I have virtually all of Jecks' works. I am new to Library Things so am not going to go into great detail except to say that he has given me many hours of reading pleasure and largley give him 5 stars. Although it has been some years since I found one of the later stories, I was, at the time, prompted to find the first in the series, etc. It is grand that both his former publisher and his new publisher (Simon & Schuster UK) are republishing his books in print and other formats. I have given Jecks 5 star reviews over the years since I stumbled on to him. As to his research, historically it is from primary sources wherein he writes plausible tales into the historical setting. I also can not agree with a previous review. We must have read different books. ( )

This book did not pull me in the story and I was constantly thinking to stop reading entirely, but I kept on going just hoping the story would kick up. Sadly, it didn't. I give it two stars because it was not so bad I just quit reading, but I was glad that I finished it.

1. The characters were very bland and boring. No character really gets fleshed out, simply because there are so many you have to keep track of.

2. With a title this epic, you would assume some epic medieval stuff will happen. But sadly the book is mostly walking and talking and some more walking and talking. The more action packed moments can be counted on one hand and this made the story drag too much.

I do like the historic setting and it is nice that the characters are based on existing persons, but this also means restrictions leading to less action and more walking and talking. ( )