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The Queen of the North #1
The Empty Throne
“A real page turner, perhaps the best yet from Collins.” Claire Harris
A gripping new take on a secret medieval romance treasure hidden in Arthurian legend
Old King Uther is dying. Morgawse’s greedy and ambitious husband Lot plans to take over and seize the crown. But a strange young boy is found claiming to be the rightful heir to the throne. Overwhelmed with anger, Lot sends Morgawse to the court at Camelot to spy on young Arthur.
As Morgawse gets more and more involved with Arthur she doesn’t realise the dangerous path she is treading.
Morgawse enjoys herself in the elaborate banquets in the great hall, the music and the dancing, and her new found freedom. She hates the old King Uther, but she is glad at the brief opportunity to get away from her capricious husband. A relationship with Arthur quickly develops, despite the risks. Morgawse senses a chance at a better life in Camelot. But the thought of her sons back in Lothian Castle troubles her. And then her mother Igraine arrives in Camelot with some deeply shocking news.
Whilst young King Arthur must prove himself if he is to defend his kingdom and secure lasting peace in the realm, Morgawse must stay strong and defiant.
“I could not put this book down. I cannot wait for the next in the series” Richard Ellis, Glastonbury
THE EMPTY THRONE is the first title in Morgawse, The Queen of the North Trilogy by best-selling historical romance and fantasy author Lavinia Collins. In this extraordinary retelling of the cherished King Arthur tales, follow the tenacious Morgawse on her journey through the intense and fascinating medieval world of jealousy, love, war and witchcraft.
“An absolutely stunning book, completely blew me away. I demand more!” Ruth Rankin
Lavinia Collins is the author of two other epic chronicles of women in Arthurian legend. Check out her GUINEVERE and MORGAN trilogies, both available as single editions on kindle, and in collected versions on kindle and in paperback.
A gripping new take on a secret medieval romance treasure hidden in Arthurian legend
Old King Uther is dying. Morgawse’s greedy and ambitious husband Lot plans to take over and seize the crown. But a strange young boy is found claiming to be the rightful heir to the throne. Overwhelmed with anger, Lot sends Morgawse to the court at Camelot to spy on young Arthur.
As Morgawse gets more and more involved with Arthur she doesn’t realise the dangerous path she is treading.
Morgawse enjoys herself in the elaborate banquets in the great hall, the music and the dancing, and her new found freedom. She hates the old King Uther, but she is glad at the brief opportunity to get away from her capricious husband. A relationship with Arthur quickly develops, despite the risks. Morgawse senses a chance at a better life in Camelot. But the thought of her sons back in Lothian Castle troubles her. And then her mother Igraine arrives in Camelot with some deeply shocking news.
Whilst young King Arthur must prove himself if he is to defend his kingdom and secure lasting peace in the realm, Morgawse must stay strong and defiant.
“I could not put this book down. I cannot wait for the next in the series” Richard Ellis, Glastonbury
THE EMPTY THRONE is the first title in Morgawse, The Queen of the North Trilogy by best-selling historical romance and fantasy author Lavinia Collins. In this extraordinary retelling of the cherished King Arthur tales, follow the tenacious Morgawse on her journey through the intense and fascinating medieval world of jealousy, love, war and witchcraft.
“An absolutely stunning book, completely blew me away. I demand more!” Ruth Rankin
Lavinia Collins is the author of two other epic chronicles of women in Arthurian legend. Check out her GUINEVERE and MORGAN trilogies, both available as single editions on kindle, and in collected versions on kindle and in paperback.
152 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 5, 2016
29 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Lavinia Collins
19 books82 followersAuthor, feminist, fantasist and chronic daydreamer Lavinia Collins grew up in the rural Westcountry, where there was nothing to do but get lost in her own imagination. She began her love affair with all things medieval when she visited Tintagel castle as a little child. She went on to study medieval literature at University, where she indulged her habit of getting lost in an imaginary past by studying medieval Literature. While there she learned everything about chivalry in theory, and almost nothing in practice. She wanted to share just a little bit of the powerful magic of medieval literature and legend with the wider world, and bring these half-lost stories to a modern audience, to recover the most of all the stories of the women of these legends, who often get lost among all of the tales of heroes and battles. She hopes that you find reading her books as much of a romantic, immersive escape from the “real world” as she did writing them. Now she splits her time between her main passion, writing, and a bit of teaching and a lot of fussing the cat and daydreaming. She loves eating (mainly chocolate), drinking (mainly wine) and being merry (combination of the previous two and good friends).
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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March 13, 2016
This is a wonderfully descriptive tale of Arthurian days from the perspective of Morgawse. I first read the Guinevere series, followed by Morgan's view. I had my opinion of Morgawse but, as in real life, there are just more dimensions. I was so pleased to find out my opinion was too shallow! I can already tell that I will have to re-read the first series - a sign of a book that stays with you.
March 4, 2024
The author could have done much more with this book. Where was the husband for such a long time? Why wasn't he investigating why his wife wasn't writing him? Let's not even mention that very strange ending.
June 17, 2019
Tremendous read
Never read a book like one. Didn't like the way they kept going back and forth. Good story in all Diane De Moulin
Never read a book like one. Didn't like the way they kept going back and forth. Good story in all Diane De Moulin
June 12, 2020
Everything you could want and expect from a medieval romance - good pace plenty of bad guys
August 15, 2021
DNF. Got to 41% and lost the will to go on.
August 11, 2021
This one is a retelling of common Arthurian lore, and focuses on Morgawse, a queen of a northern kingdom trapped in an abusive and unhappy marriage. While this is a more unique viewpoint for Arthurian stories, I felt that this was an otherwise rather unoriginal take on the material. And unfortunately predictable; if you know your Arthurian basics, you know the plot already.
Morgawse is Uther’s stepdaughter by marriage; after Uther kills her father in battle, her mother marries the new king. Morgawse is designed to be a strong, assertive character, and while she has her moments, she’s also very short sighted and impulsive, and not as powerful as I hoped she would be. The rest of the cast is similarly disappointing in their development. Her sister Morgan is stiff and seems to do little more than complain. Arthur is just plain; there’s no hint of the great and incredible king he should be.
It’s no spoiler to tell you she ends up in a romantic and sexual relationship with young King Arthur; the synposis and quote from traditional Arthurian texts tells you itself. This book felt like it was targeted for an adult audience, but the sex scenes in it are not very explicit and pretty bland. It was kinda disappointing.
Overall, this was a disappointment for me, and while it’s the first book in a series, and also has a spinoff about Morgan, I have absolutely no interest in continuing it.
2.5
Morgawse is Uther’s stepdaughter by marriage; after Uther kills her father in battle, her mother marries the new king. Morgawse is designed to be a strong, assertive character, and while she has her moments, she’s also very short sighted and impulsive, and not as powerful as I hoped she would be. The rest of the cast is similarly disappointing in their development. Her sister Morgan is stiff and seems to do little more than complain. Arthur is just plain; there’s no hint of the great and incredible king he should be.
It’s no spoiler to tell you she ends up in a romantic and sexual relationship with young King Arthur; the synposis and quote from traditional Arthurian texts tells you itself. This book felt like it was targeted for an adult audience, but the sex scenes in it are not very explicit and pretty bland. It was kinda disappointing.
Overall, this was a disappointment for me, and while it’s the first book in a series, and also has a spinoff about Morgan, I have absolutely no interest in continuing it.
2.5
October 13, 2017
First, if you have not read Lavinia's series on Guinevere and Morgan, then do so first! This series will make much more sense if you do. I fully enjoyed this series, while it had parts that crossed over from each of the other series Guinevere and Morgan, Morgawse had her own intriguing and interesting story to tell. Lots of twists and the truth that wasn't quite made clear in the Morgan series is revealed. Wow, just wow!
September 26, 2016
Wow
Another page turner from Lavinia Collins. She really brings the characters to life. From her other books, Morgawse seems to be the naughty, northern queen but reading the story from her view point, you see there is a lot more to her.
The flashbacks are like somebody sitting on a psychiatrists chair explaining their life which gets more vivid and raunchy as the series develops. Wonderful writing.
Another page turner from Lavinia Collins. She really brings the characters to life. From her other books, Morgawse seems to be the naughty, northern queen but reading the story from her view point, you see there is a lot more to her.
The flashbacks are like somebody sitting on a psychiatrists chair explaining their life which gets more vivid and raunchy as the series develops. Wonderful writing.
January 8, 2016
A richly woven tale that transports you back in time to a world of chivalry and honour, and jealousy and deceit. The Empty Throne is the first in a trilogy to follow Arthurian legend from the point of view of Morgawse, a powerful figure that is little known beyond elect fans of this fantasy genre.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews