Fall into Splendour or collective ReAding

“Five hundred years after he died on the field of battle, Richard is still a figure of controversy and his story still fascinates and casts a spell. Betrayed in life by his allies, Richard was betrayed in death by history. Leaving no heir, his reputation was like his corps: left to his enemies, mutilated beyond recognition.

Filled with the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and lore of daily life, the rigors and risks of Court politics, the passions and infidelities of the high-born, and the touching concerns of very real men and women, The Sunne in Splendour brings to life this gifted man whose greatest sin, perhaps, was that he held principles too firm for the times he lived in and loved too deeply to survive love’s loss.” thus ends the jacket of the book.

The Sunne in Splendour is one of those epic novels the size of a dictionary and I bought the e-book about two years ago after I read the Vulpes Libris interview.

Given that historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, the fact that I’ve started it more than once without finishing it, is no reflection of the book but rather of mine, noticable in my blog title 🙂

Richard III has been on our minds with King Richard Week behind us and the current Greyfriars Project in Leicester, UK.

I hope everyone has signed the petition in support of Richard Armitage’s effort of exploring a more historically accurate portrayal of King Richard III of England.

Heidi proposed the idea to read it all together using the #ArmitageWatch concept, how could I resist!

Richard III Bloggers will be cheering us on with fun activities

If you blog; consider yourself invited to post your thoughts & host those readers who connect via blogs.

We can do this!!

In hopes of making an enjoyable reading experience, I carefully pondered a schedule that would allow for progress in a timely manner with breaks for Thanksgiving (1 wk) and the Holiday’s (2 wks) allowing time for family obligations or catch up time for those who need it.

The end result is 5 chapters a week which brings our last discussion on Sunday February 24th!

The first 5 chapters contain the most pages; 80, the remainder are around 60 pg of reading per week, 10 pg a day give or take.

This requires a commitment but a very attainable one and I hope discussion will prove to be a motivator.

I for one will certainly use it as such. 🙂

Twice in the middle of the book and back to back we’ll read 6 chapters, because of reduces chapter sizes, both are carefully indicated on the list and calendar.

For those in need of specific meeting time to chat with regards to the book, watch ArmitageWatch Blogspot

For those on Facebook : chapters will also be posted on The Institute of Armitage Studies

The King Richard Armitage site will also keep people updated

Most of the fun will happen on twitter be sure to use #RA4R3 when posting any comments during the week.

To be fair we should refrain from spoilers until the Sunday after (whenever its Sunday in your timezone)

If unfamiliar with twitter more info here

Join many ReAders this Fall with The Sunne into Splendour

*******

Sept 23rd : Chapters 1 + 5 of Book One : Edward

Sept 30th : Chapters 6 + 10

Oct 7th : Chapters 11 + 15

Oct 14th : Chapters 16 + 20

Oct 21st : Chapters 21 + 25

Oct 28th : Chapters 26 + 30

Nov 4th : Chapters 31 + 3 of Book Two : Anne

Nov 11th : Chapters 4 + 8

Nov 18th : Chapters 9 + 13

break for Thanksgiving

Don’t forget to eat and drink!

Dec 2nd : Chapters 14 + 4 of Book Three : Lord Of The North

Dec 9th : Chapters 5 + 9

Dec 16th : Chapters 10 + 15 : YES : 6 chapters

break for the Holidays

Read, Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

Jan 6th : Chapters 16 + 21 : YES : 6 chapters

Jan 13th : Chapters 1 + 5 of Book Four : “Richard, By The Grace Of God…”

Jan 20th : Chapters 6 + 10

Jan 27th : Chapters 11 + 15

Feb 3rd : Chapters 16 + 20

Feb 10th : Chapters 21 + 25

Feb 17th : Chapters 26 + 32 HOMERUN

Feb 24th : Last discussion

Take a bite and you’ll get a virtual kiss from RA

Feel free to ask questions!

Advertisement

Sharpe Lives on Sharpe Sundays

To portray a character and build it is every actor’s dream.  As such Sean Bean was given the opportunity to take the life of Richard Sharpe and history was made.

To quote Bernard Cornwell: ” I began writing Sharpe in 1980 and he’s still going strong. I never thought there would be this many books – I imagined there might be ten or eleven – but then along came Sean Bean and the television programmes and I virtually began a whole new Sharpe series.

If you’re unfamiliar with the film series check out Sharpe film for episode listings

article couldn’t say it better: “It is an interesting phenomenon when a role becomes so identified with an actor that this portrayal becomes that character forever in the public’s mind. I’m sure this phenomenon has a number of consequences for the actor, the producers, the writers, and the director of a series or film and also for the creator of the character…. read more on Sean is Sharpe

It’s been since Spring that fellow Blogger; Fabo and I thought to revisit this series.

As we are aware that there are so many fans out there we thought it be extra fun to share this event. Besides Sean Bean has gained a new fanbase since his role in the 1st season of HBO series of Game of Thrones as Ned Stark who may never have seen him swing a sword as another!

Some heroes live FOREVER and are worth a regular revisit!

As the series origin is in the UK we thought a time where both US and UK fans could connect would be :

USA East Coast: 3pm      UK: 8pm    Continent: 9pm

Be sure to set your clocks and we will all hit play on the hour!

Now I can’t think of a better way to look forward to summer 🙂

In short FOLLOW on twitter and LIKE on Facebook

We will post into episode description on the Facebook page soon, another place for people to gather if they prefer.

For info how to connect online check here : #SharpeSundays will be the hashtag for the event.

Global Armitage Watching or moRA is better!

North and South promo picture

So the North and South watch is behind us and I think we can call it a success thanks to excellent moderating skills of @ArmitageWatch no doubt we started a yearly tradition, hopefully if you missed it this year you can catch it next year or you can join us for future watching.

This whole idea came out of a conversation on twitter and since, this mantra occasionally pops into my cRAzy head:

IF  YOU  POST  IT  THEY  WILL  COME! 

a modified quote from Field of Dreams 🙂

I hope you find the opportunity to join any of the coming RAwatches! Check out the Armitage Watch Calendar, look for a time that suits you and if uncertain how we go about: check this out. Note: take advantage of the Google feature to import each calendar into your personal one. For your convenience you can follow and LIKE our posts on Facebook

In case the word watch throws you off a bit I included the listed definition:

watch ———>>>

verb (used without object)

1. to be alertly on the lookout, look attentively, or observe, as to see what comes, is done, or happens: to watch while an experiment is performed.

2. to look or wait attentively and expectantly (usually followed by for ): to watch for a signal; to watch for an opportunity.

3. to be careful or cautious: Watch when you cross the street.

4. to keep awake, especially for a purpose; remain vigilant, asfor protection or safekeeping: to watch with a sick person.

5. to keep vigil, as for devotional purposes.

6. to keep guard: She was assigned to watch at the door.

LOOK WHO”S KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR?

Fridays I’ll be looking forward to #GuyWatch : 2 episodes every friday starting on the hour.

Once Spooks has finished in the fall #GuyWatch will double up ; meaning 2 episodes each Friday AND Saturday!

Guy of Gisborne

Saturdays we have #LucasWatch : meaning Spooks from Season 7 down to the 9 : 2 episodes each Saturday.

Lucas North

But that is not all we plan to have more weekend events: if you check out the calendar they are already there:  #HarryWatch #MonetWatch and more!!

Please spReAd the news and join the FUN!