Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is the first book of Ms. Penman's Wales trilogy. This book follows the story of Llewelyn ap Iorweth, later known as Llewelyn Fawr (Llewelyn the Great). Ladies, you will fall in love with him as you read! It's very romantic, but not "mushy". And it's based on actual historical events! This is one of my favorite books ever!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: At the risk sounding monotonous, I have to add my high praise for this work to that of the chorus of other reviewers who have gone before me. I did not want this book to end and couldn't stop thinking about it for days afterwards. The characters were so fully realized I felt as if I were being separated from dear friends. Ms. Penman is a gifted storyteller and a meticulous researcher. The story of Llewlyn, Joanna, their lives and their times was engrossing from beginning to end. I am an American, living and working in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and I'm devastated that I will be unable to get my hands on the rest of the trilogy until I can get home to the US in 2002! Thank you Ms. Penman for a wonderful read!
Rating:
Summary: ahh where to begin
Review: where to start on a book such as this? being somewhat of an avid reader, i have never torn through a book with such desire as i did with here be dragons. i left myself exhausted at the end of the day, wishing i could just go and have someone relate the story penman has written so elequently to me so my eyes could rest!i had shied away at the thought of writing a report about hbd, thinking i could never finish a 700 page book AND write the 2pager in less than a month. i had two weeks to spare. in that light, i urge any of you reading this who have not already been introduced to penmans work to do so, because i have never encountered novels such as these. harry potter, with all his british-ness and hype pales weakly in comparision with these brilliant books. well, seeming as though THAT was heavy handed enough, go read the book already!!
Rating:
Summary: Medieval madness
Review: If I could have added more stars to this rating, I would have done so. My
addiction to Sharon Kay Penman's novels began with "The Queen's Man"
and I confess to having bought it for the pretty medieval book cover.
Once I read it, I quickly bought each of her books and have read them all.
They are excellent!! Her characters, so vivid against the backdrop of
history, are unforgettable.
Rating:
Summary: As a student of King John...
Review: I read this book while working on my Master's degree on the military history of King John, from a university in Wales. What struck me the most was the devotion to the source material employed by Penman. I was often grinning at some of her passages or interpretations as I knew which source she was adhereing to and which she was disregarding. Overall I have to say that it was a pleasant read for me and in many instances I felt as though I was confering with a fellow collegue on her interpretations. The style of writing was fast and easy. I was often at odds with her characterisations but that was trivial. I might have made my characters more macho but I think that is my way of looking at the events and for the work here, it would probably been wrong as the majority of the story flows from the perspective of Joan, daughter of John and with of Llewlyn the Great. What makes this a great read is that the student of history can gain a great deal of insight from the work, while the entertainment factor simply makes it a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional historical fiction that I could not put down
Review: I came across this first book in SKP's Welsh trilogy in Keflavick, Iceland, purley by accident. I am so delighted I picked this book up at a book exchange because it kept me riveted. As I read about Llwelyn Fawr and his wife, Joanna, her brother, King John, I felt as if I came to personally know these historical characters. Penman's eloquent style of writing and story telling grabs you from the beginning and then the characters take over as the story unfolds. One of the best books I have ever read and SKP ranks with Gabaldon as a favorite writer.
Rating:
Summary: A Tragic Triology
Review: If tragedy is the genre that depicts people triumphant in defeat, then this trilogy is, indeed, a tragedy. If I say that Wales is the true protagonist of the triology, I may leave the wrong impression, for there is nothing impersonal about Penman's triology. You will admire, love, and mourn Joanna and Llewelyn, Simon and Nell, Elen and Rob de Quincy, Ellen and Llewelyn II, and yes, Elizabeth and Davydd. But, over and over, you will grieve for Wales and the Welsh people, and yet Wales and its people still endure-to our joy and admiration. I have never been so moved by historical fiction. Please read this triology. Begin with Here Be Dragons and I guarantee you will read Falls the Shadow and the Reckoning. And when you have finished them, read The Sunne in Splendour (the best historical ever written) and When Christ and His Saints Slept. Then go back and begin the triology again-you won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Hooked on Historical Fiction!
Review: I was really amazed that I could be so drawn into the story of a time, people, and place that I don't remember learning about even in history. I was captivated by the personalities in this story, as well as the two that came after in this trilogy. I literally could not put them down until I knew exactly what happened to the friends and people I truly admired in these stories. This was the first historical fiction I ever read and I am hooked, at least on Penman and the heros and heroines in her stories and our past. Read It, you won't be dissappointed, I promise you...Oprah should read this and reccommend it to the world, it deserves no less.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully accurate and moving
Review: Like virtually all the others who have reviewed this book, I think it is extarordinarily lovely and historically accurate. It brings a world that is distant in time, location, and values home to the modern reader in a vivid way. It is not always a comfortable book, but it is sharp and thought-provoking. As many others have noted, the love story is moving and emotionally strong. The end of the book, dealing with the reconciliation after adultary, is written lyrically and with power. It probes cultural beliefs about men and women, sexuality, and love in an intensely emotional, personal way.
Rating:
Summary: Stunningly Beautiful
Review: I was first introduced to Sharon Kay Penman through her so-called Medieval mystery, The Queen's Man. Eleanor of Aquitane was so vivid and real, so drawn was I to that character, that I bought Here Be Dragons just to see more of this most regal of matriarchs. Before doing so I read reviews here on amazon.com that indicated that The Queen's Man was a far cry from her best work, that her best was to be found in the longer, historical work. I scoffed, thinking that these were disgruntled, spoiled readers who didn't know how to adapt to a change from their favorite author. Barely 50 pages into Here Be Dragons, I realized how horribly wrong I was. Every time I set the book down, whether it be to turn off the light to sleep, or finishing lunch at work, or getting off the train in the morning or evening, I felt ripped away, so very much out of place.Knowing little about the history of the period, I allowed SKP to be my guide, stopping along the way to check facts, names and places, always impressed when I found her accuracy to be perfect. Would that all history read with such passion, such verve! SKP writes emotion as accurately as she does history. I have experienced the loss of a loved one, myself come too close to death, and when John died, her telling of it kept me up, staring at the ceiling for nigh on thirty minutes, my own memories brought back, real and cold. That tears fell, I am not ashamed to admit. I cried for the death of the evil King John. A shy romantic in life, I care little for romance in my fiction. Imagine my surprise when I found myself more interested in the relationship between Llewelyn and Joana than virtually anything else. History is stranger than fiction, true, and this was as unlikely a pair as could be imagined. Yet their love was strong, and true, and overcame Joana being torn in two between the father who showed her love when she was orphaned, and the husband who showed her heaven, as well as Joanna's own indiscretions. Since most who read or will read her work know the history, I'm not afraid to give up that little secret: Joanna committed adultery, and yet Llewelyn's love for her was so great that he forgave it. Perhaps not such a great thing in today's day, but a monument in 13th century Europe. Myself, I didn't know the history, and shed tears at the thought of Llewelyn and Joanna forever apart, shed them again when he took her back. Rarely have I read a book more beautiful, with prose more even and yet evoking such emotion.
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