 'confident'), 'She scanned the room with a dreaded look' (should be dreading), "I am not sure or not if I like it.", "you can almost see the sails bellow" (sails do not shout!), 'a lightening bolt', "I cannot in good conscious take this.", 'the sparing pair' (should be sparring), 'growing more and more inpatient', "What do you purpose we do?", 'paying back an old dept', "We better get busy", "They must have got interrupted", 'a crewman went aboard to inspect the wreak', 'he was striped of all his belongings', 'The workmen piled their trades', 'put a prize on her head', 'hull breech' (hulls don't wear breeches!), and so on. It was as full of errors as a ten year old's homework essay. And yet, it still got published, and is selling for an extraordinarily high price for something this flawed. Sometimes I just don't understand this crazy old world...

I had a lot of other peeves about the plotline of this book...like how practically everyone in France speaks English all of the time. Michelangelo, too, speaks perfect English. Willow's motive for running away from home is to stop a blackmailer from releasing a secret and embarrassing her family...as if her running away from home, abandoning her husband and taking his huge dowry wouldn't bring her family much bigger shame! Willow is tricked into marriage...which is the exact same plot twist this author uses in EVERY book she writes! The scene where the character of Paul assembles the other characters in a room, tells them he has solved a so-called 'mystery' and reveals whodunnit is not only a clicheed copy of every Agatha Christie and mystery novel ever written, it is also a letdown in that even a blind man could have seen the answer to that mystery a mile away! Also, it is alleged that 16 year old Willow has amassed quite an amount of money from selling her paintings, which hang in the homes of a large number of nobles. So how did she have time to do all this, at her age? Has she been painting since she was in the womb or something? Also, the dialogue is jarringly modern and American, with the characters saying things like, "Whoa, young lady!", "typical girl stuff", "cute, spunky face", "slimeballs", "lamebrains", "Wow!", "oh, sure", and so on. Plus, that old hackneyed plot twist from oh-so-many other novels is used where the girl only has to cut her hair and put on men's clothes and she can pass for a boy. Not only that but as soon as she puts a dress back on, everyone thinks she's a gorgeous lady again.

It's insipid, this book. Read it at your peril. Maybe you'll love it. Everyone else seems to, apart from me. But don't expect it to be medieval, or for it to be very historically accurate, either. If you're looking for a fluffy, light read, and you're fairly illiterate and/or don't give a fig about logic or plot, you'll probably think it's a masterpiece. But I wouldn't recommend it, except perhaps as a very expensive doorstop. The only thing in its favour is that it's a bit better than its predecessor, Lady Seer. But it's nowhere near as good as the first book in the series, Lady Knight, and for that I just can't forgive it.

What can I say about this book? I opened it up, read the first page, nearly retched, and literally drop-kicked it across the room (this was back when I was taking karate classes).

People looking at this book need to be aware that it is vanity printed (not edited or produced by a conventional commercial publisher) so does not meet the standards in either design or content required by any normal publishing company. If that bothers you, don't waste your money and then feel bitter about it (like I did).

Edited to add: by the way, I do wish people would stop referring to this book as Medieval, because 1499 is actually in the historical period known as the Renaissance and those are distinct periods which ought not to just be fuddled into one because it was 'before TV and stuff'. Come on, people - if you can't be bothered to check some books, at least search google...

If you love knights, handsome men, and witty humor, then I believe you will enjoy this book and it's entire series. The last book in the "The Lady Series", I found, was a great ending. I would love if Ms. Stratton continued this series!

However, if you are particular about historical facts and writing errors, then you probably won't enjoy this book. I admit, there aren't a couple of errors--there are quite a few--but it wasn't enough to bother me to put down the book.

I believe that some of the reviews left in regards to this book were very harsh! I love cute romances, and I especially love handsome knights in shining armor. If you do too, then please give this series a chance!

If you enjoyed the movies A Knight's Tale or Ever After, then I highly recommend this series to you!

After reading Lady Knight, I COULDN'T WAIT to read the next in the series!! Now, I CAN'T WAIT to read Lady Blue! Lady Seer is so different, and it gets you involved with the characters from the very first page. This is a can't-put-down book.

I loved Lady Knight and Lady Seer, and this 3rd book certainly didn't disappoint! Of course, being the third book has its advantages because you already know the characters. But seriously, if you like medieval adventures, and this one takes you to France as well as England, you will love this book.

I am an avid reader of romance novels. I just happened upon the novels by Evangelynn Stratton. They are different from other novels, in that they do not have the characters jumping into bed the minute they meet. Plus I love the way she incorporates real facts in her stories. The king is real, and the jester actually existed from France. It is my belief that Ms. Stratton is under-rated and under-read. I suggest you read all her novels.

Well, she really did it. Evangelynn Stratton has written a trilogy that I think puts all the others to shame. The heroine in this story, Willow, went straight to my heart, as I identified with having a talent that has to be hidden. Ms. Stratton is able to take the medieval period and the prejudices of the time and put strong, determined women in the middle. I love it that her women are not the fluffy, boring women that seem to haunt all the other romance historicals of this time period. Please read the whole trilogy, and do not confuse these books with the other "Lady Knight" books. Ms. Stratton was first. Everyone else is just a copy cat.

Please ignore the bitter and vicious "review" which is more of a personal attack than book review. I loved this book. I loved the whole trilogy. I find errors in many books, even in ones by Danielle Steele and Anne Mccaffrey. If I read everything with a critical eye rather than for enjoyment, I probably would not like anything I read. Like the other reviewer A. Hope points out, The DiVinci Code has been taken apart and reviewed for "errors" when the author only intended it to be a work of fiction. That, I believe, is the same for this series. I love Ms. Stratton's characters (I believe that is her strong point) and I don't care if the sword Pet uses is not historically accurate. Good Grief! How nit-picky can you get? I don't believe that this book was meant to be a history lesson. I looked up some facts that M.A. Bechaz pointed out. She (I am assumming she is a she) says that Hunstanton didn't even exist, but I found a web site for a Sir Thomas Le Strange that states he was born in Hunstanton in 1493. So apparently the town did exist. She complains that Michelangelo spoke English. Actually, in the story, Paul was interpreting for Willow. Was the author supposed to have the whole conversation in French? Come on! And the complaints about the carriages not existing--please! I found websites that state the nobles DID have covered carriages. Since the man Willow gets a ride from was rich and worked for the King, it is entirely plausible that he would have a carriage. But that's not the point. Willow had a teapot. Who cares? Does anyone but M.A. Bechaz care? I thought this book was funny and it kept me enthalled. I love the way it tied everything up at the end when all the characters come together from all three books. I liked it. The mean-spirited attack by M. A. Bechaz was unwarranted. I don't believe that is what this review process is supposed to be about. I would give this book 4 stars, but am giving it 5 just to offset the cruel attack by M.A.Bechaz.

Having read all of Ms Stratton's novels, I can safely say that there wasn't even one part of the trilogy that displeased me. And to the other Australian reviewer who downs both Lady Seer and Lady Blue, I have news....these two were infact my favourite.

Being an Australia I think that Ms Stratton has taken it on board not only to enthrall her American readers, but also people from all around the world. Lets face it, in the modern day, from country to country, lots of things differ. However, if we can hark back to a medieval setting we can all unite in thoughts of a time, land and "joint culture" we never knew...which is awesome! Ms Stratton truly has allowed her writing to transcend cultural, age and other boundaries.

Granted, Ms Stratton's books are not a history textbook....nor do I think they are meant to be. However, if one is looking for a history textbook on medieval times (like perhaps M.Z.Bechaz is), Im sure you could access the reference section of your local library!

It think it's upsetting that a reviewer would be so harsh as to place an author under personal attack.

Finally, I would recommend this and any one of Ms Strattons books to readers who enjoy transcending time (not just in a fictional sense, but with backing of many historical facts), and also like a little romance. I love the way the female characters don't just lay there and let the male counterparts rule everything -- they are strong and willful, which makes the read much more fascinating.

Ms Stratton, certainly captures the essence of medieval times, so enjoy exploring it!