tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061922762930894769.post7253578060349813945..comments2024-03-03T11:22:44.503-08:00Comments on A Dream of Books: Review: VIII - H.M. CastorSamantha (A Dream of Books)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11398985180122245433noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061922762930894769.post-87491452825854833132012-02-28T02:17:44.850-08:002012-02-28T02:17:44.850-08:00I've read VIII, and I've seen the TV serie...I've read VIII, and I've seen the TV series The Tudors. H.M. Castor has plagiarised so many scenes and sections of dialogue from the TV series I felt I was reading a novelisation of the TV version. However cleverly written and enthralling the novel, and however effectively the author managed to climb inside Hal's head, I felt a strong sense of deja vu throughout. Henry VIII is a thoroughly well known figure in history and we all know about the disastrous marriages but we can't possibly know the details of discussions he had with Anne Boleyn or Thomas Cromwell. Yet the dialogue and settings in the TV version and the book are so similar it can't be passed off as commonly known history. Just as an example, compare the way he abuses Anne Boleyn shortly after her last miscarriage and her excuse - she was distressed by his fall from a horse which left him unconscious for 2 hours. Compare the moment when he first meets Jane Seymour as she is carrying fresh linen to the Queen and he flips a folded sheet off the top of the pile in her hand. Compare his first meeting with Anne of Cleves and the way he compares her to a horse. Compare the various discussions with Wolsey and Cromwell as the political alliances change in Europe. The only truly original storyline and dialogue appears in the first part of the book when he flees to the Tower with his mother and up to the death of his father and his ascension to the throne.Rowenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764749565749141328noreply@blogger.com