Book Review: Anne Boleyn-A King's Obsession by Alison Weir

The young woman who changed the course of history.

Fresh from the palaces of Burgundy and France, Anne draws attention at the English court, embracing the play of courtly love. But when the King commands, nothing is ever a game. Anne has a spirit worthy of a crown - and the crown is what she seeks. At any price.

ANNE BOLEYN. The second of Henry's Queens. Her story.
History tells us why she died. This powerful novel shows her as she lived.

SIX TUDOR QUEENS. SIX NOVELS. SIX YEARS.

My Review: 
*I received a free copy of this book from Headline through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Ever since I first read Philippa Gregory's 'The Other Boleyn Girl' I became fascinated by the Tudors and in particular the Boleyns. I have now read many fiction and non fiction books on the subject and I'm aware of the discussions and disagreements of historians and the way that fiction authors have played with known and disputed facts and gossip to craft their own version of the story each time. It is these differences in each fiction novel that keep the subject interesting and entertaining to read about. This book certainly provided a new slant on this incredible story, something that I am always happy to see.

This book covers the entire Court life of Anne Boleyn, starting with her first Court service with the Archduchess Margaret of Austria where Anne first comes into contact with the new learning and the role that women can play in politics and religion. It opens her eyes to new thoughts and ideas and it is here that she first harbours her thirst for religious reform. I liked getting the chance to read about the Court of the woman who so inspired Anne as most books begin with Anne's life in France. This was a welcome addition, especially the story of Charles Brandon trying to seduce Margaret, which I have only seen briefly in a few books. Seeing it through Anne's eyes was interesting.

Next Anne rejoins her sister Mary to serve the Princess Mary, sister to King Henry and new wife to the King of France. It is here that the petty rivalry and jealousy between the sisters is explored further. Mary is less scholarly than Anne and was upset that her younger sister went to a Court before she did, but it is the beautiful Mary who catches the eye of the men wherever she goes. This novel differs from other books, having Mary claim to be raped by King Francis instead of being his willing mistress, and the Boleyn family being outraged by Mary being dishonoured. The sisters part ways with Mary returning to England in shame and Anne serving Queen Claude and ignoring most of the male advances she receives, while broadening her education.

When the story shifts to the English Court, the sisters are reunited but now Mary is trying to avoid the attentions of King Henry for fear of upsetting her new husband Will Carey. Varying books have Mary as willing mistress sanctioned by the Boleyns but I liked seeing her family initially being horrified by the prospect until it showers fortune on them. It makes it a more complex family problem-not wanting your daughter to be regarded as a whore yet not wishing to anger the King. Anne is trying avoid a husband in James Butler as it means living in Ireland and her eye falls on Henry Percy, which Cardinal Wolsey is determined to put an end to, to Anne's despair. George Boleyn is not thrilled to marry vile Jane Parker. The twisted love lives of the Boleyn siblings is fascinating and Anne is far from happy when King Henry turns his eye to her after discarding Mary. It also explores the paternity of Mary's two children, suggesting her daughter was the King's child.

The story of Anne trying to evade Henry is interesting in that she wants nothing to do with him, feeling guilt over the Queen and having feelings for the married Henry Norris. I liked the addition of this previously unexplored possibility that Anne and Henry Norris were interested in each other but his wife and the King's intentions meant that they could never even consider being together. It added interest to the story and we see so many different sides to Anne in her anguish and despair. It was also a chance to see the jealous Thomas Wyatt stirring up trouble. I was also fascinated by the relationship portrayed here of Anne and Henry as she grows to care for but not love him, thinking that being his Queen would provide her opportunity to go good and hold power. We see details on their shared frustrations over the divorce, the constant fights over the loyalty of Woolsey, Anne fearing her temper and dwindling childbearing years will turn Henry away from her, and Anne tempting Henry into the readings of the new learning. The detail provided goes beyond any other Tudor novel and gets you inside the heads of the characters.

The characters themselves are well developed. Anne loves her brother but is gradually discovering that he is doing some bad things in his treatment of wife Jane, his dealings with other women and what he is prepared to do for the good of his family. I liked seeing him as more of a monster than innocent victim. Her father Thomas Boleyn is ironically less of a monster in this book than usual which was also a change that I enjoyed. It is only in his treatment of Mary that we see his darker side. Henry Norris is usually a background figure so it was good to see plenty of him and Henry Percy featuring in Anne's story. The author does a good job of having Anne relate in different ways to all the men that she will be accused of cheating with and where the gossip comes from. I enjoyed seeing Jane Seymour portrayed as sly instead of naive, Jane Rochford causing trouble wherever she went and Anne's complex relationship with Cromwell.

I liked that most of the detail in the book is more centered on all the relationships and important developments in the plot, rather than endless descriptions of every room, dress and thing we see. I think that we get the perfect balance here, with the author describing what we need to imagine but not giving every single detail of the coronation celebrations, for example. It is very much focused on the characters and plot and that is exactly what I wanted to see in this book. It is the most in depth portrayal of Anne's life and certainly one of the best that I've read.

If you love the Tudors and especially if Anne Boleyn interests you, I certainly recommend this book. I will be buying my own copy at some point and definitely reading the other books in this series.
Read January 2017.

Chuckles Retro Reads: The Tudor Wife by Emily Purdy

Shy, plain Lady Jane Parker feels out of place in Henry VIII's courtly world of glamour and intrigue-until she meets the handsome George Boleyn. Overjoyed when her father arranges their marriage her elation is abruptly cut short when she meets Anne...

My Review: 
Jane Parker is being married to rising star George Boleyn, brother of Henry's next Queen, Anne. Jane is immediately jealous of the close bond between George and Anne, especially as her new husband shows no interest at all in her. Jealous Jane then gets an opportunity for revenge by testifying against Anne, sending her and many men including George to the block. Her return to court ends in her assisting young Catherine Howard to have an affair behind the King's back.

This was one of my favourite Tudor books as I have always been interested in the infamous Lady Rochford. I have a biography about her waiting on my tbr pile! I first read about her in Philippa Gregory's excellent novels The Other Boleyn Girl and The Boleyn Inheritance and she was such a great character, full of spite and bitterness and evil intentions. This book goes into more depth about Jane and her obsessive jealousy and the lengths she will go to in order to make George love her, and get revenge on Anne. It's a pity that her planning skills did not see that she was condemning George to death along with Anne!

I can relate to the Jane in this book, happily planning her wedding to a top man at court who she loves, as it is unusual for a woman to get a love match in Tudor times, only to find him cold and uncaring and more interested in spending time with his sister and bawdy friends than her. You can imagine her hurt and misery as she watches him have affairs with other people. And I have a mean streak that likes to imagine getting my own back on people who have done me wrong, so watching Jane in action does give me a sense of satisfaction! I do find myself wondering why she was stupid enough to help Catherine have an affair, knowing the consequences if you get caught.

An excellent book for Tudor fans especially those interested in the Boleyn family. If you like The Boleyn Inheritance, you might want to give this one a try. 

Book Review: Ararat by Christopher Golden

When a newly engaged couple climbs Mount Ararat in Turkey, an avalanche forces them to seek shelter inside a massive cave uncovered by the snow fall. The cave is actually an ancient, buried ship that many quickly come to believe is really Noah’s Ark. But when a team of scholars, archaeologists, and filmmakers make it inside the ark for the first time, they discover an elaborate coffin in its recesses…and when they break it open, they find that the cadaver within is an ugly, misshapen thing…and it has horns. A massive blizzard blows in, trapping them in that cave thousands of meters up the side of a remote mountain…but they are not alone.

My Review: 
*I received a free copy of this book from Headline through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review  This is no way influenced my opinion of the book.*

Firstly, ignore that blurb above as it is not accurate. The newly engaged couple are not even in Turkey when the earthquake and avalanche occur, they are in London, so they don't seek shelter there from a storm! The discovery of the cavern is what brings them to Turkey to climb the mountain and lay claim if the ark is there.

An earthquake followed by an avalanche has Turkish guide Feyiz fleeing with his group down Mount Ararat, praying for the safety of his family in a nearby village. What is left on the side of the mountain is a cavern that should not be there, and a possible link to Noah's Ark being there. Now two rival teams race to get to the cavern to gain rights to the discovery and begin a full dig. But some things are best left undiscovered...

The main focus of the book to begin with are adventurers Meryam and Adam who film themselves on various climbs, and write books about their adventures. Their friend Feyiz alerts them to the opportunity and with fellow reluctant guide Hakan they set off for the cavern, determined to get there at all costs. The author does well to convey that sense of desperation to win, the very nature of competitive climbing at its worst as both teams risk their health and safety to win. They ignore the need to rest or get used to the altitude and drag themselves up the mountain. It was accurate and pretty absorbing as they battled up to the cavern.

The drama then switches to the ongoing excavation of the ark within the cavern, where the rival teams are now working with various experts in different fields under the watchful eyes of Turkish and UN representatives. The last team to arrive are led by Ben Walker, claiming to be a science researcher but really snooping for the US defence department for anything to turn into a weapon, along with Catholic Priest Father Hughes and the UN's Kim Seong. Those who work on the ark come into constant conflict over their religions and beliefs as work progresses slowly, with a major storm coming in. It does not help when a feeling of evil and malice seems to hang over the place, which many connect to the corpse of what looks like a demon.

It is clear that there is a toxic atmosphere at the dig site but how much is down to cultural and religious differences or the demon is unclear to start with. There is distrust between the muslim and christian workers with particular distrust of the Father as a religious leader. There is sexual distrust as Adam becomes suspicious that Meryam might be having an affair as she becomes more distant from him and obsessed by the project. There is cultural distrust of the american and Walker objects to having the UN watching over him. There is professional distrust between the experts who all believe that they are right and conclusions and theories of their colleagues are wrong. The dig team do not like having Turkish officials interfering in every small decision and Hakam will not take orders from a woman, especially who has turned her back on her muslim faith. So the seeds of discord are already there, coming into play in subtle ways as the demon influences them.

And then people begin to disappear. Are they quitting the project or are they being killed? It increases tension with outbreaks of violence, distrust and madness from various team members and conflicts grow to a stage where nobody is doubting that things are going badly wrong. As things get out of control, the people left no longer know who to trust and realise what they are up against. They must put aside their differences and work as a united team if any of them are going to survive. The weather outside is brutal but should they take their chances and try to escape the ark with help from the guides or do they sit out the storm and hope that there is a way to stop the demon? Either choice could be the death of them all.

I enjoyed watching the tensions of the group building and seeing how the individuals dealt with the circumstances. It wasn't difficult for the demon to prey on the tensions that were already there and I felt that the first half of the book was really setting the scene and ramping up the tension. You get to know a lot of the characters and their motivations and fears during the first part so that the people are not just nameless victims, which I liked. It was well written in that although there is not much in the way of action, you still wanted to read on and see how it was going to play out. When we got into the demon deciding to up the ante, that is where this book really departed from tense thriller to exciting horror, and I loved that change. It became faster paced and the tension was through the roof.

I liked the 'is this really Noah's ark' story as that was interesting from a historical viewpoint but at the same time the book doesn't get heavy on religious themes so if religion isn't your thing it shouldn't really affect you for reading this. The book deals more with the actual tension around the different views these people have instead of dealing too heavily with the views themselves.

I can certainly see this being made into a film in the future as it has the elements that would work well on screen with the remote location, historical interest, character tension and horror element with the demon. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy books about expeditions, tense thrillers and horror. 
Read January 2017. 

I'm DONE with Netgalley

I first found Netgalley in 2013 and liked the idea but being new to blogging I was only able to request and review a total of six books. Most publishers at the time has pre-request guidelines which basically excluded me from requesting a book because I had not been a member for 2 or 3 years. There was no point in trying to apply for these and I was rejected for two others. I decided to stop looking as most of the books I knew I wanted to read, I wasn't eligible for. I did keep my account and continually updated it but preferred to concentrate on reading my own books and not thinking about ARCs. 

This week, I knew that two titles that interested me were on Netgalley so I requested and was approved for both-Christopher Golden's Ararat, and Alison Weir's Anne Boleyn. Two days later I was accepted for Demon with a Comb-Over and I was pretty pleased and got ready to read them. Well, I wish I hadn't bothered! I have had nothing but trouble all week!

First there was the ordeal of having to set up that stupid Adobe Digital Editions thing that barely works most of the time. It took all day and twenty odd attempts to get Ararat and Anne Boleyn downloaded onto it. Then there was the ordeal of it refusing to transfer to my Kobo. It took all afternoon to get it set up! So lets look at what else went wrong:

Ararat: opened the file last night on Kobo to read and guess what! Yes it's the crappy mega faint pdf edition that is so tiny you can't even read it! Hurrah! Love it! By putting on the light and squinting at it I am getting through the book but this is NOT the way to read a free copy. I'll be glad to get it done tonight.It's destroying my eyes!

Anne Boleyn: file will not open on Kobo at all beyond title page. Patience rapidly running out and ADE copy keeps freezing and sticking every few pages. The book will be archived in the time it takes to read it. Stupid thing.

Demon with a Comb-Over. Oh here comes the best bit of the saga. Yesterday I get an email from the publisher with a request that if I don't like it, don't finish it or it isn't what I expected, please don't review. Not greatly happy with that instruction but as a one-off I was prepared to overlook it and decide once I read it. (note-the author was horrified to hear of this and indicated that he did not ask for this!) Then:

 1) It would not go into ADE. At all. Ever. 46 attempts and NOPE.
 2) Would not open with any app or computer program. Useless!

Wait, thought Chuckles, I have a Kindle! I could just get it sent to my Kindle! Smugly, I sent the file to Kindle. Failed. Oh yes, haven't authorised that address on Amazon for files to be sent. OK done that and the address for the Kindle is showing on my Netgalley page. Great, thought Chuckles, sorted! Failed. You must set up WIFY to do this. WHY? I'm plugged in to the damn computer? Just download the fecking thing!!! Why do I need WIFY! I don't live in an area with good WIFY reception for  some reason and have never been able to set it up and yesterday was no exception. No Kindle version can be downloaded. Giant waste of time.

I went to my email to contact the publisher in case it was a damaged file or whatever and then I spotted this on the email they sent me: 

"By requesting a book to review, you agree that we may contact you in the future and add you to our mailing lists *and those of our related companies*
and by submitting a review you agree that *Riverdale Avenue Books* and/or
its related companies may use your review (in whole or in part) for
promotional purposes relating to its products in any and all media with
appropriate attribution."

Um, NO! I'm ok with being on the mailing list for the publisher and not bothered by the using my review for promotion purposes but I am NOT ok with being added to unknown mailing lists of 'related companies' without being asked or knowing who they are! That shit ain't gonna happen! I did contact Netgalley and they agree with me that it's not acceptable to do that and are taking the matter up.  But now it leaves me with no review copy and a headache!

GAH it's been a crap week so far!!! I'm now thinking that starting to use Netgalley again has been more trouble than it's worth! From now on, I'll grab a cheap ebook copy of decent price and quality and read at my leisure with my rules!

*grumbles*

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!  

Please note that I do not allow third party companies like DISQUS access to my blog or social media so if you use that, I can't follow you or comment on your blog or posts. Sorry! This is why I won't give DISQUS my details, for those who have asked:

"Authorize DISQUS to use your account? Disqus is a service and tool for web comments and discussions. This application will be able to:
*Read Tweets from your timeline.
*See who you follow, and follow new people. 

*Update your profile.
*Post Tweets for you." Um, NO WAY, NOPE, NEVER GONNA HAPPEN! 

This week is a FREE week so again I need to think up a topic to do. Ten things that make me avoid a book or stop reading it.

1) The Love Triangle
I HATE these damn things in dystopian, horror and urban fantasy. I want to read about the apocalypse or monster or zombies, not listen to chapters of whining and enraged hormones as the MC pines. GAG! I hate plots that are background to someone's bloody love life. If there is romance in a book, fine, if it is well written, but must we have every single male fancying our beloved MC every time? I experienced a Love QUAD once and it was dreadful!

2) After The Event Reporting
I do not enjoy a format where the book is in diary form or blog post form with the MC telling us what happened on the mission. I especially hate this in zombie books. I want to be there with the character live as they creep through a building with zombies there in the dark, not being told about it in a couple of paragraphs after the event. There is no tension or excitement or emotion in that format.

3) The Rapist Hero
I hate this. I REALLY hate this. I do not get the appeal for a 'hero' who beats up the girl, stalks her or attempts to rape her...and she falls madly in love with him and they are suddenly soul mates. It bothers me that teenage girls might think this is 'normal' instead of fiction, and aspire to be in relationships with this kind of 'bad boy'. And I hate the behaviour being justified as the 'hero' having had a hard life. Boo Hoo all over him...

4) The MC From Hell
I'm seeing a new trend in authors making the MC so horrible and cliche' that you just want them to die. Whether it is the whiny useless female, the foul mouthed racist, the thug or unreformed criminal, the sex obsessed caveman, the brainless moron, the useless waster-I just hate being asked to root for an idiot that I despise as it stops me enjoying any decent plot in the book. Surely you want characters that people will like? I don't get it.

5) The F Bomb
I'm not a prude and I do swear more than I should, but I hate to see a book that is overloaded with f's, c's, mf's and the rest. Swearing for effect or if a character is hurt and scared doesn't bother me but when characters are addressing a fridge or table as a m*****f*****, or are going to the f'ing shops, that is it for me. It is lazy writing to keep throwing in f bombs for no purpose. How difficult is it to think up good dialogue to entertain instead?

6) All Sex No Plot
I'm getting lots of books marked as urban fantasy which are really soft porn or paranormal romance. I get that people like sex scenes but NOT at the expense of the plot please! I hate when a decent book has frequent poorly written sex scenes which make you roll your eyes and skip several pages to find the plot again. It drives me mad. Write a decent plot but don't throw in dumb sex for the hell of it and ruin the book!

7) The Love Hate Dynamic
Why do we constantly see this in books with a male and female lead? They nearly always hate each other, we get the snarky childish taunts,  the 'you smell' playground stupidity and you know they are going to jump into bed at some point so why bother? I don't find it entertaining at all-it's predictable and boring for me and I cannot be bothered with it at all. It makes adults sound like five year olds!

8) Instaluv
Oh the bane of YA books and the reason I don't read many now! I hate seeing 14 year old MCs suddenly going all soulmate and helpless at the very sight of The One. Gag. I also hate the books where the attraction is so wild that brains don't work and the slightest touch has them melting in a puddle of goo! Cue eye rolling and yawning as the overwhelming love just spills off the page and makes me retch...

9) Info Dumps and Techno Babble
I really hate it when the author decides to show off how smart they are with big fancy words and jargon filled paragraphs-I'm not wasting my reading time continually looking up a dictionary! Or we get the massive info dumps every few pages which leave us drowning in complex descriptions that we can't get our heads around! The best world building is when we can imagine it clearly so don't overload us! This is why I limit my sci-fi reads. I fear nano...

10) Too darn slow 
I am a proud DNFer so if a book doesn't grab me and interest me quickly, I get bored and move on. I get that you need to set the story but don't drag your introductions out for a third of the book! I don't need the life history of every character or what curtains hang in every room of every building-tell me what I need to know and get on with the story! (The exception to this is prepper and apocalypse fiction as I enjoy the breakdown of society in detail.)