Bring Up the Bodies vs The Dragon and the Raven: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Great Britain, History, Fiction
Bring Up the Bodies
“His children are falling from the sky.”
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Bring Up the Bodies is a historical novel by Hilary Mantel; sequel to the award-winning Wolf Hall; and part of a trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, the powerful minister in the court of King Henry…
The Dragon and the Raven
“A low hut built of turf roughly thatched with rushes and standing on the highest spot of some slightly raised ground.”
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For many years England was assailed by Danish hordes whose barbarians reduced the Saxons to pitiable legions of disconnected and ravished communities. In the later 800's A.D. a man named Alfred emerged from the darkened…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Bring Up the Bodies highest: Bring Up the Bodies 4.3 · The Dragon and the Raven 3.9.
- The Dragon and the Raven is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 8 for Bring Up the Bodies.
- Bring Up the Bodies has the widest readership — 107638 ratings behind its score.
- Bring Up the Bodies runs the darker storyline; The Dragon and the Raven stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Bring Up the Bodies | The Dragon and the Raven | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.3 (107638) | 3.9 (1448) |
| Hardcover | 4.3 (183) | — |
| Google Books | 3.0 (118) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (807) | — |
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Reception
| Bring Up the Bodies | The Dragon and the Raven | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 107638 | 1448 |
| Editions | 55 | 373 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 113981 | 957 |
| Reading it now | 5742 | 175 |
| Written reviews | 10039 | 131 |
| Wikipedia attention | 3806 | — |
| Pages | 432 | 216 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Bring Up the Bodies or The Dragon and the Raven?
Bring Up the Bodies has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Bring Up the Bodies 4.3/5, The Dragon and the Raven 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: Bring Up the Bodies or The Dragon and the Raven?
The Dragon and the Raven is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Dragon and the Raven (216 pages, ≈ 4 h 00 m); Bring Up the Bodies (432 pages, ≈ 8 h 00 m).
Which is harder to read: Bring Up the Bodies or The Dragon and the Raven?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Bring Up the Bodies: Moderate; The Dragon and the Raven: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Bring Up the Bodies: 1 film adaptation; The Dragon and the Raven: no film adaptation on record.