Review of Agatha the Beloved Queen

[MartinL135]

[i][Following is a volunteer review of "Agatha the Beloved Queen" by Fred Pilcher.][/i]

[rwc=id477538-125]3 out of 4 stars.[/rwc]I just finished reading [i]Agatha the Beloved Queen[/i] by Fred Pilcher - a medieval story that takes place in an imaginary land. The author helps us follow the journey, struggles and happiness of Queen Agatha, prospective (and later actual) leader of Xana. We see her as a baby, then witness the way she grows into a powerful, witty and wise woman anyone her age could be jealous of. And they are. The book is filled with intrigue and adventures, and it isn't void of misfortunes, either.



I really liked the way the Traveller added comments and explanations all the way through about why things happened the way they did in Xana, always making sure the reader knew that basically anything and everything they were reading could have happened in many other ways - this made the story authentic, as in those times, there were very few written records of events, and it was quite common for people to write stories down only after it went through several people (a bit like Chinese whispers).



The most confusing thing for me was the lack of details in certain places. What I mean is that there was a huge emphasis on things that didn't really matter, and yet, things that could have been elaborated on further lacked details. Also, the pace was slow at times, not flowing as fast as I would have liked. The last thing I wasn't too keen on were the chapter titles. They gave away too much about what was going to happen, yet they gave away the wrong information. For example, 'Agatha buys a new dress' isn't an appetising title to me, and although that's exactly what happened in said chapter, the Traveler's description that followed was the only thing that grabbed my attention (and the chapter ended up being about so much more - something that changed Agatha's life for ever). I think something that has such an impact shouldn't have such a poor title.



I rate this book [b]3 out of 4 stars[/b] for reasons mentioned above. I couldn't find any particularly disturbing typos, but the titles did throw me off at times as well as the slow pace and the sometimes dry descriptions, and as I said, if it wasn't for the Traveler 'saving the day', I probably wouldn't have read the entire book. Having said that though, these are things that could easily be improved.



I would still recommend the story to people who are interested in historical romance and regal stories. It isn't fast-paced, and it's more a tell than show type of book, but that doesn't mean that people can't enjoy it. The book certainly has potential, and I did enjoy reading it, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would due to the aforementioned reasons.

******
[i]Agatha the Beloved Queen [/i]
View: [url=http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelves/book.php?id=477538]on Bookshelves[/url]