Captive Queen

Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine

© 2010 Alison Weir

478 pages

My life, when it is written, will read better than it lived. Henry Fitz-Empress, first Plantagenet, a king at twenty-one, the ablest soldier of an able time. He led men well, he cared for justice when he could and ruled, for thirty years, a state as great as Charlemagne's. He married out of love, a woman out of legend. Not in Alexandria, or Rome, or Camelot has there been such a queen. (Peter O'Toole as Henry II, The Lion in Winter)

In my youth there were only a handful of English monarchs I could reliably name: George III, the "bad guy" in my elementary history texts; the latter Tudors, chiefly Elizabeth and Henry VIII (who I knew for his many wives); Richard I and John from Robin Hood fame; and  their father, Henry II, whose bitter feud with his captivating wife Eleanor and their children fascinated me early on. 

Although I approached Captive Queen thinking it a biographical novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine, it opens with her spotting young Henry Fitz-Empress for the first time as his father Geoffry pays homage to her husband, French king Louis VII.  The two are immediately swept up by the other, and the rest of the book is their stage:  although Weir's principle character is Eleanor, Henry is by no means a mere supporting character. They are both strong, willful, and wily: they arrange Eleanor to be freed from her marriage from Louis and immediately forge a "marriage of lions". 

Eleanor brings with her the whole of Aquitaine, a substantial portion of France as modern readers know it. Together with the lands from Henry's own Norman legacy and his newly-claimed English throne, these two lions have a domain that rivals any in Europe -- but a mighty nation led by two ferocious partners is not to be, as Eleanor soon discovers. Her heavy-handed, domineering husband rides roughshod over her rights as the Duchess of Aquitaine, and her place at his side in council is lost to the quiet Thomas Becket. Henry's imperiousness lasts his whole life, leading to constant feuds with his children and Eleanor. Their brood of children -- including the aforementioned Richard the Lion-Hearted and John, who is most famous for losing to his barons -- are as willful and self-interested as their parents, and their family feuds lead to war in both England and Europe. 

Captive Queen has drama a-plenty, some of it agonizing. Weir's narrative makes clear that Eleanor and Henry are passionate for one another, wholly captivated by the other in both love and hatred -- but underneath that passion is a long-running, genuine affection for the other so that they both yearn for reconciliation even when sincerely wishing to never see the other again. The relationship between these two dynamic individuals is one of the book's strongest selling points, although it started off a little weak: in the beginning, I thought Weir may have intended this book toward readers who prefer supermarket romances, such was the emphasis on Henry and Eleanor going at each other like rabbits. Happily for me, the book picked up steam with the introduction of Thomas Becket, the troublesome priest who makes Henry's life so difficult when he is promoted from the king's bosom buddy and chancellor to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The resulting drama gives Weir ample opportunity to enthrall readers, and the book remains solid from that point on. It ends neatly, with Eleanor on her deathbed reflecting over the glory and tragedy of her and Henry's combined life together -- and the legacy they leave behind.

Captive Queen lives up to the expectations I had of Weir following The Lady Elizabeth. Though slow to get started Weir provided a romping read through some of England's more interesting years. Her notes at the end of the book explain to the reader how she interpreted or took liberties historical facts, and delighted me by confirming that parts of the novel were inspired by The Lion in Winter and Becket, both of which were continually in my mind while reading this: her approach to Henry and Eleanor reminded me strongly of Lion in Winter's, and she states that she wanted to explore the relationship between these two not just over one explosive winter, but throughout their shared lives.

Related:

• Becket, in which Peter O'Toole gives a hilarious rendition of Henry II despite the fact that the movie is about the bitter demise of a friendship. Eleanor plays no significant role except to knit and chide Henry about his closeness with Becket, but it's one of my favorite movies. 
• The Lion In Winter, in which O'Toole is again Henry II -- this time, an older, angry, and despairing king anguished by his sons' perpetual treachery. Katherine Hepburn plays Eleanor, and the two bounce off one another splendidly. The intro quote links to one of the more pivotal moments of the scene. 

This Week at the Library (28/7)

This week...

• Dynasty of Evil, Drew Karpyshyn concludes the Darth Bane trilogy on a short but fitting note, as both Bane and his apprentice prepare for a confrontation that will decide the future course of the Sith while the Dark Lord is hunted by a princess intent on revenge. 
• The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett was a highlight, bridging Michael Jan Friedman's Stargazer series and The Next Generation. Following the loss of his ship Stargazer, Picard pursues a doctorate in archaeology but is soon involved in a historical mystery of galactic proportions. Bennett offers a book robust with Trek references, intense character drama, and a  fascinating sci-fi plot.
• I finally finished Simon Schama's Citizens, a narrative approach to the French revolution that reconsiders the usual ideas about its origins and development.

Upcoming Reads:

• Finishing up La Belle France by Alistair Horne
• The Captive Queen, Alison Weir; biographical novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine. 
• To the Indies, C.S. Forester. I may or may not prepare to bid farewell to Forester's Hornblower series: this is the only Hornblower novel/collection I've not yet read. 
• Don't Know Much About Mythology
• The End of the Beginning, Harry Turtledove

Citizens

Citizens: a Chronicle of the French Revolution
© 1989 Simon Schama
948 pages

Aux armes, citoyens,

Formez vos bataillons,

Marchons, marchons!

Qu'un sang impur

Abreuve nos sillons!

Mon dieu, this was a read. My first mentor and first college-level history professor recommended this to me back in 2004, although its girth has intimidated me for years. (I've not yet read Gibbon for the same reason.) Out of persistent affection for my instructor and my newfound interest in popular movements and revolts, I braved Citizens and found it an engaging read which not only made good my ignorance of the Revolution, but forced me to reconsider what little I knew of it. Although it has loomed large over my imagination, enjoying it was only a matter of sitting down, opening it up, and reading the first few sentences.

The author purposely returns to a style of historical narrative that hinges on the actions of individuals and the importance of dramatic events, eschewing the more detached and analytical style of Marxist historians who see revolutions of the middle class against feudal orders as historical inevitabilities. I'm fairly comfortable with historical materialism, although not so devout a materialist that Schama's focus on France's individual situation, culture, and the effect of charismatic persons perturbed me. Schama frequently appears in the text as an individual ("I do not mean to say...") when explaining the significant of an event to the reader. While I've been told this is  unprofessional for a historian, it does have the effect of reminding the reader that this is an individual opinion:  opinions can sound like absolute facts when stated  in the objective, authorial voice that is encouraged among historians.

Schama's broad treatment of the Revolution reevaluates traditional accounts of the shakeup that place emphasis on France's economic woes and see the outbreak of violence as unnecessary and tragic. He sees the failure of France's monarchy as virtual suicide, while the opening  moves for reform practically institutionalized violence against the old regime. Schama's most interesting observation for me was that far from being a government mired in the past, Louis XVI's government was obsessed with modernity, and those who desired the government to change had opposing interests even when working together. Relatedly,  Schama's idea that the Parlements found so much power in agitating against the government that even when the king and his ministers attempt to repair the ship of state, they blocked his attempts and forced failure fascinated me. Citizens shows well a nation's descent into chaos, although two-thirds in the emphasis on individuals and particular events made it difficult for me to grasp the general story.

For a student of France and the Revolution, Citizens is a worthy read.

The Buried Age

The Buried Age
© 2007 Christopher L. Bennett
439 pages

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's life changed when, in approaching an uncharted star system,  an aggressive alien vessel attacked him in mid-warp, crippling his ship, the USS Stargazer, and dooming it after twenty years under Picard's command. Although he succeeded in defeating his foe, creating the Picard Maneuver to do so, the ship itself had to be abandoned. Following a court-martial and disturbed by the loss of the people and ship he loved so dear, Picard opts to take extended leave from the service and explore the world of academia, pursuing a doctorate in archaeology. Disturbed by his increasingly sedentary lifestyle, his old friend Guinan appears with information that may spread light on a galaxy-wide extinction event several millions years ago -- information that Picard can't help but be intrigued by. Leading a team of civilian scientists, Picard journeys to a planet far beyond Federation borders which holds breath-taking secrets. This is the start of an extraordinary journey, one that will require Picard to work with Starfleet more and more and set him on the path to command the Enterprise-D.

Along the way he will shape the lives of and in return be shaped by several  young lieutenants -- an android whose talents and development are neglected by a Starfleet that doesn't know what to do with him; a bitter young Betazoid whose expertise has heretofore been ignored in favor of her beauty and empathic abilities; and an intelligent and compassionate young woman named Janeway who is at Picard's side when they make their first big discovery: a survivor from those millions of years ago, held in stasis and awaiting to be freed. Their experiences together will change them forever.


The Buried Age is an excellent novel. Although it carries Star Trek in the title, The Buried Age offers an experience beyond a simple "episode in a book".  It functions well as both a science fiction novel and a character drama, allowing Picard and others to explore a grand story involving a benevolent, highly-cultured galaxy-wide civilization that met sudden destruction.  Bennett relies more on science than most Trek authors, and the science in his works is more developed than simple background technobabbles. What makes the book for me is its spellbinding writing and characterization:  I visibly trembled while reading some portions of the novel, so caught up was I in the emotions Bennett forces his characters to endure. It's an especially strong Trek novel, given its abundance of subtle references to the series.  The book's essential function is to bridge Stargazer and the The Next Generation, and he does this well -- not only in telling the story of what happened to Picard after the court-martial but before TNG's first episode, but in focusing on Picard's character as he struggled to figure out where his life should go once he lost the life he matured with. Bennett also explores Data and Troi's early development and sees Picard prepare his first command team aboard the Enterprise-D.

Highly recommended to Star Trek fans, recommended to general sci-fi readers as well.

Related:

• The Buried Age on Memory Alpha
• Christopher L. Bennett on Memory Alpha

Teaser Tuesday (27-7)

Teaser Tuesdays aren't quite as bloody as French history, but they are as much fun. From ShouldBeReading.

Poor France: it was roughly a hundred years since the country had been torn apart by the Wars of Religion; two centuries back she was being ravaged by the Hundred Years' War. Only one century ahead she would be approaching the chaos of revolution; two centuries on and Paris would be plunged into the bloody insurrection of 1848; three centuries, and the country would be barely recovering from Occupation and Vichy. Now it was the time of the "Frondes". 

137, La Belle France: a Short History, Alistair Horne.

Dynasty of Evil

Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
© 2009 Drew Karpyshyn
296 pages

Twenty years ago, a disgruntled miner-turned-revolutionary-turned Sith Lord destroyed the whole of the Brotherhood of Darkness and became the sole Dark Lord of the Sith. Taking the name Darth Bane, he quietly eradicated the remnants of his old life. Taking a young girl named Zannah with him, Bane transformed what it meant to be a Sith, beginning a new order that maintained only two Sith should ever exist -- a Master to embody power and and apprentice to crave it, seek it, and claim the title of Master for herself through a challenge to the death. The weak perish and the strong survive; this is Bane's way of the Sith.

A lifetime of wielding the dark energies of the Force have atrophied Darth Bane, but his apprentice -- an accomplished Sith sorceress whose manipulation of the Force can drive her enemies insane -- has yet to challenge him and claim the title of Dark Lord for herself. Disgusted by her apparent lack of ambition, Bane searches for a way to lengthen his own life so that he might find and train a better apprentice. Dispatching Zannah on a mission to investigate the murder of a Jedi knight -- for anyone who can overcome a skilled Jedi is of interest to Bane -- the Dark Lord himself travels to the galaxy's perilous deep core to look for a planet where a Sith lord once ruled for centuries, relying on arcane knowledge to achieve near-immortality.

Zannah takes opportunity of her liberty to find her own apprentice in preparation for her overthrow of Bane, and she is not alone in seeking a confrontation with him: a woman who witnessed her father tortured at the hands of Bane in The Rule of Two has come into money, and is using it to pay a talented bounty hunter and assassin to track Bane down.  The characters' journeys come together in the depths of a mountain prison, where the five stalk each other -- some looking for salvation, others for revenge and glory.

Although somewhat short -- fontsize is fairly large, making the page count misleading -- Karpyshyn succeeds in giving his central character a fitting resolution, a demanding task considering the amount of tension Karpyshyn has been developing since The Rule of Two. His cast of characters is strong and must be so, for the novel is dominated by character drama: while Bane, Zannah, Princess Serra, and the others all have action-laden jobs to fulfill,  they're only background. Two of the new characters held my attention: Serra, the royal princess whose hatred and desire for revenge against Bane draws her into the dark side, a move contested only by her faithful bodyguard Lucia -- who once idolized Bane during his revolutionary years in the Sith army. The fifth character makes the ending almost unpredictable:  before completing the novel, I could not say with surety which resolution Karpyshyn would choose.

The Darth Bane trilogy has been a pleasure throughout, and its capstone is fitting if a bit light.

Related:

• Dynasty of Evil's Wookiepedia entry
• Reviews from TheForce.net

In search of Asimov

I have been aggressively raiding used-book stores recently and wanted to show off some of my victories. Click the image for a preview of some of this year's reading... ;-)

Of the books shown, I've only owned three for some time: I've had Triangle, which collects the three Empire novels, for well over a year. The Roving Mind was purchased a few months back, and Stifffed...I found that at my local library's discard pile/bookstore a year or so ago.

That book on the far right end of the top shelf is that which launched my Asimov reading frenzy back in 2007.