Thanks Julie for hosting us on Monday night, what an elegant setting with such good food! Not to mention the beautiful new kitchen that Chip Spitzer completed for Julie and Mike, so nice.
By the time we all met to discuss The Iron King, the first of the Accursed Kings series by Maurice Druon, the majority of us had already gone on to the next book in the series, proof that this was a great pick and a great read. It is also a testament to the power of a series, even one with seven books like this one.
This book was written in 1955 yet it read as if it were brand new. The vocabulary was interesting and challenging, with just a hint of the stilted rhythm of a translation. Much of the time, our discussion was about the content, which is part of the joy of a great historical novel. The series occupied the author for twenty-two years, with the last published in 1977. The series was adapted for television twice over the years and is considered the inspiration for the George R.R. Martin series known as the Game of Thrones.
This is a period of time that few of us knew well. What was the Hundred Years War really about for example? How did these events really play into the war or was the author's assertion that they did just for drama? And the Templars - was it their brutal end that caused repercussions on the history of France or their curse on thirteen generations of its kings. Was it thirteen generations to the guillotine of Louis XVI in 1793?
The internet just does not cough up the gripping story filled with intrigue and compelling characters that this book did and so on to the second book and likely more after that. While there was just not that much to discuss, we were all pretty happy to have started on this long, French journey.
Our next meeting is on September 8 at Catherine Hammond's house in Short Pump. Thanks for hosting Catherine! We will read the Monuments Men by Robert Edsel which got great reviews from those who had read it.
See you all then!
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