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461st out of 557 books
—
445 voters
Revenge of the Rose
Welcome to a world of intrigue of the most intriguing kind, where emperors and popes desperately vie for power, even as their subjects and servants engage in behind-the-scenes machinations of their own. "The Holy Roman Empire circa 1200 A.D."
Impoverished young knight Willem of Dole believed he would spend his life in rural Burgundy, struggling to provide for his widowed mo...more
Impoverished young knight Willem of Dole believed he would spend his life in rural Burgundy, struggling to provide for his widowed mo...more
Hardcover, 464 pages
Published
August 8th 2006
by William Morrow
(first published July 27th 2006)
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A nice tale that reminds me a lot of Shakespearean comedies with hidden identities and lots of scheming. I feel is one of Galland's better novels. It's clearly not historical fiction, but it clearly comes from an author who really knows her history and is manipulating it all to create an entertaining story. The main trio in this novel are a brother, sister, and minstrel. The brother, Willem, is a very good knight and a hopelessly clueless and romantic man that finds himself in the emperor's cour...more
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Inspired by a thirteenth-century poem called “Roman de la Rose,” “Revenge of the Rose” envelops readers in a thrilling tale of courtly love, political intrigue, and cunning wit. The minstrel Jouglet is a riveting character whose schemes and quick-mind made me laugh out loud, while the main characters of Willem and Lienor provide an irresistible combination of the idealistic knight trying (too hard) to protect his spirited sister from the ways of the world. Galland weaves their stories into an in...more
This is a tale of courtly love, political intrigue, and the politics of power in the court of the Holy Roman emperor in the thirteenth century. Galland does something unusual in the category of historical fiction. She picks a time and place, but nothing specific in history. And then she creates a complex and fictional world and uses it as a backdrop for completely fictional characters. (is that still historical fiction? If not, I don't know how to categorize it.) Historical purists might find th...more
'Revenge of the Rose' is clever and fun, with mistaken-identity plot twists straight out of Shakespeare's comedies. But it's not anywhere near as scrupulously authentic as 'The Fool's Tale,' so it suffers by comparison.
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A 21st century version of the medieval "Roman de la Rose" set in the 12th Holy Roman Empire. The emperor needs a wife. His clever minstrel, Jouglet, has the perfect candidate. Though poor, she is the sister of an immensely skilled knight who actually believes in all that chivalry stuff. The larcenous Count of Burgundy conspires with a wicked Cardinal, the emperor’s brother, to thwart Jouglet’s schemes. Both the knight and his sister are endearing and Jouglet is the archetypal trickster. Not actu...more
Revenge of the Rose is one of my favorite medieval novels. Poor Willem of Dole and his beautiful, yet defiant sister, Lienor were robbed of their birthrights by a wicked uncle, but the wily and witty Jouglet, a fool in Holy Roman Emperor Konrad’s court, conspires to help Willem gain favor and his titles too. Not only does Willem rise in the court, but soon eyes fall upon Lienor as a prospect for Konrad’s bride. Needless to say, there are many in Konrad’s court who aren’t happy to see these two “...more
Written for Fire & Ice
It is books like this that made me fall in love with historical fiction. There are so many layers and so much fun with the different characters that you just enjoy reading each and every word as it unfolds. A couple of the twists I did guess them before they were revealed, however I did not care because it was still so artfully written you could not help but enjoy it.
I actually really liked Konrad even though he could be a bit of an ass sometimes. Overall as a ruler he...more
It is books like this that made me fall in love with historical fiction. There are so many layers and so much fun with the different characters that you just enjoy reading each and every word as it unfolds. A couple of the twists I did guess them before they were revealed, however I did not care because it was still so artfully written you could not help but enjoy it.
I actually really liked Konrad even though he could be a bit of an ass sometimes. Overall as a ruler he...more
I quite enjoyed this!
It reminded me a bit of a more adult version of Jane Yolen's 'Queen's Own Fool,' which I read recently. It's likely less historically accurate, but I found the characters to be wonderfully vivid (if not quite 'believable.') This is historical fiction for readers who want a well-crafted, entertaining story. It won't hold up if you're nitpicky about "did that really happen," but it's got internal consistency.
Set in 13th-century Burgundy, the story involves a naive knight from...more
It reminded me a bit of a more adult version of Jane Yolen's 'Queen's Own Fool,' which I read recently. It's likely less historically accurate, but I found the characters to be wonderfully vivid (if not quite 'believable.') This is historical fiction for readers who want a well-crafted, entertaining story. It won't hold up if you're nitpicky about "did that really happen," but it's got internal consistency.
Set in 13th-century Burgundy, the story involves a naive knight from...more
I was delighted with Nicole Galland's take on Jean Renart's thirteenth-century poem. She blended the story into an engaging novel with well-developed characters and a plot-line that made it hard for me to put the book down. For those of us who are familiar with the original, the charmingly sarcastic Lienor is still there, and so is the gorgeous Willliam of Dole. Jouglet is there too; only this time, the author lets him stay through the entire story. In fact, it is through the court minstrel's ey...more
A solid 3.5 star read; if you like historical fiction laced with romance, you will like this book. Set in the Holy Roman Empire of the 13th century, it has a variety of colorful characters (knights, minstrels, damsels in distress) and a mid-story plot twist that took me totally by surprise. Combine all this with a satisfying ending in which true love triumphs and the evil-doers get their just rewards, and you have all you need for a really enjoyable story.
Engaging historical novel. The story of a young night who's country upbringing leaves him unprepard for the politics and trechary of court life. Entertaining and clever. I loved the plot twists and found the charachters to be very interesting. It was failrly well written and I would be interested to read more from this author. I would definately say this is a pg-13 book. however, nothing was too offensive to me.
Glad I only paid $2 for it. Pretty bad writing, and also should not have been labeled "historical" fiction, because the only thing really "historical" about it is that it was set 800 years ago. Basically, if you're looking for a smutty book, with characters who are *incredibly* stupid and dense, you've found it. The only reason I give it three stars is that Galland had some rather clever turns of phrase that actually made me laugh out loud.
The first half of the book was very slow moving. I kept waiting for something to happen, and if I hadn't like the author's previous book "A Fool's Tale" I may have not continued. However, half way through the book, there was a huge plot twist and then it got more interesting. I found the author's answers to the questions at the end helped to understand where she was coming from, since the novel was filled with implausible scenarios for the medieval time period.
I absolutely adored this book. It was full of plot twists that I didn't see coming, and the characters were very well-rounded. Galland does a great job of using a time period that isn't very often found in literature, and every setting and scene is believable and well-written. This book has elements of adventure, romance, and even some mystery--I'd recommend it to anyone!
I had every intention of giving this book 4 stars until I finished it. Despite significant weaknesses in the narrative, for some reason I just found the story very entertaining, and it does have sufficient twists to hold an avid reader's interests. The denouement and ending, however, just seemed far too pat and abrupt and I was unhappy with the simplistic finale. It had promised to be much more noteworthy and ended up just being okay.
I had high hopes for this book because I had read and enjoyed Nicole Galland's previous book The Fool's Tale. Alas, it was like It had been written by another author. I got no sense of time and place, the story may as well have been set a decade ago. The emphasis was all on rather scandalous goings on and was just dissapointing. Blah!
I really enjoy historical romances and this one was pretty good. I liked how the author included interesting character twists that weren't always predictable. The ending, however, was somewhat anti-climactic. It seemed as though the author was getting tired of the tale and didn't want to put a lot of effort into the ending.
Nicole Galland really has a gift for making the reader want to keep reading, but I felt like the book was more of a soap opera with a medieval background than anything else. There were a lot of interesting twists and turns in the novel and it's definitely not boring, but it's not good enough to merit any more than three stars in my opinion.
This was one of those unfortunate books I picked up because it was on clearance and my "to-read" pile was dwindling. It took a while to get into, but once I was into it, I couldn't put it down-- twist after twist, chivalry is no longer dead, but it's not in the form of a white knight...
I've read all of Nicole Galland's books and it's my favorite. The plot is surprising and clever and I usually get what's coming ahead of time...not this time. And what a great heroine! She meets the criteria for damsel in distress but refuses to be one...I like that!!
May 23, 2013
Tammy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
historical fiction lovers
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
historical-romance
The author was inspired by a thirteenth century poem. What a creative idea. At first I wanted to know what a person was up to then I "had" to know what happens next. Elements for an enjoyable read.
A touch of mystery, humor, romance, chivalry, and historical blended all together on time well spent.
Will reread.
A touch of mystery, humor, romance, chivalry, and historical blended all together on time well spent.
Will reread.
I was a huge fan of the first Holland I read A Fool's Tale, but this, not so much. The story follows the troubadour in the fictional court of fictional Konrad, a German emperor in the 12th Century. I don't want to give away plot details, but this seemed a little too influenced by a college feminist lit class, and I never got swept away by period detail as I kept wanting to. I've not read much that takes place in 12th century Germany, and wanted to be surprised by details and perhaps even learn...more
Historical fiction about medieval life at court, complete with great plot twists and strong female characters. Slightly repetitive at times, but overall quite entertaining and engaging.
I had read 'The Fool's Tale' by Nicole Galland and had pretty mixed feelings about it. I had found the ending quite shocking and pretty sad so I was nervous to read another book where I liked the characters and then in the end they all come to untimely ends. Well, after reading this book (Revenge of the Rose) it made me like 'The Fool's Tale' more. I figured I could handle the death of those characters because the wonderful characters in Revenge of the Rose lived happily ever after. I'm a sucker...more
Jun 19, 2008
David
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Historical fans, romance fans, swashbuckler fans
Rollicking good romance/intrigue/comedy set in the 13th Century Holy Roman Empire. An impoverished knight and his sister are caught up in the midst of intrigue at the Emperor Konrad's court, thanks to the manipulations of a well-meaning and devious minstrel friend. Surrounded by devious villains and political manipulation, the characters seek love, success and happiness in extremely unusual circumstances. :)
Galland is great at creating characters who surprise the reader in unexpected ways, and s...more
Galland is great at creating characters who surprise the reader in unexpected ways, and s...more
I really loved this book, it's funny, has it's fare share of romance, and snarky comments.
I haven't read it in a while, so I don't feel that I would do it justice if I wrote a review at the top of my head.
But I promise once you pick up this book and start reading, you'll get sucked in and love it too.
I haven't read it in a while, so I don't feel that I would do it justice if I wrote a review at the top of my head.
But I promise once you pick up this book and start reading, you'll get sucked in and love it too.
Great story.....starts a little slow but worth it once you get into it. I was a little disappointed with the ending, but overall an enjoyable read.
Great novel on medieval court life and social mobility. Galland creates colorful, provocative characters that are believable.
Very enjoyable and an easy read. Was very pleased as I bought it from a bargain bin and didn't expect much.
A bit too romance-y for my tastes, and I didn't think it had much historical merit. A light read.
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Award-winning screenwriter Nicole Galland was raised on Marth'a Vineyard, and divides her time between the San Francisco Bay Area and New York. She is working on her fourth novel, set in Leominster, England. An itinerant gypsy for much of her adult life, she has recently married, and rumor has it she will even settle down soon.
More about Nicole Galland...
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