Sharon Kay Penman wrote some of the most admired medieval novels of the last half century. Her books bring the Welsh princes, the Plantagenet kings and the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem to life with a depth of research that few novelists have matched.
She published 14 novels between 1982 and 2020: ten big historical sagas and four medieval mysteries. This guide covers every one of them in reading order, with where to start, how the series fit together, and what to read once you have finished her books.
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About Sharon Kay Penman
Early Life
Sharon Kay Penman was born in New York City on August 13, 1945, and grew up in New Jersey. She was American, although many readers assumed she was British, and her books were published in the UK under the name Sharon Penman.
She studied history at the University of Texas at Austin, then earned a law degree at Rutgers School of Law and worked as a tax lawyer. She later admitted that she considered practising law a kind of penance.
Writing Career
Penman discovered the story of Richard III as a college student and became convinced that the Tudors had turned him into a villain to justify Henry Tudor’s claim to the throne. She started a novel about him, and the 400-page manuscript was stolen from her car. The loss left her unable to write for about five years.
She rewrote the book from the beginning. When The Sunne in Splendour was finally published in 1982, it ran to 936 pages and had taken her twelve years. Along the way she gave up the law and moved to England to research the book, and in the early 1980s she moved to Wales to research her second novel.
Over the next four decades she wrote the Welsh Princes trilogy, five novels about Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their sons, and four Justin de Quincy mysteries. Her later novels reached the New York Times bestseller list, and her last book, The Land Beyond the Sea, came out in 2020. She died of pneumonia on January 22, 2021, at the age of 75.
Writing Style
Penman wrote long, immersive novels built on years of reading in the chronicles of the period. Each book closes with an author’s note that separates documented history from the parts she invented, which is one reason readers trust her as a guide to the Middle Ages.
Her great strength was character. She avoided heroes and villains and wrote flawed, believable people: a Richard III loyal to his brother, a Henry II undone by his own family, a Welsh prince caught between his people and a powerful neighbour. Her novels move between many viewpoints, from kings and queens to the knights, servants and clerks around them.
She also had a gift for history that many readers did not know. Before Penman, few novelists had written about medieval Wales or the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and she made both feel as vivid as Tudor England.
Sharon Kay Penman Series in Reading Order
Penman wrote three series and two standalone novels. Each series can be read on its own, although characters and events overlap, and the Plantagenet novels and the Justin de Quincy mysteries share Eleanor of Aquitaine and her sons.
The Welsh Princes Trilogy
Setting: Wales, England and France in the 13th century. Books: 3 (complete).
The Welsh Princes trilogy follows the princes of Gwynedd and their struggle to keep Wales independent of the English crown. Penman believed it struck a chord because medieval Wales was “virgin territory” for most readers, and it remains her best-loved series.
1. Here Be Dragons (1985)
The story of King John, of Llywelyn the Great of Wales, and of Joanna, John’s illegitimate daughter, who is brought to his court as a bewildered five-year-old and married at fifteen to the Welsh prince. Trapped between the father she adores and the husband she comes to love, Joanna stands at the centre of their long rivalry.
2. Falls the Shadow (1988)
The reign of Henry III, told through the King, his sister Nell, Countess of Pembroke, and Simon de Montfort, the ambitious younger son of a French family who talks his way into an earldom and a marriage with the King’s sister. Their union scandalises the court, and Simon’s sense of honour sets him on a collision course with the crown.
3. The Reckoning (1991)
England, 1271, the last year of Henry III’s reign, with his son Edward already the real power in the land. In Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd rules uneasily over his fractious countrymen, holds a tense truce with Edward, and has named his charming but untrustworthy brother Davydd as heir. The conflict between Welsh and English becomes a reckoning that one side cannot survive.
The Plantagenet Series (Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine)
Setting: England, France and the Holy Land, 1135 to 1199. Books: 5 (complete).
Penman planned a trilogy about Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their sons, known as the Devil’s Brood, and it grew into five novels. She called them her Angevin novels, and her bookseller friend Barbara Peters joked that this was Penman’s “five-book trilogy”. For more novels about the dynasty, see our Plantagenet and Tudor series reading order.
1. When Christ and His Saints Slept (1994)
England from 1135 to 1154, when King Stephen and the Empress Maude fight a long civil war for the crown after the death of Henry I. Penman portrays Maude as fearless and determined to rule in her own right, and adds one invented character, Ranulf, so readers have someone to follow until the young Henry is old enough to take the stage. It was published in the US in 1995.
2. Time and Chance (2002)
The tempestuous marriage of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, eleven years his senior and newly divorced from the King of France. Henry wins the throne and tames his barons, but his choice of his friend Thomas Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury turns an alliance into a bitter quarrel between crown and Church. Time and Chance became a New York Times bestseller.
3. Devil’s Brood (2008)
The great rebellion of 1173, when Henry’s three eldest sons and his wife rise against him in alliance with King Louis of France. Penman described it as a novel without villains, only flawed people caught up in misjudgements, and it is the most intense family drama in her work.
4. Lionheart (2011)
Richard I takes the throne and almost at once sets out on the Third Crusade, while his youngest brother John schemes to steal his crown at home. The novel follows Richard’s campaigns against Saladin, the feuds among the Christian leaders, and the women around him, including his sister Joanna and his queen, Berengaria.
5. A King’s Ransom (2014)
On his way home from the crusade, Richard is taken captive by the Holy Roman Emperor in breach of the papal protection given to crusaders, and Eleanor of Aquitaine moves heaven and earth to raise the enormous ransom. The novel covers his fifteen months of captivity and the last, eventful years of his life.
The Justin de Quincy Mysteries
Setting: England, Wales and France, 1193 onwards. Books: 4 (complete).
After the long labour of When Christ and His Saints Slept, Penman wanted a change of pace and turned to mysteries, which she had always loved reading. Her detective, Justin de Quincy, becomes “the queen’s man”, a trusted agent of Eleanor of Aquitaine while Richard is a prisoner and John eyes the crown. Find more medieval sleuths in our guide to the best historical mystery fiction.
1. The Queen’s Man (1996)
Epiphany, 1193: on the snowy road out of Winchester, Justin de Quincy comes upon a man dying after an ambush, who begs him to deliver a letter to the queen. Richard the Lionheart has been missing for two months, and only that bloodstained letter can tell Eleanor whether her son is still alive. The novel was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery.
2. Cruel as the Grave (1998)
A peddler’s daughter, barely fifteen and new to London, is found dead in a churchyard. Justin, now in Eleanor’s service while the queen searches for her imprisoned son, is drawn into the case despite himself and sets out to unmask the killer.
3. Dragon’s Lair (2003)
July 1193: Eleanor has begun paying Richard’s ransom when one of the payments vanishes in Wales, a land torn by rebellion and intrigue. She sends Justin to find it, and murder soon follows. Justin’s path crosses that of the young Welsh prince Llywelyn, the future hero of Here Be Dragons.
4. Prince of Darkness (2005)
An urgent summons from a former lover takes Justin to Paris, where he learns she was acting for his nemesis, Prince John. John has heard of a forged document that implicates him in a plot to kill King Richard, and he needs Justin to find the forger. The trail leads to Mont-Saint-Michel, a dungeon in Brittany and a Paris cemetery.
Standalone Novels
The Sunne in Splendour (1982)
Setting: England during the Wars of the Roses. Some US editions spell the title The Sunne in Splendor.
Penman’s debut follows Richard III from boyhood, eight years old when his father is killed, through the reign of his brother Edward IV. Richard serves Edward faithfully through battle and exile while the court is torn by rivalry and the influence of Edward’s queen. It is a sympathetic portrait of the most controversial king in English history.
For the 2013 UK anniversary edition, Penman wrote a new author’s note on the 2012 discovery of Richard’s grave in Leicester. If the period grips you, Conn Iggulden’s Wars of the Roses series covers the same conflict from the Lancastrian side.
The Land Beyond the Sea (2020)
Setting: the Kingdom of Jerusalem (Outremer) in the 12th century.
Penman’s final novel tells the story of King Baldwin IV, a brave and intelligent young king who is struck by leprosy early in life. With political intrigue at his court and Saladin’s army never far from his borders, he can trust only a few, among them William, Archbishop of Tyre, and Balian d’Ibelin. It reads well alongside Lionheart, since it covers the years just before the Third Crusade.
Short Story: “A Queen in Exile” (2013)
Penman wrote one short story, “A Queen in Exile”, for the anthology Dangerous Women, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. It tells an episode from the life of Constance of Sicily, Queen of Sicily in her own right. The same anthology includes a Jamie Fraser novella by Diana Gabaldon.
Where to Start with Sharon Kay Penman
Best First Book
Start with Here Be Dragons. It needs no knowledge of medieval history, it opens the Welsh Princes trilogy, and it has everything Penman does well: a true love story, a clash of cultures and two remarkable rulers. Penman herself named it as her own favourite.
If You Want…
- A single, complete story: The Sunne in Splendour, her most famous novel. It is long, but it is complete in itself.
- A shorter, faster read: The Queen’s Man, the first Justin de Quincy mystery.
- The Plantagenets from the beginning: When Christ and His Saints Slept. It covers a brutal civil war, so expect a darker tone.
- Crusades and battle commanders: Lionheart, then The Land Beyond the Sea.
- Family drama: Devil’s Brood, the Plantagenets at war with each other.
Books by Time Period
Penman wrote almost entirely about the High and Late Middle Ages. Our Medieval Europe hub and the list of the best medieval historical fiction cover the wider period.
The Anarchy and Henry II (1135 to 1189)
- When Christ and His Saints Slept (1135 to 1154)
- Time and Chance (Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Thomas Becket)
- Devil’s Brood (the rebellion of Henry’s sons, from 1173)
Richard the Lionheart and the Crusades (1170s to 1199)
- The Land Beyond the Sea (the Kingdom of Jerusalem under Baldwin IV)
- Lionheart (the Third Crusade, from 1189)
- A King’s Ransom (Richard’s captivity and last years)
- The Queen’s Man, Cruel as the Grave, Dragon’s Lair and Prince of Darkness (from 1193)
King John, Henry III and Edward I (13th century)
- Here Be Dragons (King John and Llywelyn the Great)
- Falls the Shadow (Henry III and Simon de Montfort)
- The Reckoning (from 1271, Edward I and Llywelyn ap Gruffydd)
The Wars of the Roses (15th century)
- The Sunne in Splendour (the life of Richard III)
Reading in Historical Order
If you prefer to follow history rather than publication order, read When Christ and His Saints Slept, Time and Chance, Devil’s Brood, The Land Beyond the Sea, Lionheart, A King’s Ransom, then Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning, and finish with The Sunne in Splendour. Slot the four mysteries in alongside A King’s Ransom, since they take place while Richard is a prisoner and after his release.
Popular Sharon Kay Penman Series
The Welsh Princes Trilogy
The Welsh Princes trilogy is the series most readers mean when they talk about Penman. It spans three generations, from Llywelyn the Great’s rise to his grandson’s fight with Edward I, and it introduced many English-speaking readers to the princes of Gwynedd for the first time.
Penman said the books began her love affair with Wales. She had a second home in the Welsh mountains and drew on the landscape of Snowdonia and the ruined castles of the princes for her settings. That sense of place is one of the reasons the trilogy still has such a loyal following.
The Plantagenet Series
The five Plantagenet novels are Penman’s largest achievement. Taken together, they follow one family across more than sixty years, from the civil war that brought Henry II to the throne to the death of his son Richard.
Eleanor of Aquitaine runs through the whole series and into the Justin de Quincy mysteries, and Penman’s portrait of her as a brilliant political player is one of the great characters in the genre. Readers who finish A King’s Ransom often go back to the start of the series to see how the family began.
Awards and Recognition
- Edgar Award finalist (1996): The Queen’s Man was a finalist for Best First Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America.
- ALA Best Books for Young Adults: The Queen’s Man was chosen by the American Library Association.
- Romantic Times Career Achievement Award (2001): for historical mysteries.
- New York Times bestsellers: her later novels, including Time and Chance, reached the New York Times bestseller list.
Final Years and Legacy
Sharon Kay Penman died of pneumonia on January 22, 2021, at the age of 75. Her last novel, The Land Beyond the Sea, had been published the year before, so her body of work stands at 14 novels and one short story.
She had planned more. On her official website, she wrote that she was preparing to bring Justin de Quincy back in a fifth mystery, with the working title Serpent’s Tooth, set in France, England and Wales. It was never published, and no further books are expected.
Critics praised her meticulous research and her characters throughout her career. Few novelists have done as much to bring medieval Wales, the Angevin court and Outremer to readers of fiction.
Similar Authors You’ll Enjoy
- Elizabeth Chadwick: the closest match to Penman. Chadwick writes about the same Angevin world, including her William Marshal novels and a trilogy about Eleanor of Aquitaine.
- Alison Weir: a historian turned novelist with the same care for the record. Try Captive Queen, her novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II.
- Dorothy Dunnett: for readers who love long, intricate novels rich in politics. Start with The Game of Kings, the first Lymond Chronicle.
- Ellis Peters: her Brother Cadfael mysteries are set during the civil war between Stephen and Maude, the same years as When Christ and His Saints Slept, and suit fans of Justin de Quincy.
- Conn Iggulden: his Wars of the Roses series covers the conflict behind The Sunne in Splendour, with faster pacing.
- Philippa Gregory: her Cousins’ War novels, starting with The White Queen, tell the Wars of the Roses through the women of York and Lancaster.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Sharon Kay Penman’s best book?
Most readers name The Sunne in Splendour, her novel about Richard III, or Here Be Dragons, the first book of the Welsh Princes trilogy. Penman herself said Here Be Dragons was her own favourite.
In what order should I read Sharon Kay Penman’s books?
Read each series in its own order: Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning for the Welsh Princes; When Christ and His Saints Slept, Time and Chance, Devil’s Brood, Lionheart and A King’s Ransom for the Plantagenets; and The Queen’s Man, Cruel as the Grave, Dragon’s Lair and Prince of Darkness for the mysteries. The Sunne in Splendour and The Land Beyond the Sea are standalones and can be read at any time.
How many books did Sharon Kay Penman write?
Sharon Kay Penman wrote 14 novels: ten historical novels and four Justin de Quincy mysteries. She also wrote one short story, A Queen in Exile, for the 2013 anthology Dangerous Women.
What was Sharon Kay Penman’s last book?
Her last book was The Land Beyond the Sea, published in 2020, a standalone novel about King Baldwin IV and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Her last Plantagenet novel was A King’s Ransom (2014).
Do I need to read the Welsh Princes trilogy in order?
It is best read in order, because the three novels follow the same family across three generations. Each book tells a complete story, though, so readers who start with Falls the Shadow or The Reckoning will not be lost.
Is Sharon Kay Penman historically accurate?
Yes. Penman researched each novel for years and closes every book with an author’s note that explains what is documented and what she invented. She did invent some characters, such as Ranulf in When Christ and His Saints Slept and Justin de Quincy, but she kept the historical events and people close to the record.
What time periods did Sharon Kay Penman write about?
She wrote about the Middle Ages: England during the Anarchy of the 1130s and 1140s, the reigns of Henry II, Richard I, King John, Henry III and Edward I, the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century, and the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century.
Are Sharon Kay Penman’s books suitable for teenagers?
Her novels are written for adults and include battle violence, executions and some sexual content, so they suit older teens and adult readers. The Queen’s Man was chosen by the American Library Association as one of its Best Books for Young Adults.
Have any of Sharon Kay Penman’s books been made into a film or TV series?
No film or television adaptation of her novels has been made. Her books are available as audiobooks, including The Land Beyond the Sea from Penguin Random House Audio.
Who is Justin de Quincy?
Justin de Quincy is the hero of Penman’s four medieval mysteries. He is a young man who becomes a trusted agent of Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1193, while her son Richard the Lionheart is held captive and her youngest son John schemes for the crown.
Was Sharon Kay Penman British?
No, Sharon Kay Penman was American. She was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey, but she lived for long periods in England and Wales while researching her novels, and her books were published in the UK as by Sharon Penman.
When did Sharon Kay Penman die?
Sharon Kay Penman died of pneumonia on January 22, 2021, at the age of 75. She had been planning a fifth Justin de Quincy mystery, but it was never published, so no further books are expected.
Conclusion
Sharon Kay Penman left 14 novels that remain among the best medieval fiction ever written. Whether you start with the Welsh princes, the Plantagenets, Richard III or a Justin de Quincy mystery, you will find a writer who makes the Middle Ages feel close and human.
Begin with Here Be Dragons for the full Penman experience, or with The Sunne in Splendour for her most famous book. When you have read them all, the authors above, starting with Elizabeth Chadwick, are the best place to go next.
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