Knights Divided -A Review? No, a Writing Lesson.

ISBN 0-373-28959-6

First let me state that Knights Divided is an older book from the Harlequin Historical line and was originally released in 1997. So the only way you're likely to find it is via second hand stores, rummage sales, or the library. Having said that, if you stumble across a copy and enjoy historical romances, I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy and take the time to read through it, but not because I enjoyed the story. I did, but I wouldn't recommend it based on that. I'm suggesting those who enjoy writing would be well worth reading this book through because there are prime examples of what you don't do with characters and situations, as well as examples of two character types. Because of that I'm using this review to go over, not the storyline, but the character types.

Now, I like wounded, or less that perfect heroes. I'm not really interested in the perfect face, types that can handle anything thrown their way without so much as a hitch in their step. It's not realistic to me, and that will jar me right out of the story. So being able to sink into a story with a facially disfigured hero was a pure joy to me.

All though Jamie, our tortured hero, is not overly malformed he does wear a patch and has a damaged eye beneath along with small scars around the eye from a fight. During that same fight his twin brother, Hugh, was badly injured and now limps. Far too many books will now create a hero who is perfect in every way possible. They don't have a single fault and, as such, become boring to read. One thing an author must not be afraid of doing is creating a flawed hero. If you've noticed I've reviewed a lot of Feehan books and she has a knack for creating arrogant but less than perfect, heroes. Take a look at the world around you, are the men there perfect? Are the women? No, of course not. All though fiction is often used as a way of escaping the world for a short while, we, as readers, can and will become bored sooner or later by completely flawless characters.

The problem with Jamie, however, is simply this. He's TOO noble. He also has a near inhuman ability to withstand torture that would have left him ready to surrender his own mother. The author was on the right lines with having him lie, and early on, sticking to it. But she didn't then follow that idea through with the rest of the information his captors required. Nor are the after effects of his treatment in the tower touched on in a later love scene, but they suddenly come back to haunt him in a fight? Sorry but the body doesn't recover for sex then go back to being weaker than normal in a fight less than a day later.

On top of that Ms. Barclay treats the reader with a heroine who is not drop dead gorgeous. Instead she is a normal woman, with her own strengths and weaknesses, including a wayward father, a stubborn streak that nearly gets her killed, and a sense of adventure. She comes close to crossing the line with Emma on several occasions with actions that fall into what many authors and readers call TSTL syndrome. (Too stupid to live). Having a heroine who needs to be in a position where she can be rescued at least once by the hero for plot reasons can work, but don't have a sensible character do something completely stupid. Twice in this book the heroine dresses as a man, after making it clear the first time that the curves of her body would make it almost impossible for her to pass as a man. Yet she manages it. Both times. Right up until the moment that the plot requires her to be otherwise. After the first time she would have refused to do it a second and she could have, quite easily, used another ploy such as dressing as a maid.

Later on there is a scene where she pretends to be a prostitute in the Tower of London. I can just about buy that they'd let one in to see a condemned man, by ignoring reality for a time. (This is a traitor and they were pretty much kept isolated especially when facing being hung, drawn and quartered, because of the risk that a friend would grant them a quick death, or slip them some poison, as that death was long, painful and designed to be as humiliating as possible) But the part that really threatened to jar me out of the story was where the Tower Guard asks her to stop by after spending time with her beloved (mock client) as he would pay for her services.

How she avoided that, without causing problems, is ignored. It's skipped over. Sorry but that didn't work for me.

On a general level the book is worth reading. From a writers point of view the book provided excellent examples of what can work if the author takes the time to think things through carefully.