Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

"my travail begins as I am enjoying a walk in the garden."

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
416 pages (Hardcover)
Published: February 27, 2007
Publisher: Ballatine Books
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: Stand Alone
Goodreads Rating: 3.83/5
Amazon Rating: 4/5
Shelfari Rating: 4/5

I am now a condemned traitor . . . I am to die when I have hardly begun to live.

Historical expertise marries page-turning fiction in Alison Weir’s enthralling debut novel, breathing new life into one of the most significant and tumultuous periods of the English monarchy. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey–“the Nine Days’ Queen”–a fifteen-year-old girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of the religious and civil unrest that nearly toppled the fabled House of Tudor during the sixteenth century.

The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleyn’s beheading and the demise of Jane’s infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Jane’s adolescent cousin, and Henry’s successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor.

Unabashedly honest and exceptionally intelligent, Jane possesses a sound strength of character beyond her years that equips her to weather the vicious storm. And though she has no ambitions to rule, preferring to immerse herself in books and religious studies, she is forced to accept the crown, and by so doing sets off a firestorm of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy. -from Goodreads.com

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I have always adored the Tudors and England. When I was younger, I thought living in that time period would be the best thing in the world. I known better now, but I used to devour books and movies about any and all of the Tudors. My reading tastes changed towards fantasy when I picked up Tamora Pierce for the first time. I gradually reduced my Tudor searching, and I can't remember when I stopped looking for them altogether. I still have a few lonely middle grade books about Elizabeth and Mary on my shelves. However when my mother picked Innocent Traitor up from the library, I was very interested. And when she recommended it after she was finished, I immediately resolved to start my Tudor frenzy up again.

Lady Jane Grey is best remember for her tragic control of the crown for only nine days. Her reign was cut short by Mary, who seized the crown and beheaded Jane and her supporters. But what of this young girl's childhood? What led her to her fate? This novel explores Jane's past, as she continues to defy her controlling parents only to give under their cruel punishments. It shows her relationships with the royalty she would one day move against in the powerful political game they all played.

When I cracked open Innocent Traitor, I wasn't too thrilled with how the story first progressed. The first two chapters contain nothing but Jane's mother and the current Queen giving birth. I know its a natural thing and yadda yadda yadda, but if you have read one birthing scene, you have read them all. There are a number of births described in Innocent Traitor, all of which I wanted to skim over. One of them is particularly gruesome, and it leaves the woman basically mutilated and her baby a hunchback. The other stories of Jane's childhood, which are also told in the first part of the book, describe Jane's demeaning abuse at the hands of her parents, especially her domineering mother. I could understand how this related to future events and Jane's character being defined, but it was hard to read at times. All I wanted to do was scoop Jane up and rescue her from her life.

The feeling I have when I read historical novels from this period, especially about people who end up rather headless, is the same feeling I have when I read Shakepseare's tragedies. I know what the end result will be going into the book. I already know how the main character will end up, the same character I expect to became emotionally invested in. And of course, I do become emotionally attached, and I do find myself hoping against hope that history will change before I finish the story. Like a Shakepeare tragedy, there are always heaps of foreboding and foreshadowing found inside the story. I find that foreshadowing is always fun for me to read, sort of like a 'Where's Waldo' for me to sniff out and spot.

Alison Weir writes Innocent Traitor in alternating view points for each chapter. I usually don't enjoy this approach. It wasn't my favorite way to read the book, and I still think it could have been written solely from Jane's perspective and the story wouldn't have suffered. However I do think it was a great way for the reader do learn everyone's hidden agenda and polticial plans, something that reading from the Jane's perspective wouldn't have been made clear.

One apsect that completely surprised me was how big a role religion played in Jane's story. I realize that this was a turbulent time for England in terms of religious freedom. I knew Mary especially was a staunch supporter of Catholicism, against the rest of her family's wishes. Somehow I expected Catholicism versus Protestantism to play a smaller role. However, Jane herself is extremely devout in Protestantism from a young age. She clings to her religion throughout the whole novel and roughly defends her faith to people twice her age. From Ms. Weir's point of view, Jane's religion played a large role in her undoing. It was extremely interesting to me how Catholics and Protestants fought over such tiny things, things I don't even remember discussing too often or in much detail in my Catholic Religion class or in my Protestant church.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10. Recommended for historical lovers, especially those with a strong adoration of all things Tudor (and I don't just mean the steamy HBO show). It was a rather sad novel about a young girl whose life was cut short too soon. I felt like the fate of these people led them, instead of these people taking control of their own destinies. Their fates were hard to read about, especially since young women like Jane had little control over their lives unless their parents or husband gave it to them. It was informative and heart-wrenching, but to say it was entertaining would just be cruel.

Source for copy: Borrowed.

A middle grade book I read on Lady Jane Gray when I was younger was Nine Days a Queen by Ann Rinaldi. I don't remember much about it, except that I liked it enough to buy it. If that fact means anything to you, maybe you will like the book too. I do remember its very PG, as PG as a book can get when it involves Tudor England and beheading.

The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle.

The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle
First in a Series
Young Adult-Historical Fiction, 288 pages
Published June 23, 2003 by Speak

In ninth-century Britain, fifteen-year-old Aethelflaed, daughter of King Alfred of West Saxony, finds she must assume new responsibilities much sooner than expected when she is betrothed to Ethelred of Mercia in order to strengthen a strategic alliance against the Danes. -goodreads.com

I have been in a bit of a book slump lately. I don't think I have ever been in one this badly. I know sometimes the best of use get the Bad Book Blues, but man do I have it. I have been terribly busy lately, for one thing. I never have time nor the desire to spend my time reading. I pick up a book that I had previously been salivating over, and suddenly I can't bring myself to read the first page. My friend is probably so mad at me since she lent me out the next two books in the Stoneheart trilogy, and I can't finish them. I think I have racked her up a pretty penny in fines at her library. I'm trying, I promise! The only thing I have had a remote interest in reading lately is Tamora Pierce, and I loaned out my favorite books in the Tortall series to my friend. Ay, ay, ay! So you can see, I'm in a bad way. I bought The Edge on the Sword many long years ago at a Half-Price Books store. I put it on my bookshelf and promptly forgot about it. Then this year, I made a resolution to at least try and finish all the books on my bookshelf. The Edge on the Sword is right after Fire on the top shelf (which contains my Bad-Ass Femmes books), so it was the next one to be read.

I always try and skim reviews before I read a book, just to get an opinion of whether the book is worth reading or not. I try not to read so much that the reviewer influences my opinion of the story, however. I know myself too well; I can be impressionable. A handful of reviews stated that the Edge on the Sword had a slow beginning that accumulated into a satisfying end. I agree. The very beginning of the book seems to be disconnected from the rest. When I began to read the first chapters, I flipped to the back to make sure I was reading the right story. I was puzzling over what a young girl sneaking in to the woods to meet her angry brother had anything to do with the 'greatest woman in Old English military history.' Stick with this book though, because very quickly we get to the good part. Aethelflad soons learns she will be betrothed to her father's trusted aldorman, Ethelred, a man as old as her father. Before she will be shipped off to marry Ethelred in a strange town, she has to be followed by the trusted servant of Ethelred. She slowly sees her freedom taken away as this new man scares her little sisters and limits her favorite walks into the forest. But Aethelflad isn't one to go down without a fight, leading her to use her wits against this servant and setting the scene for her brilliant military strategies she employs later.

The amount of historical detail that went into this novel is amazing. I loved the little touches of the Middle Ages scattered throughout the Edge on the Sword. Its easy to see that Rebecca Tingle went through a lot of work to make the book accurate. I'm not an expert on the Middle Ages, however, so don't take my word for it. She, at least, made me believe everything she wrote was correct. I think her characters' mindsets were correct for the time period, as well. Many authors try to write historical fiction, but their characters end up sounding like they were plucked from 2010. Aethelflad is a real Mercian woman, known in history as beloved by her people and a genius on the battlefield when she was forced to take over for her husband in his later years. She is a strong woman, without being a feminist that wouldn't have existed in those times. She may not have liked being engaged to an older stranger, but as a princess she would have know she had to submit to her father and king. She didn't run away from the problem but faced it head on, no matter how miserable that made her feel. Aethelflad is inspiring because when she knew she was right, she stood up for herself and when she thought she may be wrong, she stuck out her chin and plowed through the consequences anyway.

The only shortcoming of this novel is the cast of secondary characters. They left some things to be desired when it came to emotions. Towards the end, there should have been an extremely emotional scene with Aethelflad and her trusted servant, Red. I didn't even blink. I realized later I should have felt something during this scene, but I really didn't even register it. I found out as I was writing this review that there is a sequel, Far Traveller! I plan to read as soon as I can.

Also, the sequel's cover looks way better than the Edge of the Sword's cover. I really hate the first book's cover because her face is very pixelated and distorted. Its just strange. Aethelflad's ear and nose look huge.

Blood Red Horse by K.M Grant.

Blood Red Horse by K.M Grant
First in a Trilogy
Young Readers, 288 pages
Published April 4th, 2006 by Walker Books

You need three things to become a brave and noble knight:
A warhorse.
A fair maiden.
A just cause.

Will has a horse—a small chestnut stallion with a white blaze in his brow. Ellie is a fair maiden, but she’s supposed to marry Will’s older brother, Gavin. And as for the cause, King Richard is calling for a Crusade. The Knights of England must go to the Holy Land to fight.
Will and Gavin will go. Blood will be shed. Lives will be taken. But through it all, two things will be constant—Ellie, and a blood-red horse called Hosanna... -goodreads.com

Will is a young noble growing up in England, where he knows two things: he must follow King Richard in the Crusades, and he needs an amazing warhorse to accomplish that. When his father finally gives him the chance to pick a charger, something draws him instead to a small red horse. No one expects this horse, named Hosanna, to be much of anything; some mock him for making the choice to take such a puny horse into battle. But time and time again Hosanna saves not only Will but those around him. He has a miraculous quality about him, one that calms and soothes the spirit as well as gives courage to men going into battle. The English warriors look to Hosanna for strength, until one day he is taken from Will. My brother suggested this book to me, since he knows I'll read almost anything and I'm a sucker for a medevial adventure. This book will not disappoint for those fellow lovers of all things medieval. However, if you're looking for much romance or anything like that, I wouldn't read this book. Although the blurb suggests some romance between Will, Ellie, and Gavin, there isn't a whole lot in this book. The sequel gives more strength to the relationships.

I really did like this book. It's not a favorite; not one I'm going to be buying anytime soon. I couldn't help but fall in love with Hosanna, or the title's blood red horse, just as everyone in the book has their heart's softened by the creature. He really is unbelievable, but he never does anything totally out there. I thought Hosanna would be saving people left and right, talking, and whatnot when I went into the book, but he never did anything out of the ordinary for a horse. The power he sent people, however, had me wishing for a horse like him. Hosanna is probably the best character in this book. Will and Ellie are both very likeable, with more depth than I expected from a Young Readers book. I even came around to liking Gavin towards the end, but I still have mixed feelings about him. He never is just one sort of person; I can't categorize him, and he never does what I think he will, so Gavin was also a nicely developed character.

But this book is more plot based than character based, so lets move onto the plot. The book moves constantly through with action. Not many parts (and those aren't very long) are filled with Will hanging around, being bored. It shifts constantly between battle to battle, from Ellie back home in England fighting her own wars with enemies at Hartslove, and from a young Muslim man who enters the story once the Crusaders enter the Holy Land. Even though the story was meant to be 'non-stop action', there were times when I felt bored especially with the fight scenes. It got a little old after a while. Maybe this is just me, because I can easily get bored with any battle. Gladiator, woah man! 300, nuh uh. They don't impress me much. If you enjoy lots of details of war without too much gore, Blood Red Horse is definately for you.