KING RICHARD III: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (BIOGRAPHIES of BRITISH ROYALTY) by Hourly History

 

Published in 2019 by Hourly History.

Hourly History is a series of histories and biographies that a reader can read in about an hour. Sometimes, that works out quite well. Sometimes, the topic is just too big to cover in an hour.

I am an avid reader of history, but I have areas of weakness that I am perfectly willing to shore up a bit, but I don't want to invest a ton of time. I want to know a bit more, not become an expert. The British Royal Family is just one of those areas for me. I know more than most people, but I can see the glaringly empty areas of my own ignorance.

I recently read Hourly History's biography of Henry VII (the king that defeated Richard III in battle and took his throne). Usually, I find the British Royal family to be a tedious topic, but I found the Henry VII biography to be quite interesting. I was hoping to have a similar experience with the biography of Richard III.

King Richard III (1452-1485)

Richard III took the throne towards the end of the slow motion civil war known as The War of the Roses. Richard started out as a loyal and devoted follower of his brother (Edward IV) who pretty much let him rule Northern England as a sort of mini-kingdom. Richard dealt with Scotland and border incursions and consolidated English royal control over some of the major noble families of the region.

When Edward IV died, Richard was supposed to step in and serve as Lord Protector for Edward V. Edward V was only twelve years old and Richard was to rule in his stead until Edward V came of age. 

This is where Richard III's story becomes complicated and very much like an episode of Game of Thrones...

This is an exciting story (Shakespeare wrote a play about it because it was so rich in drama) but this short biography just fails to convey that drama. 

I rate this biography 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: KING RICHARD III: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (BIOGRAPHIES of BRITISH ROYALTY) by Hourly History.

SILVERFIN: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL (A James Bond Adventure #1) by Charlie Higson and Kev Walker

 

Published by Disney Hyperion Books in 2008

Silverfin is the first of 9 books in the Young Bond graphic novel series. Bond's parents are dead due to an accident during while exploring. His aunt and uncle (a former spy) have sent Bond to the super-elite boarding school Eton College (ages 13-18) which has long been known as a school for multiple royal families and future military and political leaders. 

One of James Bond's signature lines being used
as he arrives at Eton.

Bond makes one really good friend and also one really devoted enemy who really tries his best to be James Bond's bully. When the term is over, he goes home to the family manor in Scotland and, as happens so often in teen movies and TV shows, he finds out that his wannabe bully lives fairly close by. In this case, the wannabe bully's family just bought a manor in the area. That could be rough - but it turns out that this manor is thought to be the source of a lot of strange activities that have been going on in the area and Bond wants to check it out...

The only real problem that I have with this graphic novel is that it is incredibly fast-paced. Bond makes a friend at school - all we know about him is that he is smart, nice, a bit pudgy and from India. What else about his schooling at Eton? There seem to be a lot of physical contests. I assume that Eton had something to do with Bond's adult adventures.

I also assume that the writers of the first book wanted to emphasize the action and that required a Bond-type villain for Bond to fight and that required the plot to move very quickly in order to do some literary world-building to set the scene. It might have been better to build the world a bit more and then have a small confrontation at the end with the hint of an even larger confrontation to come. But, that's neither here nor there since this book was printed 13 years ago.

All that being said, it was an entertaining story. Notice my complaints with the story are only that it was paced too fast - the underlying story is solid and full of good characters. Kev Walker's illustrations are almost always clear and easy to follow and the multitude of new characters are easy to tell apart. 

I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: SILVERFIN: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL (A James Bond Adventure #1) by Charlie Higson and Kev Walker.

DOCTOR WHO: DESTINY of the DOCTOR #3: VENGEANCE of the STONES (audiobook) by Andrew Smith

Published in 2013 by AudioGo (Blackstone/BBC) 

Read by Richard Franklin and Trevor Littledale

Duration: 1 hour

Unabridged.

As a part of the 50th Anniversary celebration of Doctor Who, the BBC released a series of audiobooks called Destiny of the Doctor. Each of the Doctors has a 1 hour audiobook story.

In Vengeance of the Stones the Doctor and UNIT are called in to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a RAF fighter jet from the skies above Scotland. While the Doctor is poking around he encounters Lt. Mike Yates for the first time (who becomes Captain Mike Yates and a companion in the television series). 

The Doctor soon discovers that the disappearance of the jet is the work of an alien species that has a ancient grudge against humanity and that they are the reason for the prevalence of so many recumbent stone circles in this area. 

A recumbent stone circle in Scotland.
Photo by Bill McKelvie

Also, he discovers that these aliens are more than willing to inflict their revenge upon humanity even though it has been hundreds and hundreds of years since they were wronged. Of course, the Doctor leaps to the defense of humanity but the story is amusing and entertaining and certainly will be of interest to any Doctor Who fan. 

The two readers were very solid, both being veteran audiobook performers in this series. Richard Franklin, of course, played the part of Mike Yates, the character he played in the television show from 1971-1974.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor #3: Vengeance of the Stones.

Reviewed on October 10, 2014