Falls the Shadow

I've just finished "Falls the Shadow" by Sharon Kay Penham. I admit, at the beginning I was more than a little impatient. The characters were all confusing, same names, innumerable titles, shifting alliances.

The tale spans the life of Simon de Montfort, a man I'd never heard of before this book, but now am not likely to forget, and Henry III and the last Prince Llewelyn of Wales.

In the vase of Simon, I can't imagine a man so full of contradictions. On the one side a man of principle, but utterly obstinate, a man of courage and honor, unable to compromise, with no diplomacy, entirely a man of war. And yet this man would have limited his own powers and the power of his king, his loyalty to the crown was absolute, but not to the man who wore it.

And his foil, Henry- wek-willed, easily swayed, surrounded by sycophants. If it had been Henry alone, Simon would probably have won, but he was faced by Edward, Henry's son, who had learnt the art of war from Simon himself, and Richard, Henry's brother and Simon's own temper and pride that cost him valuable allies.

For all Henry's weakness I cannot hate him- he simply was a weak man, who took bad advice. The power hungry Marshall Lords, the Gloucester who abandoned his principles, and Edward who freely broke promises- they invite hatred.

And poor Bran- who was too late- who saw his father's head on a pike, who, by all accounts later participated in a heinous murder of his own. History makes all men heroes and villains in their own time... Simon was all hero- and maybe that's why he didn't win.

(I have to take back what I said about the author drawing him too one dimensionally- the more I read, the more his entire character- warts and all, comes out)