Can this be read on it's own?

[Robin]

I won one of the giveaways - I have read When Christ and His Saints Slept but haven't gotten to Time and Chance and Devil's Brood yet. Should I read them first or is Lionheart good as a standalone too? I'm currently finished up the Welsh Princes series so I'm having a bit of a SKP-fest here!

[Melissa]

you can read it on its own, but I'd wait for all of them. Lionheart starts at almost the exact point Devils Brood ends.

[Robin]

Thanks Melissa, I think you're right - since I do plan to read the others, I might as well do it in order.

[Leanne]

I think this could be read at any time. The first three are my all time favorites (When Christ and His Saints Slept is probably in my top 3 ever), but Lionheart could be seen as fleshing out Richard more than carrying on Henry's family saga.

[Anne]

Devil's Brood is the only book in the series I haven't read but found it really didn't matter when reading Lionheart.

[Eileen]

I have enjoyed all of Sharon Kay Penman's books, but probably Lionheart the least. The author did an amazing amount of research for the book, and it appears that there was quite a lot written about Richard by people of his time, so she had abundant sources. However, the book never quite got into Richard's point of view. It used the points of view of a bunch of other characters, sort of like using the planets to describe the sun.

I came away from the book finding RIchard to be a much more likable and admirable character than I thought I would, but not really knowing what makes him tick.

[Robin]

Thanks everyone, I read Lionheart - I was going to wait and read the others first but I wanted to give it to my SIL who was visiting soon. It's definitely readable on it's own.

[Mollie]

I liked Lionheart, however, it only shared his years in battle. There was so much she left out...or is that in another book?

[Eileen]

Mollie wrote: "I liked Lionheart, however, it only shared his years in battle. There was so much she left out...or is that in another book?"

There is supposed to be a sequel coming out, and what happened before he went on Crusade was sort of covered in , although the focus was more on the relationship between Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

[Patty]

I read all of the others excepting the Devil's Brood and I read them as they came out so it was eons ago. I read Lionheart without a problem but I will someday pick up Devil's Brood

[Joel]

It can be read on its own. The main advantage to ever reading the books in order on a series is that you are introduced to characters in the way/time the author intends and when events are referenced you will know what they are talking about. Any book that doesn't make sense on its own isn't likely to be a good book.

That being said I like reading all the books in a series in order at least the first time through so that I do know what is going on and who the characters are.

[Elizabeth]

I read it on its own but will now read others by Penman. However, I had been doing quite a bit of other reading about these various eras. (I use the plural because there are cross-cutting eras and histories in this book.)