Gabrielle's Reviews > Les Poisons de la couronne

Ah, Mahaut of Artois! I’ll never understand why you are not better known as one of the greatest villains of literature! You will stop at nothing to defeat your nephew Robert and put your own lineage closer to the throne of France. Plotting, murder, witchcraft, nothing is too extreme for you!

I am such a huge fan of this series of historical novels about the Capetian line and the beginning of the Hundred Year war. The language is clean yet poetic, the intrigue so deliciously detailed and the characters larger than life. “The Poisoned Crown” has suffered bad reviews, and I disagree with them. I think things get particularly juicy in this installment of the Accursed Kings: it can feel a little slow at time, but keep in mind that Druon is also setting the reader up for the second half of the series… If you think Mahaut is vicious in this one, just wait for book 4!

Marguerite of Bourgogne is dead, so Louis X can finally remarry. He is, however, a deeply incompetent ruler that everyone tries to manipulate to their own ends. Cruel and impulsive, he starts a war with Flanders that puts a strain of the kingdom’s finance and only serves to show what a mess he is making of his father’s legacy. He marries the princess Clémence for his own satisfaction, but also to have a legitimate male heir, so that the daughter he had with Marguerite can be legally pushed away from the throne. But Louis having a son would spoil other people’s plans for the kingdom: Mahaut is especially convinced that her son-in-law, Philippe of Poitiers, would be the perfect man for his brother Louis’ job… In the meantime, our Lombard friend Guiccio Baglioni is desperate to get back to his lover Marie de Cressay, whom he vows to marry regardless of the social gap dividing them.

This installment obviously features a lot of Mahaut and Philippe, who are two of my favorite characters in this historical saga: the dialogue between them is especially clever and funny: they are both keen political minds and every word they say is loaded with meaning. Princess Clémence of Hungary is the kindest, most innocent character in this series: the poor dear has no idea what boat she got herself into… Louis is, of course, still the snivelling and immature little weasel I rolled my eyes at through the first two books. It’s probably a good thing his reign was so short!

“The Poisoned Crown” goes into very detailed historical explanations of the economy, legal systems, social hierarchies, so the reader can really feel the characters’ dilemmas and understand their actions better. I appreciate this attention to detail, but I can see how this would not suit readers who look for something very action-driven.

Regardless, fans of historical fictions owe themselves the pleasure of reading these books! I can’t wait to find a copy of the fourth installement!