All the King's Bastards: A Succession of Chaos
By G. Lawrence
What if one event could change the course of English history?
January 1536
England
The King is dead... but who will live long now?
A fateful accident upon the jousting field leaves Henry VIII dead, crushed to death under the weight of his horse. His country, already divided over faith and power, trembles on the brink of chaos as Anne Boleyn rises to become Regent, ruling for her children, for her daughter Elizabeth and for the child as yet unborn in her womb.
Yet the children of Anne Boleyn are not the only ones who may stake a claim to the succession. Heirs will rise, supported by families of power and wealth, all vying to place their heir upon the English throne.
As conflict and rebellion unfold, alliances will be made and broken. At court and in the streets of England this war will rage, deciding who has the right to rule England, and who has the will to see this fight through, to the end.
All the King's Bastards is book one of A Succession of Chaos by G. Lawrence.
This is a work of speculative historical fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Oh look, a neat little alternate Tudor history (in which the king inconveniently dies mid-joust, the most controversial woman in England takes power, and absolutely everyone has opinions about it—many of them armed).
All the King’s Bastards is a sharp, compelling tale of power and perception, of legitimacy and survival, and of what happens when Anne Boleyn is no longer a scandal… but the one holding the kingdom together.
I went in expecting a familiar “what if” scenario. You know the sort: one historical divergence, a slightly reshuffled court, a few changed outcomes, and a gentle exploration of how things might have been.
Instead, the book takes the Henry VIII jousting accident, removes him from the board entirely, and then lets the consequences spiral in all directions at once.
Because it turns out that England without Henry is not calmer. It is not simpler.
It is, in fact, significantly more dangerous.
With Henry gone, Anne Boleyn steps into power as regent—and the shift is immediate. This is not the Anne defined by rumor, factional whispers, or hindsight. This is Anne as a political force, navigating a court that is deeply divided and not at all convinced she should be in charge.
As first days in office go, it’s less “ceremonial transition” and more “quietly assessing who might try to overthrow you before the week is out.”
Quite a long list, as it happens.
Because legitimacy is suddenly a very fragile thing. The question of succession—already complicated in Tudor England—becomes even more precarious when filtered through Anne’s position, her daughter, and the ever-watchful court.
Everyone has a stake. Everyone has a plan.
And very few of those plans align.
Most of the story follows the delicate (and often not-so-delicate) balancing act Anne must perform: maintaining authority, securing her daughter’s future, and managing a nobility that is, at best, uncertain and, at worst, actively hostile.
Every decision feels like it could tip the kingdom one way or another.
Often both at once.
What makes this particularly engaging is how the book leans into the tension between perception and reality. Anne is constantly being judged—not just for what she does, but for what people believe she represents.
And those beliefs are not easily changed.
Meanwhile, the court itself feels alive with intrigue. Alliances shift, loyalties bend, and every conversation carries an undercurrent of risk. There is a strong sense that history is being rewritten in real time, and that no one—not even Anne—is entirely certain how it will end.
Which keeps things delightfully tense.
There is also a personal edge to the story that grounds all the politics. Power here is not abstract; it is tied to identity, to motherhood, to survival. Anne’s position is not just precarious because of the crown—it is precarious because of everything she is in the eyes of those around her.
And that makes every victory feel hard-won.
What I enjoyed most is how the premise refuses to stay simple. It begins with a single divergence—Henry’s death—but quickly expands into a layered exploration of power, gender, legitimacy, and control.
Every choice matters. Every outcome has weight.
And just when it seems like the situation might stabilise, something shifts—reminding you that this version of England is still finding its footing.
Alternate history, court intrigue, dangerous politics, and a woman rewriting her place in a story that was never meant to let her win.
What can I say? This one starts with a fall from a horse and very quickly becomes a fight for a crown.
I had a great time with it.
You can grab your copy over on Amazon, and get this, it is free to read with #KindleUnlimited subscription.
I really want to read this book now, it sounds fabulous.
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