Katia FoxBesprekingen

Inglaterra y Normandía, siglo XII. La joven Ellenweore sueña con convertirse algún día en la mejor forjadora de espadas de Europa.
Desde niña, Ellenweore destaca manejando la forja de su padre. Y, aunque en plena Edad Media, a una mujer nunca se le permitiría destacar en tal oficio, las penosas circunstancias que vivirá la acercarán a su sueño. Tendrá que huir a Normandía, haciéndose pasar por chico, y allí aprenderá los secretos de su arte, conocerá el violento mundo de los torneos y las intrigas nobiliarias y hallará al amor de su vida, Guillaume el Mariscal, para quien en el futuro forjará la mítica espada Athanor.

this is a re-read for me, but I am thoroughly ejoying it second time around.
Ellen wants be a blacksmith and make swords, especially for King Henry II. She has many male blacksmiths shaking their heads and refusing her work. She has fled from her native England only to run into William Marshall and Thibault de Siegney. Thibault rapes her, but William makes love to her (she has his child.)

The book suffer from being poorly edited. Too much stuff, too many people whom I don't care about, and too many looks into everyday life, which don't bring anything to the story, and pull the story ahead.

What I did like was the bits about forging, and the glances into the 12c society.

I read the first half over a weekend, and then left it for two months without even missing it. Or even wondering how the Ellen & her men fared.

It's a story of the 12th century - the life of a young girl who becomes a blacksmith against all odds.. The story takes place over a period of 22 years and the reader is quickly drawn into the tale of her life as she grows up mostly on her own and lives in both England and France. she becomes a swordmaker for knights and at one point meets a young William Marshall. At times it seemed as though the book would topple into the "too much drama" realm but the author balances good and bad events well enough that one doesn't become exasperated. By the end, I thought it was a great book and there were interesting details that I wondered about the truth of which the author discusses in an excellent afterward. Good book.

I'm not sure how to place this book. Though the storyline of a young girl going against society and becoming a master swordsmith sounds like young-adult, the intrigues along the way are downright adult romance-novel material.

Storyline moves along nicely throughout, dates and place-names given on the chapter help the reader along. Dialogs are natural and unforced, with emotional color. Societal and culinary history add the flavors required to give the reader a feeling for the period. Descriptions of clothing and daily life are light, just enough to get by but may leave the reader wishing for more detail. The blacksmithing details are quite interesting and don't bog-down the pace or become a how-to guide for a medieval smithy. Enjoyable on the whole, if you're not looking for a wholehearted history-novel.

The storyline did drive me nuts at times, the fact Thibault kept popping up and ruining Ellen's life no matter where she happens to be with his single-minded obsession over her. As with the only romance-novel I've ever intentionally read, I kept yelling at the characters "just tell him/her and everything will be fine!", but that would have shortened the story dramatically. The translation too seemed off, using more modern phrases and not drawing from any historical study of the language.

All in all an enjoyable book, not too deep but a fine first-step for a historical-fiction reader. I look forward to reading the rest of the series (once translated).


[bc:Der silberne Falke|6235578|Der silberne Falke|Katia Fox|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327603363s/6235578.jpg|6418281] [bc:Der goldene Thron|9000762|Der goldene Thron|Katia Fox|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327763923s/9000762.jpg|13878062]

This is the historical account of William as he grows up and lives primarily during the reign of King Richard II. He has been born to a female swordsmith, yet he desires to be a falconer. Follow William as he works hard, makes friends and enemies, attains goals and failures.

Aside from some portions being a bit verbose, the writing is crisp and heavily detailed giving the narrative authenticity and period realism .

The characters are true to life which is seen through their actions and dialogue. All are flawed, but some are definitely more likeable than others.

While not common throughout the story, the shifting point of view is handled efficiently and flows well.

The training and hunting of the falcons was both informative and interesting. References provided at the end add credibility.

Without giving too much away, I'll just say this, I definitely found myself rooting for William and Robert!

Overall a fascinating read.

...dreams can come true!
All William wanted to be was a falconer. All his mother wanted him to be was a blacksmith like her. The rescuing of the King's rare white falcon places William's feet on a unforeseen and difficult path that would test and shape him and reveal secrets of kings and commoners. He would experience, fear, poverty, success, love and joy. He would be hunted by powerful enemies and he would talk to kings. He would make true friends and win hearts. His love of falconry would always be his driving force.
Through William's eyes we glimpse fascinating aspects about the art of falconry. In the training of these birds of prey for hunting , seeIing (the sewing together of the bird's eyelids) is part of the common practice. Sickened by this William swears to discover another way to train his birds. As William's story unfolds we are treated to a colourful and intriguing view of life in medieval England during the reigns of Richard and John.
The power of lords and the highborn over the common people, women as bargaining chips in the carving out and consolidation of landholdings and kingdoms, the attitudes towards religion, towards homosexuality, towards illegitimacy; a time when hunting birds are more valuable than human life. All these aspects of medieval times become grist for the mill.
When William despaired I could see the reasons, but some of the happenings seemed a tad too unreal or too rushed. Maybe he grew up too quickly, maybe he is trapped more than I would like to think by the constraints of his time. I enjoyed the book and it certainly it held my attention, even when William was less compassionate in his human relations than I wanted him to be. He is after all a man of his times who has already pushed those boundaries.

A NetGalley ARC½

I enjoyed the story in The Copper Sign, and thought the description of the craft of being a smith and a sword-maker was well done.

I didn't always like that just at the moment that the main character found happiness something bad happened. The ending seemed sort of rushed, and it seemed to be missing some details. This was overall a good read and for any one who wanted to know a little more about sword making I would recommend it.

Forgettable Medieval adventure story with improbable female heroine/blacksmith/swordsmith who bears William Marshall’s (real historical figure, far too perfect a knight to have left bastards) love child. Features an incestuous rape by her half-brother. Sees heroine chase jobs across Europe, following fairs and tournaments as she establishes her reputation as a swordsmith, a business, and a family, overcoming challenges, frustrations, and deaths along the way.

"Where," you may ask, "is the kitchen sink?"

Far too much detail on Medieval metal-working to make a good novel, although that was the most interesting aspect of the book. Full of anachronistic errors that indicate either a poor translation or shoddy attention to detail other than swordsmithing. Fabulous amount of personal independence and freedom to travel, which are contrary to the times, endow this heroine.

She is a complicated enough woman who is absolutely unbelievable as a 12th C. maiden and probably would be, too, as a 21st C. one. Not nearly enough religious intrusion to make historical setting accurate; filth, disease, political turmoil, servitude, and struggle, which were the mainstays of Medieval European life, while mentioned, are glossed over in favor of semi-amorous adventures and time spent learning to sword fight while disguised as a boy and later learning to pound metal before becoming the greatest swordsmith in Europe. Uh-huh.

Never mind.

Inglaterra, 1161. Desde el momento en que pisa la fragua de su padre, Ellen sabe que tiene un don y que algún día forjará las mejores espadas del reino, aunque el oficio de herrero esté reservado a los varones. La valiente muchacha se disfraza de hombre para viajar a Normandía, donde los hijos de la nobleza se entrenan en las artes de la caballería, y aprende el arte de la forja de manos de un famoso herrero. Pero todo se complica cuando se enamora del joven Guillaume le Maréchal, uno de los más grandes caballeros de su tiempo, y sobre todo cuando otro hombre descubre su verdadera identidad.