Nate Hunter

January 24, 2021

 

Dear Ms. Gibson,

The Iron King

Maurice Druon

Pages: 1 – 340

 

 

Summary: The Iron King focuses on King Phillip the Fair, a king who rules with an iron fist, but is surrounded by death and despair. Two of his daughter-in-laws are caught and imprisoned for adultery, their lovers are tortured to death, and Phillip’s third daughter-in-law is imprisoned for being complicit in the scandal. His brother is jealous of his prime councilor and keeper of the seal, as they are commonfolk who have, as his brother would put it, too much power for their own good, and when the Templar Grandmaster is burned at the stake, he curses Pope Clement V, Phillip’s prime councilor Nogaret, and Phillip himself. Shortly after, Clement dies of fever, Nogaret is killed by a poisoned candle, and Phillip dies of a cerebral hemorrhage.

 

 

Response: The Iron King is the first of many books in Druon’s The Accursed Kings series, called “the original game of thrones” by George R. R. Martin himself. This first book is merely a prologue to the main conflict of the series, which is known historically as the Hundred Years’ War. The Iron King is a historical fiction book, and the series itself is based on this war, which was between England and France, caused by tensions that were rising long before the event of The Iron King, but tensions peaked and the war began during the crisis that came after the downward spiral. The Iron King was a strong start to the series, a tragic novel full of morally questionable characters, depressing and horrifying events, and loss of life that would plunge France into a depression. A great start to the series that leaves me wondering where things could possibly go next. Excited to read the next book.