Book 1), The Iron King (The Accursed Kings

Like most of the other English speakers who've heard about this in recent years, I looked this up because it was said to be one of the inspirations behind George RR Martin's Game of Thrones series (yes I know the book series is officially called A Song of Ice and Fire, but seriously...) But the Accursed Kings series is really good and well worth reading in its own right if you like gory and sensational historical fiction. And if like me you aren't from Europe, you can learn a fair bit of European history, just remember that this IS the fictionalized version.

For those who want to continue really good historical fiction that stays within the bounds of known facts the first book in this series provides a fine reward for the effort....I'm looking forward to The Strangled Queen and I suspect an historical precursor to Anne Bolyen with a different solution...but I shall see!

Well written historical treatise of a period we should learn from in regards to political intrigue and dirty tricks. But then, given nothing much seems to have changed (apart from perhaps the frequency of torture and burnings at stakes), perhaps some have learned a few things after all.

Superb, spare writing.Elegant! Completely satisfying to those who love to read history. I look forward to the rest of the series! I bought the second book immediately and am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Great book. Well written, seemingly historically accurate and interesting. I gave me a window into a period of history I am no too familiar with. Looking forward to reading all seven books. And as George RR Martin said in the introduction - it is the real Game of Thrones

Great historical fiction. Created a world full of living beings beyond the dusty tomes of history books. Full of intrigue and desire set against a world shifting and changing violently moving forward into the future.

I read this book in the seventies and watched the TV adaptations with great enjoyment and find that it is even better the second time around especially as I'm older and have more historical understanding than before.

I bought this because it was the inspiration for Game of Thrones. I can see why. Lots of court intrigue and bit of magic. Perhaps the problem, for me, is in the translation, or maybe Druon was not an elegant writer, but I found the prose a bit clunky. I may buy the sequels, or not. I have a lot of other books that are attracting me more.

Phillip the fair will forever be remembered as the man who destroyed the Templars . Would he have realized this would be his legacy? This book lays out the brutality of this era and the ultimate selfishness of people's motives. When playing the game of power. Some good parallels with our own politicians. Look to the money