Mumsnet Talk

Is Here Be Dragons really really good?? I loved The Sunne in Splendour it has to be said but it was a BIG old book, are the Welsh ones the same length? Happy to jump in if they are as good.

Agree re Phillipa Gregory although I did quite enjoy the Red Queen, White Queen a bit meh.

77p today on amazon kindle!

I have bought this book to read. I have read the Phillipa Gregory books but although I really loved Lady of the Rivers, the Red/White Queen books just didn't convince me at all.

I also read (as a teen) 'Elizabeth the Beloved' about Elizabeth York which featured RIII heavily in a positive way. Still not sure who killed the princes.

This is my next book to read. I was so pleased it came on to kindle and bargain too. Sharon Penman's books are hard to find. But am all enthused after the discovery of Richard III! So really looking forward to this.

I also have Here Be Dragons. I MUST read it after the recommendations.

thought he wanted to be buried at york? bit miffed at leicester wanting to keep their grasping little hands on him - theyve had him 500yrs already! I think we should have a big state do aswell, I know he might be a child murderer, but it'd be fun!

Hi, bigbopeep. It is him. Ohmygod. Awesome. my home ed dd has been physically attached to the newscast.

Bit about that dork from Leicester Cathedral - hey, mate, Richard was a medieval Catholic, not C of E as you almost claimed.

omg, it's him it's him! how remarkable, particularly that the only living descendents were the last of their line so in a generation, this wouldn't have been possible....amazing.

Excuse the typo.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that nothing will resurresct a dying Penman thread than an assertion that Richard III probably saw off his nephews.

He stood to gain being king rather than simply regent. The Tower was guarded so it's unlikely one of Henry's lackeys could have sneaked in and done it. But mostly, because Professor Jones at Nottingham University said so.

Richard did execute Lord Hastings for conspiracy against his life: at the time Richard was the executive head of state, as Lord Protector and Constable of All England, and so any action or plot against Richard was a treasonable offence punishable by death. Execution is the outcome. Yes, it was done very quickly but Hastings' militia was the largest force in London at the time (compared to the small numbers of men brought by R and Buckingham), so decisive action had to be taken.

There is no natural assumption or surmise to be made that R killed his nephews.

ok I'll trust you on the welsh books ariel, but what makes you so sure he killed the nephews eh? scratches chin and narrows eyes For me the biggest 'no' argument is that it didnt really serve him, just made everyone think he was the biggest bastard ever...

BigBoPeep, don't give up. The end of the last one will have you howling. I remember reading it on a train. I disgraced myself utterly.

This thread caught my eye as I have read The Sunne in Splendour at least five times. I also did Wars of the Roses as my special subject in my degree and my tutor group used to have furious arguments about who who play which character if there was a film. Budget not an object, obviously. That's how we rolled.

However I think it was sadly quite likely that Richard III did kill his nephews. And also he did summarily execute Lord Hastings. Just sayin'

ohwow thanks for the headsup on that lady damerel!

funnily though im still struggling my way through the welsh books..may even give up just doesnt have the pizazz of TSIS....

There's a whole programme on Channel 4 at 9pm on the 4th that will cover the whole process of researching, digging for and analysing the bones then reveal whether or not they do belong to Richard III.

I'm just rereading Sunne in Splendour on my Kindle for the third time. It's still amazing.

Oh, have always loved Sunne In Splendour - followed by Here Be Dragons. Am a massive Penman fan.

I'm a bit that they're dramatising Gregory's The White Queen. I found it quite shallow and rushed through. Jarman's We Speak No Treason is infinitely better.

But, we must keep our history pretty and bite size for the Masses, musn't we

DNA results to be announced 4th feb!!!!!

meanwhile the white queen is due to be aired spring 2013 <scowl> i'll be watching though

I loved Here Be Dragons.

The Sunne in Splendour is now on sale for Kindle at 74p!

just finished here be dragons....not as enthused about it - didn't find joanna likeable.... :S

I read yesterday the results may be mid-January now. Not sure why it's taking longer than they said.

i dont really do patience - i havent been wondering for 500years, only maybe 5wks

5mo would be ok, 5yrs would be ok - the trouble is not knowing WHEN!? ....how long would jezza kyle take?

I don't think waiting for five months, after 500 years of wondering, is too long. This means more time allowed for consultation as to the possible final resting place of the bones if it is judged likely to have been Richard.

whats taking them so bloody long with the dna results btw!?

Really disappointed to hear gregory's stuff is what will get adapted and the tudoresque story will be perpetuated...again. But it was inevitable really.... yawn

OK so if one of us wins the lottery we'll just do the sunne in splendour regardless eh?

off to browse those castlists and compile my own not that im sad or anything

Another Ricardian here,can't wait to hear the results of the dna tests.... I loved "We Speak No Treason" but imagine it may seem different if I read it now. Must try "The Sunne in Splendour".

Ooh, hello fellow Ricardians.

I must confess that I have never read The Sunne in Splendour despite being a Ricardian practically from birth ( my mum was / is an enthusiastic member of the Richard III Society ). Mum does have a copy so I think that I'd better borrow it.

I did try to re-read We Speak No Treason not so long ago and found it a bit OTT for my taste these days. OTOH, I also read The Daughter of Time again and enjoyed that immensely.

It's such a shame that, of all the good WOTR fiction that exists, the book that they've chosen to dramatise should be Philippa Gregory's.