tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post114932918044158986..comments2024-03-14T05:56:44.390+00:00Comments on Edward II: Comments on some historical novelsKathryn Warnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-1149880365845392752006-06-09T20:12:00.000+01:002006-06-09T20:12:00.000+01:00I have very varied but also very eclectic reading ...I have very varied but also very eclectic reading tastes. Basically, everything goes as long as it's well written and interesting. Though I do read more historical fiction than other genres.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-1149780294378664512006-06-08T16:24:00.000+01:002006-06-08T16:24:00.000+01:00Hi Carla: yes, I also got the impression that it w...Hi Carla: yes, I also got the impression that it would be more of a 'Gwenith' novel, but presumably it's being marketed more as a 'Queen Isabella' novel.<BR/><BR/>I'm really not a fan of historical/fantasy novels, either. I picked up the Douglass novel very cheaply, but it will probably be my last attempt to read anything in this genre!Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-1149766161737919302006-06-08T12:29:00.000+01:002006-06-08T12:29:00.000+01:00It sounds to me as if Queen of Shadows is going to...It sounds to me as if <I>Queen of Shadows</I> is going to focus on Gwenith, hence giving the detail of her age, with the Edward II / Isabella story used as a backdrop. <BR/><BR/>On <I>Wounded Hawk</I>, I haven't read it. Generally I find I don't get on well with mixed historical/fantasy novels, where a historical (or semi-historical) story features monsters/demons/supernatural beings that exist and magic that works. I can never manage to convince myself that demons etc really did exist and influence events, and that spoils the story for me. Though I never have any problem with people's beliefs influencing the story, if that makes any sense? So I'm quite happy with the Pendle witches being hanged because people believed in witchcraft in 16th-C England, but if a story has Alice Nuttall actually summoning a real familiar, it's very likely to lose me.<BR/>PS - I sympathise re the brutal scenes; I'm rather squeamish too.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-1149440172917179802006-06-04T17:56:00.000+01:002006-06-04T17:56:00.000+01:00LOL! What people mean - I hope! - is that the dep...LOL! What people mean - I hope! - is that the depiction of the medieval characters, other than their being shapeshifters, demons and such, is historically accurate. Which to a point it is, in that Richard II and Bolingbroke really were cousins, Isabeau was the queen of France, etc. Or maybe I'm being too kind. ;)<BR/><BR/>I read that thing about historical inaccuracies and Shakespeare on Miss Snark's blog too. That seems to be the standard defence of inaccuracies - if Shakespeare did it, why can't I? Well, hmm.....not exactly the same! ;)Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-1149438316345264802006-06-04T17:25:00.000+01:002006-06-04T17:25:00.000+01:00People believe Douglass is historically accurate? ...People believe Douglass is historically accurate? Some people should not be allowed near books. There's a scene at the beginning of the first book, <I>The Nameless Day</I>, where the demons enter earth because the cleft, open at certain times every hundred years or so, was not closed in time because the one able to do it died. That's history, all right. ;)<BR/><BR/>What Douglass says is that she got the idea because for Mediaeval people, devils, angels and other such beings <I>were</I> real. Thus she wrote an alternate history where the darker creatures live on earth, right beside the humans, and often indistinguishable from them. <BR/><BR/>Well, I have some problems to fit the fictional MCs in with the historical characters as seamless as possible in my Mediaeval saga, <I>Kings and Rebels</I>. I'm going to write a post about this soon, after I've written another one triggered of by a discussion at Miss Snark. I said I was peeved by glaring historical inaccuracies in books, and someone replied that in that case I should not like Shakespeare. Well, there's a difference, I'd say. :)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-1149408705486956742006-06-04T09:11:00.000+01:002006-06-04T09:11:00.000+01:00Gabriele: I should have expressed myself much bet...Gabriele: I should have expressed myself much better and avoided making that sweeping generalisation, which isn’t exactly true! I only meant it for ‘my’ period – in yours, I wouldn’t know who was historical and who was fictional, and I’d love to read your novels! ;)<BR/><BR/>What I meant is that I don't like it when a fictional character is thrown into a novel with real people, *and ends up affecting the plot, or actions of the real historical people*. I think with your novels I would feel differently - if the 'real people' are not known in any detail, I can see that you'd have to invent characters. In 'my' period, I don't at all mind fictional characters who exist merely for the protagonists to confide in, for example - I'm just a little concerned that 'Gwenith' gets too much stage time, and is going to affect events.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for pointing out Douglass’s concept – I see it much better now! However, I think if she’s going to make a character into a rapist and a murderer, she should create fictional characters, rather than using real people. I’ve seen a few comments online that suggest people believe Douglass’s novels are historically accurate, because she has a PhD in history. And yeah, I am pretty squeamish….;)Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-1149362929888126112006-06-03T20:28:00.000+01:002006-06-03T20:28:00.000+01:00Susan, Douglass' concept is that the the creatures...Susan, Douglass' concept is that the the creatures of hell in which Medieaval people believed, have verily returned to earth and want to gain power. More than one 'historical' character is not what (s)he seems in the trilogy. I read it as Fantasy books and as such they're more interesting than some stuff I've come across in the genre. <BR/><BR/>Alianore,<BR/>now you point out the cruel scenes I have to admit they are very strongly painted. I never realised it when I read the books because I have a harder stomach it seems. :) Not that I would describe a torture scene fully as detailed (albeit there <I>is</I> torture and rape in my books), but I don't mind reading the stuff. <BR/><BR/>But ouch, if you don't like a main fictional character interacting with real historical ones, you won't like my books. *sniff* My main characters are all fictional. Which is less of a problem in the Roman books because we know so little about most historical characters - fe. we don't even know the mere <I>names</I> of the leaders of the insurgents against the Roman occupance in northern Britain 119 AD (heck, there's are still discussion about whether the 9th legion was involved and if part of it indeed perished), let alone any details about them. So even if Hadrian is historical, Talorcan can not be anything but fictional.<BR/><BR/>12th century <I>Kings and Rebels</I> is another matter.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-1149344128975161682006-06-03T15:15:00.000+01:002006-06-03T15:15:00.000+01:00I'm counting the days and saving my $80 for July!T...I'm counting the days and saving my $80 for July!<BR/><BR/>The Douglass sounds truly disgusting. And why turn Richard II into a rapist?Susan Higginbothamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517907583894026599noreply@blogger.com