I am really in two minds with this one. I loved the premise of the story - the first eisteddfyd in Wales - festival of literature, music and performance - held by Rhys ap Gruffydd, Lord of Deheubarth (c.1170s). Its was the telling of the tale that left me flat and at times, wanting to skim ahead, wishing the author would get to the point.
Like a true Welsh tale, the story meandered back and forth in time, as we are slowly introduced to the characters embarking on the journey, as the historical scene is set, sometimes, at a painfully slow rate until we realise that we are only halfway through the book. It is only when the characters reach Cardigan, the seat of Lord Rhys' power, that the unseen political manouvering takes place during the contests.
This is an imagined version of events which is laid out in the "Brut Y Tywysogion" or The Chronicle of Princes.
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