What book are you reading?

[edyzmedieval]

Any recommendations for good medieval, historical fiction novels?

[Nowake]

Perhaps I could throw in my two cents.
Most astoundingly, considering the male-dominated medieval field, in my opinion the two most superb writers of historical fiction based on the period are two absolutely genial female historians Marguerite Yourcenar and, especially, Zoe Oldenburg. Not a “Get these books, you’ll have a good time” recommendation, rather a “These books will forever shape your views on the era more than any other literary work” and I went through more than a score of the best of them.




The world is not enough is perhaps the most moving of Zoe Oldenburg’s novels, though do not misinterpret it for sentimentality. It simply treats superbly the psyche of the medieval human being.
Yet the ones you should probably start with, and which you will find most gripping, are The Crusades and The Cornerstone, which you will absolutely relish. Oldenburg penetrates so well the minds of the crusading peasants, knights and mercenaries, it outlines so amazingly the horizon of their world and the depth of darkness they perceived to surround them; the experience of going through these two works is unforgettable.
She wrote a seminal novel on the Albiegensian Crusade as well, Massacre at Montsegur: A History of the Albiegensian Crusade, of which I was reminded quite a few times when reading Martin’s description of the war raging through Westeros. I would recommend reading it last however.




Placed towards the end of the Middle Ages, Marguerite Yourcenar’s The Abyss is to the beginning of the Renaissance what Oldenburg’s The Crusades are to the beginning of the millennium. Again, it will shape your thinking and educate your perception of time, not to mention Zenon is a terrific character.




And, because I mentioned it before, you should obtain Maurice Druon’s Les Roi Maudits. To quote myself from a few posts above:

I believe I read in an interview Martin wished initially to stay well clear of fantasy, and simply create an alternate world.
A pity he did not follow up on that, I think he would have come very, very close to Maurice Druon's Les Roi Maudits. In fact, the vivid medieval world ASoIaF depicts seems to me to have been very much modelled on Les Roi Maudits and A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings could have very well taken place in Druon's setting, while a host of Martin's characters were almost transposed from the French historical novel - compare Martin's Tywin Lannister to Druon's Phillipe the Fair for an exact mirror. Plus, despite it being a historical novel, Druon takes great care to render the collective mental horizon of the age by illustrating belief in magic as an element almost as present and real as it seemed in Martin's first two books. But I'm totally rambling off-topic by now, apologies!

It’s basically Martin’s Game of Thrones without all the fantasy – though you should not understand magic to not be present.
There is a Romanian translation from a few decades ago for it, yet I would recommend reading it in French if it’s within your grasp. If not, at least get it in English, as ours (the translation) simply isn’t doing it justice.

[edyzmedieval]

Multumesc Nowake.

[CountArach]

Anyone read 'The Blade Itself' by Joe Abercrombie? It looks quite good based on Amazon reviews. I like my fantasy dark and gritty and it seems that is what it delivers. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Nowake]

Thoughts yes, a direct answer, mmmmnot really sigh.
That is, after reading ASoIaF I kept bringing it up with some my friends and, since this was literally the first fantasy book I had read, they were falling over themselves to recommend other authors.


In this context, I began reading Abercrombie’s The Heroes – so I can at least attest he’s an able author, I certainly wouldn’t qualify buying one of his books as a waste of money under no circumstances.

On the other hand, I couldn’t finish the book. For no fault of its own I might add.
I also abandoned The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch while having gone through a third of the book or so. Again, for no fault of its own.

Both The Heroes and The Lies of Locke Lamora are very, very well written, the plot is masterfully weaved, the personages are vivid and the colour and gritty realistic portrayal of warfare characteristic for this new type of fantasy, introduced in the past decade or so, is there. However smart though, they’re pure adventure books. They lack the in-depth world-building which ASoIaF offers; in Martin’s books you continuously gather details, hints and subplots which allow you to guess the demographics, the economical details, the social interactions, the military potential, the technology available – you discover the world thought of by Martin as a modern day historian would by delving into a chronicle.

Abercrombie and Lynch... how should I put... they build up a world for their characters, while Martin tends to build up characters to populate his world. In the beginning of their books, this difference is merely a nuance, a few chapters in it becomes too prominent to ignore.

Hope this gives you an idea as to where Abercrombie goes with his prose.

[CountArach]

Thoughts yes, a direct answer, mmmmnot really sigh.
That is, after reading ASoIaF I kept bringing it up with some my friends and, since this was literally the first fantasy book I had read, they were falling over themselves to recommend other authors.


In this context, I began reading Abercrombie’s The Heroes – so I can at least attest he’s an able author, I certainly wouldn’t qualify buying one of his books as a waste of money under no circumstances.

On the other hand, I couldn’t finish the book. For no fault of its own I might add.
I also abandoned The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch while having gone through a third of the book or so. Again, for no fault of its own.

Both The Heroes and The Lies of Locke Lamora are very, very well written, the plot is masterfully weaved, the personages are vivid and the colour and gritty realistic portrayal of warfare characteristic for this new type of fantasy, introduced in the past decade or so, is there. However smart though, they’re pure adventure books. They lack the in-depth world-building which ASoIaF offers; in Martin’s books you continuously gather details, hints and subplots which allow you to guess the demographics, the economical details, the social interactions, the military potential, the technology available – you discover the world thought of by Martin as a modern day historian would by delving into a chronicle.

Abercrombie and Lynch... how should I put... they build up a world for their characters, while Martin tends to build up characters to populate his world. In the beginning of their books, this difference is merely a nuance, a few chapters in it becomes too prominent to ignore.

Hope this gives you an idea as to where Abercrombie goes with his prose.

Thanks, that really does help me. I'll buy it then, but I won't expect a second ASoIaF.

[Martok]

I finally finished Starfighters of Adumar (by Aaron Allston), the 9th and final book in the Star Wars: X-Wing novels.

It wasn't my favorite, but it was still a decent enough way to end the series. I'll definitely be picking up the books for myself!



Am now simultaneously reading two books: Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia (which I received as a Christmas present) and George Orwell's classic 1984.

I've never gotten around to reading the latter until now. However, contrary to my expectations -- I'm a little ashamed to admit that there's a lot of classics that I don't enjoy -- I'm actually finding myself quite intrigued with 1984. I'm already at the halfway-mark, and am very curious to see how the rest of the book goes.