From the author of the international best-selling Tudor Trilogy:Handsome, charismatic and a champion jouster, Sir Charles Brandon is the epitome of a Tudor Knight. A favourite of King Henry VIII, Brandon has a secret. He has fallen in love with Henry’s sister, Mary Tudor, the beautiful widowed Queen of France, and risks everything to marry her without the King’s consent.Brandon becomes Duke of … becomes Duke of Suffolk, but his loyalty is tested fighting Henry’s wars in France. Mary’s public support for Queen Catherine of Aragon brings Brandon into dangerous conflict with the ambitious Boleyn family and the king’s new right-hand man, Thomas Cromwell.
Torn between duty to his family and loyalty to the king, Brandon faces an impossible decision: can he accept Anne Boleyn as his new queen?
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Take a trip back to the dazzling Tudor court of Henry VIII. Known for its larger than life characters, Tony Riches’ ‘Brandon’ vividly brings to life one of its most well-known examples. Skilfully told, with great attention to detail, Riches captures the essence of the man: exhuberant, daring, honourable, brave, dashing. Let’s face it, you needed to be pretty daring to sneak off with the King’s sister and marry her without royal permission! Riches expertly guides us through the fall out from this deed and the high price Brandon and Mary had to pay. Riches delivers a novel that is accurate, exciting and leaves you with a very strong impression of Charles Brandon, the man.
This is #2 in a three-book Tudor series about Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and close friend of King Henry VIII.
I guess this series is NOT intended to be read consecutively. Because it appears wholesale chunks of copy have simply been lifted from #1 and stuck into #2. The only other time I had that experience was when I read a bunch of historical fiction by Jean Plaidy.
While I understand that when an author has worked hard to research and describe events — it’s tempting to repeat those chunks of narrative when you write about the same events in the future. But, personally, I felt a bit cheated, having to re-read material I had just been through in book #1.
I also have the same complaint with #2 as I referenced in my review of #1 (though I WILL NOT repeat what I wrote word-for-word in THAT review – for obvious reasons). Riches’ writing is more a recitation of facts and events, with little emotional content or insight into the motivations of these historical figures.
I do plan to read book #3 about Charles’ last wife – Katherine Willoughby. I’m hoping that since she and Charles were only married a few years before his death, this will be more a story about Katherine’s life — with fewer options to cut and paste.
My Advice: I think this series, if read, would be more enjoyable if the reader lets some time elapse between novels.
Holy Tudors, Batman! This book was fantastic!
I’ve read a lot of Tudor fiction, especially on Henry VIII, so I’ve become quite familiar with Charles but I feel like I have a better grasp on him thanks to author Tony Riches. If you haven’t read Tony before, his books all feature the Tudors so he is an epxert on the family. And that comes across when you are reading – his knowledge on the times, the people, the politics is top level. I swear, I don’t know how he keeps the branches on this ginormous family tree straight in his head! All the Henrys, and the Catherines, and the Williams..it’s enough to make one’s head spin! But Tony manages to make it not so confusing to the readers.
Charles Brandon was a close confidante of Henry VIII’s despite the ups and downs of their friendship, and even after Charles married Henry’s sister Mary without his approval or knowledge. In the book we follow Charles’ life, his marriages, and his career in Henry’s court. We also get a front seat to Henry VIII’s rise to the crown, his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Anne Bolyen, and Jane Seymour.
The sights, smells, grit, and beauty of the Tudor times is brought to glorious life in Brandon-Tudor Knight! I absolutely loved being back with Charles and Henry and Mary, and I can’t wait to read more from Tony. I’ve heard other bloggers rave about his books and now I see what they are talking about. Thankfully Tony has quite a backlist, so I’m excited to get started with the rest of the books.
Brandon – Tudor Knight is the first book I have read by Tony Riches. Mr Riches has obviously did extensive research to write this book. I felt like I was transported in time living by Sir Charles Brandon. I did not realize he was such a fascinating character during the Tudor dynasty. I kept finding myself wanting to find out if certain scenes really happened.
I am giving Brandon – Tudor Knight a well deserved five plus stars. I loved it so much, I read the rest of the author’s books in just a few weeks. I can not wait to find out who he will be writing about next. I highly recommend this book, especially readers who love the Tudor era.