Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard (Review)

Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

Blurb

Fighting beside her band of unlikely companions, Corayne is learning to embrace her ancient lineage and wield her father’s powerful sword.

But while she successfully closed one of the Spindles, her journey is far from over.

Queen Erida’s army marches across Allward with her consort, Taristan, right beside them, opening more portals into nightmarish worlds, razing kingdoms to the ground.

Corayne has no choice but to assemble an army of her own if she’s to save the realm as she knows it. But perilous lands await her and the companions, and they face assassins, otherworldly beasts, and tempestuous seas all as they rally a divided Ward to fight behind them.

But Taristan has unleashed an evil far more wicked than his corpse armies. Something deadly waits in the shadows; something that might consume the world before there’s any hope for victory.

Review

This is another book that I have taken way too long to read. I really do not know why I have delayed reading this book because I absolutely loved Realm Breaker and couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I probably should have read it sooner because then it wouldn’t have taken me so long to remember what happened in the first book and remember the different characters.

OK, I know I spent a lot of time going ‘that’s from Tolkien’ but I generally do that with every fantasy book I read because every fantasy author does tend to be heavily influenced by Tolkien. I mean The Wheel of Time series by Jordan almost has direct quotes from The Lord of the Rings! However, this didn’t put me off this book and just like The Lord of the Rings I could not put this book down.

I love the characters within this series and I spent a great deal of the book worrying about the fates of Dom, Sorasa, Sigrid, Andy, Corayne and even Charlie at times. I dreaded turning a page and reading of something happening to one of these characters. I loved seeing the relationship between Dom and Sorasa develop. I loved seeing how Sigrid would happily challenge anyone to an arm wrestle and win and face any battle with bravery and bravado. The loyalty in this group of companions was moving to see.

Queen Erida might be a baddie but I do like her character. She was the child who was meant to be a boy. Her parents wanted a prince and instead they got a princess and so she has spent her life learning to be strong, learning to rule with a rod of iron and show no weaknesses. Although she is a pampered princess she is hard and unyielding and now with Taristan’s help she is showing her people and the rest of the Ward just what she is made of and her thirst for power. I do wonder what lies ahead of her and wonder whether she will need Tristan’s help for much longer or will she outgrow him?

This book left me with a lot of questions which I hope the next book will answer for me.

I am so pleased I have the next book to read so I can be put out of my misery. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. I happily give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons and will happily read this book again.

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About the author

Victoria Aveyard (1990) is an American writer of young adult and fantasy fiction and screenplays. She is best known for her fantasy novel Red Queen.

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The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Review)

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Blurb

Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.

Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.

The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.

All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.

For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.

Review

Why did I take so long to read this book? This book sat on my TBR for so long and I really can’t tell you why because I am yet to find a book by Moreno-Garcia that I haven’t loved. It took me quite a long time to finish this book but that was because this thing called work kept getting in the way of my precious reading time.

This book is a really clever take on the H. G. Wells story called The Island of Doctor Moreau. I loved this refreshing new take on a classic and I thoroughly enjoyed the feminist twist that Moreno-Garcia included.

I really enjoyed how this book was told between Carlota’s and Montgomery’s perspectives but that was also one thing that slightly let this book down for me because some chapters I found too repetitive. Carlota was a very interesting and unconventional character who was both beguiling and annoying at the same time. It was very hard to make her out at times but all became clear as the story continued.

Montgomery was a very sad character who had many demons lurking that were created by his extremely tragic back story. The man had hardly known a moment of happiness or peace in his life but to me he was a fascinating character who really added to the story. He was loyal, he was sensitive, he was kind and understanding and cared for others but he was also brash and hard with a temper.

This book was very much a slow burner for me but I didn’t mind that as it just added to the feeling of suspense. This book was a great historical fiction read with a sci-fi twist that really felt like a classic sci-fi story just like Wells. Moreno-Garcia did brilliantly at keeping the original feeling of a Wells sci-fi novel but with a modern edge and I loved it. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of several novels, including Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. She has also edited a number of anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination.

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The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan (Review)

The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

Blurb

The seals of Shayol Ghul are weak now, and the Dark One reaches out. The Shadow is rising to cover humankind.

In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn…..

Review

This was a reread for me but I will be honest I had forgotten a great deal and I definitely think I enjoyed this book more on the second read. At times I could not put this book down.

Perrin has always been my favourite character in the series and I loved the fact we got so much more of Perrin in this book and Perrin on his own without Rand all the time. I also loved how we ended up back in the Two Rivers and got to meet people from the first book again and see their characters develop further. Perrin’s chapters were definitely the chapters I couldn’t put down and flew through.

My least favourite character in the series so far is Mat. Mat has got to be one of the most annoying characters I have ever come across in a book series. I keep hoping he will improve and become less annoying. I have many books to read to see whether a less annoying Mat will ever happen.

I would have really liked to have seen a bit more of Egwene in this book but once she met the wise ones she kind of disappeared from the story and just became a background character. Thankfully, we got to see plenty of Nynaeve and Elayne in this book as I always love Nynaeve’s spirit and stubbornness. They had plenty of dangerous adventures of their own.

Rand is definitely growing up in this book. He accepts who he is and his destiny and he starts to plan and work out exactly what he needs to do to fulfil his destiny. I really enjoyed seeing this side of Rand and I liked how he integrated in with Aiel.

I absolutely loved this book but I am glad I decided to read it alongside other books. At being just over 1000 pages long it was a long slog at times and I needed some light relief. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

James Oliver Rigney Jr. (1948-2007) was an American author of epic fantasy who wrote under the pen name Robert Jordan. Jordan also wrote historical fiction under the name of Reagan O’Neal, a western as Jackson O’Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung.

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Them Old Bones by Astor Y Teller (Review)

Them Old Bones by Astor Y Teller

Blurb

Behind a veil of treachery and haunted bones, a dragon curse is about to set the world ablaze… Dragons didn’t exist until recently. Neither did traitors, until Miriam Huckerpucker started nosing around in The Vault where she and the other undeads are holed up, when they are not out in the countryside picking up haunted bones, which is what they do for an unliving. For Miriam, who has been in the game for a while, with a refined skill set in magic spelling and swordy gymnastics and mourning classes, the hard part is not bone picking but catching homing pigeons which like all living beings don’t fancy the undead at all. When no pigeons arrive from the undead expedition to barbarian lands, where the first known dragon’s bones lay waiting, Miriam suspects a traitor is messing about with the pigeon post. Mustering someone who is literally dying to get a new occupation and also getting an undead dog into the bargain, her investigations unravel a sinister plot far bigger than The Vault.

Review

Firstly, a massive thank you to Astor Y Teller for gifting me this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading this book but I was definitely not expecting this wonderful world Teller has created. The book follows Miriam Huckerpucker who is a bone collector for The Vault. She is also an undead with an unusual skill set of swordy gymnastics and magic spelling. She also overthinks things and has a suspicious mind.

On one of her adventures Miriam meets Crazyjones who is a farmer and the adorable Tenderloin who is his dog but things are not as they seem. This meeting is a fantastically funny introduction to the book and introduces these wonderful characters to the reader. There is no messing about with this book and you are thrust straight into the storyline which I loved.

I loved Teller’s writing style and imagination and I flew through this book and laughed constantly. The names of the characters are hilarious and are excellent descriptions for the characters. I also love the world that Teller has created and I can’t wait to learn more about The Vault and the undead. I’m also fascinated by the bones and really hope we learn more about it all. I’m also hoping to see a lot more of Tenderloin as he is very cute (yes he is my favourite character). I loved this book and can’t wait to read the next one. This is a definite 5 out of 5 Dragons from me.

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About the author

Everybody makes a story about themselves. Here is my take:

I started out

1) as a kid telling myself stories using my imagination, then

2) growing up to tell stories to others as a gamemaster (which I still do), then

3) getting sucked most unwilling into occult stuff (the flip side of quantum physics?), escaping that to

4) hesitantly get an education in programming, then

5) surviving dull years surrounded by the machines that go ping and keeping the weekends occupied by reading and being artful and conjuring exhaustion for the work week, then

6) saying enough is enough and submitting myself to another long streak of education, this time in art, where I started out painting (and still do) but graduated in spontaneous storytelling (or bearing witness to my imaginary worlds if you want a fancy way of saying it) then

7) start writing down these stories instead of telling them to an audience, ending up like

1) the kid I began as, telling myself stories using my imagination…

…which is the nation I prefer to be in (after doing my stint of travelling abroad) and where I go by the name of Astor Y Teller.

The rest of me can be gleaned from the books and if not, it’s not worth telling.

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The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford (Review)

The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford

Blurb

In this new epic fantasy, three societal outcasts must work together to fulfil the orders of a dead king’s ghost or risk their nation falling to a tyrant

The king is dead, his queen is missing. On the amber coast, the usurper king is driving Zavonia to the brink of war. A dangerous magical power is rising up in Biela Miasto, and the only people who can set things right are a failed bodyguard, a Landstrider witch, and the assassin who set off the whole sorry chain of events.

Valdas, Captain of the High Guard, has not only failed in his duty to protect the king, but he’s been accused of the murder, and he’s on the run. He’s sworn to seek justice, but his king sets him another task from beyond the grave. Valdas doesn’t believe in magic, which is unfortunate as it turns out.

Mirza is the healer-witch of a Landstrider band, valued and feared in equal measure for her witchmark, her scolding tongue, and her ability to walk the spirit world. When she’s given a task by Valdas’ dead king, she believes that the journey she must take is one she can never return from.

Lind is the clever assassin. Yes, someone paid him to kill the king, but who is to blame, the weapon or the power behind it? Lind must face his traumatic past if he’s to have a future.

Can these three discover the real villain, find the queen, and set the rightful king on the throne before the country is overcome?

Review

Firstly, thank you to Jacey Bedford who very kindly sent me a copy of The Amber Crown in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to get into this book as I found the world building rather confusing to begin with. Instead of a completely new world Bedford has taken a lot of influences from the real world and added them to the world she has created for The Amber Crown. The book is told from the perspective of three people, Valdas, Captain of the High Guard, Mirza a healer-witch and Lind an assassin.

There were certain aspects of this book that I found rather upsetting and I do believe that this book could be quite triggering for some people. Certain scenes have certainly stayed with me and I would rather they hadn’t. Lind is a particularly broken character who is desperately trying to make his way in the world. Valdas is trying to get justice for his dead king but I couldn’t help but wonder if he would have got the resolution quicker if he had taken his mind off sex occasionally.

Mirza was my favourite character in this book. Mirza has had to fight people’s opinions since she has been born. She was born with a witch mark which makes people fear her and hate her but she defies them all. She does her duty to her people and always tries to help everyone.

I enjoyed this book but I am pleased it is a standalone book because I personally did not find it had the detail in the world building to stand up to being a series. I would also not be able to deal with Valdas for anymore books. The book having short and snappy chapters and a quick storyline made this book a quick and enjoyable read. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

WH Smith

About the author

Jacey Bedford is an English writer who is published by DAW in the USA. She lives and works behind a desk in Pennine Yorkshire. She’s had stories published on both sides of the Atlantic. She has seven novels out now. Her newest is The Amber Crown, published by DAW inJanuary 2022. Previous books are: Empire of Dust, Crossways, and Nimbus, science fiction (space opera) which make up the Psi-Tech trilogy. Winterwood, Silverwolf and Rowankind make up the Rowankind trilogy. These are historical fantasy, set in 1800, with a cross-dressing privateer captain, the jealous ghost of her dead husband, and a sexy wolf shapechanger.

Jacey is secretary of the UK Milford Writers’ Conference, a peer-to-peer workshopping week for published SF writers. She also hosts Northwrite SF, a critique group based in Yorkshire.

She’s been a librarian, a postmistress and member of internationally touring a cappella trio, Artisan. When not writing she arranges UK gigs for folk artists from all over the world.

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World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Review)

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Blurb

From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction–a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.

As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted–no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape–she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance.

“What the peacock can do,” she tells us, “is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life.” The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world’s gifts.

Warm, lyrical, and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, World of Wonders is a book of sustenance and joy.

Review

I received this book for Christmas from my niece and nephew and it really intrigued me especially the amazing illustrations.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book. Each chapter is about an animal or plant from this world and how that animal or plant has influenced Nezhukumatathil’s life. Each chapter contains information about the plant or animal and this was definitely my favourite part as I learnt so much that I didn’t know before. I loved the chapter on Axolotls but I also found it very sad as I didn’t realise just what horrific things are done to these small creatures.

You learn a lot about Nezhukumatathil’s life in this book. How hard her childhood was with all the moves for her parents’ jobs and because of her ethnicity. We learn how she met her husband and the birth of her children.

The reason this book didn’t get the full 5 Dragons from me and only 4 was because certain scenes rather upset me, the bit with octopus hunting was one. I also found at times that Nezhukumatathil was rather showing off with everything she has done in her life and some links that she was creating between the natural world and her childhood were rather tenuous at times. Overall, though, I loved this book and the illustrations really helped the book.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones

About the author

Nezhukumatathil (1974) is an American poet and essayist. She is professor of English in the University of Mississippi. She is married to the writer Dustin Parsons. They live in Oxford, Mississippi with their two sons.

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The Midnight Folk by John Masefield (Review)

The Midnight Folk by John Masefield

Blurb

Talking paintings and animals help Kay in his attempt to outwit the witches and locate his great-grandfather’s buried treasure.

Review

I have read the Kay Harker books in completely the wrong order but I am kind of glad I did. I absolutely love The Box of Delights and think it is a wonderful book filled with magic and fantastic characters. However, if I had read The Midnight Folk first I doubt I would have bothered to read The Box of Delights afterwards.

I really struggled with this book as it was just such a jumble of characters and plot lines. I understand that Masefield was going along the lines of a dreamlike structure but it just lacked the refinement of The Box of Delights. The Box of Delights had structure but this book had no structure that I could tell. This book also has no chapters so it is one long story with divides. The Box of Delights had chapters with relevant chapter headings and it really helped give structure to the story.

Kay is an orphan but we aren’t told why but it is clear that he hasn’t had an easy childhood so far. Yes he has a big house and a fab garden to run around in but his governess is not a nice woman and the maid Ellen who looks after him tells him terrifying tales which would give any child nightmares. What Kay needs is someone to love him and make him feel safe.

I will be honest I didn’t like Kay very much in this book. I found him rather annoying and not very loyal to his friends. He knew his friends were in danger but his attitude was very much ‘oh I can’t help otherwise I will be late for breakfast or tea, if you are still in trouble I will help you later’.

I really struggled with this book and almost gave up several times with it. I certainly wouldn’t inflict this book on a child or read it again which is a shame as The Box of Delights is so good. Overall, I give this book 2 Dragons out of 5.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Harper Collins | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

John Masefield (1878-1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967.

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Network Effect by Martha Wells (Review)

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Blurb

It calls itself Murderbot, but only when no one can hear.

It worries about the fragile human crew who’ve grown to trust it, but only where no one can see.

It tells itself that they’re only a professional obligation, but when they’re captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.

Review

Network Effect is the first full length novel in the Murderbot series and I am so happy! The novellas were good but way too short!

Murderbot finds itself with a crew again and finds itself caring and worrying about this crew. However, during an expedition Murderbot and Amena get kidnapped and end up on an enemy ship. This ship turns out to be an old friend of Murderbot’s, the first friend that Murderbot made a connection with. Murderbot decides action is required and all hell breaks loose when Murderbot takes drastic action.

There is a lot of action in this book and Murderbot is on fine form. What I also love is Murderbot coming to terms with some of the feelings it now has and trying to handle these feelings. In fact Murderbot makes quite a breakthrough in its self-understanding and what it wants from life. There are quite a few human characters in this story and one of my favourites has to be Amena. Amena has a special skill and that skill is getting through Murderbot’s protective shell.

I love this book because Murderbot often moans about the humans but it also realises that it loves to protect them and keep them safe. Murderbot might be a cyborg but I think it might be one of the most human characters I have ever read about. There was a lot of tech talk in this book that I didn’t really understand but that didn’t detract from the story for me. I loved this book and give it 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Foyles | Waterstones

About the author

Martha Wells has been a science fiction and fantasy author since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993. Her New York Times Bestselling series The Murderbot Diaries has won Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, Locus Awards, and an American Library Association/YALSA Alex Award. Her work also includes The Books of the Raksura series, the Ile-Rien series, and several other fantasy novels, most recently Witch King (Tordotcom, 2023), as well as short fiction, non-fiction, and media tie-ins for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: The Gathering. Her work has also appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the British Science Fiction Association Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, and has been translated into twenty-four languages.

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The Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris (Review)

The Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris

Blurb

Cicero one of the great epics of political and historical fiction, The Cicero Trilogy charts the career of the Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero from his mid-twenties as an ambitious young lawyer to his dramatic death more than thirty years later, pursued by an assassination squad on a cliff-top path.The extraordinary life that unfolds between these two episodes is recounted by Cicero’s private secretary, the law cases and the speeches that made his master’s name; the elections and conspiracies he fought; the rivals who contended for power around him – Pompey, Crassus, Cato, Clodius, Catalina, and, most menacingly, Caesar; and, at the heart of it all, the complex personality of Cicero himself – brilliant, cunning, duplicitous, anxious, brave, and always intensely humane.More than ten years in the writing, and now published in a single volume for the first time, The Cicero Trilogy brings the world of the Roman republic vividly to life. Here is its grandeur, ambition and corruption; and here is its tumultuous collapse into dictatorship and anarchy – a story of the fragility of democratic institutions that holds a warning for our own time.

Review

This was a long read for me, a very long read and I will be honest I did have some breaks from it but the time and effort were definitely worth it. I think I would have preferred to have read the book as the original three separate books rather than one epic book as at times it felt like I was treading water and not making any progress with the book.

This book is so much more than just the life of Cicero, it is the story of Rome and how it went from being run by the Republic to having an emperor. The story is told by Tiro who is Cicero’s slave and serves primarily as his secretary but he is also Cicero’s friend. Tiro does not hold anything back when telling us about the life of Cicero and we see all of Cicero’s highs and lows.

The first book of the trilogy tells us about Cicero’s rise to political power and becoming Consul of Rome. This book also starts to give us a glimpse of how vain Cicero can be at times. The middle book is dominated by Cicero’s consulship and the Catiline conspiracy in 63BC which shows Cicero desperately fighting to remain as consul. The third book takes a turn for the worse where Cicero finds himself in exile and fighting to save the Republic.

Through this trilogy we see so many great names from history that we know so well, Caesar, Crassus, Pompey and Cato to name a few. However, it is not all a political book. Harris also shows a private side to Cicero and his family life.

The thing I love about this book is just how incredibly well researched it is. Yes, it is historical fiction but the history facts are bang on. This is an epic trilogy and I can understand why it took quite a few years for Harris to finish the trilogy but it was worth it. I loved this book and it was definitely one of my top reads for 2023. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Robert Harris is the author of nine best-selling novels: Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, Imperium, The Ghost Writer, Conspirata, The Fear Index, and An Officer and a Spy. Several of his books have been adapted to film, most recently The Ghost Writer, directed by Roman Polanski. His work has been translated into thirty-seven languages. He lives in the village of Kintbury, England, with his wife, Gill Hornby.

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The Earl and the Pharaoh by The Countess of Carnarvon (Review)

The Earl and the Pharaoh by The Countess of Carnarvon

Blurb

Bestselling author Lady Fiona Carnarvon tells the thrilling behind-the-scenes story of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun on its centennial, and explores the unparalleled life of family ancestor George Herbert–the famed Egyptologist, world-traveler, and 5th Earl of Carnarvon behind it–whose country house, Highclere Castle, is the setting of the beloved series Downton Abbey.

In November 1922, the world was mesmerised by news of an astonishing historical find in Egypt’s legendary Valley of Kings: the discovery of the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. George Herbert, himself a famed amateur Egyptologist and noted antiquities collector, financed the expedition and excavation headed by lead archaeologist Howard Carter, and accompanied him inside this sacred space that had remained untouched for centuries.

Inside the tomb, the explorers found King Tut’s sarcophagus and a treasure trove of astonishing artefacts: chariots and model boats, board games and paintings, a coffin made of pure gold. But these objects were more than just beautifully crafted works of art; they shed new light on Tutankhamun world and this fabled period of history, and changed our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians had lived–transforming overnight what had been formed through centuries of history and myth.

Drawing on Highclere Castle’s archives, Lady Fiona Carnarvon pays homage to her ancestor on the 100th anniversary of this extraordinary event. In vivid and dramatic detail, she brings into focus the larger-than-life characters and lustrous settings–as well as those twists of luck and tragedies that shaped Herbert’s life. Across the early 1900s, Highclere saw no less drama than the fictional Downton Abbey, with early tragedies for the Earl and love affairs, as well highs of exorbitant wealth and trials of punishing debt. But above all there was adventure. While Herbert first went to Egypt for his health, this mysterious, romantic land would become a second home; the beloved place where he funnelled his attentions over a period of decades, never quite realising how great the fruits of his labours would prove.

Review

I was so excited to get this book and I literally started reading it as soon as I received it for Christmas. I was not disappointed. It was so good to be back reading a book by The Countess of Carnarvon, she just has a way with words and telling family history.

This book is a comprehensive history of the life of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon including of course his great discovery with Howard Carter of Tutankhamun. The book also offered so much more history which I found really interesting.

One of the sections I thoroughly enjoyed was the section during the First World War. I learnt so much from these chapters. The plight of the wounded soldiers in the war and what they had to go through was harrowing but what was most shocking was how unprepared the British government was for the amount of wounded. Learning about what Almina did during the war was also really interesting.

It was also really interesting to see how the super rich lived in Lord Carnarvon’s time, even though quite often Carnarvon couldn’t really afford these extravagances. His obsession with cars and his motoring offences were highly amusing as was his interest in planes.

Carnarvon was an interesting character who had a passion for history but wasn’t just some treasure hunter. He wanted his finds recorded and treasured for posterity. He also wanted everyone to get along and was a perfect diplomat with everyone, always calming the arguments and trying to find solutions.

I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more books by The Countess of Carnarvon. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons. A perfect first read for 2024!

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Purchase Links

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About the author

A former auditor for Coopers & Lybrand, Lady Carnarvon is the wife of George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. Today, she manages affairs at Highclere Castle, home of the worldwide television drama Downton Abbey, including overseeing its grounds and gardens and many special events such as the Egyptian Exhibition in the cellars of the Castle.

Fascinated by Highclere’s history, Lady Carnarvon has written four books. The first two are about the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb with Howard Carter in 1922. Her latest are New York Times Bestseller Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere, and Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey.