The Iron King: An unforgettable historical fantasy novel (The Accursed Kings) (Book 1)

Firstly I would like to get a bit of unpleasantness out of the way. This novel, the first in a series of historical novels concerning the French monarchy. That means that for a person adept only in the English language, there will be many trials and challenges awaiting the reader involving pronouncing those lovely French names, titles, and terms. This difficulty in no way affects how I feel about the absorbing tale Maurice Druon has written. I take full responsibility for my linguistic shortcomings. Philip IV or Philip the Fair as he is commonly referred to is the titular character of the Iron King and I found him to be an intriguing character who is able to reveal to us a cold and sometimes cruel persona, but also a man capable of gentleness and caring. It is alluded to a few times in the book that he seems almost inhuman or otherworldly because of his statuesque demeanor and his icy, unblinking stare. Perhaps my favorite character in the story is Beatrice who is in service to Mahaut. Beatrice was not featured near enough in my opinion but I suppose that added to the mystery that surrounded her since her introduction. She seemed to know a thing or two about sorcery which automatically thrust her to the top of interesting characters for me. It's also the cavalier manner in which she acts, making her seem almost otherworldly as well. I could go on about each character and family involved in the story but I will conclude my review on a positive note: if you enjoy medieval tales of courtly intrigue and especially if you enjoy the Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin then the Iron King will be a welcome read. I look forward to the Strangled Queen and I anticipate my review for it to be posted quite soon.

I came to this book (like many others) on the recommendation of GRRM. He has called it "the original Game of Thrones". It is easy to see how the machinations of the players in this historical novel influenced GRRM's ASOIAF series. However, if one is looking for the kind characterization and attention to detail that GRRM is noted for, you will be disappointed. That is not to say this is not a good book - only to say that expectations must be tempered. Do not expect ASOIAF redux. This is real history. With that being said, The Iron King drops you into the maelstrom that is Western Europe in the Middle Ages. King Philip IV of France (also known as "Philip the Handsome" ) has nearly completed his destruction of the Knights Templar organization and his appropriation of their vast fortune. Only one thing remains: how to deal with Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the now-defunct group. The king hopes to display his clemency by consigning de Molay and the three other remaining leaders of the group to a dungeon for the rest of their lives but de Molay has other ideas. de Molay denounces the king and his minions in full court leaving the king no other recourse but to sentence de Molay to death. On his pyre, de Molay curses the king and the other architects of his destruction. Almost immediately, his curse seems to begin to bear fruit. This begins the fall of House Capet and sows the seeds of the Hundred Year's War. Druon is a thorough historian, providing copious footnotes and explanations. He presents his characters as creatures of their time and place. However, between his own rather perfunctory writing and Humphrey Hare's colorless translation - some of the potential drama is lost. Even with the little French I know, I can see that Mr. Hare's translation lacked some of the vibrancy and urgency that I believe the original possessed. Nevertheless, this book left me wanting more and I look forward to reading the rest of this 7-book series. I hope to one day be able to read them in their original French. I can certainly see why GRRM was intrigued because I am as well. Since I've read all of the published ASOIAF series, I am able to trace the influences and homages which begin almost at page one. I look forward to continuing the series and learning more about this time in history.

First, I read Maurice Druon's epic in French a long, long, time ago. Won't say how long. I have also watched both French TV versions. This is French History put in a novel form. Maurice Druon very much stays with the facts and this may make for a slower book than most people want in an historical fiction. I love it. I said "Finally" because the only english versions of these books that are currently on sale are usually very old and very expensive. I have my French set that I can read but it is really nice to be able to sit with my Kindle and enjoy these books. Also, my husband is very excited since he does not read French and has wanted to read these books. I hope the next books become available soon. I hope we don't have to wait a year between books. I just wish they had made all the books available as one large Kindle book. If you like fact based historical fiction you will enjoy these books. So much is written about English history, especially the Tudors, that you may enjoy reading about a new part of history.

As a fan of HBO's Game of Thrones (I am waiting to read Martin's books until the TV series wraps), and seeing that this series was a major inspiration, I decided to give this first book a shot. The book is well-written (I have only read the English translation, not the original French), full of effective character descriptions, dialogue, and plotting. The various intrigues and large cast of medieval characters provide the most obvious influences for GoT, but this book is much tamer, with much less action. Other than two, somewhat graphic, executions and a brief, staged, scuffle, there is no action to speak of. There is plotting and backbiting, but no battles or fights or anything else one could reasonably describe as "action." It is very much focused on dialogue and scheming, though even the dialogue is less colorful and interesting than GoT. I suppose one could chalk this up to stage setting, with an expectation that subsequent books in the series will put the pedal to the metal with battles and such, but nothing from the first book gives me that indication. I may still give the second book a shot, but people looking for a GoT fix might want to look elsewhere.

I liked this book a lot just not enough to give it 5 stars. I would give it 4.5 if I could. The story was a little "light" and drags just a smidgen at times. There are a few error in the book so be aware of that. If you are a grammar nazi that just lives to point out minor errors and then give a good book a one star then please don't bother to buy this. It's a nice, entertaining read and I recommend it especially at the price, at the time of this writing, of $2.52. You will be very please with this great bargain. Buy it now and sit back and escape for a couple of hours.

The Middle Ages are called the dark ages for a reason: there are often difficult to study, understand and to be able to grasp its impact on the shaping of the modern world. They are confusing, there are not that many reliable sources of research and those existing need a real expert on the field to bring us within reach of what it meant to be royalty at that time or to gravitate around royalty, to be Catholic, to be a Jew, to be rich or to be like the 99% of the rest of Europe: poor, hungry, sick, ignorant and surrounded by death as part of life, often more present than not. Maurice Druon accomplishes it, bringing us a superb work of fiction using non-fiction history as a framework. You must read the Iron King, as well as the other six books that complete the series of the Accursed Kings. This is not an option, it is something you should put in your bucket list and try to accomplish as soon as possible The English translation has a foreword from George R. R. Martin, who will tell you he used Maurice’s work as inspiration for its A Song of Ice and Fire and for its TV version, Game of Thrones. Even if it says it there in the cover and may seem like a plot from the publishers to try to sell you a 1950’s forgotten literary jewel, it is not a marketing plot or a favor from George R.R, it is true: If you watched Game of Thrones, you will see that it is nothing more than a repetition, I would even say a censored and watered down repetition of the constant plots, conspiracies, treasons and betrayals that are an integral part of the Accursed Kings and this period of European history. There is no Games of Thrones without the Accursed Kings, and they are even worse because all these terrible things and events not only happened for real and repeated over and over, but also mostly happened amongst members of the same family! There are no inviolable principles, or better yet, there are no principles at all, everything is valid and things are often done without any remorse. The only problem is that only three of the books have been translated to English (from its original French): The Iron King, the Strangled Queen and the Poisoned Crown. The 4th book, The Royal Succession is due on November 4th, and the 5th book, the She Wolf, will only come out in late 2015. There is no release date for the 6th and 7th books, which is a shame because you need to read the entire series to become full circle on the plot and see the full consequences of Philippe the Fair decisions and the Templar’s Curse. If you are lucky enough like me, who happens to be fully fluent in Spanish, you can finish the series sooner as the Spanish translation has been around for many years now. But worse case you do the A Song of Ice and Fire thing and wait a few years to read it all, it is worth it

The Iron King is terrific. So much historical fiction today is thinly disguised romance (the recent novels of Sharon Penman spring to mind). Maurice Druon doesn't make the mistake of romanticizing history. The Iron King is the pellucid tale of Phillip the Fair, who found France fractured like a medieval Humpty Dumpty and set about putting it back together again. Through sheer force of will and a combination of dastardly deeds he succeeds spectacularly. To achieve his goals Phillip needs money. What he doesn't have, the Knights Templar do, so he ruthlessly and single-mindedly goes about taking what isn't his. Recent historians have been kinder to Phillip, pointing out the Knights Templar who returned from the crusades brought with them Christian rituals foreign to western Europeans that could indeed seem heretical. A few have argued (unconvincingly, I think) Phillip regarded their destruction as his duty. Surely if so he would not have pilfered their coffers but given the money to Mother Church. Regardless, Druon doesn't indulge in simplistic interpretations. The Phillip he presents is something of an enigma and therefore it is up to the reader to determine just how venal and mendacious the French king was. My conclusion was, very. If one is know by the company one keeps, his ministers Marigny and Nogaret attest to his cruelty and selfishness. Either would have felt right at home in the Gestapo. Phillip's and their relentless persecution of Jews and Templars (15,000 by some accounts( belies a saintly temperament. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's of daughter Isabelle: cold, beautiful and seething with rage against a husband (Edward II of England) who has publicly shamed her with his infatuation for young men. I have always wondered how the three wives of Phillip's sons could have been so errantly stupid. Yet when you meet them and their husbands (particularly the heir Louis), it's not so surprising they would take lovers. Druon convincingly makes Isabelle their nemesis from bitterness and hate and their exposure and disgrace is very well done. There is also a delightful sorceress who likes to pretend the lover she's copulating with is actually the Devil. Only the French.... Like Phillip, I pitied a France that had Louis in the wings as heir, and was hoping against history the famous (though certainly apocryphal) Grand Master's curse would fall one short. Alas, it was not to be. Phillip follows Boniface and Nogaret to the bowels of hell....or thereabouts. Can't wait to read The Strangled Queen.

This was a wonderfully written story about events that took place in the early 1300s in France. I really enjoyed the various characters and the pacing was good throughout. There was no stalling of the storyline and it is an exciting start to a series. I learned a lot about French history and though some of the Things that happened were so crazy, when I looked them up, they were actually true! Highly recommended.