A King's Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman (Plantagenets Book 5)

 

Publication Date: March 4, 2014

Genre: Historical Fiction/Medieval Fiction

Series: Plantagenet Saga

Length: 685 pages

Book Description (GoodReads):

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Lionheart comes the dramatic sequel, telling of the last dangerous years of Richard, Coeur de Lion’s life.
 
This long-anticipated sequel to the national bestseller Lionheart is a vivid and heart-wrenching story of the last event-filled years in the life of Richard, Coeur de Lion. Taken captive by the Holy Roman Emperor while en route home—in violation of the papal decree protecting all crusaders—he was to spend fifteen months chained in a dungeon while Eleanor of Aquitaine moved heaven and earth to raise the exorbitant ransom. But a further humiliation awaited him: he was forced to kneel and swear fealty to his bitter enemy.

For the five years remaining to him, betrayals, intrigues, wars, and illness were ever present. So were his infidelities, perhaps a pattern set by his father’s faithlessness to Eleanor. But the courage, compassion, and intelligence of this warrior king became the stuff of legend, and A King’s Ransom brings the man and his world fully and powerfully alive.

My Thoughts:

When I read the last sentence of this book Sunday night I was pretty elated. Not because I'm done and didn't like it but because I've finished all the books in this series which I started during Covid. I felt like I'd accomplished something big! Penman's books are so amazing they take awhile to read carefully. And there were times I thought I'd never finish a chapter, trying hard to concentrate on everything going on. 

It made me want to go back and re-read The Land Beyond the Sea, her last book and set during the period of Saladin and Baldwin, The Leper King. So I am reading it again before I start another epic. 

If I'm honest, this was my least favorite of the series. It was still amazing! Penman doesn't write a bad book, period. This one just wasn't quite as exciting as I'd hoped. The one before, Lionheart, was so intense and so beautifully written it was hard to top though. In this story, we spend a lot of time inside Richard's head. Penman said that she felt her novel Lionheart was about Richard the warrior and A King's Ransom was about Richard the man. I totally agree.

Richard leaves the Holy Land at the end of Lionheart. This book picks up at that point and takes us in spectacular detail through his attempted journey back to Europe. Through a series of bad events, he is captured first by Leopold, the Duke of Austria who has a major axe to grind with him, and then handed over to brutal captivity in the hands of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry Hohenstaufen. His mother Eleanor works back home to raise his ransom. After three long years he is freed but must now deal with his shady brother John and arch enemy Phillip of France as they have sought to steal Richard's kingdom and thwart his freedom at every turn. They never anticipated Richard would be freed. Now, as John says, "Look to yourself... the devil is loose!" They are panicked and realize their schemes will be revealed and have no idea how Richard will react. 

When Richard returns he is portrayed by Penman as a man broken mentally but also obsessed with gaining revenge and getting his lost French territories back. Neglectful of his family duties, we are also privy to the thoughts and emotions of his wife, Berengaria of Navarre who is pious but kind and wants desperately to give Richard an heir. Because they spend so little time together this never materializes. As he becomes more and more involved in endless sieges and battles with Phillip of France, it is clear Richard the Lionheart has no intention of going out quietly. 

I did enjoy seeing this side of him. Penman does a great job of getting into the likely personalities of Richard, Berengaria, sister Joanna, and Raymond of Toulouse. Eleanor of Aquitaine plays a background role in this novel, as she should, but we also get to experience her side of things too. I think surprisingly I just didn't find the book as exciting as Lionheart. Usually I like more of the personal character insights. It was just too much of it in this book I thought. 

I am looking forward to re-reading the Welsh princes trilogy book, Here Be Dragons, soon. I want to go back and pick up John and Llewelyn's stories which continue the timeline after A King's Ransom. But first, I am going back in time to re-read about Balian and the Crusades in her book about Outremer. My favorite of her books!