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William the Conqueror #1
Rite of Conquest
William, the bastard son of a Norman duke and a magical woman of Druid descent, is the man destined to free England from Saxon rule and to bring back magic to Britain, but first he must master his own innate magical talents, with the help of Mathilda, a beautiful French noblewoman. Reprint.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 5, 2004
4 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
Judith Tarr
121 books415 followersAKA Caitlin Brennan, Kathleen Bryan.
Judith Tarr (born 1955) is an American author, best known for her fantasy books. She received her B.A. in Latin and English from Mount Holyoke College in 1976, and has an M.A. in Classics from Cambridge University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Yale University. She taught Latin and writing at Wesleyan University from 1988-1992, and taught at the Clarion science-fiction-writing workshops in 1996 and 1999.
She raises and trains Lipizzan horses at Dancing Horse Farm, her home in Vail, Arizona. The romantic fantasies that she writes under the name Caitlin Brennan feature dancing horses modeled on those that she raises.
Judith Tarr (born 1955) is an American author, best known for her fantasy books. She received her B.A. in Latin and English from Mount Holyoke College in 1976, and has an M.A. in Classics from Cambridge University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Yale University. She taught Latin and writing at Wesleyan University from 1988-1992, and taught at the Clarion science-fiction-writing workshops in 1996 and 1999.
She raises and trains Lipizzan horses at Dancing Horse Farm, her home in Vail, Arizona. The romantic fantasies that she writes under the name Caitlin Brennan feature dancing horses modeled on those that she raises.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 5, 2018
Rite of Conquest is a new a new edition to my list of favorite books. I loved the mix of history, magic, and incredible character development.
July 15, 2012
[3 and 1/2 stars]
A solid but flawed outing from Tarr, with a satisfyingly different take on the Norman-Saxon dynamic, sympathetic characters and a couple of rip-roaring battle scenes. In addition to this, the courtship between William and Mathilda was rather delightful; I hadn't realised that they were one of the "great love matches of the Middle Ages", and Tarr certainly did them justice here (without it ever becoming epically overwrought as such romances tend to). However, the plot frequently skittered around too much, skipping over some of the more interesting stuff it should have focused on, and I felt that the magical aspects of the story, which worked well for the Normandy/France settings, tendered to founder somewhat when it came to England.
A solid but flawed outing from Tarr, with a satisfyingly different take on the Norman-Saxon dynamic, sympathetic characters and a couple of rip-roaring battle scenes. In addition to this, the courtship between William and Mathilda was rather delightful; I hadn't realised that they were one of the "great love matches of the Middle Ages", and Tarr certainly did them justice here (without it ever becoming epically overwrought as such romances tend to). However, the plot frequently skittered around too much, skipping over some of the more interesting stuff it should have focused on, and I felt that the magical aspects of the story, which worked well for the Normandy/France settings, tendered to founder somewhat when it came to England.
February 22, 2017
The 4 star rating is really significant because usually I dislike the 'woo woo' mystical magical type of book. I don't buy it so it takes a really good writer to sell me. But once I am sold, I enjoy it and this book, with its historical background and excellent characterizations and settings, was great. Totally looking into the rest of the series.
July 30, 2013
Like Guy Gavriel Kay, Tarr takes history and makes it fantastical. But unlike Kay her fantasy world is clearly the same one in which we live, and that creates problems. By taking historical characters as her heroes, Tarr makes it hard for the reader to suspend their disbelief; memories of the 'real history' constantly challenge her story-telling.
The Normans invaded England. The Saxons may have invaded before them, but that doesn't make the Norman conquest any less of an invasion. Tarr gets round this by identifying William the Conquerer with the once and future king; as the reborn Artos (Arthur) William is the rightful king of Britain, not an invader. But this book's celebration of a violent conquest still leaves a bitter taste.
Rite of Conquest is a quick read, but not a particularly engaging one. I've compared Tarr to Kay, but while I've cried myself to sleep over the deaths of Kay's characters, the deaths of Tarr's leave me unmoved. This book is a pleasant diversion, an easy way to pass the time, but nothing more.
The Normans invaded England. The Saxons may have invaded before them, but that doesn't make the Norman conquest any less of an invasion. Tarr gets round this by identifying William the Conquerer with the once and future king; as the reborn Artos (Arthur) William is the rightful king of Britain, not an invader. But this book's celebration of a violent conquest still leaves a bitter taste.
Rite of Conquest is a quick read, but not a particularly engaging one. I've compared Tarr to Kay, but while I've cried myself to sleep over the deaths of Kay's characters, the deaths of Tarr's leave me unmoved. This book is a pleasant diversion, an easy way to pass the time, but nothing more.
March 8, 2009
I got this book at Shopko on sale, 2 for $5.99. That should tell you something. Genre all the way. I was mentally toast, a crispy critter, and needed pure escapism. It worked pretty well. I'm guessing that the author likes those ancient churches all over Britain as much as I do. The exact construction dates of lots of those churches are lost in time, but many of them can say with certainty that they were there when William the Conqueror did his inventory.
This book was a fanciful retelling of William the Conqueror's early years, playing up the love story aspect of his life -- who knew? -- and exploring Christian-pagan tensions of the day. I got a little lost in the etheric action, but found it absorbing, as such stories go. The author is a Yale and Cambridge educated historian.
This book was a fanciful retelling of William the Conqueror's early years, playing up the love story aspect of his life -- who knew? -- and exploring Christian-pagan tensions of the day. I got a little lost in the etheric action, but found it absorbing, as such stories go. The author is a Yale and Cambridge educated historian.
November 3, 2013
I picked this novel up in a bargain bin and I kinda wish I left it there and not wasted five dollars. It's relatively a short book at three hundred and forty odd pages, but it took me way too long to read.
The novel is loosely ( and I mean, VERY loosely ) based on William the Conqueror. It's of course, fantasy driven with many confusing ideas and beliefs of the pagan religion that was so long dead, it does not make any sense that anyone would even put Pagan and William together other than this book!
That wasn't all that bothered me about his book. It's.. not complex, but it tries very hard to be- which I find pretty annoying and that's possibly why it took me long to read.
It really doesn't give the props to William that he deserves, I'm very much disappointed in the book.
The novel is loosely ( and I mean, VERY loosely ) based on William the Conqueror. It's of course, fantasy driven with many confusing ideas and beliefs of the pagan religion that was so long dead, it does not make any sense that anyone would even put Pagan and William together other than this book!
That wasn't all that bothered me about his book. It's.. not complex, but it tries very hard to be- which I find pretty annoying and that's possibly why it took me long to read.
It really doesn't give the props to William that he deserves, I'm very much disappointed in the book.
December 6, 2012
This book is a fascinating read about who Guillaume le Conquérant really was and what his purpose in that life was -- the true mystical meaning of his life. I suppose that most will label it "pure fantasy," due to the sad fact that our so-called "modern" society has lost touch with the unseen spiritual causes and purposes behind everything that is. However, there are legends from my ancestral lands of Normandie and Bretagne in France, about what is written in this book. And legends are based on a truth lost in the mists of time. William the Conqueror is an ancestor of my father's and this book was one of the best about him that I have read...Better than the dry superficial histories that are written by most historians.
July 18, 2014
Judith Tarr's William the Conqueror was born of magical blood; and his wife-to-be Mathilda of Flanders was ordered to teach William how to control his magic before it destroys him. England is his destiny. The magical Old Things are slowly dying in the iron prison of the Saxon version of Christianity, but William and Mathilda can heal them once William is bonded with the land. The Saxon Christian church reminds me of the one in Marion Zimmer Bradley's THE MISTS OF AVALON.
At first it was disconcerting to see the Saxon king, Harold the Wise, as a tool overmastered by heartless social forces, and William the Conqueror as a savior, but RITE OF CONQUEST is so well written, the characters so well developed, and the magic so seductive, that I willingly suspended my bone-deep disbelief.
At first it was disconcerting to see the Saxon king, Harold the Wise, as a tool overmastered by heartless social forces, and William the Conqueror as a savior, but RITE OF CONQUEST is so well written, the characters so well developed, and the magic so seductive, that I willingly suspended my bone-deep disbelief.
June 26, 2013
I guess the book was nice and fun to read, and for a bargain bin of $2 I have no right to complain.
However, as someone who has read history and knows the consequences of the Norman conquest of England, this book is just too far fetched. William was not a nice man; he was a brutal despot who killed countless Saxons and in fact died burning an innocent French village in 1087. I guess I shouldn't complain about non-realism in a fantasy novel, but I found it hard to root for the Normans, who historically were both more politically and religiously intolerant than the electoral-monarchy of the Saxons.
However, as someone who has read history and knows the consequences of the Norman conquest of England, this book is just too far fetched. William was not a nice man; he was a brutal despot who killed countless Saxons and in fact died burning an innocent French village in 1087. I guess I shouldn't complain about non-realism in a fantasy novel, but I found it hard to root for the Normans, who historically were both more politically and religiously intolerant than the electoral-monarchy of the Saxons.
July 31, 2016
This is a rambling story that focuses less on the historical people, relationships, and events and more on the war waged between those who would reinstate the old magic, and the powers of the Otherworld, into Britain. Tarr's depiction of crowds of spirits and otherworldly creatures is an interesting take on the relationship of magic to the mundane world. She is ambiguous about the relationship between magic and the Church. She hints at a vast struggle between two forces, but from the perspective of the narrative, it is difficult to see what is going on. I enjoyed it well enough, but I am unlikely to read the sequel.
June 10, 2008
When I label this book Mental health, it means I desperately needed something not terrifyingly serious to read. This is a fun read about the life of William the Conquerer, with an imaginary love interest that gives answers to many questions better left unasked. It's a step up from Romance novels, which is saying a lot. It held my interest. I didn't much care that it had ended, though. In truth, William's personality, as pictured throughout history, makes a picture of a man really unlikely to have a relationship like this with a woman. Amusing read, though.
March 15, 2014
This isn't Judith Tarr at her best, but Judith Tarr at less than her best is still better than a lot of others. It's fairly classic for her, mixing magic and Druidism with the Christian Church, using historical figures about whom historical fact never gives us quite enough information. I'd recommend it as a light read.
December 19, 2014
As always, Judith Tarr paints an amazingly complex story that somehow merges history and magic seamlessly. William the Conqueror, Henry Godwine, King Edward (of England) - the story of the Norman invasion of Britain is so interesting to begin with, but when you add magic and intrigue to spice it all up, with characters that seem so real (and they were!), it's just hard to put down.
March 29, 2013
Interesting blend of historical fact with magic and fantasy! I did appreciate Ms. Tarr's accuracy in the historical realm. As a former secondary school history teacher, this book might just get some students excited about history!
August 16, 2010
This was a very good book, but the timing was off for me. Tarr doesn't write so much "in" the character's head, which is what I've been enjoying lately. However, it was a very interesting twist on a fascinating period of history.
July 8, 2014
Was pretty good. Enjoyed the descriptive flow that just barely slowed the reading down but not enough to distract you. Greatly enjoyed the druidness. Not into historicals so I can't speak about that part of it all. Good read overall.
April 20, 2008
The book was building a world that seemed quite interesting, but I kept falling asleep.
December 27, 2009
Mathilda of Flanders is a sparkly witch? I could not get into this world at all. Gave up after 50 pages.
March 31, 2011
Wm. Brings magic back to England, yet a bit dull
September 23, 2011
Not her best but still a good read
March 2, 2015
It's been some time since I first read this, but I remember I was consumed with this re-telling of the Norman Invasion. Judging from other reviews, I may need to read it again to refresh my memory...
January 12, 2016
I enjoyed the story but didn't find it enthralling.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews