| CONSCIENCE OF THE KING (Phoenix Fiction) | 
 enlarge | Author: Alfred Duggan
Publisher: Phoenix
Category: Book
List Price: $10.95
Buy Used: $4.65
You Save: $6.30 (58%)
New (16) Used (15) from $4.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 452487
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0304366463
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780304366460
ASIN: 0304366463
Publication Date: March 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! Clean and unmarked text. Spine is slightly rolled from reading
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A thoroughly entertaining and convincing new take on the last days of the Roman Empire in Britain.
Cerdic Elesing, King of Wessex and ancestor of all subsequent British monarchs, narrates in this fictional biography how he murdered, cheated, looted and lied his way to the great position he ultimately held - and in the process served with the great Roman leader Ambrosius and the Saxon warlord Aella, and was the foe Arthur defeated at Mount Badon.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Great Start - "iffy" ending November 21, 2006
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
The book begins with one exciting turn after another. The author has a flowing style that draws you from page to page - excellent character development, place description and particularly armor and battle details. About half way through the book, it began to lag. By the time I reached the supposed account of the Battle of Mt. Badon with Arthur, I was bored and skimming along for the next bit of excitement. I was happy to see it end yet unhappy with the nearly non-existent connection between the main character and the "entire royal line to present day" as I believe is the notion mentioned. I would have cut the number of stars to only 2 had I not simply liked the authors style - that gives him the extra star. The topic is intereting and he definately understood the historical details of the time period and could relate them quite vividly. There just wasn't enough excitement near the mid-point, the possible connection to Arthur was not as thrilling as I hoped, and again the connection to the present day royal line is mentioned - just - but not well connected - even in theory.
I would recommend Bernard Cornwell and Laurence J. Brown for battle depiction, excitement and character development. I'd also recommend Parke Godwin - all rate above this author based on this particular book.
 Excellent page-turner September 12, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic read. Despite being several decades old, the writing style is fresh, the plot rivetting, the characters, intriguing.
Didn't want a large kingdom, just an absolute one. June 6, 2004
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
This novel is the "autobiography" of Cerdic, founder of the kingdom of Wessex, root of the British royal family tree. The interesting thing about the conscience of the king is that he has none. He starts as a Roman, with a desire for absolute power and no scruples, and ends up with his own small kingdom. I'm very fond of Alfred Duggan's work.
|
|
|
