by fljustice | Feb 24, 2011 | Books, Fiction, Reviews
“Latro in the Mist” by Gene Wolfe
I occasionally run across a book that challenges me; that makes me work for the story and enjoy the labor; that awes me with the craft of the writing. Usually these are considered “literary novels.” I also find a lot of literary novels tedious, because I’m partial to plot-driven stories. But Latro in the Mist surprised me. It’s a fantasy novel with gods and ghosts (which may not be real, see my discussion below.) It’s a historical novel about real events set in Greece in 479 B.C., and populated with historic characters. It’s also a finely crafted literary novel that makes the reader think beyond the story and characters about the nature of memory and self, friendship and loyalty, and the journey that is life. (more…)
by fljustice | Jan 4, 2011 | Books, Fiction, Reviews
“Khan: Empire of Silver” by Conn Iggulden
From the Synopsis:
“Genghis Khan is dead, but his legend and his legacy live on. His son Ogedai has built a white city on a great plain and made a capital for the new nation. Now the armies have gathered to see which of Genghis’ sons has the strength to be khan. The Mongol empire has been at peace for two years, but whoever survives will face the formidable might of their great enemy, China’s Song dynasty.”
Conn Iggulden (author of the Emperor series on the life of Julius Caesar) brings us the fourth in his Conqueror series covering the history of the Mongols. The book begins with a very unhorde-like activity…building a city. But quickly moves into palace intrigues as Genghis’ heir, the ailing Ogedai, moves to thwart his brother’s attempt to assassinate him and take over the assembled nation. From there, Iggulden takes us on a roaring ride—all battles, military strategy, and new weapons (including proto-cannons)—lots of blood, death, and unimaginable destruction. Not having lived in or studied this time period, I couldn’t say if it accurately reflects the thinking of the time, but it felt visceral and grounded in the known facts. Iggulden makes good use of everyday details from food, drink, clothes, geography and shamanism to build a world and give us access to it. (more…)
by Faith Justice | Sep 12, 2010 | Books, Fiction, Reviews
“Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome” by Steven Saylor
Over three thousand years ago, a murder takes place on an island in a river flowing through the hilly region of Italy later known as the ruma. This bloody act presages the rise of one of the ancient world’s most ruthless empires. In Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome, Steven Saylor takes us on a thousand-year journey from Rome’s mythical beginnings as a trading post for salt sellers through its evolution into an empire, in a style reminiscent of James Michener. Along the way we witness Hercules‘ destruction of the monster Cacus; the founding of the walled city of Rome by a couple of young bandits named Romulus and Remus; the abduction of the Sabine women; invasions by enemies; and revolutions by generals, plebeians and slaves. Throughout, Saylor provides us with real people and understandable motivations, whose stories have been transformed over time into the stuff of myth and legend. (more…)
by Faith Justice | Aug 12, 2010 | Books, Fiction, Reviews
“Imperium: a Novel of Ancient Rome” by Robert Harris
From the opening pages:
“Imperium—the power of life and death as vested by the state in an individual. Many hundreds of men have sought this power, but Cicero was unique in the history of the republic in that he pursued it with no resources to help him apart from his own talent. He was not, unlike Metellus or Hortensius, from one of the great aristocratic families, with generations of political favors to draw on at election time. He had no mighty army to back up his candidacy, as did Pompey or Caesar. He did not have Crassus‘ vast fortune to smooth his path. All he had was his voice—and by sheer effort of will he turned it into the most famous voice in the world.”
A Little History
Imperium is the first in a trilogy of novels about the life and times of Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of Republican Rome’s most famous orators and politicians. The book is narrated by Tiro, Cicero’s slave and secretary, many years after Cicero’s death. Tiro existed and is thought to have lived to be a hundred years old. He was famous for creating a short hand that he used for taking notes and later was adopted by the Senate. There is considerable evidence he wrote a biography of his former master, but those books are lost to history. Harris gives him back his voice. (more…)
by Faith Justice | Jun 25, 2010 | Essays/Research, Writing
Historical Research Using Internet, Interviews and Site Visits
In Part I of this two-part series, I talked about using books and libraries in doing historical research. Although print matter is a good place to start, in today’s world you can’t ignore the Internet. But there are two problems: quantity and quality – too much of the former and not enough of the latter. Unlike traditionally published books, which have to go through some screening process (in academic circles that can be quite rigorous), anyone can put anything up on the Net and pass it off as truth. So what’s a good historical fiction writer to do?
Stick to sites that have some stake in maintaining their reputation for accuracy such as universities and historical, archaeological and professional societies. Many sites not only update articles, but blog and tweet as well. Others aggregate the news. The Archaeological Institute of America has a daily update of archaeology in the news. When you find interesting aggregaters, subscribe to their RSS feed, get email alerts or tweets when new information is posted. Google also has Google Scholar (click on the “more” button at the Google.com home page) that searches professional and scholarly literature. Many newspapers and local government organizations are digitizing their archives and can be a great source of primary material. (Remember your best friend the research librarian? Tap them for help on accessing those databases.)
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