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The Kingmaking Pendragon Banner Trilogy 9781906236649 Books

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The Kingmaking Pendragon Banner Trilogy 9781906236649 Books

I have always been drawn to all things Arthurian. In college I read Sir Thomas Malory's extraordinary "Le Morte d'Arthur," and later really enjoyed T. H. White's "Once and Future King," Mary Stewart's series of novels, "The Arthurian Saga," and Bernard Cornwell's trilogy, "The Winter King." The characters and worlds that the above authors created are magical, enchanting, and primarily based on folklore and myth.

In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth was the first to write of King Uthr Pendragon and the Authorian legend with his "History of Kings of Britain." A few minor references to Uthr also appear in Old Welsh poems. But there is no real evidence that Uthr or Arthur actually existed, let alone Merlin, Gwenhwyfar/Guinevere and Lancelot.

Helen Hollick's take on King Authur in "The Kingmaking," the first book in the "Pendragon's Banner Trilogy," is most unusual and I was immediately drawn into her story and was amazed at how believable her characters and narrative are. This is extraordinary "historical" fiction rather than fantasy. Here Ms. Hollick follows in the footsteps of her mentor, Sharon Kay Penman, to whom she dedicates the book. The author's Arthur is no mythical monarch of yore, but a flesh and blood, complex man. He is a courageous, young warrior king, at times cunning and ruthless, who wenches, drinks, adores his lovely Gwenhwyfar and tries to stomach his miserable marriage to another woman. Arthur is the son of a Romano-British nobleman, Uthr, and, like his father, he follows the "old religion," the soldiers' god, "Mithras." The Christian Church was still young during the Dark Ages and most people remained pagan for quite some time. Many of Arthur's problems eventually stem from the vying for power between the Church and the old ways.

The novel takes place in an island country situated off the North West coast of Europe - now called Great Britain - during the 5th century. It was inhabited by the Celtic people known as the Britons and a collection of various Germanic peoples, the Anglis, Jutes, and Saxons. This was a time of great upheaval and change. "The province of Britain had been abandoned to fend for herself, for the great power that had for four hundred years dominated an Empire was dying; but in Britain a few influential men clung obstinately to the secutiry of Rome's tattered skirts, refusing to believe their established way of life was over, finished, and a new about to begin." Meanwhile, a power vacuum was created when the Romans left. The native tribes, never really unified except for one brief moment in time under Queen Boudicca.

Vortigern and Uthr Pendragon, both great war leaders, are rivals for the position of supreme ruler of Britain. The Saxon warlord Hengest and his followers are Vortigern's paid allies. Cunedda, Lord of the Votodini, is an independent power in Gwynedd, Wales, and inclined to side with Uthr, and later Arthur, against Vortigern. Cunedda eventually loses his lands north of Hadrian's Wall and is exiled to the mountains of Gwynedd. Uthr the Pendragon, flees the country. The victor, Vortigern, declares himself King of Britain and, to keep his throne, hires vast numbers of hated Saxon mercenaries and takes a Saxon wife, Rowena, the daughter Hengst.

Uthr eventually returns to his country and in Londinium he meets the beautiful Ygrainne, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. He instantly falls in love with her and is determined to have her for his own. Gorlois, aware of what is happening between his wife and Uthr, leaves with Ygrainne for his castle in Cornwall. Uthr then invades Gorlois' lands and beds Ygrainne, getting her with child - Arthur. Gorlois was killed in the fighting and Uthr marries Ygrainne, which, (supposedly), makes Arthur his legitimate son. Uthr also has an evil mistress, Morgause, Ygrainne's younger sister, who plays a big part in the two later books.

"The Kingmaker" begins with Arthur's arrival, at the age of fifteen, in Gwynedd. Authur, thought to be a bastard son of a serving girl, was treated badly as a child by both his (secret) mother, Ygrainne, and Morgause who loathed the boy. He was shunned and tormented by all, children and adults alike. The only person who treated him decently was Uthr, who fostered the boy out to his brother Ectha. Uthr kept the secret of Authur's birth, as did Ygrainne and Ectha, because they were fearful of Vortigern's malice toward the child, who, as Uthr's heir, posed a serious threat to the man's power.

Arthur has the position of a serving boy to Uthr. He has always looked up to his lord and dreams of becoming a leader of men and a great warrior himself. In Gwynedd, a rebellion is planned between Uthr, Cunedda, and their allies in order to bring down the tyrant king Vortigern. The war party departs, leaving Arthur behind with Cunedda's young sons and only daughter, Gwenhwyfar. During this time Arthur and Gwenhwyfar forge a strong bond of friendship...and more. Their harmony and peaceful days terminate abruptly when the war party returns, defeated, with the news that Uthr is dead.

The troops, grieving and demoralized, think that all is lost when Cunneda announces that, "There is another Pendragon - still young, I grant, we need to wait for him to come of age." "Here before the hallowed sanctity of our Stone, I give you our next king! I give you the Pendragon - Arthur!" He is the rightful Lord of Dummonia and the Summerland, Lord of Less Briton and would be King of a country united in peace and prosperity!

I provide background material here in order to give a picture of the times, setting and circumstances of "The Kingmaking." However, I do not want to include any spoilers. Let it suffice to say that in order for Arthur to learn the skills of a warrior and keep the peace, he must pledge his sword to the powerful and victorious warlord, his enemy Vortigern. To cement Arthur's loyalty, Vortigern dictates that Arthur must marry his daughter - the scheming, materialistic Winifred. The unhappy youth agrees. But what of the newly born love between Arthur and Gwenhwyfar?

"The Kingmaking" is the beginning of an epic story which takes the reader from the hills of Gwynedd to the bloody battlefields of the island kingdom and across the stormy Channel. The drama and tension between characters and events is intense. We begin to know the young Arthur as he grows from adolescence into a young man and capable warrior. The years encompassed in these pages will test his strength and determination. And this is also a love story.

Helen Hollick brings her multi-layered, complex characters to life on the page. I especially enjoyed her depiction of the feisty, independent Gwenhwyfar - who is somewhat of a warrior in her own right. Ms. Hollick's interpretations of the Sacred Stone, The Lady of the Lake, Stonehenge, etc., are really original. "The Kingmaking" is a compelling tale - I could not put this book down, and I cannot wait to read Part 2, "Pendragon's Banner." Highly recommended!
JANA


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The Kingmaking Pendragon Banner Trilogy 9781906236649 Books Reviews

I wish you could give half stars here,as I rate this at four and a half stars. The writing is masterful. The imagery profound. You truly feel for a while as if you have stepped through a portal in time and been transported back to the fifth century. It is because of this that I don't give this five stars. Don't get me wrong, this is powerful stuff but many times just too brutal and vivid for someone like myself who has a very powerful imagination and doesn't really need the blood and violence painted quite so clearly. If ever you truly need to know what fifth century battle was like, or how lovely and wild the countryside was or how filthy and base cities and other lodgings were then...read this book. It was also a bit long. I like long books but I think 555 pages could have been pared down just a little by eliminating just a bit of the blood and guts. Still I highly recommend this book and applaud the author for her incredible talent. One more thing. I think the scenario set down here about Arthur's life is far more likely to be closer to reality than the familiar Sword in the Stone legends.
Modern Arthurian novels can be divided up between those that seek to be truly historical and those that are vaguely historical with fantasy elements. Hollick's retelling is purely historical. There is no Merlin and no magic in this book, and the same is true of the succeeding two books.

Warning, I am going to give away a little of the plot here, so read no further if that concerns you.

"The Kingmaking" begins with Vortigern ruling Britain and Uthr Pendragon seeking to overthrow him. When Uthr is killed, Arthur eventually takes his place and the rest of the story will ultimately lead to the event of the book's title. Anyone who reads an Arthurian novel basically knows what's going to happen since there is a general structure to the legend that influences all modern fiction writers of Arthurian lore, but the legend has room to stretch and Hollick does her fair share of stretching within the legend's boundaries while retaining her historical focus on what may have been likely to happen, much of it based in historical research and theories by Arthurian scholars.

One interesting change Hollick makes centers around Morgause's role in the novel. Uthr is married to Morgause's sister Igraine, but Morgause is Uthr's mistress on the side. Morgause has had many daughters by Uthr but she has always exposed them to die. Morgause despises Arthur, not realizing until Uthr has died that he is Uthr's son, but thinking he is only Uthr's bastard-born nephew. Morgause's hatred for Arthur causes her later to attack him sexually. The result is not quite what readers might expect, but it deeply shapes Arthur's future character.

Arthur later admits that his disgust over what Morgause did to him has resulted in how he mistreats women. He is not a gentle man, but rather one who takes women whenever he chooses, determined not to let them exert any feminine power over him. He impregnates a slave girl (p. 160), and he later says he knows he has many bastard daughters (p. 220). Arthur ends up marrying Vortigern's daughter, Winifred, as a political alliance, and by her he has a sickly daughter who dies soon after birth (p.313). Arthur, however, hates Winifred and is in love with Gwenhwyfar throughout the book.

Eventually, Vortigern dies and his son Vortimer assumes the kingship, but Arthur is on the road to gaining it for himself. During this time, he abandons Winifred and marries Gwenhwyfar. Both women then have sons by him. Gwenhwyfar's son Llacheu is born first (but in what we would call a bigamist marriage today) while Winifred's son Cerdic is born a few weeks later. Both women want to see their own sons acknowledged as Arthur's heir. Winifred threatens to complain to the Pope to make sure Cerdic is acknowledged, but Winifred is half-Saex (Vortigern's wife Rowena had been the daughter of the Saex leader Hengest) while Llacheu is fully British born. Arthur is disgusted at the thought of having a partially Saex child and lets Winifred know the British people will rally around Llacheu when the time comes.

That Arthur should have sons is unusual but not a new idea. Llacheu is a traditional son of Arthur in the early Welsh legends and is usually attributed to being Gwenhwyfar's son as well. More surprising is that Cerdic is credited as Arthur's son. Hollick, in her "Author's Note," states that she is not the first to suggest Cerdic (who is a historical King of the Saxons) was Arthur's son, but I believe she is the first novelist to do so. The idea was originally suggested by Arthurian scholar Geoffrey Ashe in "The Discovery of King Arthur" (1985).

Finally, years after Morgause sexually forced herself upon Arthur, she is revealed to have had a daughter named Morgaine. Hollick does not reveal whether the daughter is Uthr or Arthur's, but it's a good bet it is Arthur's daughter considering she exposed her other daughters. While Morgaine is a girl and not likely to inherit the throne, no doubt Morgause has kept her alive to serve as a way to hurt Arthur down the road. Having not yet read the second book in the series, at this point I am pondering whether Morgaine is really a he and the future Mordred while Morgause is hiding the child's sex while biding her time.

While I was a bit put off by Hollick's writing style, primarily the way she uses verbs in her sentences, I did find "The Kingmaking" to be entertaining reading, both for its depictions of Arthur's children as well as the rather brutal and rough Arthur. I did not find Arthur likeable, but I did like Gwenhwyfar, and I am curious to see how the story will turn out. In her "Author's Note," Hollick states that because Lancelot and Merlin were the creations of later twelfth century Norman romancers, readers will not find them in her books since she wants to provide a historical portrait of what could have actually happened. While Merlin was actually established in Welsh tradition so I don't understand this reasoning (other than perhaps Hollick saw no use for Merlin in a historical rather than fantasy novel), if there is to be no Lancelot, then I am curious to see how Camelot's fall will be brought about. Will Gwenhwyfar find herself another lover, or will Morgause's plotting be sufficient to bring about Arthur's downfall? It's on to reading Book II "Pendragon's Banner" to find out.

- Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and author of "King Arthur's Children"
I have always been drawn to all things Arthurian. In college I read Sir Thomas Malory's extraordinary "Le Morte d'Arthur," and later really enjoyed T. H. White's "Once and Future King," Mary Stewart's series of novels, "The Arthurian Saga," and Bernard Cornwell's trilogy, "The Winter King." The characters and worlds that the above authors created are magical, enchanting, and primarily based on folklore and myth.

In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth was the first to write of King Uthr Pendragon and the Authorian legend with his "History of Kings of Britain." A few minor references to Uthr also appear in Old Welsh poems. But there is no real evidence that Uthr or Arthur actually existed, let alone Merlin, Gwenhwyfar/Guinevere and Lancelot.

Helen Hollick's take on King Authur in "The Kingmaking," the first book in the "Pendragon's Banner Trilogy," is most unusual and I was immediately drawn into her story and was amazed at how believable her characters and narrative are. This is extraordinary "historical" fiction rather than fantasy. Here Ms. Hollick follows in the footsteps of her mentor, Sharon Kay Penman, to whom she dedicates the book. The author's Arthur is no mythical monarch of yore, but a flesh and blood, complex man. He is a courageous, young warrior king, at times cunning and ruthless, who wenches, drinks, adores his lovely Gwenhwyfar and tries to stomach his miserable marriage to another woman. Arthur is the son of a Romano-British nobleman, Uthr, and, like his father, he follows the "old religion," the soldiers' god, "Mithras." The Christian Church was still young during the Dark Ages and most people remained pagan for quite some time. Many of Arthur's problems eventually stem from the vying for power between the Church and the old ways.

The novel takes place in an island country situated off the North West coast of Europe - now called Great Britain - during the 5th century. It was inhabited by the Celtic people known as the Britons and a collection of various Germanic peoples, the Anglis, Jutes, and Saxons. This was a time of great upheaval and change. "The province of Britain had been abandoned to fend for herself, for the great power that had for four hundred years dominated an Empire was dying; but in Britain a few influential men clung obstinately to the secutiry of Rome's tattered skirts, refusing to believe their established way of life was over, finished, and a new about to begin." Meanwhile, a power vacuum was created when the Romans left. The native tribes, never really unified except for one brief moment in time under Queen Boudicca.

Vortigern and Uthr Pendragon, both great war leaders, are rivals for the position of supreme ruler of Britain. The Saxon warlord Hengest and his followers are Vortigern's paid allies. Cunedda, Lord of the Votodini, is an independent power in Gwynedd, Wales, and inclined to side with Uthr, and later Arthur, against Vortigern. Cunedda eventually loses his lands north of Hadrian's Wall and is exiled to the mountains of Gwynedd. Uthr the Pendragon, flees the country. The victor, Vortigern, declares himself King of Britain and, to keep his throne, hires vast numbers of hated Saxon mercenaries and takes a Saxon wife, Rowena, the daughter Hengst.

Uthr eventually returns to his country and in Londinium he meets the beautiful Ygrainne, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. He instantly falls in love with her and is determined to have her for his own. Gorlois, aware of what is happening between his wife and Uthr, leaves with Ygrainne for his castle in Cornwall. Uthr then invades Gorlois' lands and beds Ygrainne, getting her with child - Arthur. Gorlois was killed in the fighting and Uthr marries Ygrainne, which, (supposedly), makes Arthur his legitimate son. Uthr also has an evil mistress, Morgause, Ygrainne's younger sister, who plays a big part in the two later books.

"The Kingmaker" begins with Arthur's arrival, at the age of fifteen, in Gwynedd. Authur, thought to be a bastard son of a serving girl, was treated badly as a child by both his (secret) mother, Ygrainne, and Morgause who loathed the boy. He was shunned and tormented by all, children and adults alike. The only person who treated him decently was Uthr, who fostered the boy out to his brother Ectha. Uthr kept the secret of Authur's birth, as did Ygrainne and Ectha, because they were fearful of Vortigern's malice toward the child, who, as Uthr's heir, posed a serious threat to the man's power.

Arthur has the position of a serving boy to Uthr. He has always looked up to his lord and dreams of becoming a leader of men and a great warrior himself. In Gwynedd, a rebellion is planned between Uthr, Cunedda, and their allies in order to bring down the tyrant king Vortigern. The war party departs, leaving Arthur behind with Cunedda's young sons and only daughter, Gwenhwyfar. During this time Arthur and Gwenhwyfar forge a strong bond of friendship...and more. Their harmony and peaceful days terminate abruptly when the war party returns, defeated, with the news that Uthr is dead.

The troops, grieving and demoralized, think that all is lost when Cunneda announces that, "There is another Pendragon - still young, I grant, we need to wait for him to come of age." "Here before the hallowed sanctity of our Stone, I give you our next king! I give you the Pendragon - Arthur!" He is the rightful Lord of Dummonia and the Summerland, Lord of Less Briton and would be King of a country united in peace and prosperity!

I provide background material here in order to give a picture of the times, setting and circumstances of "The Kingmaking." However, I do not want to include any spoilers. Let it suffice to say that in order for Arthur to learn the skills of a warrior and keep the peace, he must pledge his sword to the powerful and victorious warlord, his enemy Vortigern. To cement Arthur's loyalty, Vortigern dictates that Arthur must marry his daughter - the scheming, materialistic Winifred. The unhappy youth agrees. But what of the newly born love between Arthur and Gwenhwyfar?

"The Kingmaking" is the beginning of an epic story which takes the reader from the hills of Gwynedd to the bloody battlefields of the island kingdom and across the stormy Channel. The drama and tension between characters and events is intense. We begin to know the young Arthur as he grows from adolescence into a young man and capable warrior. The years encompassed in these pages will test his strength and determination. And this is also a love story.

Helen Hollick brings her multi-layered, complex characters to life on the page. I especially enjoyed her depiction of the feisty, independent Gwenhwyfar - who is somewhat of a warrior in her own right. Ms. Hollick's interpretations of the Sacred Stone, The Lady of the Lake, Stonehenge, etc., are really original. "The Kingmaking" is a compelling tale - I could not put this book down, and I cannot wait to read Part 2, "Pendragon's Banner." Highly recommended!
JANA