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Phillip the Long is dead, and his youngest brother is now Charles IV, King of France, enjoying a period of stability his unlucky older brother never had. England, however, is close to open rebellion. When Roger Mortimer escapes the Tower of London and flees to France, his lover, Isabella, Queen of England, follows him in the hopes of raising an army and overthrowing her weak husband Edward II. How many Kings are going to survive this book?
I found the fifth volume of the Accursed Kings series difficult to get into. In some ways this isn’t quite fair. You see, The She-Wolf is full of action, betrayal, love, and even some proper full on warfare that has previously been avoided by the relative player’s incompetence. This book really does have everything.
But in volume four I got quite attached to Phillip the Long, as we finally had a competent heir-apparent use skill, intellect, and wisdom to seize the throne of France. Then in the first chapter of The She-Wolf Druon kills him off. It’s not even like he dies chronologically close to the end of The Royal Succession. Loads of amazing (awful) stuff happens to him before he dies. It’s just the Druon didn’t want to write about it.
So now I’m expected to care about Roger Mortimer, and Queen Isabella (who we haven’t seen since the 1st book), and I’m having a little bit of trouble. By about half-way through the book I’m back in the swing of things, but just for once Druon falls too far on the telling us history rather than showing it, and what could have been two great books becomes one above average (by Druon’s high standards – it’s still a cracking read, and it is nice to have Isabella back!)
To read my earlier Accursed Kings Reviews:
3. The Poisoned Crown
