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Rating: 
Summary: Can't decide to keep it or sell it
Review: As far as readability goes, this book pretty much stinks. The author follows tenaciously the life of Charles D'Orleans, whose father was the brother of King Charles the Mad. Now, most historical fiction that I have read focuses on characters that actually DO something. Napoleon. Louis XIV. Henry VIII. But Charles of Orleans (at least as he is portrayed here) is a spectator of the parade of life. Haase glosses over Joan of Arc and her importance to France's history in just a few paragraphs here and there - giving the basics but not really involving us in Joan's work - while spending chapters and chapters describing Charles' 25-year captivity in England. He sits and stares out windows. He composes poems. He thinks about his brothers and what is happening in France. Why has this book been *wasted* writing about this dreary portion of Charles' life?! The book is lackluster. At points it is strongly written, but most of it was skimworthy.Also, throughout the book various characters make reference to a popular medieval image called "The Forest of Long Awaiting." Many times. Yet the publisher's introduction says that he, Haase and the translator fought over and discarded several possible titles for the English version of the book. In the end they decided on the title used, which is a quote from Dante. Why did they not use "The Forest of Long Awaiting"?? I just don't understand this. "The Forest of Long Awaiting" appears to be very close to the original Dutch title. Why then the long debates with the publisher, author and translator? I'm strongly inclined to get rid of it, but it does cover (however sketchily) a part of European history that I was vague on, so I will probably keep it.
Rating:
Summary: Sadly Disappointed
Review: I was very disappointed in this book. Perhaps because of the number of good reviews it received, I had expected something phenomenal. It's a long book, and it covers a great many number of years and key historical events and people. But I can learn that from a history text. As a novel, I expected something more. We follow the House of Orleans, and the plight of France through a short peroid of the Hundred Years War. It is truly an interesting time period, and the author's ability to capture the difficulties of all classes and especially the victims of political maneuvering was very good. But I had no sympathy whatsoever for the main characters... it's true that there are so many players to consider in this piece, but there was really no getting to know any of the characters... except perhaps the "main-main" character Charles, Duke of Orleans. But even he was a bit flat. I already know this time period, so the events were already well-known to me... I figure that if an author is going to take the time to make up dialogue, s/he can do a bit more in trying to build up the characters who execute that dialogue. And although I understand she is covering a great many years, we already know that quantity does not make up for quality. It's just too dry. Sorry to say, I much prefer a history text than this book. It's more concise.
Rating: 
Summary: A Middle Age family feud at its best.
Review: If you are interested in learning about the realities of the French court in the Middle Ages, this book is for you. Haasse does an excellent job at writing about life in the Middle Ages. It is obvious that the research involved great detail. Your lesson about the Middle Ages involves its key players. Just a few of the chacters include the French king Charles VI, the Duke of Orleans and the Duke of Burgundy, as well as members of their families. If that is not enough for you, there is also the English kings Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. Most histories are very dry reading, that is why this work of historical fiction is so important to read. You learn about the Middle Ages in the most fascinating way while reading the words from Haasse's hand
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