The Democrats and the Conservatives are fighting. I guess democracy has had the same problem since the beginning of its time. Maybe we need a Nicolaos instead of a Mueller? 

I've immediately gone ahead and ordered the next three books in this series. It is pretty rare for me to like a first book in a series as much as I liked this one. I usually find them clunky, full of random back stories, and full of characters who lack personality. This book did have clunky parts. However, I found the cast of characters to be charming and funny. 

Nicolaos is to Ancient Greece what Gordianus the Finder is to Ancient Rome. The similiarties are striking both in character and story. The difference is in the setting. Much like Saylor does for Rome, Corby makes Greece come to life. You can almost taste the watered wine and smell the back alleys. Also as noted above, Nicolaos' supporting cast is wonderful. It's a big larger and more eclectic than Gordianus' which adds a fun element to these novels that I don't associate with the others. 

This book has been on my TBR since November of 2013. It is one of those books that I always look at on my shelf and say "I'm reading that next". Then I never read it next. I put it on two different TBR challenge lists for 2019. I'm trying to read more pages over the summer than my ten year old. I guess it was finally time to read it next. 

About 50 pages in and I'm like "WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO READ THIS?!?!" Another 20 pages in, I'm crying about something. Another 30 pages in, I'm screaming about how wonderful the writing is. Repeat that pattern for 700 pages. My husband will tell you that this scenario is the reason noise cancelling headphones were invented. Sorry but Llewelyn and Joanna are much more compelling than Sheldon and Amy. Prove me wrong. Seriously, he's on one side of the room laughing hysterically and I'm on the other side crying hysterically. It must be true love.

Penman's characters are always magnificent. Justin de Quincy is one of my literary boyfriends. He also needs more books if any of her publishers are reading his. Her Eleanor of Aquitaine is Eleanor of Aquitaine. There is no one else. Fight me on this. Ask the person who tried to tell me Allison Weir's Eleanor was better. It does not end well. I also believe that Richard Burton is the ultimate Henry VIII (and Thomas Becket and Mark Antony). If you can't tell I'm feeling pretty argumentative today. It must be the humidity and non-stop thunderstorms. I had a point I was trying to make here and I got side tracked.

The point was John. King John I of England is not typically a character we are suppose to like or feel sorry for. We are suppose to hate him (much like a certain author wants us to hate Henry VIII, again another post). We are suppose to want him fall in a Sarlacc pit. We want to see him drawn and quartered. We are not suppose to think he gets a raw deal. We are not suppose to see all of the good things he did for England. We are not suppose to feel bad for him because at the end of the day most of his family screwed him over. Penman manages to throw all of that out the window. Don't get me wrong, this John is not without flaws. This John is still manipulative, calculating, and full of Angevin temper. This John is also a father, a husband, and a man who does truly care about the people of England (not the nobles, the people). He is the kind of complex bad guy who you can't help but be kind of attracted to and scared of at the same time. 

I could easily give each of the main players their own review. They are the kind of characters that stay with you long after you have put the book back on the shelf. Llewelyn has made his way on to my list of literary boyfriends. Joanna had me in tears. Why can't she just be happy? Why can't the Welsh just love her like Llewelyn does? And who doesn't love a woman who lights her husband's bed on fire? Angela Basset has nothing on Joanna. 

Somewhere in the middle of all these characters is Wales. Reading Penman's descriptions of Wales reminded of the way I felt the first time I watched The Lord of the Rings. The way Jackson swept through New Zealand made me want to book a flight at that moment. I felt the same way about Wales. I want to visit 13th century Wales. I want to see waterfalls. I want to climb cliffs. I want to sit on the beach. I also want the English to leave the Welch alone. Just let them have their cows and mountains and log homes. 

I need to wrap this up. I could go on and on about this novel. At the end of the day, unless you read it for yourself, you won't understand. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go track down the next two books in this trilogy. 

When I first stumbled upon Martyr, I was looking for something to replace C.J. Sansom's Mathew Shardlake series. Honestly,  I wasn't expecting to ever find something. The Shardlake series is a rarity when it comes to Tudor-era fiction. Clements has been more than up to the task with his John Shakespeare series. They have a gritty, edge to them that is very comparable to Sansom's work. 

There is a but here. It's going to be a fancy but (Friends reference anyone?). However, Sansom's characters are just a little bit more compelling. John is not a bad guy. His only fault is he is incredibly naive. For someone who works for one of the biggest spymasters in history, he sure doesn't play the game very well. I think that changes after the tragedy suffered in this novel. John's sidekick, Boltfoot Cooper, seems to be the one who suffers the most from his bosses inability to figure things out. 

Currently this is a seven book series so one could assume that being this is only book three, there's time for John Shakespeare to develop in to a cold, calculating agent working for the good of Her Majesty's realm. We all know what happens when you assume things. This book isn't actually the third book in a seven book series. It's more like the fifth book in a seven book series. See this series has two different orders. One order is the publication order. The other is the chronological order within the books. Books six and seven are actually books one and two. Normally, this wouldn't bother me. At least I don't think it would. I can't actually recall reading a series where the author suddenly decides mid-series to go back to the beginning. It annoys me just a little bit to think that this had to be the author's plan from the beginning. I had to stop reading Prince at about the 10-15% mark. There were so many references to previous cases that I couldn't keep up. I had to stop reading and go order books six and seven which are the books in which these previous cases are addressed. Confused yet? 

I promise I have a point with this review. I'm getting there. Just kidding, I'm there. My point is if you want to read these novels (which I do recommend), read them in the chronological order, not the published order. 

Here's the difference-

Publication Order

Martyr

Revenger

Prince

Traitor

The Heretics

The Man in the Snow (Short Story)

The Queen's Man

Holy Spy

Chronological Order (per book events)

The Queen's Man

Holy Spy

Martyr

Revenger

Prince

Traitor

The Heretics

The Man in the Snow (Short Story) 

I highly recommend the chronological order. Personally, I'm planning a re-read of the entire series just so I can better appreciate the chain of events. 

I'm getting a little long winded here and I've not really mentioned anything about this specific book. I don't have much to add on that front. As pointed out in a previous post, I found the book's commentary on immigration in Tudor England to be rather enlightening. The fact that as a society we haven't actually changed much over the centuries actually gives me a little hope for the future. I mean if we've made it this far being horribly ignorant and unwilling to accept blame for our own failures, I guess there's no reason to believe future generations can't survive. Right? *eye roll*

The Sharpest Blade is the final book in Sandy William’s Shadow Reader series. In this installment, McKenzie leaves the relative security of life in Las Vegas and returns to the fae realm which is suffering from upheaval. Lena has declared herself as queen but she is running into opposition from the false blood who also claims the throne. This book is heavy on the court intrigue and maneuvering for power. It seems that a lot of people want to lead the fae, each with their own agenda.

The story is told from McKenzie’s point of view. While I like McKenzie as a character, it’s hard to be in her head all the time, especially when she agonizes over the men in her life. Will it be Kyol with whom she shares a bond, or Aren the gorgeous and hunky? McKenzie has gone through a lot of changes since the first book. She is stronger and has faster reflexes. I like how she is more poised and kickass at the same time.

I love the magic in this series. The fae realm is full of cool magic, especially how the fae fissure in and out of places. This makes the battle scenes very fast paced and exciting. There are lots of swordfights for fans of swashbuckling, too. The fae magic also makes for quite a colorful love scene as well. The imagery of the chaos lusters sparking across the skin was beautiful.

Be sure to check out the author’s website for a glossary of fae to English words. There’s also a map of the fae realm in case you have an ereader that does not do justice to graphics.

The Sharpest Blade was a satisfying conclusion to The Shadow Reader series. I can’t wait to see what other books Ms. Williams has planned for the future.

Be sure to check out Badass Book Reviews for a chance to win a copy of a book in this series. Also we are treated to a special excerpt from Paige’s point of view.

Review posted on Badass Book Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Berkley NAL for a review copy of this book.

To say I'm disappointed in the final book of this series is an understatement.  It wouldn't have been so bad if there wasn't so much time spent on the love triangle whom everyone knew the outcome of.  I thought everything in this story got shafted for McKenzie whining about the bond and Aren repeatedly.

McKenzie seemed very immature and needy in this book.  There is a fucking war going on and she is worried about Aren ignoring her or Kyol being able to feel her feelings. She spends 3 weeks working at the help desk of a library where she is so bored that she repeatedly checks her e-mail.  Does it ever enter her mind to practice shielding her mind from Kyol.  Nope.  Instead, let's complain about Aren not seeing her for 3 weeks instead of trying to fix something that is bothering her.

I do understand Aren having reservations about being in a relationship with McKenzie because who wants another guy who loves your girlfriend knowing when you have sex and how she is feeling.  Big roadblock and eww.  Do they do the adult thing and all sit down and discuss this.  Umm, no.   Aren becomes an ass.  He is hardly in this book and when he is, I just wanted him gone because he annoyed me so much.  I was so cheering when Mckenzie gave him an ultimatum  but she of course somewhat backtracks, and becomes needy again.  She just has to convince Aren that he is being stupid and that love conquers all things and they belong together.  Yep, that's all.

Then the plot holes.  

And what happened to Lorn? Dead? Alive? Who knows? Is she creating another story in this world because there are some things that still need to be explaining?

These things were not explained or solved. I'm hopeful that she will though I think maybe she should avoid love triangles the next time around. 

I still really like the world and I liked that people actually died in the war, though a bit sad especially about one certain death. T-T It was just sad.  I did enjoy the fight scenes and everything, I just wished there was more.  More action. more time with side characters that are not Kyol or Aren, more information on everything.  I was actually rooting for Kyol because he seemed much more interesting in this book than Aren which I thought I would never say. 

I do like the author so I'll read another book by her but hoping that it won't have a dragged out love triangle like this series had.