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Time and Chance
by: Sharon K. Penman

List Price: £9.99

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780140270778
ISBN: 0140270779
Label: Penguin Books Ltd
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
Number Of Pages: 496
Publication Date: April 24, 2003
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Studio: Penguin Books Ltd
Sales Rank: 41043

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Editorial Review:

Synopsis:
TIME AND CHANCE, the second part of the trilogy about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, opens during the glory years of their reign. While Henry redefined the role of medieval kingship, Eleanor gave birth to their children, founding a dynasty that would endure for 300 years. But even in these happy times, shadows were lurking. Battles on two borders. The disastrous appointment of Thomas Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury. And when Henry took lovely young Rosumund Clifford into his bed, little did he realise that in making an enemy of his proud, passionate queen he was making the gravest mistake of all...

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Good book, but drags a bit at times
Another enjoyable book from SKP, but I didn't find this quite as interesting as her others, and a bit slower than When Christ and His Saints Slept. It's probably just me, but I didn't find the whole Thomas Becket saga all that fascinating, albeit it is an important part of English history.

I did like the fact that the author continued with the Welsh side of the story, as so many authors of English history paint the Welsh as pagen barbarians.

I am anxiously awaiting the publishing of the last in this series, The Devil's Brood, which I suspect will be the most fascinating, as it covers the period when the animosity between Henry and Eleanor heats up and the power plays for her sons. I read on the author's website that ... Read More:

Rating:

- Least convincing of Penman's tales
I loved The Sunne in Splendour but unfortunately Penman's books have been declining since then. The Welsh trilogy is still good, though it has it's weak parts, but the last two books (of another supposed trilogy) is significantly weaker. This is the weakest, which is quite odd as in Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine Penman has, arguably, two of the strongest and most fascinating characters of the middle ages, so in a way it's even more disappointing that she never manages to bring them to life or make them more than 2-dimensional cardboard cut-outs who do all the things they're supposed to from the historical sources but don;t ever manage to have an inner life of their own.

As some of the other reviewers here have said, the addition ... Read More:

Rating:

- Unstoppable force meets immovable object
"What miserable drones and traitors I have nourished and promoted in my household, who let their lord be mocked so shamefully by a lowborn clerk!"

Thus, in TIME AND CHANCE, is author Sharon Kay Penman's version of the angry words that compelled four of Henry II's knights to commit one of the most famous assassinations in Western European history, that of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.

The second in an ostensible series of three works of historical fiction - the last has yet to appear - about the first Plantagenet King of England and his consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine, this volume spans the period 1156 - 1171. Woven into the plot are the four pivotal events (for historians, novelists and screenwriters, at least) of that ... Read More:

Rating:

- Bliss
These books are amazing, Penman has a gift for bringing her characters back to life. The scope of the story is huge, and fascinating not least because these people actually lived, you get a real sense of the history and colour. The only criticism I have is the huge gaps between books, I wish the author would concentrate more on this series and less on the fictional medieval mysteries.

Rating:

- They Do Not Come Much Better
I always look forward to a Sharon Penman novel that I have not read before. This one kept me interested throughout the book. She has the ability to make the reader feel they are there with the characters, no mean feat.

The story is about the turbulent relationship between Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Starting in 1156 the couple have been married for four years. The birth of their sons has ensured the succession to the throne, but civil war has seen the country torn apart.

Henry needs to defend the borders of England against France and Wales, but his most daunting task is his fight with the church to stop them from infringing on his power.

This conflict culminates with his one time friend Thomas Becket, whom Henry ... Read More:

Books : Time and Chance