Story of Little Llewelyn and Ellen. Really shows what an evil king ol' Edward Longshanks was. After this whole trilogy, you feel a little sorry that Wales is part of the UK. ( )

I can only say that I love Ms. Penman's books. Truly the best kind of historical fiction in that it educates and entertains. She completely has pulled me into a world and a time foreign to me. This isn't reading about Ancient Rome, King Henry VIII, the Civil War -- this is 13th century Wales. I know neither the history nor the legend so this finale of the Welsh trilogy was riveting to me. One thing about keeping true to historical facts -- the truth respects no laws of the novel. Jesu forfend, our heroes and heroines might actually die at any seemingly mundane moment!

I have only praise. I teared up, I routed hard for certain people. I grieved. I really enjoyed the character of Davydd ap Griffuth -- what an enigma. I enjoyed his daughter Caitlin as well, but was sad to read at the end that she was fictional. I am certainly seeing that there is an over the top idealistic love shared by many of our central spouses in these novels - this has been a running theme -- yet even prudish me falls for it every time.

I am always sad to leave one of these odysseys -- I am thankful there are more by this author to read but sad that I am done with this trilogy. It was fantastic! One last admirable thing -- not too many writers choose to tell history sympathetically from the side of the vanquished. Penman does; which leaves the reader with a sense of lingering heartbreak. ( )

"The Reckoning" is the third book in the trilogy concentrating on the final days of Wales as a truly independent country from England. It links most closely to "Falls the Shadow", continuing the tale of the de Montfort family and the princes of Wales.

In this tale - once again sweeping through years of historical events - we see Edward tightening his hold on Wales. Most of his predecessors had looked to the continent - to take control of Anjou and Poitou and Aquitaine, and the many other principalities that now form modern-day France. Edward was more than happy to consolidate his hold on the other countries that now form the United Kingdom - at the time, the Scottish King already paid homage to Edward as a liege lord and he was looking to Llewelyn to do the same.

Edward uses heavy-handed methods to achieve his goals, including imprisoning Llewelyn's bride - Ellen, the daughter of Simon de Montfort - and turning Davydd (Llewelyn's ambitious and loyally ambiguous brother) against him.

This was a much improved story (although I do dislike using the word 'story' when referring to historical fiction, since the events have at least a basis in fact) in comparison to "Falls the Shadow". There were strong and memorable characters, and the central love story between Llewelyn and Ellen is very sweetly written - since you end up feeling much empathy for the characters due to the way in which Edward deals with them, the very tragic ending to their relationship is all the more heartbreaking.

I had some minor complaints about the story - having said how sweet the love is between Llewelyn and Ellen, it is also a little cloying at times; the characters that Penman wrote herself with no basis in fact can be easily told from those who actually inhabited history; and sometimes Davydd's motives can be hard to comprehend being as he was from such a different age.

Having said that, these are very minor issues and overall this is a very strong novel from Penman. ( )

The final book in the trilogy which sees the annihilation of the Welsh Princes. Llewellyn ap Gruffydd faces battles with his brothers (most notably Daffydd) and the English King as he struggles to retain control of Wales. Fantastic writing from Penman. ( )

What a great book. Along with an engrossing story I learned much about English history that I had never heard of before. I have to admit, some of the things that came up during the courtship/marriage of Llewellen and Ellen seemed absolutely bizarre, and then I searched the internet on these characters and they did actually happen. Edward I was and is an absolute two timing double faced snake in the grass!!

I won't give it away, but a scene at the end of the book was so heartbreaking I literally cried for about 10-15 minutes. I can't recall any other book affecting me so. This was an awesome series, Here by Dragons, Falls the Shadow and the Reckoning. ( )