Tuesday 2 April 2013

Blog Tour: Dark Triumph review to follow soon and giveaway.







Dark Triumph the follow-up novel to Grave Mercy is digitally released today.
It will be published in paperback in June.

Robin has kindly written twelve facts about Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph for us...

Fact or Fiction: The Truth in His Fair Assassin

One of the questions I am most often asked is what parts, if any, of the His Fair Assassin books are true or based on history? The answer: Probably more than you’d think. Even more fascinating? Some of the things that strain credulity the most are actually true. Honestly, even the most fervent imagination could not make up some of this stuff. So here are twelve historical facts from both Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph that may surprise you.
Fact or Fiction: The Truth in His Fair Assassin
1. A twelve year old duchess truly did inherit one of the richest kingdoms in medieval Western Europe. Upon the death of her father, Anne was immediately saddled not only with the running of Brittany, but with trying to maintain its independence from France.


2. In an effort to find allies against France, her father the duke of Brittany had promised her hand in marriage to over half a dozen princes, nobles, and heads of state. Most of those promises had been made verbally so he couldn’t be pinned down and prevented from promising her hand in marriage to even more potential allies.
3. One of her most insistent suitors was the fifty year old Count d’Albret, who already had seven children of his own.
4. The duke of Brittany did have a mistress and had a number of illegitimate children with her. From all accounts, his ‘second’ family lived with him in the palace along with his wife and legitimate children. Just one big cozy happy extended family.
5. Of all the guardians and caretakers in whose hands the duke had placed Anne’s safety, nearly all of them betrayed her in some way.
6. In the middle ages, some women greatly preferred the idea of joining a convent, because it would give them more freedom and autonomy than their normal societal roles of wife, mother, or consort.
7. Assassination was a big part of medieval Europe’s political strategy. In the 11th century, Brittany itself was engaged in a number of back and forth assassinations with its neighboring duchy Normandy.
8. Assassination and poisonings were such a common occurrence (or heartily feared one) that many noble family’s had a poisoner on staff.
9. The island on which the convent of Saint Mortain sits is real: the Ile de Sein is located off the westernmost coast of Brittany and was rumored to have been the last remaining refuge of nine Celtic druidesses called the Gallizenae and were said to have mysterious powers.
10. The charbonnerie are also based on a real life organization of charcoal burners. While charcoal burning had been going on since as early as the Bronze Age, the charbonnerie are most widely known as a fraternal organization of charcoalburners that gained prominence during the French Revolution. There is some speculation that their roots were far older than that, possibly going back as far back as the middle ages.
11. The charbonnerie’s worship of the Dark Matrona or Dark Mother. This darker aspect is found of many older goddess and is known as Black Artemis, the Black Dianna, and even the Black Madonna.
12. The early Christian Church did indeed adopt some earlier pagan gods and goddess into its fold, renaming them saints and altering their stories so that they were more in keeping with church traditions. The most well known of these is Saint Brigid.


We will also be able to give away a copy of Grave Mercy the first in the series as well as a digital copy of Dark Triumph. My review will follow real soon. If you would like to win a copy leave a message as to why you should win and your email address in the comment box below.






    8 comments:

    Racing Song said...

    I think I should win this giveaway is because I live in Hong Kong and Grave Mercy is not available for sale here, sadly, I do not and am too young to own a credit card so I can't buy it oneline. But I saw all those reviews on the internet praising Grave Mercy and I'm juet dying to read it! It would be such a pleasure to win this giveaway so that I could get the book I wanted so badly, and I've never won a giveaway before so I really hope I could win this giveaway! Thank you so much for holding this giveaway :D My e-mail is relaxthree588@gmail.com <3

    Linzi said...

    I just recently read Grave Mercy for the first time and found it was AWESOME!!!! I now want to get my hands on Dark Triumph!! I need to read Dark Triumph to satisfy my thirst and plus learn more about Sybella. Plus how I want to see if Sybella's father gets his just desserts! :)
    My email address is lmcfrog@gmail.com

    Na said...

    I love the historical facts. Number 6 was particularly interesting. It's surprising but at the same time not. I can see why woman would seek an escape and try to be independent in some way. A convent doesn't seem likely and that's what makes this fact so cool to know. Definitely like that I can expect to learn so much about history in this series.
    Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com

    erin said...

    I'm *dying* to read this series!!! Thank you so much for the fun post and giveaway!

    efender1(at)gmail(dot)com

    Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

    Amazing historical facts! There is definitely truth to the statement that truth is stranger than fiction. Great post! I would love to win this series because all my fav blogger peeps are raving about it! rnydayramblings@gmail.com! Thanks for the chance!

    Kate said...

    I really truly want to read Dark Triumph so incredibly badly! I checked Grave Mercy out at my local library and fell in love with the character's story. However, I found myself frequently wondering about Beast, and longed to learn more about him. You can imagine how excited I was when I learned that he would be a more prominent character in Dark Triumph! Robin LaFevers seems to get the mix of tension, romance, action and adventure just right in her novels. I would love to be able to read Dark Triumph as well as have my own copy of Grave Mercy! My email address is beunique1998@gmail.com. Thank you for this awesome giveaway!

    Jessy said...

    I should win because I read Grave Mercy and fell in love with it. I am so excited to read Dark Triumph that when I do, and love it (because I know I will), I will shout from the roof-tops its excellency!

    findjessyhere at gmail dot com

    Unknown said...

    I think these books are so unique and fresh! I'm sure Sybella will be amazing and captivating!!! We already know so lot and so little about her....it can only get better, right? Can't wait!

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