Starz’s The White Queen proved last Saturday that it was more than willing to cross the line between historical fiction and historical fantasy, and I really liked what I saw. I’ve not read Philippa Gregory’s books on which the show is based, but I assume the scriptwriters weren’t so bold as to add magic into…
This Friday marks the premiere of the final season of Starz’s fantastic series Spartacus. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of the series, ranking it just behind HBO’s Game of Thrones in terms of quality. Here’s a description of the upcoming season, aptly titled Spartacus: War of the Damned, from Starz’s website: Gaius Claudius Glaber…
I have written several posts on the fine line between history and fantasy, noting how subtle that line can be. For works set back in the Middle Ages or earlier, for example, what is “true” history gets a bit murky, so the line between history and fantasy can become quite blurred. The same is true…
The end of last week’s discussion on the beginning of Deryni Checkmate and openings that start with the weather had me thinking about the opening passage of one of my favorite novels, The Arcanum by Thomas Wheeler (you can read my review here). I think I’m on the side that believes opening with the weather…
For several years now, I’ve been interested in medieval Spain, and about a quarter of my first novel takes place in tenth century Córdoba (which was part of a Moorish caliphate, back when the Iberian Peninsula was called Al-Andalus). Knowing this, it’s astounding (and a bit embarrassing) that I waited so long to read The Lions of…
This week I’m taking a brief respite from my series on The Top 5 Clichés in Fantasy Fiction in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, one of my all-time favorite holidays! Appropriately, I’m focusing today’s post on Patrick: Son of Ireland by Stephen R. Lawhead. I had little appreciation for the story of Saint Patrick until…
For this week’s “beginning” I’ve chosen the opening passage from Frances Sherwood’s The Book of Splendor, a novel set in 1601 about the legendary Golem of Prague. I highly recommend this novel for anyone who hasn’t read it! Creating a Golem requires patience, brilliance, study, prayer, and fasting. The creator must be worthy in character,…
In one of my earliest blog posts, I talked about the fine line between the genres of historical fiction and historical fantasy. Earlier this month, two of my favorite authors, George R.R. Martin and Bernard Cornwell, touched on this issue in a joint interview on The Indigo Blog. During the interview, George R.R. Martin said,…
I’m still immersed in my research on Vikings, which leads me to another of my favorite Viking-related novels, Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn. Lion of Ireland tells the story of Brian Boru, perhaps the greatest Irish king who ever lived. He ruled at the end of the Tenth Century, during a time when Norse…
Happy Saint Crispin’s Day! And happy Saint Crispinian’s Day too! Nearly 600 years ago today, on the feast of Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian, the French and the English fought the famous Battle of Agincourt – the inspiration for at least two great works of fiction and the topic of today’s post. The English won the Battle…
I recently finished Black Ships by Jo Graham, a novel that reimagnes The Aeneid in a more historically accurate way. I enjoyed Black Ships, and it reminded me how much I love novels that reimagine familiar legends. My all time favorite reimagining of a famous legend is Bernard Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles, which retells the legend…