Rating: 
Summary: Give Me More!
Review: Being a newcomer to the works of Ms. Penman, I was delighted to find that she has an innate talent for bringing history alive. Never have I read an account of an illegitimate child that was so detailed, with glimpses of the real person, not just the historical figure. One almost feels sorry for King John. Upon reading this novel, I was inspired to do some searching in the family tree myself, to find that I am a descendant of King John himself! This, as well as the intriguing story of a Wales that dreams of independence while cannibalizing itself politically, spurred me on to read "The Reckoning" and "Falls the Shadow". I also read "When Christ and His Saints Slept" and the latest, "Time and Chance". If Ms. Penman ever reads this, PLEASE hurry with "The Devil's Brood"....I can't wait!
Rating:
Summary: beautiful, moving, entralling
Review: Sharon Kay Penman has created a masterpiece with this book, truly making history come alive. Her characters are wonderfully drawn, so vivid and satisfying; I literally couldn't put this book down. King John, Llewelyn Fawr, and Joanna are all so real and complex (no black and whites here at all). Penman's narrative is flawless, and she never lets the story degrade into a catalogue of dates and places (which seems to happen in historical novels a lot of the time); the reader is swept along in a story of allegiances made and broken, sibling rivalry, romance, war, murder, pride and humility. An absolutely beautiful novel about an intensely interesting chapter in British (and Welsh) history.
Rating:
Summary: Here Be Dragons
Review: I purchased this book as a sale book. This was the first time I had ever read anything by Penman. She is the best historical fictional writer I have ever come across. This book is so emotionally charged that I actually lost track of time reading it. It shows King John in a more humane light than history teaches and the emotions of all the characters are so very real that you feel them too. To this day I am constantly looking for her books because I know that they will be exceptional reading. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: Historical fiction with more fiction
Review: Interested in King John's reign, I went to look his family tree & information up in another book of mine, "The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England". And a lot of this is true- varying from King John's ongoing battle with the Welsh to his children, father, and history. The same holds true for the rising Welsh Prince, Llewelyn- all his genealogy is correct.On the fictional side, the characters are VERY well developed. They are totally human, neither "all white" or "all black"- there are many "grey" areas of their lives, proving that humans are not totally good nor totally bad- like yin and yang. This book covers a long period of time, and moves around a lot. It includes King John's signing of the Magma Carta, develops reasons around which he might have agreed. The greatest thing about historical fiction is that it's just filling in the blanks. HERE BE DRAGONS is a intertwined story, telling of King John, his relationships to his family-including his despised brother Richard the Lionheart, his strong-willed mother Eleanor of Aqutaine, his dying father Henry, as well as one of the prevailing main characters- Joanna. At first her life is normal for a peasant- her mother is Clement d'Arcy, and Joanna knows well she was born out of wedlock. Her mother dies, leaving her in the care of no one, until someone reveals the family secret- that Joanna is the daughter of John. Under English law, illeginamate children have no rights nor claims to inheirtance, but John recognizes her. A great story.
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Summary: First of the Wales Trilogy
Review: This is the first book in the Wales trilogy (the others are Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning). Penman emerged long ago as one of the best historical novelists and continues to solidify her reputation with each new release. Her special genius lies in the bright and shining historical detail that she can weave into both plot and dialog (she's a very good student of history and at times is absolutely brilliant in conveying to us the workings of medieval minds). There is no doubt that Penman's novels will stand as great reads for ages to come. Her plots are always complex (because the history of these times was quite convoluted). She does an excellent job of keeping it all straight for us as she leads us through the maze of characters. If you read the history of these times you quickly come to see what a great job she does in her design of the story. There may be a bit too much time spent on the romance of Llewelyn and Joanna, but there does seem to be a calculated story line running that proves itself as the bond between the two weaves itself into the historical facts of the complex relationship between King John and Llewelyn. Penman's true genius is the broad historical scope that is painted on top of the shimmering details of brief moments. It truely does feel as if you are living the story yourself, and it is this bringing us readers in as witnesses that stands as Penman's contribution to the art of the historical novel. If you prefer to read in chronological order:
1101-1154 When Christ And His Saints Slept (Vol 1 of Trilogy)
1156-1171 Time And Space (Vol 2 of Trilogy)
12th Cent Devil's Brood (Vol 3 of Trilogy)- not yet released
1192-1193 The Queen's Man
1193 Cruel As The Grave
1183-1232 Here Be Dragons (Vol 1 of Welsh Trilogy)
1231-1267 Falls The Shadow (Vol 2 of Welsh Trilogy)
1271-1283 The Reckoning (Vol 3 of Welsh Trilogy)
1459-1492 The Sunne In Splendour
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: That really sums up my feelings on this book. This book was fantastic. I really got into the lives of the characters and identified so deeply with them, that when one of the main characters made a big mistake near the end, I felt guilty all day! Penman must have had similar experiences or at least emotions to describe everything so convincingly. Yet, she does not overload with words or bemoan a point. Her writing is pretty simplistic but conveys so much. Everything is also quite realistic. There is no supremely evil bad guys; just, human beings who make mistakes and act like human beings. I really appreciated that point. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Curiously flawed
Review: This is a great read - vivid characters, colorful settings, gripping narration. But I was continually distracted by Penman's unfortunate stilted sentences - a curious habit. Does she think such usage adds authenticity? It doesn't! Again and again my attention rested on her condensed syntax rather than on the wonderful yarn she's telling. It's quite an ususual mannerism, and quite a negative one, as it mars the believability of her characters.
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Summary: A beautiful beginning to a wonderful trilogy
Review: Sharon Kay Penman's "Here Be Dragons" is a wondrous novel. It takes a character from history, King John's illegitimate daughter Joanna, and recreates her with such skill that the woman comes alive on the pages. It brings to life twelfth-century England and Wales so well that every page just takes you deeper into the past. Joanna's childhood is miserable until she is brought to her father John, then only a count and bitterly envious of his brother Richard the Lionheart. John is an excellent father, but also a good politician. Needing an alliance with unruly Wales, he betroths his young daughter to Llewellyn, Prince of Gwynedd. Joanna is horrified; all she knows of Wales is that the people are considered barbarians. Her first meeting with Llewellyn, on their wedding day, would have ruined their married life if not for the fact that her husband is a kind man and sensitive to her unease. In fact, Llewellyn is the most sympathetic male character I've encountered in a historical romance who wasn't also completely unbelievable. Llewellyn doesn't shower his bride with flowers, or court her into bed--but their marriage is consummated after the funniest display of jealousy you'll find in a novel. (Poor Joanna, is all I can say). A leader of men, Llewellyn fights to unite Wales against England, and constantly battles John for his country's independence. The battle between father and husband tears at Joanna's loyalties, which Penman describes with skill; at no time does she hint that Llewellyn is going to win Joanna over completely, or that John won't have a greater hold on Joanna's heart. The other family battle is between Joanna and Llewellyn's oldest son Gruffydd, who hates his father's wife as deeply as he loves his father--and even that is poisoned by his jealousy of their closeness. Gruffydd and Joanna are bitter enemies; Joanna's maneuvering of the uncontrollable Gruffydd is damnable save for the fact that she acts for her own son Dafydd's safety. (Brothers were traditional antagonists in Welsh history). Of course their hatred almost destroys them both: Gruffydd ends up in exile after Joanna tricks him into an explosive rage, and his wife Senena springs a trap on Joanna that nearly costs her Llewellyn for good. This story is incredible, not only for Penman's rich telling of it, but also for the event that threatens Joanna's marriage. I did dislike Penman's handling of Joanna's reasons for committing infidelity . . . but the scene of Joanna and Llewellyn's reconciliation is too powerful to argue with. It's too bad you can't find this book in hardback, but the trade paperback is nicely done. Perhaps Penman might persuade her publisher to find some new cover artwork--a portrait of Llewellyn Fawr and Joanna on the front would spike sales of this book even higher. And most of her fans would appreciate it.
Rating:
Summary: Evocative imagery, emotionally moving, unforgettable
Review: Most medieval fiction, other than Follet's PILLARS OF THE EARTH, fell short of my expectations so I never went out of my way to read much in the genre. But then, a few different people recommended Penman, I tried her out and she's now on my list of authors worthy of reading! Here are some good reasons to read Penman: (1) EVOCATIVE IMAGERY: the words flow with apparent ease, opening the reader's mind to a new world; you can see this mentioned in some of the more popular reviews below; (2) VIBRANT, INTERESTING CHARACTERS: while Penman may have added some components to some of the Historical figures, she did keep the known personality elements of each character. This seems especially so of King John; (3) FLOW: unlike some Historical novels, the author doesn't try to push too many facts on you at the expense of the story pacing; (4) HIGHLIGHTS THE BIG CONFLICTS OF HISTORY: some authors gloss over the big moments b/c they're trying to get everything into the Historical novels. Penman doesn't necessarily feel obligated to do this and puts more emphasis towards the structure
and flow of the story. For instance, it isn't unusual for her to cover a year in one chapter and then start three years later.;
and (5) INTEREST: obviously, you want to know about this period; all the intrigues; the Plantanganet line; the royal Welsh line; how people lived and thought back then; the importance of honor today, etc.
Rating:
Summary: The 13th century comes alive
Review: Sharon Kay Penman's book "Here be dragons" is a masterpiece whether you like history or not. I first read it when I was twelve and I've reread it many times since because I loved it. It's much more romantic than the next two books in the trilogy, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on what you're looking for. The entire book is like a rich tapestry, filled with mead-guzzling adulterous lords, bawdy jokes, banished wives, and above all portraits of people. The story is about King John's illegitimate daughter Joanna whom he gives in marriage to Llewelyn of Wales for an uneasy peace. Unfortunately, the peace does not hold and Joanna is faced with the choice of choosing between two loves: her love for her father and her love for her husband. The story will keep you enthralled.
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