Who is the Fifth?

The Fifth Knight by E.M. Powell
Going into this book I was excited to learn more about Sir Thomas Becket. I know I had heard of him before, since in historical fiction in the middle ages always has characters going to worship at the shrine of Thomas Becket. But I never knew what he had done to get such a following. At least I didn't think I did, but as the story unfolded I realized I had read about him, although mainly in books on Eleanor of Aquitaine, they just hadn't left an impression before. Although I do think this that after reading this, I'll finally remember his story.

This book was originally written as a Kindle serial, instead of its current book format. This isn't something I'd normally point out, except that you can somewhat tell as you're reading. There are several parts in the books where it feels like all the drama is solved, except several chapters later it builds to a new conflict and somewhat of a cliffhanger. I do think if the book wasn't written as a serial you wouldn't have nearly as many high action moments. And it's not that this is necessarily a bad thing, it's just not something you expect.

I did learn a lot reading this, or at least refresh my memory on items I thought I had learned before, which is an aspect I really enjoy about historical fiction. It does seem like there were a few historical inaccuracies reading this, although I don't necessarily think it detracted from the story. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with this and enjoyed myself. If I had been reading this as serial, I definitely would have read each installment as it came out.

4/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. All opinions expressed are my own.