When Christ and His Saints Slept

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Summary: Wonderful. For the war and battle lover
Review: I've read Penman's Wales trilogy and loved all three novels. The only element that I felt was missing in those novels was the experience of war. Penman is obviously most interested in the political and social nuances of the times. In this novel, she finally delves into the excitement and horror of battle. This aspect of the novel gave me much more satisfaction. The other novels merely referred to the act of war as an afterthought, which is a bit frustrating as she provides so much detail into the everyday lives and political "goings-ons" of the times. This story (historically speaking) is really less interesting; Stephen's a nice guy but a lousy king and Maude's really mad about losing the crown...blah blah blah... everyone keeps changing sides. The addition of battle into the novel brings a much needed dimension to her book. I have to disagree with the reviewer complaing about too many characters. If this isn't your first Penman novel, then you should have no problem. Even if it is; the main characters are a little too one-dimensional to carry the entire book (over 700 pages). So, the added characters really complete the picture. I don't mean to be too critical of this book. It's wonderful and as with every Penman novel; it's a fast, fun and even educational read. If you're looking for an historical novel with humor, passion, intrigue, romance and a tasteful bit of gore, then this will surely satisfy.

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Summary: Great Book
Review: This is an incredible book dipicting the lives of Empress Maude (also Queen Maude of England), and King Stephen of England. It starts slightly before Stephen, Maude's cousin, swipes the throne right out from under her. Although a good king, he was soft. This book shows the damage that his soft heart mixed with her steel backbone wrecked upon England. Their battle over the throne put the country into civil war. This book is an acurate discription of the lives of two amazing people. A wonderfully fun read as well as an inspirational book for a highschool student who tends to dislike history.

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Summary: Another great one
Review: Sharon Kay Penman does it again with "When Christ and His Saints Slept," proving that actual history is far more interesting than any plot! Her characters are always three-dimensional, and she never relies on cliches to speed her plot along. She does tend to give more sympathy to Maude than Stephen, but at least she doesn't have them sleeping together like in other novels. Again, another great SKP novel.

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Summary: Historical fiction at its best
Review: I was lucky enough to encounter this book in the sci-fi section at the bookstore. It was the title that grabbed my attention first. I know bits and pieces of British history, particularly the Renaissance period, but I didn't know too much about earlier eras. This novel really brings the 12th century to life. Anyone who is interested in women in history and medieval history will find this to be a fascinating book.

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Summary: Classic!
Review: The best story I have encountered in my 15 years, Penman succesfully mixes history with fiction into a book that is both captivating and interesting. I fell in love with the characters, and I couldn't put it down for a week!

Rating:
Summary: Another good novel
Review: I have read all of Sharon K. Penman's novels to date and Christ and His Saints read faster than some of the others. I also enjoyed her two mysteries. I recommend this book and author to all my friend who like a good novel to hold their attention and provide reality with romance, etc.

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Summary: If only Americans understood
Review: Quite a few of the reviewers are woefully ignorant of the actual history and the events leading up to the period of time portrayed in this book and others by Sharon Penman, and while they may be somewhat sensationalized, and fictional, they are still extremely accurate. Give credit where credit is due! Just because America wasn't around then doesn't mean it's meaningless!

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Summary: This is no sleeper!
Review: Compelling story, realistic characterizations. Especially striking are the contrasts made between the main characters.

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Summary: Excellent historical fiction
Review: Anyone who loves historical fiction knows how difficult it can be to find a writer who remains historically accurate while at the same time using creative license to flesh out the characters. Sharon Kay Penman does this wonderfully. At the end of the story, she goes into detail and explains exactly where she's taken that creative license, so the reader can separate fact from fiction. I've enjoyed every page of this lengthy saga about the battle between Stephen and Maude for the throne. I read somewhere that this book was the first in a trilogy to be written about the Plantaganet dynasty, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading more. I'll read anything this woman writes!

Rating:
Summary: Too many characters
Review: I have read other works by SKP, and I must say that her books are just phenomenal. I loved "The Reckoning" and "Falls the Shadows".This book however starts out with a dramatic beguining, and a fine introduction of the main characters; but then, just around chapter 8 or 9, there is a number of earls, counts, barons, battles and sieges and it continues on and on for the entire 746 pages making this story a very confusing one indeed. Sometimes these characters are addressed by their titles only, so if you don't remember who was the "Earl of This" or the "Count of That", you really loose track of this novel, not to mention the numerous deflections and betrayals related in this voluminous book. Just in case you got frustrated reading this book, there is another book "The Fatal Crown" by Ellen Jones and is about the same story, Empress Maud and King Stephen but written in a much clearer style.