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Heron #4
The Lodestar
For Christie Heron, ruthless ambition is the lodestar of his destiny. Determined to break free from his humble origins in the border country of Northumbria, he enlists in the household of Richard of Gloucester, rising with his lord to the dangerous pinnacles of power.
Tangled in Richard's web of treason and tragedy, Christie learns the full price that his destiny demands, Meg his beloved sister and only friend, rejects him. Julian, daughter of a knight of Oxfordshire, bears him undying enmity.
And the long shadow of the Welsh adventurer Henry Tudor falls dark over Bosworth Field....
Tangled in Richard's web of treason and tragedy, Christie learns the full price that his destiny demands, Meg his beloved sister and only friend, rejects him. Julian, daughter of a knight of Oxfordshire, bears him undying enmity.
And the long shadow of the Welsh adventurer Henry Tudor falls dark over Bosworth Field....
533 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1987
93 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Pamela Belle
19 books80 followersBelle, who also writes contemporary fiction as Alice Marlow, always wanted to be an author. As a child the books she read were adventure stories like "Treasure Island," "Swallows and Amazons," and the novels of John Buchan and CS Forester. She wrote her first book at the age of twelve and having visited the site of a lovely Elizabethan manor house called Rushbrooke and observing the bare, moated island which was all that was left, she wanted to bring Rushbrooke back and chose to do so in print.
Over the next few years 'The Epic', as it became known, grew and grew. Belle drew up a huge family tree and a plan of the house very like Rushbrooke.
Married and a teacher of a class of six-year-olds, she wrote in longhand and, while publishers made encouraging noises, no one was prepared to risk publishing a large book by an unknown author. Eventually the agent Vivienne Schuster was wonderfully enthusiastic about it and found a publisher.
"The Moon in the Water" and its two sequels were published in the UK and the USA with considerable success. Belle gave up teaching in 1985 to spend more time researching and writing. She plans to write a book about Alfred the Great if she can fit it in between looking after the children, dogs, cats and husband.
Over the next few years 'The Epic', as it became known, grew and grew. Belle drew up a huge family tree and a plan of the house very like Rushbrooke.
Married and a teacher of a class of six-year-olds, she wrote in longhand and, while publishers made encouraging noises, no one was prepared to risk publishing a large book by an unknown author. Eventually the agent Vivienne Schuster was wonderfully enthusiastic about it and found a publisher.
"The Moon in the Water" and its two sequels were published in the UK and the USA with considerable success. Belle gave up teaching in 1985 to spend more time researching and writing. She plans to write a book about Alfred the Great if she can fit it in between looking after the children, dogs, cats and husband.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 16, 2009
Christopher Heron breaks ties with his Northumbrian family (except for his beloved sister Meg) and sets his lodestar on gaining service in the household of Richard Duke of Gloucester. Christopher's skills as a knight and lutist, as well as being circumspect when needed raise him higher than he'd dreamed possible - although when his sister Meg desperately needs him he forgets the vow he made to come to her whenever and wherever she needed him - and forever earns her enmity. Christopher finds himself in the thick of things as intrigue and treachery abound in the aftermath of the death of Edward IV - one attempt has already been made on the life of the young princes - can they be brought to safety? Once Richard takes the crown, peace comes to England for a time and Christopher is offered a wealthy heiress as his bride - albeit one spoiled by a doting father who despises Christopher. Can they surmount the odds and find happiness? Will they survive the invasion of That-Upstart-Henry Tudor in the aftermath of the Battle of Bosworth Field?
I have to say I enjoyed this novel a great deal, and found it quite refreshing from most of what we're getting on this period from today's latest and *cough* greatest historical fiction writers. No sanctified Richard and Anne nor evil, grasping Woodvilles here, nor too many "tis", "certes" or "woe" is me, just well-balanced, nicely rounded characters. I very much enjoyed watching Christopher develop as his priorities grew and changed and he realizes what matter most - the love of one's family. I have to say though, a favorite character was Christopher's servant Perkin who he rescued as a thieving street urchin, and I really enjoyed his antics and street wise resourcefulness. Their first meeting and his subsequent bath - priceless.
All in all a well-rounded entertaining read and definitely recommended for die-hard Ricardians and it includes an interesting and believable take on the fate of the Princes in the Tower. The middle part got a tad bit slow and I almost gave it four stars, but once events began leading to the final battle it aftermath I didn't come up for air until the end. That said, the be-all to end-all novel on Richard III is still Penman's fabulous The Sunne In Splendour: A Novel of Richard III. I know the size of it is intimidating but it's well worth it.
August 8, 2009
I love Pamela Belle's books but suggest any new reader begin with Wintercombe if you can find it via Interlibrary Loan.
For those who don't know, I am a staunch Yorkist and detest that upstart Henry Tudor. . .
For those who don't know, I am a staunch Yorkist and detest that upstart Henry Tudor. . .
December 3, 2011
Another different version on Richard III's story and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Edward IV's sons - The Princes in the Tower. Through Christie Heron saga, the author shows how this famous and still unsolved mystery could have being solved.
I have already read some books on this intriguing and interesting story and I really enjoyed the way Pamela Belle tells her story based on her own historical research. A few authors, like Sharon Kay Penman, and now Pamella Belle as well, were able to shown Richard III as a normal human being.
Even if this book is stated here at Goodreads as part of Heron’s saga, it can be read stand-alone without compromising the whole story.
I have already read some books on this intriguing and interesting story and I really enjoyed the way Pamela Belle tells her story based on her own historical research. A few authors, like Sharon Kay Penman, and now Pamella Belle as well, were able to shown Richard III as a normal human being.
Even if this book is stated here at Goodreads as part of Heron’s saga, it can be read stand-alone without compromising the whole story.
August 13, 2017
I would have given this book three and a half stars if possible. Three stars would have given the impression that I didn’t much care for it, which isn’t true. But I really didn’t care for it enough that giving it four stars is completely honest, either.
On the up side, I did like Christie, and Perkins, his servant. Both are well-rounded characters, neither saints, though maybe a bit of sinners. And I enjoyed seeing Richard of Gloucester, later Richard III, through another’s eyes. The book was obviously well researched.
On the down side, the two main female characters, Christie’s sister, Meg, and Julian, the knight’s daughter, are both pieces of work. I don’t remember the last time I ran across two characters whose minds changed like the weather, making both characters hard to like. I never did understand Christie’s love for either of them (and telling of his love for Julian is no spoiler, since the minute she’s referenced the reader knows exactly what’s going to happen.)
And I think the book could have been slightly shorter, as much of it is taken up with Meg and Julian’s changes of mind. Or heart. It got a bit tedious after awhile.
On the up side, I did like Christie, and Perkins, his servant. Both are well-rounded characters, neither saints, though maybe a bit of sinners. And I enjoyed seeing Richard of Gloucester, later Richard III, through another’s eyes. The book was obviously well researched.
On the down side, the two main female characters, Christie’s sister, Meg, and Julian, the knight’s daughter, are both pieces of work. I don’t remember the last time I ran across two characters whose minds changed like the weather, making both characters hard to like. I never did understand Christie’s love for either of them (and telling of his love for Julian is no spoiler, since the minute she’s referenced the reader knows exactly what’s going to happen.)
And I think the book could have been slightly shorter, as much of it is taken up with Meg and Julian’s changes of mind. Or heart. It got a bit tedious after awhile.
September 30, 2020
Christie Heron and his sister Meg have Percy blood through their mother who was the bastard daughter of the third Earl of Northumberland. The late earl and his wife were both fond of the girl so that following their mother’s death they were raised in the luxury of the most powerful household in the north. They are intelligent, cultured, and talented musically. Christie has even been trained as a lawyer and anticipates a bright future. However, Christie and Meg are called back to their father’s remote estate, and both seek in their own way to escape this coarse, petty uncultured world. Despite Christie’s warnings that she would be exchanging one prison for another, the headstrong Meg is going to marry a Percy retainer, the much older Sir Robert Drakelon, who promises to show her the bright lights of Middleham, York, and Westminster. Christie plans to take service with the true power in the North, Richard of Gloucester, realizing that he will need men for the upcoming Scottish campaign. Before leaving for Middleham, he vows that he will come to Meg’s aid whenever she asks.
On his way to Middleham, Christie comes across a thieving street urchin, Perkin Hobbs, and decides to make him his servant. (Perkin does play an important part in the story thereafter, and is an entertaining character.) Christie does enter service with Duke Richard and rises rapidly. He sees action in the Scottish campaign where he saves the life of an older knight Sir Thomas Bray. At this time he receives an urgent message for help from his sister Meg whose marriage has quickly turned sour. She is pregnant and in the care of a sister-in-law whom she suspects of poisoning her so that she will not bear an heir to displace the latter’s own son. Christie brushes off her fears as the strange fancies of a pregnant woman. Besides, the army is marching into Scotland on the morrow and it would be foolish to forfeit the good will and favor that he has won from the Duke. Meg will understand and he will go to see her in a few weeks.
Meg did not understand. She miscarried and has been confined as a madwoman. When Christie arrives, she angrily tells him that she now realizes she is worth less than his towering ambition. He has earned her implacable enmity.
About the same time, he visits the home of his friend Sir Thomas Bray and meets his spoiled young daughter Julian. Julian is a gifted lutenist and singer, and the apple of her father’s eye. But to her mother (Dame Alice, a Clifford and unrepentant Lancastrian) she can do nothing right and she suffers verbal and physical lashings from this harridan. Julian throws tantrums when Christie tries to give her musical instruction, and they become enemies. The reader can guess where this is going.
After this the events move fairly swiftly as King Edward IV dies and Christie accompanies Duke Richard on his way south to conduct the new young king to London. Christie is assigned as an attendant to the new king and becomes involved in his and his brother Dickon’s fate. When Duke Richard assumes the throne, Christie and Perkin’s innkeeper mother, Cis (NB: “Voice of the common people") discuss the Eleanor Talbot matter and both conclude that they believe the plight troth took place, but ever after Richard is described as a usurper who should not have taken the throne—and probably wouldn’t have if the heir had been the bright, charismatic Dickon rather than the sickly and sulky Edward.
Immediately after the coronation, rumors circulate that the princes in the tower have been murdered by their evil uncle Richard. Sir Thomas Bray egged on by his Lancastrian wife and his daughter Julian take part in Buckingham’s rebellion. Bray dies of natural causes, and Richard offers his estates to Christie if he is willing to marry that giantess (so described by Lovell) Julian. He agrees and Julian is forced to consent after a whipping or two or three from her mother. When Julian comes to court she becomes best buds with Elizabeth of York and a favorite of the Queen. She also discovers she likes sex with Christie, but still hates him—well, she thinks she does. Drakelon shows up with the unhappy Meg who now knows that all her husband is interested in is an heir—as well as some kinky sex. Wanting revenge Meg throws a monkey wrench into the budding love between Christie and Julian by tellling Julian of Christie’s broken vow.
Bosworth. Christie is in Richard’s company of household knights, and is severely wounded. He is sent to the Tower where evil old Drakelon is the Constable. A pregnant Julian shows up and pleads with the new king to save her husband. The sweating sickness conveniently claims the lives of the baddies Drakelon and Dame Alice. Meanwhile—and after a talking to from Perkin—Meg regrets her decision to try ruin Christie and Julian’s lives. Happy ending.
The evolutions of both Christie and Julian are well done. Christie begins as a hard, pragmatic and essentially unsentimental soul. He vowed to give “his true loyalty to no man, save only to himself and the burning ambition that was like a bright lodestar in his mind, but his respect and admiration for the Duke had grown so gradually, so imperceptibly that he had barely notice the process of binding until now; when the realization came to him quite suddenly that this man, diffident, quiet, thorough, essentially honest and fair-minded, was one he could would follow loyally, always.” In the end, his lodestar becomes Julian and the love of family.
Julian’s maturation was also believable. She was big, tall, gawky, not really beautiful. She felt herself unloved. She was a child who had no regard for other beings, but she gradually changes until she finds some inner strength and pleads for her husband’s life.
Richard was not the focus of the story, but there were a few effective scenes with him. Despite the constant references to him as a “usurper” he was favorably portrayed, and his legal reforms were pointed out.
The only reason I haven’t given this book 5 stars is that it really drags in the middle. Julian and Meg seem a bit too implacable in their hatred, and Dickon seems too good to be true. Otherwise, it is a very enjoyable and entertaining book. A solid 4 stars.
On his way to Middleham, Christie comes across a thieving street urchin, Perkin Hobbs, and decides to make him his servant. (Perkin does play an important part in the story thereafter, and is an entertaining character.) Christie does enter service with Duke Richard and rises rapidly. He sees action in the Scottish campaign where he saves the life of an older knight Sir Thomas Bray. At this time he receives an urgent message for help from his sister Meg whose marriage has quickly turned sour. She is pregnant and in the care of a sister-in-law whom she suspects of poisoning her so that she will not bear an heir to displace the latter’s own son. Christie brushes off her fears as the strange fancies of a pregnant woman. Besides, the army is marching into Scotland on the morrow and it would be foolish to forfeit the good will and favor that he has won from the Duke. Meg will understand and he will go to see her in a few weeks.
Meg did not understand. She miscarried and has been confined as a madwoman. When Christie arrives, she angrily tells him that she now realizes she is worth less than his towering ambition. He has earned her implacable enmity.
About the same time, he visits the home of his friend Sir Thomas Bray and meets his spoiled young daughter Julian. Julian is a gifted lutenist and singer, and the apple of her father’s eye. But to her mother (Dame Alice, a Clifford and unrepentant Lancastrian) she can do nothing right and she suffers verbal and physical lashings from this harridan. Julian throws tantrums when Christie tries to give her musical instruction, and they become enemies. The reader can guess where this is going.
After this the events move fairly swiftly as King Edward IV dies and Christie accompanies Duke Richard on his way south to conduct the new young king to London. Christie is assigned as an attendant to the new king and becomes involved in his and his brother Dickon’s fate. When Duke Richard assumes the throne, Christie and Perkin’s innkeeper mother, Cis (NB: “Voice of the common people") discuss the Eleanor Talbot matter and both conclude that they believe the plight troth took place, but ever after Richard is described as a usurper who should not have taken the throne—and probably wouldn’t have if the heir had been the bright, charismatic Dickon rather than the sickly and sulky Edward.
Immediately after the coronation, rumors circulate that the princes in the tower have been murdered by their evil uncle Richard. Sir Thomas Bray egged on by his Lancastrian wife and his daughter Julian take part in Buckingham’s rebellion. Bray dies of natural causes, and Richard offers his estates to Christie if he is willing to marry that giantess (so described by Lovell) Julian. He agrees and Julian is forced to consent after a whipping or two or three from her mother. When Julian comes to court she becomes best buds with Elizabeth of York and a favorite of the Queen. She also discovers she likes sex with Christie, but still hates him—well, she thinks she does. Drakelon shows up with the unhappy Meg who now knows that all her husband is interested in is an heir—as well as some kinky sex. Wanting revenge Meg throws a monkey wrench into the budding love between Christie and Julian by tellling Julian of Christie’s broken vow.
Bosworth. Christie is in Richard’s company of household knights, and is severely wounded. He is sent to the Tower where evil old Drakelon is the Constable. A pregnant Julian shows up and pleads with the new king to save her husband. The sweating sickness conveniently claims the lives of the baddies Drakelon and Dame Alice. Meanwhile—and after a talking to from Perkin—Meg regrets her decision to try ruin Christie and Julian’s lives. Happy ending.
The evolutions of both Christie and Julian are well done. Christie begins as a hard, pragmatic and essentially unsentimental soul. He vowed to give “his true loyalty to no man, save only to himself and the burning ambition that was like a bright lodestar in his mind, but his respect and admiration for the Duke had grown so gradually, so imperceptibly that he had barely notice the process of binding until now; when the realization came to him quite suddenly that this man, diffident, quiet, thorough, essentially honest and fair-minded, was one he could would follow loyally, always.” In the end, his lodestar becomes Julian and the love of family.
Julian’s maturation was also believable. She was big, tall, gawky, not really beautiful. She felt herself unloved. She was a child who had no regard for other beings, but she gradually changes until she finds some inner strength and pleads for her husband’s life.
Richard was not the focus of the story, but there were a few effective scenes with him. Despite the constant references to him as a “usurper” he was favorably portrayed, and his legal reforms were pointed out.
The only reason I haven’t given this book 5 stars is that it really drags in the middle. Julian and Meg seem a bit too implacable in their hatred, and Dickon seems too good to be true. Otherwise, it is a very enjoyable and entertaining book. A solid 4 stars.
February 5, 2015
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2025
I enjoyed this prequel to the Heron series. But the gap between this one and the others is too long to bridge. The characters were well drawn and the places. The main story of King Richard and the princes in the tower was dealt with plausibly.
February 6, 2008
I'm a sucker for anything about Richard III. This is a very in depth look at the various factions of the last Plantagenet rule, a veritible soap opera of marriage and betrayal and affairs . . . all of them true. The main characters are actually fictional, a man who supports Richard and his wife, whose family does not. But the historical figures are amazingly well drawn and it's a fascinating book.
May 24, 2017
It never did Christopher/ Christie any good to threaten, cajole, bribe or blackmail Christie’s sister Meg. Yet Meg was the only person who could disturb his own habitual self control. Meg said she might die of melancholy here, the boredom of sewing , cooking, having to obey Elizabeth, listening to her father ramble on about Scots and harvest, and his horses . and all the people he thinks has done him wrong. Sooner or later Meg would say something to Elizabeth. So Meg did want to marry Sir robert Drakelon. But Christie wanted his sister to marry someone other than Sir Robert. He felt that if Meg married Sir Robert she would be trading one prison for another. Robert had told meg they would travel some. Meg wants to see London, maybe dance at court, She wanted to be merry and laugh and have intelligent conversation with intelligent cultured people. Also she feels her dower isn’t the only reason Robert is interested in her for. Meg had always been Christa’s closest friend and then she asked Christie if he would play for her as he had a real gift. Christie would play for her. Christie did play the lute for her and they sang together then he told her that if she ever needed him no matter where either of them were . was he would come to her. A boy of sixteen was trying to rob Christie but he stopped the boy and Christie decided to teach the boy to be his servant much to the young man’s - Perkin Hobbs- gratitude. Christopher wants to be in the Duke of Gloucester’s Army. Christopher does end up with the Duke and his skills as a knight and becomes a service to the Duke. When Meg is pregnant and has fear for her and her child’s life, she calls Christie for help but he forgot his vow and did not go to help his sister. Christopher support the Duke and his wife Ann who becomes King Richard the Third. Then Christopher was offered a spoiled heiress- Jillian Bray.
I liked this story but not a lot. It dragged at times. It also felt the book didn’t come together for me. I loved how Christie and Meg were so close in the beginning but I was really disappointed when Christie didn’t keep his vow to Meg. I know he was advancing his career but Meg was fearful for her and her child’s life. Where did all that love for his sister go? How could Christopher forget his vow so easily? I didn’t like his character much after that. This was a very long story. I did like Perkins a lot with his street smarts and antics. I did like some of the characters and most of the ins and outs of this story.
I liked this story but not a lot. It dragged at times. It also felt the book didn’t come together for me. I loved how Christie and Meg were so close in the beginning but I was really disappointed when Christie didn’t keep his vow to Meg. I know he was advancing his career but Meg was fearful for her and her child’s life. Where did all that love for his sister go? How could Christopher forget his vow so easily? I didn’t like his character much after that. This was a very long story. I did like Perkins a lot with his street smarts and antics. I did like some of the characters and most of the ins and outs of this story.
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August 15, 2025Book 4 of the Heron Saga, but in truth, the prequel.
If you have not already read books 1 - 3, please read this first.
It tells the story of how, and why, Richard III took the throne of England when his (probably half-) brother, Edward IV, father of the little princes in the Tower, died quite suddenly.
Shakespeare's well known play, Richard III, was written when Elizabeth I, granddaughter of Henry Tudor was queen. That was not the time to write that Richard was a good, just king. The play has blackened Richard's name for over 500 years. And of course history is written, always , by the victors. There is much evidence that he was, in truth, a good King m certainly better than his brother who allowed his wife's numerous Woodville family to grab titles and wealth all over England, to the great detriment of the people.
That is the background to this story of a very tangled romance, a horrific childhood, and good people led astray by circumstance and the malice of others.
The writing is first class, the fictional characters entirely believable, and the historical characters are brought to life.
Highly recommended.
If you have not already read books 1 - 3, please read this first.
It tells the story of how, and why, Richard III took the throne of England when his (probably half-) brother, Edward IV, father of the little princes in the Tower, died quite suddenly.
Shakespeare's well known play, Richard III, was written when Elizabeth I, granddaughter of Henry Tudor was queen. That was not the time to write that Richard was a good, just king. The play has blackened Richard's name for over 500 years. And of course history is written, always , by the victors. There is much evidence that he was, in truth, a good King m certainly better than his brother who allowed his wife's numerous Woodville family to grab titles and wealth all over England, to the great detriment of the people.
That is the background to this story of a very tangled romance, a horrific childhood, and good people led astray by circumstance and the malice of others.
The writing is first class, the fictional characters entirely believable, and the historical characters are brought to life.
Highly recommended.
March 13, 2021
I wouldn’t have read this book had I not read comments about it on the Richard III Society’s FB page. Having read much about Richard and his older brother, Edward IV, I was interested in a different theory of the fate of the princes. This book re-awakened my Ricardian interest.
September 20, 2025
Pamela Bella's Historic Epic Quartet on the Heron Family
I totally enjoyed all four books about the Heron family. Pamela Belle does a marvelous job of not only telling a griping story but also weaving in the history of the time period.
I totally enjoyed all four books about the Heron family. Pamela Belle does a marvelous job of not only telling a griping story but also weaving in the history of the time period.
August 22, 2020
Richard III, princes in the Tower, Henry VII - a little different twist on history. Interesting.
did-not-finish-or-start
July 14, 2021DNS 7/14/2021
December 29, 2025
I found this historical novel to be very well done, inserting Belle's characters into history and making a great story. I would love to see these novels developed into a TV Miniseries!
January 26, 2017
When Christopher Heron’s favourite and much loved sister, Meg, marries Sir Robert Drakelon, against her family’s wishes, Christie makes a vow to be there for her whenever she needs him.
Meg’s dreams of an idyllic married life are shattered almost immediately. Innocent and naïve, she accepts the ways of her husband and soon falls pregnant. Sir Drakelon is overjoyed, and employs the help of his sister to take care of Meg in his absence. But this is bad news for Meg and it soon becomes apparent just how dangerous the situation is for both herself and her unborn child. Meg begs Christie for help but he’s caught up with furthering his career & thinks it’s Meg’s pregnancy that’s affecting her.
The Lodestar is a prequel of sorts to Belle's English Civil War series about the Heron family, set during the War of the Roses. Christie Heron is a minor gentleman who goes into the service of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is later, of course, King Richard III. Christie's story intertwines with Richard's until the climactic Battle of Bosworth.
Another well written novel by the author, the characters are well portrayed & the pace of the story overall is very good, it does slow at times but in a novel of nearly 600 pages that’s only to be expected. I’d recommend this book along with the other Heron novels especially if you love Plantagenet / Tudor / Stuart history. The theory about Richard, Henry & the young princes is different but plausible, will it ever be solved? But as Richard’s body has been found & now rests in Leicester (should have been York), then never say never. Although a novel it is interlaced with historical facts & it had me engrossed.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book
Meg’s dreams of an idyllic married life are shattered almost immediately. Innocent and naïve, she accepts the ways of her husband and soon falls pregnant. Sir Drakelon is overjoyed, and employs the help of his sister to take care of Meg in his absence. But this is bad news for Meg and it soon becomes apparent just how dangerous the situation is for both herself and her unborn child. Meg begs Christie for help but he’s caught up with furthering his career & thinks it’s Meg’s pregnancy that’s affecting her.
The Lodestar is a prequel of sorts to Belle's English Civil War series about the Heron family, set during the War of the Roses. Christie Heron is a minor gentleman who goes into the service of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is later, of course, King Richard III. Christie's story intertwines with Richard's until the climactic Battle of Bosworth.
Another well written novel by the author, the characters are well portrayed & the pace of the story overall is very good, it does slow at times but in a novel of nearly 600 pages that’s only to be expected. I’d recommend this book along with the other Heron novels especially if you love Plantagenet / Tudor / Stuart history. The theory about Richard, Henry & the young princes is different but plausible, will it ever be solved? But as Richard’s body has been found & now rests in Leicester (should have been York), then never say never. Although a novel it is interlaced with historical facts & it had me engrossed.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book
August 28, 2010
The first two books in this series have always been favorites of mine, but it took me a long time to read Lodestar. I could never get very far, for some reason. When I finally did manage to get into it, I really loved it. I want to shake some of the characters sometimes, but I really like Kit Heron. He reminds me a lot of Frances from Moon on the Water. Sometimes the politics got to be a little much for me, but now I've developed somewhat of an interest in the court drama. There were a few typos, and the book could have used a little bit more proofreading, but it was very well written. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who liked the rest of the series. (Though it works well as a stand alone novel too, I think.)
April 9, 2025
The Lodestar is a prequel of sorts to Belle's English Civil War series about the Heron family, set during the last years of the Wars of the Roses. Christie Heron is a minor gentleman who goes into the service of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is later, of course, to become King Richard III. Christie's story intertwines with Richard's until the climactic Battle of Bosworth, when Richard is defeated by Henry Tudor. As always with Belle, the characters are lively and the historical details convincing, but somehow the dual focus (on Christie's personal battles and on Richard's political ones) didn't quite mesh for me.
December 11, 2017
I am surprised about life about Richard III or Lancaster ; the King of Plantagenet. His plans to get his power and remove Edward IV as heir; wants to give it one of his royal service chamberlains. I read how his children wanted to be treated at the Tower and they was going to be poisoning. but Sir james saved their lives from poison and it makes me very happy that they are safe and people who cares of those children, brought them to safe place: Chrisite and Dame Tyrell-his service. Kids called him "Christopher Heron"-his is the key of the book-and Lodestar-for those people-who are closed to him.
October 16, 2024
If you're interested in the period of Richard III and the Wars of the Roses, this is a recommended read. The historical setting is brought to life, and the characters, both fictional and real are written well. I haven't read the others in this series, but it seems this one can be read first which is what I did. It seems the characters in this are ancestors of the characters in the three previous books.
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January 24, 2016I love this period in history but the ficitonal protagonist just didn't do it for me. After reading a hundred pages I'm going to have to send this one back to the library.
April 21, 2021
Richard III period -- my favorite
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews