![]() ![]() Most of the other characters, though, are fictional – as is most of the plot, including many of the details of Rosamund Clifford’s story. Eleanor is certainly not the sympathetic, admirable character she is in Elizabeth Chadwick’s The Summer Queen trilogy, for example – she comes across as quite selfish and petulant. ![]() This is a period of history I always find interesting to read about and I felt that the portrayals of real historical figures in this book, such as Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, were very different from the way they have been depicted in other novels I’ve read. I didn’t guess who the murderer was, although I had my suspicions, but I think we were given enough clues to work it out with no unfair surprises or information being withheld. I thought the mystery was more complex – and certainly not as dark and disturbing as the previous one. In some ways, I enjoyed this book more than the first one. During their investigations, they are taken captive by Eleanor and her supporters, but when snow begins to fall the whole party become trapped for the winter at the nunnery in Godstow, where the mystery deepens as more murders take place. The king cannot be refused, of course, so Adelia soon finds herself setting off for Rosamund’s castle, escorted by Rowley Picot, her former lover, now the Bishop of St Albans. Since solving her first case for Henry II (a series of child murders which formed the basis of the previous novel), she has been living a quiet life in the countryside with her baby daughter, Allie, and it is with some reluctance that she agrees to undertake this new task. The king needs someone to investigate on his behalf – and so he summons Adelia Aguilar, his ‘mistress of the art of death’.Īdelia, before coming to England, had studied medicine at the famous medical school in Salerno which accepted female students as well as men. ![]() If this is true, the repercussions could be huge and could lead the country into civil war. Henry’s estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is immediately suspected, being the person with the most obvious motive for wanting The Fair Rosamund dead. The Death Maze, which has also been published under the title The Serpent’s Tale, begins with the poisoning of Rosamund Clifford, Henry II’s mistress. If you’re new to these books, I don’t think it’s necessary to have read the previous one before reading this one. My feelings about the first book – Mistress of the Art of Death – were quite mixed (I liked the medieval setting but found the dialogue and the main character too modern), but I wanted to try at least one more in the series and came across this one in the library a few weeks ago. Alligiant was split into two and how well did that turn out? The only knock on this film is that one of my favorite actors, Jacob Lofland, didn't have more screen time as Aries, but aside from that this was a perfect conclusion to the film series, and a better ending than the one that was originally written for this franchise.This is the second novel in Ariana Franklin’s Adelia Aguilar mystery series, set in the 12th century. ![]() Many critics complained that it was too long, but I say take a look at what they did with the last book of the Divergent series. As a whole, The Death Cure was not the best in the book series, but it was the best in the film series. He is fantastic in everything he does, but he doesn't do a whole lot! I really would like to see him do more and break out, it's a mystery to me why he doesn't. The final standout was Thomas Sangster, who I've spoke about before. As for his other half, AKA Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), she was in a completely different role than in the novel, but likewise gave a much stronger performance than she did in the other two films. I honestly didn't see him as Thomas until I watched this film, he was that good. In the first installment of Maze Runner, the film diverged and was disappointing, but the second film followed the book to a tee, and was terrific, what would happen in the third? Right off the bat, as I feared, the story is completely different and very few elements from the book are even used in the film, however, in the rarest of rare cases, the way the film makers re-wrote the story, actually improved upon it! Dylan O'Brien returns as Thomas and this is the film where his character really broke out and came to life as the hero we see in the novels. When they just take pieces and basically write their own story, it's usually an epic failure, i.e. I have found that when film makers try to stick to the original story, as they did in The Hunger Games, the films are terrific. I obviously get excited when something I've read hits the big screen, even though I know the film usually won't be as good as the book was. The Maze Runner series was one of the best book series I've read in the last few years. ![]()
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