Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion

Michelle wrote: "So much for that! I must've been subconsci..."

:-D lol. Well glad I'm not the only one who got tricked!

Oh, you're so right, Andy. Funny that. They'll post our updates even when we've unticked 'do not add to feed' and then not send us notifications of comments and posts!
Only the other week I came to GR thinking I only had a couple comments to catch up on, and found a whole plethora of new comments around the group that I never got notifications for.

Hey, its International Women's Day.
Three cheers to international women on international womens day.
Go out and get the world, ladies. Its yours for a day.

Terri wrote: "Hey, its International Women's Day.
Three cheers to international women on international womens day.
Go out and get the world, ladies. Its yours for a day."

I refuse to give it back, It's mine now!

I'll help you nail it down. International Women's day everyday!

Seems like every day is Women's Day...

*flings back his cape and twirls his moustache*

Crikey. That's asking for it.

I'd respond but I'm too busy making dinner and working on my book of appalling cliches.

I just asked my husband "Do you know what day it is?" He was clueless. I said "Typical". He said "No tell me." I said "International Womens Day." He said "Oh, I knew that." And he went off to do some important job. That about sums up IWD at my place this year.

Terri wrote: "I'll help you nail it down. International Women's day everyday!"

Amen sister!

So, my Darling Husband was grousing last night that “1st we had Black History month & now we had Women’s History month. When are we going have Men’s History month?” I replied, less than graciously & a bit loudly, that we have been living Men’s history for centuries! Didn’t bother mention today… just smiling to myself as I voted for women in our local elections !! 😉☺️

Thumbs up, May!

May wrote: "Didn’t bother mention today… just smiling to myself as I voted for women in our local elections !!"

They were both standing for the Klan, but that's not the point!

I didn't vote for the last woman running in our election because she was, well, a ding-a-ling. Just because she was a female didn't mean that I'd vote for her. I think some of them think that way and expect women to go that route.

I´m not American, so can´t judge about these women, but when I know they do a good cause, I´d rather vote for women than men. Same with books, though historical books are often a bit different.

Michaela wrote: "I´m not American, so can´t judge about these women, but when I know they do a good cause, I´d rather vote for women than men."


Me too.

On books though, its strange because in historical fiction I prefer male authors and avoided women authors like the plague because I don't like the melodrama women authors seem to bring to hist fic. However, in literary and crime/thriller, I couldn't care less if the author is male or female. I used to gravitate towards male (decades ago) for the same reason as above with hist fic. But over the last six or seven years, Australian female authors in the crime/thriller genre, are out-writing male authors in the genre. The melodrama just isn't made a theme of their writing like it used to in the past. In fact, I am finding male authors are more soppy. I guess they think because women readers have the lion's share of the reader market, they have to try and appeal to women ( appeal to women how they perceive them ... which is a distorted view from the start).

Have you read Hilary Mantel, Terri?

I am so blown away by The Mirror and the Light that I'm rationing myself to just a few pp at a time. Don't want it to end.

For me, Bernard Cornwell is the doyen of HF storytellers, but Hilary M is the master when it comes to giving deep insight into the milieu.

Mantel is one of the greats who I haven't read but should. My issue is the era she's writing in, not actually her writing. Tudors. Ugh.

The Mirror and the Light has been so praised that I feel I HAVE to read Wolf Hall soon just so I can read The Mirror and the Light.

I should say ... read Wolf Hall, then Bringing Up the Bodies ... so that I may then read Mirror and the Light.

At their best, women writers seem to be able to portray male and female characters accurately and with good depth. Men writers seem (in general) to be great at action and portraying male characters, but their female characters often follow stereotypes. Sir Walter Scott (whom I love) is like this—his secondary characters (male and female) show more variety than his idealized leading men and ladies. I always appreciate it when I read a book written by a man who really gets women!

Terri wrote: "Mantel is one of the greats who I haven't read but should. My issue is the era she's writing in, not actually her writing. Tudors. Ugh.

The Mirror and the Light has been so praised that I feel I H..."

I'm avoiding her completely but that's just me, I guess. I don't like the Tudor era, either.

I read soooo many Tudor era novels over the years, that I am exhausted by the thought of another one… even if written by an author I have thoroughly enjoyed.

There was a PBS version of Wolf Hall awhile back. I started looking at it and lasted for about 10 minutes, then avoided the rest. To me it would have been a waste of time.

Terri wrote: "Mantel is one of the greats who I haven't read but should. My issue is the era she's writing in, not actually her writing. Tudors. Ugh.

The Mirror and the Light has been so praised that I feel I H..."

My issue is her writing style. I cannot get into it.

I’m with you, Margaret.

Oh well, everyone's different.

I should add that after reading Wolf Hall and BUTB, I bought her French Revolution novel (a period I find fascinating), and couldn't believe how turgid it was. I forced myself to get through it but did not enjoy the experience.

The writing in the Wolf Hall trilogy is quite different. I've never known any other HF writer open such an intimate window on the relevant times. It's no wonder she won the Man Booker with both of WH and BUTB.

Yes. Turgid is just the right word for it. Now I don’t feel like such a dunce.

Margaret wrote: "Terri wrote: "Mantel is one of the greats who I haven't read but should. My issue is the era she's writing in, not actually her writing. Tudors. Ugh.

The Mirror and the Light has been so praised t..."

Mantel's style does take a bit of getting used to :)

As far a male vs female authors - I don't really care. I've read good and bad by both sexes

Betsy wrote: "At their best, women writers seem to be able to portray male and female characters accurately and with good depth. Men writers seem (in general) to be great at action and portraying male characters..."

I agree for the most part. I do find women writers can often go too deep into melodrama and feelings and motherhood when it doesn't need to be that way for the benefit of story and character development. Especially in hist fic.
With most of the crime and thriller, and literary, I've been reading the last couple years by Australian female authors, I'm no longer having to trudge through a lot of that. The drama (ie family, relationship) is just drama, not melodrama. And the feelings and the deep dive into motherhood and fatherhood, is on a sensible level pertinent to the story.

I suspect that melodrama etc is still a dominant theme in female authored hist fic. I don't know why. No, wait, I guess I do. History tends to bring out the nostalgia and romance in many women readers.

Oh yeah, happy, when it comes to the writing, I have read good and bad by both sexes too. In fact, some of the worst writing I have come across has come from male authors. Usually in the 'action and adventure' and 'swords and sandals' type historical fiction.

The only other writer I've discovered (besides Mantel) who seems to give a truly authentic insight into the alien minds of the relevant times is GM Fraser who wrote the Flashman books.

They probably wouldn't be published these days because the main character is so appalling, but people's values, prejudices and general attitudes in the C19 were so profoundly different to our own modern set... I suspect we'd find most people appalling.

I agree for the most part with your observations about writers’ portrayals of the opposite sex. However, Chris Bohjalian’s THE MIDWIFE was brilliant. Did not realize that this particular Chris was a man unlit long after I had finished the novel. I also think G. W. Gortner does an awesome job portraying his female protagonists.

Adrian wrote: "Oh well, everyone's different.

I should add that after reading Wolf Hall and BUTB, I bought her French Revolution novel (a period I find fascinating), and couldn't believe how turgid it was. I for..."

I agree with you about her French Revolution book. I got to p. 321 and couldn't even finish.

Jane wrote: "
I agree with you about her French Revolution book. I got to p. 321 and couldn't even finish."

Sure... well, if you haven't already, try Wolf Hall.

I can't begin to describe the genius...

Adrian wrote: "Jane wrote: "
I agree with you about her French Revolution book. I got to p. 321 and couldn't even finish."

Sure... well, if you haven't already, try Wolf Hall.

I can't begin to describe the geni..."

Maybe someday...

I have a 'paused' shelf and I just went there to shift a book from 'Paused' to 'Currently Reading', and crumbs, I have 9 books paused. They have paused over many years. I think maybe it's time to move some of those to the 'did not finish' file. lol

Another random thought. I was looking at my Goodreads Challnge and saw the average amount of reads pledged (if pledged is the right word) is 45.
Crikey. I pledged 25. Maybe I need to lift my game. I'm a slow reader these days though. I don;t think I could do 45 in a year anymore. I used to do around 70, but those days a far behind me.

You need to go on holiday. I get through 3 or 4 books a week on holiday - now, if I could just make that holiday permanent, I'd be very happy indeed.

Wouldn't that be nice?

Yes, wouldn't that be nice. :-D

I haven't had a night away for over ten years, unfortunately, let alone an actual holiday! haha

oop .. I said my challenge was 25, no it's 35. Still not 45 though.
Mind you, I am 4 books in front of my goal, but that won't last. I always get enthusiastic about tackling my tbr at the start of the year then it dwindles.

Terri wrote: "oop .. I said my challenge was 25, no it's 35. Still not 45 though.
Mind you, I am 4 books in front of my goal, but that won't last. I always get enthusiastic about tackling my tbr at the start of ..."

My challenge is 100. I've read 33. I am 10 books ahead of schedule.

I am going for 125 books this year, and I've read 47 so far. I don't watch television, so once I'm done work, dinner, etc., I read my life away :)

Michelle wrote: "I am going for 125 books this year, and I've read 47 so far. I don't watch television, so once I'm done work, dinner, etc., I read my life away :)"

❤️

100 and 125??? *faints*

I am going to work on my 'paused' books.
A bunch of the 9 books I had in my 'paused' folder, I know I will never go back to. But there are some there that I only paused because I had other book commitments.
2022 is the year of the unpausing. :-)

Terri wrote: "I am going to work on my 'paused' books.
A bunch of the 9 books I had in my 'paused' folder, I know I will never go back to. But there are some there that I only paused because I had other book co..."

#uhtredridesagain
[viking] emoji

I still don’t set a goal for # of books. Feels like an unnecessary pressure for me. My goal continues to be getting caught up on series I either started late or in the middle. Almost caught up on Donna Leon, Elly Griffiths, Jacqueline Winspear & Charles Todd’s Ian Rutledge, but way behind on their Bess Crawford.

Terri wrote: "I am going to work on my 'paused' books."

I have a folder for books I've started and mean to get back to.... I'm afraid to look and see how many books are in it!

I have one, too, known as my "to be continued" folder. Although I might have to steal "paused" ;) One of these days I'll take a look in there again.