Name: Here Be Dragons
ISBN: 9780345382849

Sharon Kay Penman

Here Be Dragons

King John arranges a marriage between his youngest daughter, Joanna, and his rival, Llewelyn the Great, the young leader who intends to unite all of Wales

Here be Dragons

Simon Elliott Stegall

I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book to anybody who likes the medieval period.

The story follows Joanna, daughter of King John, circa 1200. Joanna is married to Llewellyn, Prince of Wales. John and Llewellyn are at war. Joanna loves them both dearly. Queue a conflict that never lags through 800 pages.

Penman's portrayal of John is fantastic. He is a twisted, weak king, but she holds him at enough different angles that the reader sees the humanity in him before long. It takes a masterful storyteller to get the audience to like their villain, especially if their villain isn't "cool" but is actually quite pathetic. But I liked John A LOT. His story arc was by far the most heart-wrenching in this book.

Joanna and Llewellyn are also phenomenal characters, especially Joanna. I hate when authors fall in love with their main characters so much that they can't allow them to be flawed. Joanna is very flawed, and makes some serious mistakes, but this makes her all the more engaging.

This is pretty much a perfect book.

Francine Corry

Tiffany LeMasters

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A Short Story

Alistair James

Sara Piteira 

Sarah Kessler

Celia Street

Judy McClure

Rachel Rozdzial

Sharon Penman

Joanna, a Princess caught between two warring worlds . . . and torn between two loves. Bastard-born but cherished daughter of King John, Joana becomes a political pawn when her adored father arranges her marriage to Llewelyn Prince of Gwynedd, Wales, his bitter foe. The young bride is a stranger in a hostile land, married to a man she does not know - until she comes to love her brilliant husband, leader of men, and passionate opponent to the English laws that chain his homeland. And as bloody wars break out once more between England and Wales, Joanna is caught in the crossfire of fatal enmity, her loyalties cruelly divided between her father and the man she loves. The battle-torn land could not be more ravaged than her troubled, turbulent heart, and in a moment of confused guilty passion that she will never forget, Joanna risks her peace of mind, her freedom . . . even her life. This sweeping saga of true events in the thirteenth century, beginning Sharon Penman's magnificent trilogy of England and Wales, continued in Falls the Shadowand The Reckoning, is tangled, tempestuous story of power and passion, loyalty and lies . . . 'A rich, detailed chronicle' Irish Times'A book steeped in knowledge of its period' Financial Times'An engrossing tale' Publishers Weekly

Here Be Dragons

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