The King's Falcon
Roundheads and Cavaliers, Book 3
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The King's Falcon
Narrated by:
Alex Wyndham
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Narrated by:
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Alex Wyndham
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By:
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Stella Riley
About this listen
A tale of war and witchcraft, plots and playhouses, love and loyalty....
Following his coronation in Scotland, Charles ll leads an army south to reclaim his throne, but the dream ends in a crushing defeat at Worcester, leaving no alternative but flight.
With little more than the clothes on their backs, Ashley Peverell and Francis Langley manage to reach Paris, where Ashley, known to some as The Falcon, resumes his under-cover and unpaid work for the King.
Beautiful, stubborn, and street-wise Athenais de Galzain has risen from the slums of Paris to become the Marais Theatre's leading actress. Unfortunately, this brings her to the attention of the Marquis d'Auxerre - an influential nobleman of an unsavory reputation who is accustomed to taking what he wants.
While the Prince's Fronde flares up anew, and turns the city into a battle-ground, Francis is bullied into helping his sister, Celia, obtain a divorce from Eden Maxwell. Currently working as a cryptographer in the Commonwealth's intelligence service, Eden watches Cromwell creating a king-sized space for himself, and begins to question the cause to which he has devoted a decade of his life.
From first chance, Ashley and Athenais are drawn together with the unstoppable force of two stars colliding; a force which Ashley, lacking both money and prospects, and aware of the frequency with which he's required to risk his life, cannot deny, but resolves to conceal. He has only two priorities: His work for Charles ll, and his determination to protect Athenais from the Marquis. Both are to test him to his limits.
The King's Falcon follows the Cavalier's last crusade, and the bitter, poverty-stricken exile that followed it. There is danger, intrigue, and romance in this sequel to The Black Madonna and Garland of Straw.
©2014 Stella Riley (P)2022 Stella RileyListeners also enjoyed...
Absolutely captivating story of love and intrigue
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The King’s Falcon follows the two main protagonists, Ashley Peverell and Francis Langley, on their flight to France, and then into poverty-stricken exile after King Charles II’s crushing defeat at Worcester. The author doesn’t veer away from, or try to romanticise the effects of war - graphic and brutally honest, I was moved to tears during her opening chapters.
As is the case in all the series written by this author, she introduces secondary characters along the way and intersperses them ready for when we’ll see their importance, or they’ll get their own story. I’ve often wondered how she keeps everything straight in her clever mind. Each of the two main characters has appeared in previous books - Ashley as the mysterious and enigmatic ‘Falcon’ in Garland of Straw, while the more languid, poetry loving, artistic ‘playboy’ Francis, who never really wanted to be a soldier but who stepped up to the mark for his king, has appeared as a member of the Royalist Langley family in the previous books in the series.
Eden Maxwell, a colonel in the new model army, is a particular favourite secondary character of mine. He figures prominently in this story and also in the previous books, as does his estranged wife, Celia. They are central to the author’s intelligent plotting in this book, as will become clear. Such is the author’s skill in presenting the facts in an unbiased manner that, although my sympathy is with the Stuarts, I also have a soft spot for Eden, though some might say he is an enemy of the king.
Ashley hails from English landed gentry, though a second son, and Francis from the aristocracy, being heir to a viscountcy, but both become smitten with quite ordinary women. War is a great leveller and I love how the author has woven the love story element around two actresses who would probably never have been considered good enough for these two quite stunning, charismatic men. Although I love both couples, my favourite pairing, by a whisker, is Pauline Fleury and Francis Langley. Pauline is the epitome of a Stella Riley female character - strong and feisty, with a take-no prisoners attitude, but possessing a heart of gold. Already over thirty years old, scarred and lamed by an accident, Pauline has had to give up her highly successful stage career but still works behind the scenes of the theatre as well as providing love and support to the young aspiring actress, Athenais. I love how Francis sees the woman that Pauline truly is. Previously, he’s come across as a slightly frivolous character, at least to me, but in The King’s Falcon we see another, much deeper side to him. His love and devotion for Pauline was a joy to watch as we see her flourish, bloom and begin to believe in herself again, under his admiration and love.
Albeit extremely talented and very beautiful, Athenais de Galzain is no fool. She is in the early stages of a promising career on the stage and already climbing fast in popularity. Always aware that her beauty has its drawbacks, she has so far managed to avoid falling into the clutches of the powerful men who pursue her. However, when a ruthless and influential French nobleman, the Marquis d’Auxerre, sets his sights on Athenais, Ashley’s protective instincts are brought very much to the fore. The two have been drawn to one another from first sight, but the Marquis’s determined and quite ruthless pursuit of Athenais solves the dilemma Ashley has been wrestling with - that of his lack of paid employment prospects. However, all that matters now is the necessity to fight for, and to protect his love. Previously, we had only ever seen Ashley as ‘The Falcon’, fearless and ruthless in his defence and single-minded support of his king - now with two equally important causes, he is split two ways.
As always, Alex Wyndham delivers a superb and thoroughly enjoyable performance. Using a variety of tone, accent and timbre, he delineates the author’s vast cast of diverse characters to perfection. His smooth tones, and the richness of the book’s content, give the impression of a wonderful ‘production’… more play than book. Brava Ms Riley and bravo Mr Wyndham.
Powerful, inspiring, sometimes shocking, but wonderfully romantic, the audio version of The King’s Falcon is an utterly captivating way to spend the best part of twenty hours. Highly recommended.
Powerful, inspiring and romantic
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Compelling and unpredictable!
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Each Stella Riley book I finish, I think ‘ this one is my favourite’ Love the mixture of adventure, excitement and intrigue in a backdrop of detailed history, woven through with scintillating romance. Love following a series ( this one is number 3 in Roundheads and Cavaliers) introducing new characters and meeting up again with much beloved favourites. Delighted that Ms Riley chose to develop the character of the mysterious Colonel Peveril, first met in book 2. The heroine’s are always feisty, faithful and lovable. Some of the scenes are so dark and gritty, I was reduced to tears and experienced real grief, even second time around.
Ms Riley does not hold back in the realism of telling her tale. I must admit that I am addicted to the voice of Alex Wyndham and often allow him to lull me to sleep with the five minutes of sleep mode at night.
Excellent
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Thank you Ms Riley and Mr Wyndham for creating the best listens!
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As for Alex Wyndham, he is a pleasure to listen to. His range of accents, both French and English is excellent. My only very minor quibble is his Scots accents. As a Scot myself, I found myself wincing a time or two, but I think most people wouldn't notice.
Once again, Stella Riley and Alex Wyndham make the perfect partnership.
Perfect pairing
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However, Alex Wyndham’s outstanding performance has transported this excellent novel to a new level.
Mr. Wyndham handles all the characters adroitly, whether male or female, young or old, English or French. His pace, transitions and sense of feeling throughout are perfect plus his myriad of both English and French accents is superb - and at times, beyond my comprehension.
From the battle of Worcester and escape of Charles II plus Riley’s two male leads, Ashley and Francis, one is drawn into the complexities of those troubled times. Escaping to Paris we follow the trials and tribulations of Ashley (known as ‘The Falcon’) and Francis as they try to make a living in order to survive. While there they meet the two leading ladies of the book Athenais and Pauline who complement each other so well. I especially liked Pauline who has a razor-sharp tongue and does not suffer fools gladly.
And so, in Paris the scene is set, the leading players take their place, the curtain is raised and the story proceeds with twists and turns throughout.
Ms. Riley’s fictional characters interact with real ones including Cyrano de Bergerac who is instrumental to the clever plot.
Back in London Eden Maxwell, still suffering from the break-up of his marriage to Celia in 'The Black Madonna' immerses himself into the world of cryptography while serving in Oliver Cromwell’s unpopular administration and finds himself becoming disillusioned by the situation.
And thus, the denouement brings together the protagonists in a finale that is both satisfying, rewarding, uplifting and very moving especially just before the Epilogue.
The pace Alex Wyndham sets is perfect throughout and his delivery is faultless.
I’ll not add anything further but I highly recommend you relax and immerse yourself into the world of 'The King’s Falcon'. You’ll not be disappointed.
I can find no other words to describe this outstanding Audio book so I’ll finish by saying thank you Stella Riley and Alex Wyndham, ‘Perfection Personified'.
Perfection Personified
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Fabulous
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Thoroughly enjoyed
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While I am a huge fan of all Ms Riley’s stories, I had never completely connected with Ashley (the hero) and Athenais (the heroine). Though my head understood the beauty of their romance, my heart did not. However, through Mr Wyndham’s performance, I was able to appreciate in a new way, the depth of Ashley’s love for Athenais, his protective care for her and the personal cost of his self-control. I also understood better his feelings of unworthiness and his uneasiness about the effects his tasks for the English Court were having on him. He became a multi-faceted; rounded and fully formed character and I fell in love with him.
At the same time, I was also able to see Athenais in a new light. Through Alex’s presentation, I understood better the painful effect of past events on her current life and her horror at the Marquis D’Auxerre’s pursuit of her. This pursuit and its climax were so well-written and enacted that it shocked and moved me and left me thinking about it for days.
There is something about having a story read to me that does make me think about it in a different way. I realised again, how complex, deep and rich this story is. There is so much historical background: the progress of the Civil War; witchcraft; and the life of the theatre; the life of the court in Exile with all the machinations of people in high places working either for the good or the downfall of King Charles II. Yet all this action and history is counterbalanced by the compelling human stories at the heart of the novel. I adored Francis and Pauline’s romance and loved seeing Eden Maxwell begin to live again and particularly enjoyed the interludes with Cyrano De Bergerac. The author has a way of weaving the historical backdrop and the personal stories together so seamlessly that the reader is fully invested in both. This is my favourite kind of novel and the King’s Falcon one of the best. I just loved it.
Historical Fiction at its best
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