The Brothers of Gwynedd : Comprising, Sunrise in the West, the Dragon at Noonday, the Hounds of Sunset, Afterglow and Nightfall

"The story of Llewelyn, first true Prince of Wales, is the history of medieval Wales in dramatic and epic form.

Llewelyn's burning vision is of one Wales, united against the threat of the English. But before he can achieve his dream, he must first tackle enemies nearer home. All three of his brothers hamper his efforts to create an independent state. The best-loved of the three, David, brought up throughout his childhood at the English court, restless, charming, torn between two loyalties, is fated to be his brother's undoing. Despite the support of his beloved wife Eleanor, Llewelyn finds himself trapped in a situation where the only solution is his own downfall and a tragic death..."

I have read a few of Pargeter's works, like The Heaven's Tree Trilogy, A Bloody Field in Shrewsbury and a couple of her Brother Cadfael series, but The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet is the one I enjoyed the most. The reason I liked this quartet was because I learned so much about medieval Welsh history and it had me yearning to learn more. What I admire about these books is that Pargeter does not compromise history for that sake of a story, but in fact she makes it a priority to retain historical accuracy. I think Pargeter was successful in relating this history in an engaging manner. I found it overall to be an enjoyable read. However, I admit the books weren't amazing; they did have their flaws. There were parts that were exteremely tedious, but I managed to labour through them. Also some of the characters were lacking in personality, especially Sampson the narrator. I found him to be quite bland. On the other hand, I loved the way she portrayed David (or Dyffud ap Gryffud). He was the character that I found most interesting..he had the ansgt (I have a thing for 'angsty' characters). Overall, I thought the books were worth reading. I would definitely recommend this quartet to fans of historical fiction and those interested in medieval history.