This is the first of a projected quartet of novels about the Plantagenet dynasty, and opens as the king and queen of France, Louis VII and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine return from the Crusades in 1149. Unhappy in her marriage to the monkish Louis, Eleanor begins an affair with Geoffrey le Bel, Duke of Normandy. Geoffrey wants a spy in the French court and sees Eleanor as ideally placed to assist. Although Geoffrey and Eleanor’s affair becomes passionate, Geoffrey is clearly focussed on his main objective: to see his son Henry become King of England.

The author offered swashbuckling action, fantasy and swan knights (as in Lohengrin) - often on the same page. Some of the characters are simply not believable (like Aelbad); the telepathy thing was distracting and added little to the story; and there was a little too much focus on steamy sex scenes.

With a stronger editor, this book could have been great. At times, the writing was all over the place - more like a late draft, rather than the finished thing. I felt as though I was watching a TV saga loosely based on history, rather than reading historical fiction.

Having said that, I’m interested enough in Ms d’Alpuget’s depiction of Henry to read the second novel in the series. ( )