The Prince of Poison: A Novel (Alix of Wanthwaite)

I loved the first book, "shield of three lions" it was great! the second was also good, the third was good but not as great as the first two. I felt that the ending came fast and i thought it should have had a little more at the end like seeing leith..etc. But overall it was a nice book.

It is the third book in her trilogy of Lady Alex. I really enjoy the way she makes the middle ages come alive, and it is such a wild ride with Alex, as she cleverly finds a way to fight the royalty who would have her head.

Prince of Poison by Pamela Kaufman, the thrid in her trilogy (Shield of Three Lions and Banners of Gold), was a fast-paced and thoroughly romantic ending to the trilogy. Alix dealt with all obstacles in her path in her journey to return to England to reclaim her home and her love. In my opinion, the Prince of Poison was an exciting page-turner, easy to read, entertaining, and equal in brillance to the first two books. I look forward to reading more novels by Ms. Kaufman.

The Prince of Poison is the last novel in the Alix of Wanthwaite trilogy. There was a huge publishing gap between the second and third books (over ten years I think) which can only be credited to what Pamela Kaufman says in her authors note-her husband died, and her son died of a brain tumor. If the author ever reads this review I would like to express my deepest sympathies on her loss. I loved the first book of this trilogy, Sheild of Three Lions, and I was enthralled by the romance between Alix, a young, very vulgar and smart girl, and Enoch, a Scot in every way who takes in Alix as his brother (she was pretending to be a boy) and ends up going on crusade to protect her for the lascivious king Richard of the Lion Heart. And I was very angry in the second book, Banners of Gold, when Alix, told falsely that Enoch was dead, became King Richard's mistress because he needed an heir and was gay (sorry folks, but historical evidence confirms it) and she was the only woman he'd ever been attracted to. I was especially angry because at the end of novel Alix was pregnant for the second time with Richard's child (the first was miscarried and a girl), had just watched Richard die, had just been told Enoch was alive, and was being hunted down by the new king, John. It's a big cliffhanger I thought would never be resolved. But now it has been. This novel picks up right where the last one left off. Alix manages to escape John-who wants to have sex with her and then kill her-and wanders around in the forest. Then she manages to find Bonel, her kind Jewish friend from Banners of Gold who's in love with her, and has her baby in a Jewish Commune. It's a boy, named Theo. Then she learns to cut jewels and a year later she and Theo head to England, Theo with Matilda de Bros (if you know the name you'll have a guess of what happens next) and Alix on a Viking ship. But she's shipwrecked on England's shores-close to her home of Wanthwaite. She heads for home, determined to finds her husband Enoch, and when she gets to the castle she finds a wedding celebration. For Enoch. He thought she was dead. Hurt but brave Alix chooses to ignore Enoch's marriage (she did after all, cheat on him) and head to London to pick up her son. But Enoch won't leave her, until she says she's going to get the crown jewels, which Richard left to her. So Enoch follows her-but Theo isn't in London anymore. So begins the start of their seemingly continues trek across England, often with different people, but always Alix and Enoch-in their typical way ignoring the feelings between them and keeping a safe distance from each other. And always to try and contain the villainy of King John. That's what this book is really about, the Magna Carta and the rights of the Barons of England. This is a good book, not amazing, but very solid. My only complaints where that no sense of Time is in the novel, so its passage went unmarked and I had no idea how long something had been happening. I think th