![The Drowned City](/uploads/profile_image/4bc/41d4ad66-e263-4090-91a6-beec3fc4d4bc.jpg?m=1618558377)
The Drowned City
Book
Gunpowder and treason changed England forever. But the tides are turning and revenge runs deep in...
Historical fiction Jacobean England Gunpowder Plot
![Margaret of York: The Diabolical Duchess](/uploads/profile_image/861/b453ee8c-58b9-48f6-8fc8-4929607b6861.jpg?m=1545230667)
Margaret of York: The Diabolical Duchess
Book
The amazing life of Margaret of York, the woman who tried to overthrow the Tudors. Reared in a...
![The Prince Who Would be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart](/uploads/profile_image/890/23a3179e-2efd-41a1-aec6-369791ebb890.jpg?m=1522354739)
The Prince Who Would be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart
Book
Henry Stuart's life is the last great forgotten Jacobean tale. Shadowed by the gravity of the Thirty...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/6ed/030114ee-afcf-4b8d-bb85-e8e28d8226ed.jpg?m=1557516426)
Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated 1917 (2020) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020
Toasthampton: How to Summer in Style
Book
A delightful and colorful high-fashion romp featuring Toast, the world's first supermodel dog. She's...
![The Story of Hampton Court Palace](/uploads/profile_image/34e/dbce6cb2-b73c-412d-8281-09d1fce1334e.jpg?m=1522354098)
The Story of Hampton Court Palace
Book
Hampton Court Palace, to the south-west of London, is one of the most famous and magnificent...
![The Magician's Land: Book 3](/uploads/profile_image/ccb/5a2f0642-2b7c-47ed-9eb3-2435b0776ccb.jpg?m=1522332834)
The Magician's Land: Book 3
Book
"Dark, dangerous and full of twists". (George R. R. Martin, author of Game of Thrones). "Lev...
![The Agincourt King (The Plantagenet Legacy #5)](/uploads/profile_image/7fa/8858fd90-f6f6-4b3c-bb68-aeb76a4047fa.jpg?m=1719243906)
The Agincourt King (The Plantagenet Legacy #5)
Book
From the day he was crowned, Henry V was determined to prove the legitimacy of his house. His...
Historical Fiction Henry V Agincourt Plantagenet
![Charlemagne: Father of a Continent](/uploads/profile_image/1a9/312b3eb0-efdf-426b-b27d-b91466f531a9.jpg?m=1522327913)
Charlemagne: Father of a Continent
Alessandro Barbero and Allan Cameron
Book
The most important study of Charlemagne in a generation, this biography by distinguished medievalist...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/c74/d8277c53-81ff-4d2c-8007-2bac329f4c74.jpg?m=1553205006)
David McK (3233 KP) rated Blood's Game in Books
Jan 30, 2019
This, however, would be the first time I had read one of Donald's novels that concerned a different central character, and that had a different setting: would it, I wondered, be more of the same, or would it have it's own 'feel'?
The answer, I can now say, is the latter.
Replacing Alan-a-Dale with Holcroft Blood, and told in the more traditional her-and-know third-person narrative (instead of the conceit of an elderly Alan recalling his youthful adventures with Robin Hood), this particular novel deals with the (attempted) theft of the Crown Jewels from the Tower of England during the reign of King Charles II, not long after the restoration.
While that (attempted) theft is carried out by Thomas Blood - who was caught red-handed but later, incredibly, was granted a pardon by Charles II - this novel does not have Thomas as the central character: rather, instead, we follow the fortunes of his youngest son Holcroft: a son who, throughout the course of this novel, becomes friends with Sir John Churchill, the future Duke of Marlborough (and Winston Churchill's direct descendant).
Whether true or not, young Holcroft is portrayed in this as suffering from a mild form of Asperger's Syndrome, able to easily code and decode correspondence sent to his master The Duke of Buckingham from his various spies and informants: a skill that comes in handy in this tale! I have to say, too, that the court of King Charles II comes across as incredibly decadent, full of scheming and back-stabbing rivals out wholly for themselves ...
I'd be interested in seeing where this series goes, especially as the next entry ([b:Blood's Revolution|36146468|Blood's Revolution|Angus Donald|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504033386s/36146468.jpg|57749834]) concerns itself - at least, according to the blurb at the back of this - with what is (in this country - Northern Ireland - at least) a very divisive and pivotal moment in English history.