Factual and entertaining

Where does The Strangled Queen rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I listened to and read a lot of historical novels. As this book was written in the 1950's and is a translation of the original French, I was bit nervous about whether this would live up to the modern historical novels I have read. Thankfully I wasn't disappointed. Its a different style of novel but I found it easy to get sucked into the story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Strangled Queen?

I don't think I can pick out one scene that is the most 'memorable'. The best thing about this book is that its historically informative while still being a entertaining story. There isn't too many dry facts and dates. Its written so you understand the time and the history behind the story but doesn't make you feel like you are listening to a history textbook. It also doesn't go too far the other way and try and give you a heart stopping tale at the neglect of the facts.

Have you listened to any of Peter Joyce’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I have now moved onto the next book in the trilogy and Peter Joyce is narrating this one as well. I really enjoy his narration. His captures the different emotions of the characters with a smooth style.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Again, there wasn't a moment that particularly moved me, but the plight of the queen, Marguerite of Burgundy who was imprisoned in Chateau Gaillard really draws you in and makes you think about her life. She is powerful by the nature of her position and yet powerless to do anything in the face of the revenge and ambition of those who were closest to her.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book. It ended too soon and left me wanting to find out more about lives of the people written about. Thankfully there are others in the series and I am already listening to those. I would recommend this book to all fans of historical fiction.

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1 person found this helpful

Great Narration

Peter Joyce has done a great job of bringing all of the book characters to life.

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Lost in translation

The original books by Druon were published in the 1950s, which gives them a certain style which omits most of the standard bodice-rippery that became an epidemic of saucy and dodgy sex. This is a great thing, as it allowed Druon to concentrate on the stories and characters, without trying to sandwich in as much sex as possible to sell it to the masses.

Instead, the series which starts with The Iron King (available happily as an Audible Book), covers history and the people who made it happen at the highest levels with an eye to detail and attention to the nuances that could move a country to war or a person to murder.

There's greed, revenge (always fun), power and its abuse. Love, of course, as well as the depths of hate. Sometimes these are combined in one person, which makes for entertaining reading.

The translations are not always as smooth as I'd like, probably because there is such a gap in idiom between the 50s and now, as well as cultural differences between the original French and modern English. None of it is damaging to the story, which is performed with a steady and smooth performance by Peter Joyce.

All in all, it's well worth a listen, it's faithful to the original and is a pleasant change from unrelenting gore and sex.

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3 people found this helpful

not as good as TIK but still fun

not quite as tense as The Iron King, but when youre working on history you get less to dictate the plot with. TIK was good bc of how it was followed up by the curse. this one was just good court politics and plotting by marigny and valois. couldve had a more fitting name? idk. real good!

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