Review: Fascinating Book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 12, 2012
The Warrior's Game is one of Denise Domning's three-book Warrior series.  This is the second series of medieval romances by Denise Domning.  Unlike The Seasons, her first series, these books do not have to be read in any particular order.History and Romance are my favorite topics.  So I really enjoy Historical Romance!  "Historical romances", however, rarely contain much history.  The main characters are usually 21st century people in old time houses and clothes.  This is particularly true of romances, which take place in the Middle Ages.  When I read them, I enjoy the romance and hate the history.Unlike most novels set in the Middle Ages, Ms. Domning's characters are true to their time period.  They think and act like people living at the time in which they live.  In addition, the her books are replete with Medieval detail.The plot of each of Ms. Domning's books revolves around problematic aspects of medieval culture.  Being romances, the main characters end up happy and in love.  But the aspects of medieval culture she examines probably resulted in many unhappy endings.In The Warrior's Game Ms. Domning portrays minor noble women residing at King John's court and contrasts their living conditions with those of rich commoners.  The social issues she tackles are the right of English kings to select a husband for "orphaned" noble widows and relations between minor nobility and wealthy, successful commoners.Those who have read about this period know that single noble women were often required to live at King John's court.  I had always imagined that they lived in luxurious, comfortable rooms.  This book disabused me. The nobility left records.  This enables Ms. Domning to create a vivid, detailed picture of the court.  Physical conditions seem worse than today's most primitive hurricane shelter!  In addition, the court was a political hotbed.  Finally, informal, customary rules practically strangled the residents.  They dominated almost every move.  I thought this was fascinating.King John selected mates for "orphan" women - aristocratic women who did not have a responsible male (father, brother, adult son).  For him, this was a moneymaker.  Highborn women, who came with land and money, were desirable.  Men were willing to pay John a lot to obtain such a match.  Giving a man such a woman was also a much-appreciated reward by people who had given John service - in this book an outstanding, commoner knight, who owned no property.  As those who know about John realize, he often sampled the goods and also lead the prospective husbands on a merry chase!Domning also contrasts the way the aristocracy lived at court with the lifestyle of wealthy merchants.  To my surprise, she shows that these commoners were living a lot better than the highborn!Finally Domning depicts the attitudes of minor aristocrats towards successful commoners.  To put it succinctly, they did not believe that all men were created equal.As in The Warrior's Wife, this story ends in a chase.  In my review of The Warrior's Wife, I criticized this.  In this book, a chase made sense.  The whole plot revolved around a competitive chase.  I did, however, have a minor problem with the physical chase.  It occurs during a snowstorm.  Without LL Bean clothes, I worried that they would all die of frostbite.  I needn't have worried. They were all cold but fine!  Perhaps having survived the horrors of Medieval childbirth and the many lethal childhood diseases, Medieval adults had tougher bodies than we do!