The Iron King, first published in 1955, is the first of seven historical novels in Maurice Druon's Accursed Kings series. English translations have long been out of print and difficult to find, and the seventh has never been translated from Druon's native French. A new edition, featuring the accolades of Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin, will introduce a new generation to Druon's intriguing work.
The Iron King follows the political machinations and social upheavals during the last year in the reign of Philip IV, also called Philip the Fair, in early 14th-century France. Philip's successful destruction of the Knights Templar sees Grandmaster Jacques de Molay burned for heresy in the heart of Paris. With his final breath, the defiant Molay curses his adversaries, summoning both Philip and the pope, Clement V, to the "Tribunal of Heaven" within a year. Watching from the nearby Tower of Love are two of the king's daughters-in-law, each embracing their adulterous lovers. This storm of familial and political troubles ultimately leads to the Hundred Years' War and, in the nearer term, disaster among the French nobility.
Druon's prose, as translated by Humphrey Hare, is elegant in establishing the historical surroundings and succinct when portraying action. Frequent endnotes lead to an appendix explaining some of the more esoteric references. Readers will swiftly plunge deep into the schemes of nobles and bankers, and the ultimate flaw in The Iron King is that it ends before many of its plotlines can conclude or even reach fruition. The next Accursed Kings novel, The Strangled Queen, cannot come soon enough. --Tobias Mutter, freelance reviewer