not to be recommended - Rated 
Having been disappointed in the Ravenscar Dynasty I was cautious about reading this book. This book continues the story of Edward and Richard Deravenal really Edward and Richard of York but ending with Harry Turner really Henry Tudor. It was just as irritating as the first one. Sorry Ms Taylor Bradford but stick to making up your own plots you do it so much better. i believe this to be a trilogy but I doubt if I will read the third book
a poor effort - Rated 
This was my first and last Taylor Bradford book - it was slow, boring and an historical mess! The characters were one dimensional and the plot lacked passion or excitment. I gave the book up about 2/3rds of the way through as an act of self-preservation - i was quickly losing the will to live!
The Lazy Author's Guide to Making (more) Megabucks - Rated
Oh dear!! Quite the most abysmal read I've had for a long time. Miss Taylor Bradford is well-known for her "blockbusters" - but this is the laziest piece of fiction mixed with "historical fact" in a weird kind of mish-mash - maybe she's trying to invent a new genre - "How to be Write a Novel where the Dear Reader Does Not Care About Any of the Main Characters" (and what a boring bunch these Deravenels are!) obviously ripping off the Plantagenets and the Tudors (I mean - Edward D even had a mistress called Jane Shaw - check your history books!). As for Harry Turner wanting to divorce pious, saintly RC Catherine, of Spanish extraction, to marry the (ahem) "sloe-eyed beaty Anne Bowles".... Dear Lord, it's put me off buying another book by this woman. Ever.
(God knows what the editorial team really thought about it... I'm guessing she's successful enough for them not to be, shall we say, completely honest.)
Barbara's latest novel is the second instalment of the Ravenscar trilogy - Rated 
Barbara's latest novel is the second instalment of the Ravenscar trilogy, Heirs of Ravenscar. Due to Barbara's love of history and Yorkshire, she has based this series on the War of the Roses (1455-1487). However, Barbara has not written of the battle for the throne, but a battle for a business empire. The first book starts in 1904 and the third book will finish in 2007 and each of the characters are based on past historical figures. Barbara explains: "Each character has the same first name of the person they are based on as well as their personality, characteristics, and experiences. So for each character I had to make sure that if Edward IV had something happen to him at a certain age, that had to happen to the character in the book, also at the same age." Barbara's fans have loved the way that Barbara has incorporated the idea of guessing which characters match the historical counter-part and says, "I've had great feedback with people trying to guess who everyone is, they love it." Barbara was recently appointed an Officer of The British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in the Queen's Birthday Honors List for services to literature. I'd also recommend, if you missed Tino Georgiou's novel--The Fates, getting a copy--absolutely fab..
most disappointing - Rated
Heirs of Ravenscar was a great disappointment. The standard of writing was abysmal: as soon as there was a risk of characters becoming too complicated, they were simply killed off. No attempt was made to follow through any lines of the plot, so that the frequent time leaps left the reader floundering, with previously important aspects simply ignored - take for example Ned's problems with his wife and her unacceptable behaviour, which having played a major role in the book simply fizzles out and no longer features. No credibility, no consistency - the author has seriously let the readers down.
|
