A History of Royals discussion

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but here goes.

I've notice that a few members of this group have read Elizabeth Chadwick. Is there a particular book I should start with?

Tough question. One thing to keep in mind is that her older books are based on fictional characters and have a bit of a romance feel to them, i.e. The Love Knot The Champion. Her newer books are based on real people. Her greatest strength (IMHO) is the way she can effortlessly suck you into another century without being heavy handed with the smaller details.

I agree with Misfit, there's no one place everyone should start, it depends on what your likes and dislikes are. Most of her novels are stand-alones, so you can start pretty well with whichever takes your fancy. For example, I started with The Winter Mantle, because I'm interested in the Norman Conquest and it featured some historical figures I was curious about.

Here's a Listmania I did of her books on Amazon. That might give you a quick run down on which book is about what.

http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Fictio...

Thanks.

Little late on this thread but oh well. You can start pretty much anywhere but I've always given people The Champion first. It was the first Chadwick book I ever picked up and started my addiction to her work so maybe I'm bias. That being said my friends have all returned my copy singing her praises.

I'm also looking to try a Chadwick book as I have heard great things about her books. Great advice! :)

I know many of them are hard to come by in the States, but there are libaries in the US that have most of her books. If your's doesn't and participates in ILL give that a shot.

Misfit wrote: "I know many of them are hard to come by in the States, but there are libaries in the US that have most of her books. If your's doesn't and participates in ILL give that a shot."

This was my problem when I started reading Chadwick. It took me over a year to find a copy of one of her books and even then I had to apply to have it sent to my library from another county. I have a handful of her novels now but I purchased them in England or on Alibris.com. Luckily, several of her older books have recently gone back to print so it shouldn't hard to find them at a decent price.

I was lucky, I discovered her books and bought them all before she lost the US publisher. Believe it or not, check the UK Abe Book sellers, some have pretty cheap postage costs to US and surprisingly reasonable, even though they are used.

Misfit wrote: "I was lucky, I discovered her books and bought them all before she lost the US publisher. Believe it or not, check the UK Abe Book sellers, some have pretty cheap postage costs to US and surprising..."

So that is what happened. I was curious as to why she was so hard to track down.

And pretty spendy sometimes as well. Sourcebooks has release and/or will release very soon some of her titles. The Greatest Knight is already out, and The Scarlet Lion should be out soon (ARC's have already gone to bloggers, etc.), and I understand they're working on a cover for A Time of Singing (but with a new title).

Anxiously awaiting To Defy a King in May. Been a long dry spell without a new Chadwick to read :)

I am not sure which of Elizabeth's books to recommend first for a new reader, but I liked her Falcons of Montabard so much that I devoted an entire blog to it! And I thought her The Conquest was a dramatic and very effective depiction of life for the Norman conquerors and the Saxon "conquered" after the Battle of Hastings; she has an excellent battle scene, too!

I just ordered The Falcons of Montabard from AbeBooks. I am really looking forward to reading it and trying Chadwick out :)