Here Be Dragons (Welsh Princes #1) by Sharon Kay Penman

I have no idea how I heard about this book. I think it was a podcast? But I can't figure out what podcast it was. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I thought this book was about the War of the Roses, but with dragons? I mean, I was WRONG, but I think that's what I thought. Here Be Dragons is the first in Sharon Kay Penman's Welsh Princes trilogy. There are no dragons here. This is straight historical fiction. 

Wales is a divided country in the thirteenth century. And there's the pesky English king always trying to garner territory for England by invading Wales. In this doorstop of a book (700 pages! tiny font!), we follow Prince Llewelyn as he forges a truce with the English king by marrying the king's illegitimate daughter Joanna. Does it take 200 pages to get to our main characters even meeting? Yes, yes, it does. Does that mean that this book had a slow start? Yes, yes, it does. Did I forgive that slow start when I had to start covering my eyes every few pages because something else terrible was going to happen? Yes, yes, I did. 

I don't know if I can recommend this book wholeheartedly because it does take 200 pages before the real action starts. BUT! If you like Ken Follett and his world of historical fiction that reads like a soap opera, I think you'll find this scratches the same itch. I was so invested in Llewelyn and Joanna and I was so upset when they started to get old because I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.

Reader, I might read the other books in the trilogy. Even though they are also both over 500 pages long.  4.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

Llewelyn followed Joanna to the window, where the light was better. Although his outdoor sight was still eagle-keen, as he moved into his late forties he was becomingly increasingly farsighted. Knowing that, and knowing, too, that he was somewhat sensitive about it, Joanna elected to read Isabelle's letter aloud. (page 529)

I feel personally attacked about my eyesight. 

"Fretting about time's passing will now slow it down one whit." (page 689)

Right. I must remind myself that growing old is a privilege. 

Things I looked up:

corrody (page 86) - a lifetime allowance of food and clothing, and often shelter and care, granted by an abbey, monastery, or other religious house. While rarely granted in the modern era, corrodies were common in the Middle Ages

plight troth (page 120 and elsewhere) - to make a promise of marriage

alaunt hound (page 214 and elsewhere) - an extinct type of dog which came in different forms with the original possibly having existed in North Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe from ancient times. This type of dog may have been developed by the Alans, and was renowned primarily for its quality as a large-game catch dog, and as a war dog and guard dog. 

distraint (page 451) - the seizure of someone's property to obtain payment of rent or other money owed, especially in common law countries

suzeraity (page 476) - includes the rights and obligations of a person, state, or other polity which controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state but allows the tributary state internal autonomy

lazar house (page 572) - leper colony

malmsey (page 644) - type of wine

Hat mentions:

None

Dragon mentions (I remained convinced until roughly page 500 that dragons would suddenly appear):

The pages were bringing in the subtlety, a spun-sugar creation sculptured to resemble a flame-breathing dragon. (page 374)

"Are there dragons in England, then?"
So it was not elephants at all; it was England. "There have been reports of English dragons, but I've never met anyone who actually saw one, Davydd," (page 473)

As a point of interest, the title of this book has its roots in the common practice of medieval cartographers; when a mapmaker had drawn upon all of his geographical knowledge, he would neatly letter across the void beyond: Here be dragons. I found the symbolism hard to resist, given how very little the English of the thirteenth century knew of Wales and the Welsh. Then, too, the national emblem of Wales is a winged red dragon, much like those heraldic dragons once emblazoned upon the banners of her princes. (page 704)

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Would you read an entire trilogy about wars in Wales a thousand years ago?