La muerte sorpresiva y prematura de Ricardo Corazón de León dejó a su sobrino Arturo y a su hermano menor, Juan, enfrentados y pretendiendo ambos la corona inglesa.
En medio de muchas vacilaciones y temores, los nobles se inclinaron en favor de Juan, quien fue así ungido rey de Inglaterra. Esta decisión acarrearía años de turbulencia al país.
El rey Juan se hizo temer y odiar. Y no faltaron razones para ello. Por naturaleza el rey exhibía una irrefrenable sensualidad, acompañada de un temperamento terrible por su violencia. La crueldad, el capricho y la injusticia se hacían presentes a diario en las actitudes del monarca.
Los hombres de su tiempo llegaron a creer que la sangre del demonio se había mezclado con la sangre de los Plantagenet. Y muchos afirmaron que el maldito Juan era el diablo encarnado, un príncipe de las sombras...

Once again I just love this author. Couldn't put this book down. This book is about the reign of King John the last and youngest son of King Henry II - talk about a messed up family. By far, King John was the worst of them all. Exciting read - engaging as always. ( )

I’m glad I wasn’t alive during King John of England’s reign! “The Prince of Darkness” is indeed an apt title.

Although John is one of English history’s most despicable personages, this very fact makes him one of the most fascinating. The author does a great job of bringing this most cruel and self-obsessed of kings back to life, making him vivid and believable.

I was familiar with some of John’s life before reading this work of well-researched historical fiction, but much of what’s contained within these pages came as a surprise.

I could make a long list of the things he did and comment on them, but for the benefit of anyone reading this review before checking “The Prince of Darkness”, I’ll state none. I don’t want to spoil anything for potential readers of this morbidly fascinating account of King John’s life and how he affected or ruined the lives of others.

Other characters of interest include John’s wife and mother. The latter - Eleanor of Aquitaine - has appeared in the previous three books of the Plantagenet saga, so long was her life compared to many during medieval times.

Some intense scenes feature throughout the novel, all instigated by John’s dark personality. Overall, the story is engaging and at times highly entertaining or intense.

Like in most Plaidy novels, there are elements of repetition that jar on the nerves and the phrase “without delay” is done to death in this and the first three books of the series.

Despite a degree of annoying repetition I feel this entertaining and morbidly fascinating novel deserves five stars. ( )

How evil was King John? THIS EVIL. Plaidy has no use for him but to detail every sort of perversion in his character - acquisitiveness, lack of military valor (a real problem in his situation of defending a large swath of territory in France), licentiousness, lustfulness, as well as bouts of insanity wherein he rolls on the floor and stuffs rushes in his mouth. Oh, did I forget murder, abduction of virgins and complete disrespect for the Church?

I know John has had bad press since day one, and rightfully so - but the fact that his reign brought us Magna Carta proves his villainy useful. More recent scholarship ascribes the beginnings of organized centralized recordkeeping, such as the Pipe Rolls to his administrative ability. Supposedly he was a fair lawgiver in circuit courts.

This having been said, this book takes the black legend of King John and beats it to death. ( )