Pride of Lions

Brian Boru #2

by Morgan Llywelyn

Lion of Ireland was the breathtaking chronicle of Brian Boru, the Great King who led the bickering chiefs of Ireland to unity under his reign. He overthrew traditions, reformed society, and became the Irish Charlemagne. The Ireland of 1014 was a dream Brian Boru had dreamed and brought into being.Now, with all the fire and brilliance for which her writing is known, Morgan Llywelyn takes us there, to the battlefield where Brian died, and to Brian's fifteen-year-old son, Donough, whose mother is the voluptuous and treacherous Gormlaith, with her lust for life and power undiminished by Donough, the son who is determined to make the High Kingship of Brian Boru's Ireland his own."I know he's too young, but he's all we have left," says Fergal, and thus the boy takes his first command, on the bloody ground of Clontarf. From there he must move to establish his right to rule in Kincora and to make the kings of Ireland accept him as their High King.Yet Donough is torn--torn by his hatred for his mother and by his all-consuming passion for the beautiful pagan girl Cera, who remains beyond his reach, for the High King must have a Christian consort....

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Ireland, Fantasy, Historical, Irish Literature, Medieval

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Morgan Llywelyn (born 1937) is an American-born Irish author best known for her historical fantasy, historical fiction, and historical non-fiction. Her fiction has received several awards and has sold more than 40 million copies, and she herself is recipient of the 1999 Exceptional Celtic Woman of the Year Award from Celtic Women International.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word: AWESOME! Check out my spoiler-free book review on my BookTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx7Vx...

[Henry McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Llywelyn is excellent at making historical characters come alive as real, three dimensional people. Her diligent research flavors every page without ever being burdensome.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of prince Donnchad, "Donough" Mac Brian, son of Brian Boru.
It starts after Brian Boru's death at Clontarf, and follows his son's attempts to follow his father's path, first claiming Kinkora, Brian's palace, for himself, then fighting with his half-brother Teigue for the crown of Munster, then dreaming of the high-kingship...
which he gives up on in a weird way :-S


I feel weird to give only three stars to a Morgan Llwelyn's book. I like her books, I really do.
there is no book of hers I haven't enjoyed and this was no exception but... it just wasn't as good as the others.
I think she gives her best when she writes of mythology. Perhaps a plot based on politics and intrigues does not suit her...I don't know.
I felt this book... rushed towards the end in too fast a way. At the end the story skimmed fast forward in a way I didn't really like... I would have preferred it to slow down and tell well everything there was to tell.
The ending was the worst part. It felt... weird, unexplained and rushed.
the way which with Donough decides to give up on being high king to run away with Cera was simply weird. Like, man, that guy only had this as a life purpose and he gives up on it like this? If she wanted me to believe in this plot-point, she should have made me feel that something was happening to Donough to push him towards this change of mind!
There was also something in the characters that didn't completely win me..
First Cera. She was literally USELESS. I didn't like her, and I didn't like how every other woman was bound to be stupid and bland if confronted to her. It's like the usual "pagan is better!" trope, which honestly is rather boring. I don't understand, per say, why Driella, or Blanaid, were bound to be described as stupid or bland... I don't really know. I would have preferred to see more good women in this novel :-S Anyway, besides not liking Cera, I do also think that her storyline was rather useless (at least untill the end, where you can see what was her utility in the story but...anyway..it was badly played).
Then Donough. Kinda didn't like how Llwelyn dealt with him in the end. He makes a major change of mind, he questions everything he lived for..and it's not even properly deepened. IDK.
Gormlaith was WONDERFUL, instead. Adored her since she appeared.

[Elaine Cougler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pride of Lions was quite a good read. the author weaves history and characterizations into an engrossing plot. Great stuff!

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not my favorite Morgan Llwelyn book. There's nothing wrong with it, but it just doesn't grab me. I don't find Donnchad/Donough to be a compelling character. Nor Cera, for that matter. And for all the fuss Ms Llwelyn makes about her books being historical and well-researched, this one doesn't feel quite that way to me. Now, I don't claim to know much about any of the Borus, especially Donough, but I was under the impression that very little is factually and reliably known about him. So most of this book is fiction, I would wager. That may be why I don't particularly like the main characters.

I would much rather have read a book about Gormlaith, or Malcolm the king of Alba and Blanaid, or even Driella and Geoffrey. They all seem infintely more interesting than Donough, who came off as young, naive, silly, and a bit whiny.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a Llywelyn fan, but I always seem to keep a supply of her books around for when I've run out of things read. That is not to say this book is bad, but I am an impatient reader, and I find her books difficult to force myself to continue reading.

This one, was okay, as the 2 stars indicate. I was dismayed to learn that the character, Cera, was completely fictional! Granted, I was exasperated every time she appeared (I don't know why, I don't like pagan insertions into books, it always feels like wish fulfillment), but she was that one reason for Donough's happiness in the end. ... and she wasn't real? :( Life sucks.

The 2 stars shouldn't discourage anyone who wants to read the book. It's just that this isn't my cup of tea, but I keep reading 'em anyway.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think her books were really good when I was younger, and as I get older and read more, I like her books less and less. Or maybe, she just wanted to write a sequel to a book that was phenomenal, but the sequel just didn't live up to the original. At any rate, I thought character development in this book was virtually nonexistant. When following a character from the age of 14 or so until he is 50 or 60, there ought to be something that changes - not so with the primary character in this story. I finished it because I started it.

[Wayne Kearney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for years and am just now getting around to reading it.
I read the previous book "The Lion of Ireland" years ago in high school and loved it.
The history is well done and accurate for the most part.
The romance is kept to a controllable level and there is plenty of action and intrigue.
Her writing style makes for an easy read, but yet there is plenty of character development.
Many books either describe everything in minutia or else gloss it over so much that it's not really interesting. Morgan has a very nice balance that I would recommend.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

you Christ-men gain power by channeling man's inborn need to worship through yourselves as sole interpreters of the spirits. You erect buildings and claim they house your god--as if a god could be contained in a building. But are you not discouraging people from learning to hear voices of the otherworld for themselves? And I wonder--do they find as much joy in your roofed rituals as we do in the singing of the grass" Torccan Mac Padraic
I just love when an intolerant insular thinking individual gets put in their place.

[Teri Heyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading 'Pride of Lions' yesterday. This is an excellent sequel to 'Lion of Ireland.' Morgan Llywelyn is an awesome historical fiction author, so I'll be reading my way through all of her books. It may take me a while, but I intend to read every one.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pride of Lions suffers from the same chronological and pacing difficulties as its predecessor, but without an actually solid main character to make the read semi-enjoyable. Donough is a very one-dimensional character who grows little throughout the novel, really only transitioning from being pushed around by his mother to developing ultra-depression in the years after he pawns her off on his half-brother. Much like Donough is a pale imitation of his father, this novel is greatly overshadowed by what came before; Llywelyn also reuses many of the tropes from Lion of Ireland , but to an even lesser effect that results in Pride feeling like a cash-grab capitalizing on the success of Lion .

Unlike Lion , Pride reads less like a fictionalized amalgamation of historical sources to create a cohesive narrative, and more like fanfiction that keeps its ecclesiastical record roots at the forefront, with some sections of the text feeling like they only exist so that a portion of a primary source could be inserted verbatim for "context", or so that a cheeky Mac Beth reference could be thrown in to show the narrative's relevance to the greater historical canon of the British Isles. Once again, I also take umbrage at the continuous inclusion of explicit magic in a more "modern" story with fewer gaps to fill; the druid connection, while relevant to Ireland's greater culture and history, is seemingly used as a crutch to continually provide justification for certain events that could have just as easily and believably been chalked up to dumb luck.

One good thing I can say about Pride is that it's about 150 pages shorter than Lion , so it somewhat makes up for its shortcomings by being less of a slog to get through. I will admit that the title is also a clever bit of double entendre, but I do find myself wishing that the other prideful lions had played more of a role in the story, perhaps passing along the MC stick once in awhile so the reader could have a break from Donough.

[Andrew Pixton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one, though I don't think quite as much as its predecessor. Anything involving Celtic, Gaelic, and Norse history and mythology has me automatically. It does carry what I liked about Lion of Ireland, namely the rather real and historically accurate feel of it. I don't know exactly how accurate any of it is, most of historical fiction like this tends to take liberties mainly in filling in gaps, or going with one historical rumor/assumption over another, rather than changing what's more clearly known. But it strikes me as plausible enough, though less so the ending. It also has many interesting characters. Gormlaith is probably my favorite here and I enjoyed the Scotland voyage. Gaelic is a challenging language to deal with because even though I'm learning it, the writing and pronunciation are so different from what I'm used to that I can hear it and see it and not realize they're the same words, it's hard to look up a Gaelic name as its rules strike me as pure anarchy. But gods it's so beautiful.

[Lee Bartholomew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considering some reviews I figured I wouldn't like Donough. I never had a problem with him. He was an interesting person. As well as the fictional Druid female called Cera. Totally Morgan to put that bit in. This is the 10th Morgan Llewelyn book I've read now. Far exceeding anyone else. I see an ending coming but I still have a few more of hers to read and get. And possibly more Brian Boru. This isn't a bad book. It strives to point out that Ireland went out in a rage against itself. While she had to be in there Gormlaith I ended up hating even more than in Lion of Ireland. Apparently going out in dementia. I read Lion of Ireland in 2001, just a bit before Sept 2001 which I lost alot of love for reading. Seems only fitting to read it's sequel as my last book of the year (maybe) in the year I started to read in earnest again!

[Mike Cole]

not my favorite of Ms. Llewellyn's. Dragged on a bit though made me hate Gormlaith all the more. Might be more historical than fiction but I always like how she weaves in the druids/bards/magics and there was only a little bit in this one (I would love to read more of the life and times of Padraic!)

[Jeff Danhauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable enough story, well grounded in the actual history of 11th century Ireland, but included a couple of passages of gratuitous sex that was unnecessary to the telling of the story. Too bad.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 3rd book by Morgan. I did enjoy it. She throws in so many names, it's hard to keep track who's who. And they are hard to pronounce. But I just pronounce it my way, try to remember and move on.

[Tenika Fontana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. But not as good as the first book. The plot was just smaller, the characters less depth and complexity. There were parts, like the first wedding, that were almost comical in how over the top and dramatic they'd become. Not bad. But not as good.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the second book I read b Morgan Llewellyn.

[David Yinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatly appreciated

All my life I have thought myself part Irish...then dna tells me I’m 37% Scandinavian! Thank you Morgan Llewelyn for clearing that up for me!

[Ed St cin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful follow-up to The Lion of Ireland (which is a great read in itself)

[Natalie Shtivelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

audio

[Mayda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satisfying ending

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this one twice now and plan to read it again. Morgan Llewellyn is so engaging of a story teller you really get to know each character intimately. You see every battle, feel every sword thrust, hear the battle cry "BORU, BORU, BORU". You feel all the passion, the anger, the pain, the wonder, the excitement, the fear. She is truly gifted with words. What an intense mixture of fact and fiction resulting in a captivating book that will have you laughing and crying along with each character.

HIGHLY recommended.

[Annyaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this read. The commercial review implies hatred for mother and prohibited love for Cera as overarching themes. I don’t see it this way. They figure in but the main character needs to find his way through an ever shifting world, where not much is certain. It involves wandering, conquest, meeting a wise old man, and war. Spoiler: Ending is delightful, as if we can all breathe a sigh of relief and contentment (albeit it has been many years since I read this book).

[Gary Dolman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this book came recommended to me by my father-in-law I'm very much afraid I couldn't get to grips with it, and indeed ultimately couldn't finish it. It seemed much too bound up with the author's awe of the setting and this had the effect of making the whole thing frustratingly slow. having said that, I could see how it might appeal to others - my father-in-law included. Not for me though.

[Beverley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book almost as much as the Lion of Ireland. Donough, the young son of the great Brian Boru, the Ard Ri. He's thrown into the limelight after the death of his father and brothers, and spends his whole life trying to fill his fathers shoes. His struggles are monumental, both internal and external. I also think the Druids add color and interest to the many struggles the Irish encounter. Powerful stories.

[Penny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just hate this book. Actually I hate most books with war stories, old or contemporary. I suppose there is nothing wrong with the writting, but I just can't stand the genre. After a painful 57 pages, I gave up.

[Joan Henges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donhoughs world is heartbreaking but largely his own making..

It's a rough and untamed land but his father has set an example he feels he must live up to. And then there's his mother!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a follow up book to Lion of Ireland, it was a little disappointing. Weaker characters with not as much interest as in the first book. Brian Boru was a much stronger and dynamic character. It was just OK.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read other Llywelyn books and loved them. I read this one, but as a sequel, it just wasn't the same. I'm not fond of sequels. The book was fine, but it could have been better.