Sequel-ly Good

Wars of the Roses: Trinity by Conn Iggulden

Electronic proof provided by Netgalley.com

Last year the first book in this series made it into my top three books of the year and was one that I'd been unable to stop thinking about since I read and reviewed it. I've been keeping a close eye on websites waiting for the sequel to be released and was over the moon when it appeared on Netgalley as an advance copy.

All too often a sequel, and especially book 2 in a trilogy, can be disappointing and after Stormbird being so relevant last year I was worried that this would be the case with Trinity. When I found the book as strong, or possibly even stronger, I was over joyed.

The book plunges straight into the action and there is no recap of what came before and I found myself enthralled from the start. The family feuds of the time influencing the monarchy, and the protectorate, made history come to life and the writing invoked life at the time wonderfully for me.  The sweeping battles being as real as the small side bets between lord and servant over how close a shave could be.

I think that seeing Shakespeare's plays covering this period of history help because as I read I can see the actors from the Globe playing the roles but the books are certainly adding to the detail sketched out in the plays.

The downside? I'm now back in that place of being desperate to read the next part of the series even before this one is officially published!