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    Here Be Dragons: A Novel
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    Here Be Dragons: A Novel
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    Here Be Dragons: A Novel
    Ebook1,128 pages21 hours

    Here Be Dragons: A Novel

    By Sharon Kay Penman

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Thirteenth-century Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England's ruthless, power-hungry King John. Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce by marrying the English king's beloved illegitimate daughter, Joanna, who slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband. But as John's attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales---and Llewelyn---Joanna must decide where her love and loyalties truly lie.

    The turbulent clashes of two disparate worlds and the destinies of the individuals caught between them spring to life in this magnificent novel of power and passion, loyalty and lies. The book that began the trilogy that includes Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning, Here Be Dragons brings thirteenth-century England, France, and Wales to tangled, tempestuous life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMay 27, 2008
    ISBN9781429922999
    Unavailable
    Here Be Dragons: A Novel
    Author

    Sharon Kay Penman

    For many years while she was a student and then a tax lawyer, Sharon Kay Penman (1945-2021) worked on a novel about the life of Richard III and The War of the Roses. After the original manuscript was stolen from her car, Penman rewrote the entire novel that would become The Sunne in Splendour. Penman is the author of ten critically acclaimed and New York Times best selling historical novels and four medieval mysteries featuring Justin de Quincy. The first book in the series, The Queen's Man, was a finalist for an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America.

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    Reviews for Here Be Dragons

    4.5/5

    691 ratings36 reviews

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    • 4/5
      An enjoyable tour through the late 1100s/early 1200s in England, France and Wales, but with a focus on Wales. An interesting fictional look at political allegiances, way of life, beliefs and laws under the cover of historical fiction. The intermarriages and complexities of family are well described.
    • 5/5
      Recommended
    • 3/5
      A pretty good novel set in the Welsh borders, and wherever the capital of England happens to be at the moment. It is a sprawling family saga, and that's what you expect from SKP. John Plantagenet dies, and this is a transition from the familiar character set SKP has established, but Henry III's court has a certain level of "Game of Thrones" going on. (Spoiler!) All the dragons are figurative.
    • 5/5
      One of the things I like about Sharon Kay Penman is her ability to write about history in a clarifying way, without making it confusing. I also appreciate her skill in fleshing out the characters of our past, making them much like people we know today.Here Be Dragons is one of this author's first works, written about 30 years ago, and it's a keeper. In this first of a trilogy (they can be read separately), we are immersed in the Angevin dynasty politics and intrigue, based mostly in 12th and 13th century England, Normandy, France, and Wales, and come to know the powerful people of that time. At first, King John is a somewhat sympathetic character, as Penman paints his picture through the eyes of his illegitimate daughter, Joanna. After a marriage of political benefit to a prince of Wales, Llewellyn, Joanna's eyes are opened more to the differences between the Norman conquerors and the Welsh, whose ideas of marriage and inheritance appeal to her.Riveting, a hard-to-put-it-down book of more than 700 pages, though it does not read as a typical "chunkster". Highly, highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      So good! I loved the storytelling and the character development. Even if I disliked the character, I felt very strongly about the character and understood why he or she acted and behaved in that way because of Penman's detail.
    • 4/5
      My husband says it's overly romanticized, and he's no doubt right, but it's such a great read. I could barely put it down yesterday.
    • 2/5
      Far too long frankly.
    • 5/5
      This is a favorite book--one I read years (decades?) ago yet still remember lines and scenes from. One of those rare books that have moved me to tears. I've read a lot of Sharon Kay Penman's books--I'm currently reading her latest release and then will have no more of her to read until "Prince of Darkness" comes out. This one and "Sunne in Splendor" are by far my two favorites, the two I'd rate a full five stars. Not only engrossing, solidly ground historical fiction but one of the best love stories I've ever read. I'm not saying this is deathless literature--there are aspects of Penman's style I find clunky (point of view, dialogue tags, etc) But that doesn't stop me from flat-out loving this book.
    • 3/5
      Upon re-reading, this book is particularly long & meandering. Though it purports to be about Prince Llewllyn of Wales, it begins and ends with Joanna, bastard daughter of King John. A good look at the differences between England & Wales, but too much emphasis is placed on war & not enough on the characters.
    • 3/5
      It seems I am forever qualifying my reviews. Well a qualifier here, or perhaps two: 1–it took me nearly 2 months to finish this puppy (and I thought about abandoning it several times, but then I’d read a chapter and get sucked back in), and 2–I have a serious level of jealousy toward Penman and her success (she too was a lawyer (tax, of all horrible things!)–and now, lucky girl, she never has to be again!).

      Shannon Penman is a terrific writer. Read a chapter, just one, close your eyes and take the tiniest effort and you will be able to vividly imagine that you are there. Being able to paint so well with words though has its drawbacks–neither she nor her editor could imagine cutting much of the over 700 page beast that is Here Be Dragons. The first significant chunk of the book, maybe up to 1/4 or even 1/3 of the book takes place before the two main characters meet. The book is supposed to be about the love story between Bad King John’s bastard daughter Joanna and Llewelyn the Great of Wales. And it is a lovely story, and it doesn’t cheat you on the love story between them, the angst and agony of Joanna’s love being split between her father and husband. But it does go on and on and on and on.

      I think part of the reason why I kept putting it down was utter frustration with Joanna–she was so utterly undeserving of Llewelyn. While he wasn’t a perfect husband, he was certainly far more understanding of her fits, childishness, and the million times she stabbed him in the back to try and do right by her father. I think she was in a complicated position but she was one of those horribly misguided souls who forever seemed to be making wrong decisions out of selflessness for her love of those around her, but when you really step back and look at it, she was ridiculously selfish. Had the book been half its size, I might not have been so disenchanted with her by the end.

      Speaking of the end, I felt a bit on the cheated side. After a seemingly almost impossible reconciliation between the two — it skips a few years, and then they die. I wanted to reach into the book and shake someone.

      Despite the great talent Penman has, I doubt I will read anything else by her. At least not until I’m in retirement and have all the time in the world to read books that, while good, do go on, and on, and on.
    • 3/5
      Tale of Welch prince Llewellen, and Joanna, the daughter of England's King John. Good transition from Lionhearted, and moves English historical timeline forward. First of the Welch trilogy, but since its such a big book I'll wait a while before moving on to the next book. I love this author!
    • 4/5
      This book probably deserves more than 5 stars just for the depth of research and mind-boggling amount of information that is contained within its pages. Penman clearly knows her stuff! That said, there were times where information was just sort of dumped in short paragraphs to cover jumps in time that read a bit heavy. Although admittedly I can't imagine any way anyone could have gotten around that when trying to cover such a long span of time and going into such detail. So it probably couldn't be helped. Be prepared for a huge cast of characters in this book that cover generations and that then share names and titles. It can get confusing.

      I have to say this book damn near broke my heart at times. I suppose thats a sign of a good book though, right? I literally lost sleep over certain parts (and maybe missed some work as well), most notably during the last 100 pages. I love historical fiction, but I often read as a form of escapism so don't typically like things too heavy. And perhaps that has made me soft and not as able to appreciate a realistic relationship between two people because I felt that Llewelyn and Joanna fought too much. I felt that Penman wrote about their quarrels so much more frequently than the good times that I couldn't feel the love between them as much. Or maybe I'm just not very good as appreciating a more subtle romance and prefer to have so much romance shoved down my throat that I practically choke on it :) Whatever the case may be, it wasn't until the very very end that I truly appreciated their love for each other.

      I knew beforehand about the "scandal" that occurs in the last 100 pages of the book and was worried about how Penman would handle that because I thought the character she had created and the actions of the actual person wouldn't feel logical, but I thought she pulled it off really well. Penman created believable characters that coincide with the accounts that we have of them. John was a really interesting character to read about given that my main source of information on him came from Robin Hood. So it was interesting to see this different, and probably more realistic, depiction of him.

      I loved learning about Wales. I know so little, feel like it is so overlooked, but so interesting. And now I just want to know more!

      This book is very good, but exhaustive. I just finished reading it and feel like I need to take a break before I pick up my next book!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book;one of the reasons I enjoy reading historical fiction is because of the opportunity to sink into a time period and know that the events and characters are drawn from what really occurred. Penman does this exceeding well and I could not put this book down until I had read it to the very last page. The primary characters of Joanna and Llewelyn have so much depth - I could not help but fall in love with their relationship and root for a happy ending. You can certainly tell that Penman did her research - which must of been slow-going and time consuming - to bring this story to life. Her notes at the end of the book were just as fascinating as the story itself. This will be a book that I will definitely be reading again.
    • 4/5
      Llewelyn the Great and the Welsh, mostly through the eyes of Joanna, daughter of King John, wife of Llewelyn. Very complex, interesting and well-written. I need a much firmer grounding in the events of the 13th century, though.
    • 3/5
      Where I got the book: purchased used on Amazon.This is the first book I’ve read by Sharon Kay Penman, and it was a product of the Goodreads Effect—I’ve heard so many good things about Penman on Goodreads that I realized I was going to have to get acquainted with her work. This, I believe, was the second book she wrote, after The Sunne in Splendor, and the first book in her Welsh Trilogy. It covers the years from 1183 to 1234 and tells the story of Llewelyn, a Welsh prince determined to keep Wales Welsh by keeping the English (well, Norman French really) King John out of his country, and his wife Joanna, who was John’s illegitimate daughter.Given its subject matter, it won’t surprise you to learn that the movement of the novel is chronological rather than thematic; it’s basically a straight telling of what happened during the period, primarily from the point of view of either Llewelyn or Joanna (but see below). If you’re the kind of reader who reads historical fiction to learn history, you will learn a great deal about the period, about Wales and about the personalities involved, and since I’m not a historian I can’t tell you whether it’s accurate or not.Penman writes well, puts words into the characters’ mouths that don’t generally sound either too modern or too deliberately olde-worlde, and covers, as far as I can see, a great deal of the known history of the time. I can’t fault her on any of those points.And yet…I wasn’t overly impressed. I read this book a few pages at a time over a very long period, which admittedly isn’t probably the best way to do it, but at no point did the story grab me enough that I wanted to bring this book with me wherever I went. I even tried starting it over after the first 50 pages or so, because I’d let a long time lapse, and then after that I kept doggedly perservering, determined to give Penman a fair try.I should admit, though, that Welsh settings have never appealed to me much, and I had trouble dealing with so many names, character or place, with L or G or W in them. I kept trying to pronounce the names in my head, and since I haven’t spent much time in Wales this was a frustrating bit of OCD that hounded me constantly as I read. But maybe that’s just me.I spent much of the 700 pages of this book wondering why I simply couldn’t work up any feeling for any of the characters, and it was only toward the end of the book that the answer began to dawn on me. I had a problem with the narrative voice. Penman writes in the third person omniscient point of view which, admittedly, is probably the best choice for a novel involving a great many characters and a large chunk of history—she is able to show us the inside of the heads of any character she wishes at any point in time. I have nothing against the omniscient POV when it’s done well, but I don’t think that Penman had really mastered it in this book. We are very often deep in Llewelyn or Joanna’s head, and I found it disconcerting to suddenly hop into the head of a minor character, as quite frequently happened. It’s like holding a telescopic device when someone else is playing around with the zoom, so that one second you’re looking at things from miles away, the next second you’re right up close, and then WHAM, back to miles away again. To make things worse, every so often she resorted to historian mode to get over long periods of time in which not much happened, or at least not much happened that she intended to show in the book. So suddenly we weren’t in any character’s head—we were listening to a disembodied storyteller. And that, I figured, is why I couldn’t get to like any of the characters—the narrative technique made them all seem a bit like a cast of marionettes, not acting under their own free will but at the mercy of the narrated Historical Imperative. And that’s a shame because there was a lot of family drama that also, because of who that family happened to be, was historically important. The abiding impression of what I did like turns out to be King John, who doesn’t appear often enough for my liking but casts an awfully long shadow over Joanna and Llewelyn’s lives. I grew up with an impression of King John taken from the Robin Hood stories, and am glad to have received a more nuanced picture of this much-maligned monarch.All this makes it very hard to rate this book, but I’m going for three stars because of the sheer struggle I had to stay engaged with the story. Which doesn’t mean I’m giving up on Penman—I have another of her books somewhere in the TBR pile, and I’ll admit that if I want to learn something about a period via historical fiction, she seems like a good author to go to.
    • 5/5
      Here Be Dragons tells the story of the marriage of Prince Llewelyn of Wales and Joanna, the illegitimate daughter of England’s King John.The book is well researched by the author about the life and times of King John and his court as well as the court of Prince Llewelyn.As all of her books the story line is super. I love the romance angle, and the intrigue. My attention was caught from start to finish.
    • 4/5
      Really good historical fiction. Well written. My only nit with the whole thing was that it sometimes read a bit like a romance and/or soap opera. Otherwise, good.
    • 5/5
      This is the first book I've read by author Sharon Kay Penman. I must say, I loved it. I like to read about the middle ages and I have never read anything about Wales so I thought I would give it a try. I was not disappointed in "Here Be Dragons". Set in the time of Richard the Lionheart, Queen Eleanor Aquitaine and king John, Sharon Penman brings to reality the complicated political struggles within England's royalty and the ongoing treaties and wars with the Princes of a fiercely independent and divided country of Wales.I was drawn into the lives of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, and Joanna, who was arranged to marry him to bring about a fragile alliance between England and Wales. Through this marriage the intricacies of political machines governed by Kings, family, Princes and Popes, weighs in the balance with the power of love and loyalty. So well is this complicated struggle weaved in and out of the relationships and lives of the characters, Penman is able to bring depth and strength to the people and the story.I am already reading the second book in the trilogy, picking up where the last one left off! I am so glad to be able to stay connected and continue reading about these extraordinary people and the time in which they lived. Lorie M.
    • 5/5
      When I finished reading this book I regretted reading it as I would never have the experience of reading it for the first time again :-) Although I have read several times since.Simply put, it is the best book I've ever read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in history although since first reading Here be Dragons, I have completed a History Degree and actually shy away from historical fiction now, even when based on fact, as want a more balanced view of history.
    • 5/5
      This wonderful book by Sharon Kay Penman is one to be read slowly savoring every page. I purposefully took my time with this one as I knew from the beginning I wasn't going to want it to end. This story follows the lives of John I of England and Llewelyn the Great of Wales along with John's daughter Joanna as there lives entwine. I'm not going to go into details of the plot as I'm sure other reviewers have done this already, but I will say that this is a must read for lovers of historical fiction. I will be reading the next in the Welsh trilogy as soon as I can!
    • 5/5
      Sharon Kay Penman brings history to life
    • 5/5
      Splendid! That's all I have to say...just kidding, but if I ever were forced to summarize this book in one word, 'splendid' would be the one. Here Be Dragons is the reason why exactly I read and love historical fiction. This is a kind of book that gives you a story you can truly lose yourself in, lock the world away and pretend for at least the hours you're reading that nothing else but what's happening on the pages of the book exists.Here Be Dragons is the first book by Sharon Penman I've ever read but it's enough for me to know that this author truly is a master of her art. She painted such a vivid physical and emotional landscape of the 13th century England and Wales, and people ruling them, that it was sometimes very difficult for me to return to the present without regrets. please, don't take it as gushings of a drama queen here, because I'm certainly no drama queen and I rarely love a book this much. That's why when it happens, it is all the more memorable.Now, mind you, Here Be Dragons is probably not the book for people who are just trying to get into historical fiction. It's a chunkster with tons of characters, a lot of history packed into it, a lot of intrigue and events to pay attention to, and while those are the reasons why I love it so and I'm sure most history buffs do too, some who are just starting may get turned of by the 'too-muchness' of it all. Nonetheless, in the end, I found I cared for almost all characters, even the most vile, because Ms. Penman did a superb job of showing two sides to every story, two sides to every person. Even the cruel king John of England awoke feelings of pity and compassion even sometimes. By the same token, I also got mad and turned off by some of the things done by Llewelyn (the good character) or his wife, Joanna (who by the way, really pissed me off a few times there).Thank goodness this book is the first in the trilogy of the Welsh Princes and the first of the many books Sharon Kay Penman wrote. Even though I've waited a long time to discover this writer, I now have hours upon hours of more splendid reading ahead of me, because I have no doubt that her other books will be just as good.
    • 4/5
      This book is the sequel to I'd Tell You I Love You but I'd Have to Kill You. It is set at a school for spies that has secret chambers under the school. Cammie is a genius but struggles with other aspects of her life, such as relationships. This book is like the Alex Rider series books (by Anthony Horowitz), but about a teen spy who is a girl instead of a boy.
    • 4/5
      Read this for bookclub - which is good for making me branch out. I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, but this novel caught me at a good time. Having just read a history of medieval times, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ms. Penman had done a good job of portraying some of the realities of that time - particularly in terms of the pervasiveness of the Catholic Church and the reality of the afterlife that so many believed in. I enjoyed learning more of the history of the times and found the book very readable.
    • 2/5
      Wow. I love historical fiction, *especially* when it's well researched. Therefore, I really liked this book, as I kept googling the information weaved around the storyline, and it was factually accurate. Somehow that just makes the book come alive for me.This is definitely not a book you can read quickly! It takes place mostly in Wales in the 13th century, and having little knowledge about that time period, was fascinating to me. I did know that you never call a Welshman 'English' and vice-versa, but I never really knew why until I read this book. The English and Welsh princes are always at odds or at war. Their interaction with one another as well as the women in their lives is hard to keep up with, though. I had to keep flipping back to check the years, etc. Read this book when you have lots of quiet time - you have to pay attention. No speed reading in this one!
    • 3/5
      This book was almost as good as the first, having the same witty characters, fun spy school activities, and humorous teen love. However, I thought the ending was rushed, a cop-out duplicate of the first book's ending.
    • 5/5
      Penman's Llewellyn is perhaps the most charismatic and compelling hero I have encountered. A fascinating portrait of an interesting time.
    • 5/5
      This work is a sweeping historical epic concerning Llewelyn Fawr - the first self-proclaimed Prince of Wales - and his enduring love affair with Joanna, the illegitimate daughter of John, King of England. The book covers the period between 1183 and 1234, and deals in both micro and macro events. We see the world not only in terms of the major historical events that shaped that period of time but also from the point of view of characters in terms of their own relationships.The characters are memorable and aid the reader in becoming invested in this very early period of English history. One criticism that can be levelled, however, is that the cast of characters seems to be in the hundreds and sometimes it can be difficult to tell your Wills from your Richards from your Ranulfs. I also found it difficult at times dealing with the idea of child brides - the fact that King John perhaps took a twelve year old bride to bed is anathema to those of us in modern times, and can make for uncomfortable reading. Penman writes readily about the role of women in those days, which can also create a sense of outrage - when daughters are married away to foreign countries for political expediency, it is hard to realise that this was a common occurrence and certainly one that women prepared themselves for.Mostly, though, this book is a joy to read and I found that the 800+ pages passed in a flash. I was eager to find out what happened to Llewelyn and Joanna. The fact that their love was served up against an historical backdrop which had been lavishly researched only added to the pleasure of reading the events.I would recommend this wholeheartedly.
    • 4/5
      Good solid historical fiction. Really brought the characters to life.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully written and researched novel concentrating on the last of the Welsh Princes. Here Be Dragons is the first in the trilogy and the story centres around Joanna, bastard daughter of King John, and Llewellyn Fawr. It portrays John in a much more sympathetic light than many other books, and yet he still is ruthless.I have read this book several times and I never get tired of it. Highly recommended.