Amazon Customer: Once again Potzsch has come through.. what a gifted writer. Having read all the Hangman's Daughter books I was thrilled to have found another great story. I highly recommend this author to anyone who loves historical fiction or just great writing...
Canada on Jan 01, 2023
vegasbill: Set in medieval Germany this story revolves around Agnes and Mathis, two teens who are in love but don't really know it. A MacGuffin is introduced shortly into the story, a gold ring, handed down from Agnes' mother to her which is supposed to have great significance. From this point forward the two are thrust into a search for treasure, manipulated by parents, attacked by strangers, befriended by others, get separated and incredibly reunited several times, go through the siege and sacking of several castles, get thrown into dungeons, get beaten, tortured, married (not to each other) and raped. The ring ultimately plays no major role other than everyone wants it and Agnes loses it and gets it back on several occasions. Finally, the story changes direction several times for no good reason.
Though all these plot elements keep the reader moving through the book because they are exciting or appeal to our voyeuristic interests they don't make for a cohesive sensible story with the basic beginning, middle and end. Add to this the author's love of long descriptive passages and you are left with 600+ pages of readable but not necessarily enjoyable material.
Though I recommend...
United States on Aug 04, 2022
Jason P Musgrave: I have a complicated relationship with Oliver Pötzsch. I have read three of his books in “The Hangman’s Daughter” series, and I love that someone is out there fighting the good fight for quality historical fiction (particularly medieval fiction). At the same time, his books tend to be longer than I expect, sometimes overstaying their welcome, and there is just something else in his writing that... doesn’t work for me. Regardless, I dived into “The Castle of Kings”, excited for something new from the author of “The Hangman’s Daughter” series.
OVERALL: 2.8 out of 5
This is a good historical adventure, filled with romance, fighting, and intrigue. There’s also melodrama, some uninteresting characters, and uneven plotting. You have to take the bad with the good though, and this book is mostly good. My biggest complaints center on parts of the story that aren’t interesting, a hint of supernatural elements that are really just story crutches, and a general disjointing of the mood.
To explain that last bit; the book feels torn between “hard reality” where horrible things happen to people, and a more fairy tale “the passing of feudalism”...
United States on Oct 17, 2019
Sarah Murfin: Great story well written
United Kingdom on Sep 02, 2018
Mike B.: This is the first novel by this author that I have read other than the Hangman's Daughter series which I just finished. Overall I think this book was more detailed/in-depth (in a good way) than the HD series, but it suffers from some of the cliches Potzsch likes to use in every story.
It starts out setting the scene - instead of Magdalena the hangman's daughter, we have Agnes, the daughter of a knight that controls a castle. Like Magdalena, she is strong-willed, speaks her mind when she isn't supposed to, and resents everything about her station in life. Then we have Mathis, a childhood friend who she has developed romantic feelings for...but it wouldn't be a Potzsch novel if that romance was "forbidden", as he is a lowly smith. Potzsch obsesses over these class divides in his stories, and on a basic level this is the same storyline as HD, just genderswapped. I don't mind too much since I'm sure such things were common back then, but it's kind of a cliche. I also found Agnes to be extremely Mary Sue-ish and probably the least interesting of the main characters - the stuff about her dreams was a bit contrived and too convenient, and she doesn't really do much aside from...
United States on Jul 12, 2018
KS: Loving this book. Similar to Potzsch's 'Hangman's Daughter' series but with new characters and different story lines. The detail of living conditions during the time period for the peasant class is informative and interesting.
Canada on Aug 10, 2016
| Oliver Ptzsch's Epic Tale of Adventure - The Castle of Kings | André Klein's German Learning Journey: Café in Berlin - Stories to Enhance Your Language Skills | Frontlines Series, Book 2: Lines of Departure | |
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| B2B Rating |
85
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98
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97
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| Sale off | $27 OFF | $5 OFF | |
| Total Reviews | 13 reviews | 73 reviews | 109 reviews |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0544319516 | 978-1492399490 | 978-1477817407 |
| Dimensions | 6.25 x 2 x 9.25 inches | 5.06 x 0.22 x 7.81 inches | 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches |
| Historical Mystery | Historical Mystery | ||
| Publisher | Mariner Books; First American Edition | CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; Bilingual edition | 47North |
| ISBN-10 | 0544319516 | 1492399493 | 1477817409 |
| Item Weight | 1.98 pounds | 3.67 ounces | 12 ounces |
| Historical Thrillers (Books) | Historical Thrillers | ||
| Language | English | German | English |
| Historical Romances | Historical Romances | ||
| Best Sellers Rank | #10,582 in Historical Thrillers #14,320 in Historical Mystery#52,796 in Historical Romances | #25 in German Literature #145 in Foreign Language Instruction #1,526 in Short Stories | #1,242 in War & Military Action Fiction #1,429 in Space Marine Science Fiction#4,087 in Science Fiction Adventures |
| Hardcover | 656 pages | ||
| Customer Reviews | 4.3/5 stars of 718 ratings | 4.6/5 stars of 3,530 ratings | 4.4/5 stars of 17,613 ratings |
What about the book is important?
Why would men pursue him for this book (he assumes that's what they are doing) ?
Why fid the author present these questions and not answer them. I downgraded the book's rating because of this large act of cheating the reader.
United States on Mar 22, 2023