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debithaHoly crap, I haven't done a book review since March. Bugger.
Erm, right. So.
Mark of the Horse Lord, by Rosemary Sutcliffe
I love Sutcliffe's workd-building. I mean sure, it's our world, but it's so far back that all we have is a skeleton, the basic shape of it. One of her great strengths is to flesh that skeleton out into something that lives and breathes. She never balks at painting it realistically grim, while also showing the beauty of it. There are dodgy politics, and dubious motives. All the things that make a world real are here.
Phaedrus is a gladiator in a Roman town in England. It sn't such a bad life until he and his best friend are drawn for a fight to the death, with freedom as the prize for the winner. His victory is a shallow thing, and he's not really cut out for freedom, and ends up arrested while on a depressed bender. Cue 'unexpected look-alike' plot. He is 'rescued' from prison and possible execution, by a group of conspirators from a Scottish tribe who are trying to regain control of the tribe from their Pictish Queen by getting Phaedrus to take on the identity of their lost king.
Some of the gender politics are a bit hinky (the old matriarchal traditions are Bad), and there are very few women in the story, but the most prominentfemale character is a strong, independent woman who is handled by the author (if not the other characters) with dignity. That said, it's something I'd really like to discuss, if anyone else does read the book.
Overall, it plays out as an oddly uplifting tragedy about leadership and the vagaries of destiny. I will, as the book does not, warn for major character death.
The List
The Prince - Machiavelli
Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch (I'm part way through!)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
A Snowball in Hell - Christopher Brookmyre
The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television - Stephen Pinker
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (I'm part way through this one, too!)
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde
Histories - Heroditus
The Unicorn Hunt - Dorothy Dunnett
Sword at Sunset - Rosemary Sutcliffe
The Rider of the White Horse - Rosemary Sutcliffe
The House That Jack Built - Guy Adams
The Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan
Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich
The Portable Door - Tom Holt
A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz
Pandaemonium - Christopher Brookmyre
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
Turn Coat - Jim Butcher
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Azincourt - Bernard Cornwall
The Book of Unholy Mischief - Elle Newmark
The Time Traveller's Guide to Mediaeval England - Ian Mortimer
Nation - Terry Pratchett
That's 16 books added to the list since the last one I did. I told you, it's like a sickness.
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden - Morgan Spurlock
Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong
An Utterly Impartial History of Britain - John O'Farrell
The Lantern Bearers - Rosemary Sutcliffe
Small Favour - Jim Butcher
Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
The Incredulity of Father Brown - GK Chesterton
Tithe - Holly Black
The Mark of the Horse Lord - Rosemary Sutcliffe
Churchill's Wizards - Nicholas Rankin
The Consolations of Philosophy - Alain de Botton
Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris (Review on the way)
Dogs and Goddesses - Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, Lani Diane Rich (Review on the way)
Erm, right. So.
Mark of the Horse Lord, by Rosemary Sutcliffe
I love Sutcliffe's workd-building. I mean sure, it's our world, but it's so far back that all we have is a skeleton, the basic shape of it. One of her great strengths is to flesh that skeleton out into something that lives and breathes. She never balks at painting it realistically grim, while also showing the beauty of it. There are dodgy politics, and dubious motives. All the things that make a world real are here.
Phaedrus is a gladiator in a Roman town in England. It sn't such a bad life until he and his best friend are drawn for a fight to the death, with freedom as the prize for the winner. His victory is a shallow thing, and he's not really cut out for freedom, and ends up arrested while on a depressed bender. Cue 'unexpected look-alike' plot. He is 'rescued' from prison and possible execution, by a group of conspirators from a Scottish tribe who are trying to regain control of the tribe from their Pictish Queen by getting Phaedrus to take on the identity of their lost king.
Some of the gender politics are a bit hinky (the old matriarchal traditions are Bad), and there are very few women in the story, but the most prominentfemale character is a strong, independent woman who is handled by the author (if not the other characters) with dignity. That said, it's something I'd really like to discuss, if anyone else does read the book.
Overall, it plays out as an oddly uplifting tragedy about leadership and the vagaries of destiny. I will, as the book does not, warn for major character death.
The List
The Prince - Machiavelli
Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch (I'm part way through!)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
A Snowball in Hell - Christopher Brookmyre
The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television - Stephen Pinker
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (I'm part way through this one, too!)
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde
Histories - Heroditus
The Unicorn Hunt - Dorothy Dunnett
Sword at Sunset - Rosemary Sutcliffe
The Rider of the White Horse - Rosemary Sutcliffe
The House That Jack Built - Guy Adams
The Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan
Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich
The Portable Door - Tom Holt
A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz
Pandaemonium - Christopher Brookmyre
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
Turn Coat - Jim Butcher
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Azincourt - Bernard Cornwall
The Book of Unholy Mischief - Elle Newmark
The Time Traveller's Guide to Mediaeval England - Ian Mortimer
Nation - Terry Pratchett
That's 16 books added to the list since the last one I did. I told you, it's like a sickness.
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden - Morgan Spurlock
Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong
An Utterly Impartial History of Britain - John O'Farrell
The Lantern Bearers - Rosemary Sutcliffe
Small Favour - Jim Butcher
Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
The Incredulity of Father Brown - GK Chesterton
Tithe - Holly Black
The Mark of the Horse Lord - Rosemary Sutcliffe
Churchill's Wizards - Nicholas Rankin
The Consolations of Philosophy - Alain de Botton
Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris (Review on the way)
Dogs and Goddesses - Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, Lani Diane Rich (Review on the way)