Official Review: Sheep Wasps and the king

[kimmyschemy06]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sheep Wasps and the king" by Graham Williams.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Sheep, Wasps, and the King is an engaging historical fiction and the second book in The Master Harry Book Series created by Graham Williams.

It is another summer during the reign of King James and the population of London is plagued by The Black Death that gives rise to scarcity and criminality. Jorne, Harry’s master and now adoptive father, keeps his household safe by deciding to move everyone to his Hillingdon house. As Harry and his best friend, Thomas, arrive at Hillingdon, however, they are met by grave news about sheep thieves stealing from Master Jorne’s flock.

To put a stop to the thievery, Master Jorne, the Sheriff and some of his constables, the Steward of Cranford Manor, and the leaseholder of Ruislip Manor, Peter Longford, meet up to deal with the unfortunate situation.

Meanwhile, the King and his court live safely and comfortably in Oxford.

Told in the first-person perspective of Harry, this is an adventure-filled book with sixteen chapters. The story takes place during the time of King James I, at the time of the Great Plague. The plot is developed by, first, describing the appalling condition of the city of London, followed by introduction of characters, carefully explaining the relationship of each with one another. Characters, settings, and scenes are described in details making it easy to visualize not only the people but also the events that take place in the story. The characters are well-developed and are provided with sufficient backstories especially the newly-introduced ones. Those from the first book are given shortened character profile, which, I believe, benefits both those who read the first book and those who did not. The ending is conclusive enough to leave a feeling of satisfaction.

Generally, this is one enjoyable book. It is interesting, intriguing, engaging, and adventure-filled. It is about love, friendship, family, and kindness as well as indifference, betrayal, duplicity, and even murder. The part I enjoyed most is the depiction of the character, Urchin. He is, for me, an enigma. He is trustworthy, reliable and dependable. He is good at what he does. He mysteriously disappears then reappears exactly when needed. He gets things done. He makes the story very interesting.

However, mature readers may find the book, somehow, simple and predictable and may consider the plot more fitting for young adults. Moreover, the book features homosexual relationships and includes scenes pertaining to sexual activities between males, which may put-off some readers. Finally, there are several noticeable errors within the entire book including missing apostrophe and other punctuation marks (like the oven It must have been good and We cant do this tonight) and typo errors (like introduced to us to the other guest and the white shirt and, and yellow hose). They detract from the overall reading experience.

I, therefore, rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. It is intriguing and engaging. I recommend it to readers who enjoy historical fiction. Scenes of sex and violence, however, may not be suitable for young readers.

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Sheep Wasps and the king
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[Wanjugush]

Historical fiction books are always insightful and entertaining at the same time. Thanks for the great review.

[ReneeBrown]

Wow, I really like the premise of this book. The time and setting sounds like a really interesting backdrop to the book. I think I might have to check this one out, especially since it's historical fiction. Thanks for the review!

[Ben Moore]

I love that period of history! Definitely adding this to my reading list! Thanks for making me aware of it with your review

[KDJ]

Thank you for your review of Sheep, Wasps and the King. This sounds like a good novel. I am not a huge fan of historical fictions, so I will pass this one up. But, I did like the idea of Urchin's character from your review. It's unfortunate when grammatical errors interfere with the flow of a book. Thank you again for your review and recommendation.

[kandscreeley]

I don't enjoy explicit content, so I'm not sure the book is for me. I do enjoy reading books set during the black plague, though. I also appreciate mysterious characters. Thanks for your thoughts on this one.

[Meg98]

I love this genre! Your review has intrigued me greatly. I think I will check this one out. Excellent review!

[kimmyschemy06]

Historical fiction books are always insightful and entertaining at the same time. Thanks for the great review.

Thank you very much. It's a great book and enjoyed it a lot.

[kimmyschemy06]

Wow, I really like the premise of this book. The time and setting sounds like a really interesting backdrop to the book. I think I might have to check this one out, especially since it's historical fiction. Thanks for the review!

You're welcome. I hope you get a chance to read it.

[kimmyschemy06]

I love that period of history! Definitely adding this to my reading list! Thanks for making me aware of it with your review

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[kimmyschemy06]

Thank you for your review of Sheep, Wasps and the King. This sounds like a good novel. I am not a huge fan of historical fictions, so I will pass this one up. But, I did like the idea of Urchin's character from your review. It's unfortunate when grammatical errors interfere with the flow of a book. Thank you again for your review and recommendation.

You're welcome. Urchin is my favorite character in this book Yes, it's really sad about the errors. It's an enjoyable book, nonetheless.

[kimmyschemy06]

I don't enjoy explicit content, so I'm not sure the book is for me. I do enjoy reading books set during the black plague, though. I also appreciate mysterious characters. Thanks for your thoughts on this one.

You're welcome. True, this book is not for everyone. Some readers may find some of the scenes not to their liking.

[kimmyschemy06]

I love this genre! Your review has intrigued me greatly. I think I will check this one out. Excellent review!

Thank you very much. I hope you get a chance to read it.

[Laila Hashem]

The book has a very unique and interesting plotline. Unfortunately, spelling errors are something I could never tolerate when reading a novel so I probably won't add it to my reading list. Thanks for the great review!

[kimmyschemy06]

The book has a very unique and interesting plotline. Unfortunately, spelling errors are something I could never tolerate when reading a novel so I probably won't add it to my reading list. Thanks for the great review!

You're welcome and thank you for the comment.