I received a copy of Tony Riches’ Brandon — Tudor Knight for review purpose. As always, this review reflects only my honest feelings on the book.
Brandon — Tudor Knight
by Tony Riches
Publication Date: December 3, 2018
Preseli Press
eBook; ASIN: B07L3YGBWJ
Genre: Historical/Tudor/Biographical
From the author of the international bestselling Tudor Trilogy comes a true story of adventure, courtly love and chivalric loyalty.
Handsome, charismatic and a champion jouster, Sir Charles Brandon is the epitome of a Tudor Knight. A favourite of King Henry VIII, Brandon has a secret. He has fallen in love with Henry’s sister, Mary Tudor, the beautiful widowed Queen of France, and risks everything to marry her without the King’s consent.
Brandon becomes Duke of Suffolk, but his loyalty is tested fighting Henry’s wars in France. Mary’s public support for Queen Catherine of Aragon brings Brandon into dangerous conflict with the ambitious Boleyn family and the king’s new right-hand man, Thomas Cromwell.
Torn between duty to his family and loyalty to the king, Brandon faces an impossible decision: can he accept Anne Boleyn as his new queen?
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My Review
I’ve had an interest in The Tudors for years–to the point that one of the manuscripts I’m currently querying is all about Anne Boleyn (learn more about my upcoming chapbook, Boleyn, here). When Amy from HFVBT reached out about the blog tour for Brandon — Tudor Knight, I couldn’t get to my computer quickly enough to jump on board!
My appreciation for Charles Brandon admittedly first came from The Tudors and Henry Cavill’s portrayal (as did my appreciation for Superman–sense a trend?). Regardless, I’d only touched upon Brandon’s actual story in my more academic studies of the era, so I was excited to get some background with Riches’ novel.
That excitement definitely paid off in reading this novel, and I definitely think I’ll be doing some more research of my own into Charles Brandon. I hadn’t realised just how many wives and children he had, much less how many he lost, and I had only barely grasped his humble origins.
Of course, the biggest draw for many readers in this book will be the love story between Charles and Mary. It’s a relatively classic tale of a Princess falling for someone beneath her station and, as Brandon moves through the ranks of Tudor court over time, his chivalrous quest to save her time and again. One of the most striking images for me, even after finishing the novel, was that of Mary giving him her favour before a joust. It happens two times in the novel (that I recall) and is simultaneously an incredibly intimate, yet intrinsically public moment between the two that’s absolutely striking.
My only major complaint about this book (and barely a complaint, at that) was that there is an awful lot packed into just over 300 pages. From just reading the back cover, I’d expected a much heavier focus on the last bit of the story and the conflict with the Boleyns, rather than a majority of Charles Brandon’ life. Of course, it’s far better to have more going on in a novel like this than not enough, so I’m very grateful that it kept me entertained and highly interested!
Despite this and a few minor page formatting errors toward the end, I truly enjoyed reading Brandon — Tudor Knight. As I finished, I was excited to see just how many Tudor figures Riches has written about and I’ll most definitely be keeping my eye out for more of his books to add to my collection.
About the Author
Tony Riches is a full-time writer and lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. After several successful non-fiction books, Tony turned to novel writing and wrote ‘Queen Sacrifice’, set in 10th century Wales, followed by ‘The Shell’, a thriller set in present day Kenya. A specialist in the history of the early Tudors, he is best known for his Tudor Trilogy. Tony’s other international best sellers include ‘Warwick ~ The Man Behind the Wars of the Roses’ and ‘The Secret Diary of Eleanor Cobham’.
For more information please visit Tony’s website and his blog The Writing Desk. He can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
Blog Tour Schedule
Thursday, February 28
Review at Passages to the Past
Friday, March 1
Feature at CelticLady’s Reviews
Review at Locks, Hooks and Books
Monday, March 4
Interview at Passages to the Past
Tuesday, March 5
Review at Donna’s Book Blog
Wednesday, March 6
Guest Post at Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen
Thursday, March 7
Feature at T’s Stuff
Friday, March 8
Excerpt at The Book Junkie Reads
Monday, March 11
Guest Post at On the Tudor Trail
Tuesday, March 12
Review at Hisdoryan
Feature at To Read, Or Not to Read
Wednesday, March 13
Review at For the Sake of Good Taste
Thursday, March 14
Excerpt at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots
Friday, March 15
Review at Coffee and Ink
Review at A Darn Good Read
Sunday, March 17
Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit
Monday, March 18
Review at Maiden of the Pages
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Tuesday, March 19
Review at The Tudor Enthusiast
Review at Just One More Chapter
Giveaway
During the Blog Tour we will be giving away a paperback copy of Brandon-Tudor Knight! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.
Giveaway Rules
– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on March 19th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open internationally.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
Brandon Tudor Knight