The King Without a Kingdom (The Accursed Kings, Book 7)

By: Maurice Druon

Narrated by: Peter Joyce

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

‘This was the original Game Of Thrones' George R.R. Martin.

Available for the first time in English, The King Wihout a Kingdom is the seventh and final volume of The Accursed Kings series.

The reign of the Capetian kings has ended and John II, ‘The Good', second of the Valois dynasty, has taken the throne.

Under his leadership the Hundred Years War, one of the longest and bloodiest conflicts in history, escalates and England and France begin to tear each other apart.Cardinal Périgord, narrating the drama, shows us a monarch as vain and cruel as he is incompetent.

Under his turbulent reign, warring factions plunder the land, famine threatens the people and the Black Death spreads far and wide. France is bleeding to death around the new king.

©2014 Maurice Druon (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Iron kings and strangled queens, battles and betrayals, lies and lust, the curse of the Templars, the doom of a great dynasty - and all of it (well, most of it) straight from the pages of history, and believe me, the Starks and the Lannisters have nothing on the Capets and Plantagenets. Whether you are a history buff or a fantasy fan, Druon's epic will keep you turning pages. This was the original game of thrones" (George R.R. Martin)
"Blood-curdling tale of intrigue, murder, corruption and sexual passion" ( The Sunday Times)
"Dramatic and colourful as a Dumas romance but stiffened by historical accuracy and political insight" ( The Sunday Times)
"Barbaric, sensual, teeming with life, based in wide reading and sound scholarship…among the best historical novels" ( The Times Literary) Supplement

Let down

This is a good series but this book felt like a filler. A majority of the book is a recap of what happen in the others.

a very unique book, audio may be hard

I enjoyed the story a lot but it was hard to listen to ONE voiced character through a whole audiobook. nevertheless I do feel that it is a very unique and enjoyable addition to the series, maybe just better read though...

Story's End, Twenty Years After Story's End

This book can be summarized in one word: unnecessary.

The story of The Accursed Kings spans six books. The first was published in 1955, and the sixth in 1960. That book finished the story, epilogue included. Then, seventeen years later, book seven came out. This is pretty much a history-notes appendix taking us from book six to the Battle of Poitiers.

Unlike the prior books, The King Without a Kingdom takes the form of a monologue given by an old cardinal on a road trip, occasionally pausing to go on tangents or address someone off-screen. His narration is the only one we hear, confining Peter Joyce's talent to just one character voice and losing us his usual third-person voice (except in the prologue).

It's not all negative, however. Though not enough to carry the book alone, Cardinal Talleyrand-Périgord is still a well-written character and the history he's reciting can be engaging, especially Poitiers.

That said, I can only recommend this to completionists or those who, for whatever reason, want to hear a snarky, vain old man recount a chunk of medieval French history.

worst of a good series

just a boring narrator this time. only for people who loved the series. battle of portiers 1356.

like a 20 hour one man play.

I loved the other books in this series but there's a format change in this where the whole book is conversations between a character where you only hear his side of the conversation.