Historical Fiction

The Heretic Queen

/ justbookreading / 1 Comment

 

The Heretic Queen

The Heretic Queen

The Heretic Queen

By Michelle Moran

Three Rivers Press

ISBN: 978-0-307-38176-7

4 stars

I’ve never read any of Michelle Moran’s books but a number of bloggers were touting The Heretic Queen in advance of her new book, Cleopatra’s Daughter, which was released in September.  I saw this in the bookstore and decided to pick it up.  I have to say it was one of the most detailed and interesting books I’ve come across in a while.  I read a lot of historical fiction and this one ranked near the top.  She has a great talent for creating interesting characters and a story the pulls you along until the last page.

Princess Nefertari’s life changes when her friend Ramesses becomes Pharaoh.  They grew up together at court and she was always treated as another daughter by the Pharaoh Seti, Ramesses’s father.  She always had a friend, and more, in Ramesses but his elevation from Prince to Pharaoh throws her into the middle of court politics.

Her family’s history, Nefertiti is her aunt and had been deemed a heretic for changing the way the gods were worshiped, has followed her throughout her life. She is used to the backlash but it becomes more intense because of her relationship with Ramesses. She brushes off the politics and only feels sorry that she can’t be with Ramesses any longer. Princess Woserit, High Priestess of Hathor and sister to Pharaoh Seti, takes her away to the Temple of Hathor to teach her how to be a proper Egyptian princess and work to instill her as Ramesses wife.

Moran has a way of bringing you into the story through the details.  Her writing is incredibly rich and you associate very strongly with the characters and what is happening to them.  One small criticism — toward the end, events move very quickly hardly giving the reader time to catch his/her breath.  Up to that point, things had been calculated and nicely paced.  I did not find this to be a major problem with the story just something which happened that felt out of place to me but it also may well have been my reluctance to see it end.

I’ve already reserved a copy of Cleopatra’s Daughter at the library.  Unfortunately, they do not have Nefertiti but I enjoyed this one so much I may just make another trip to the bookstore.

Drood

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

 

Drood

Drood

Drood

By Dan Simmons

Little, Brown and Company

ISBN: 978-0-316-00702-3

Did Not Finish

I was looking forward to reading Drood. I thought The Terror was fabulous and when I got my hands on this one I was so excited.

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book. I wanted to. I tried to. It just didn’t happen. It went back to the library without completion of the final page.

Normally, I love a long book and this one, at 771 pages, checked that box for me. I have to admit that I really like Simmons’ writing style. It flows easily and he creates some magnificent characters. In this book, I couldn’t get into it. There is one small thing that annoyed me and I think this is what stopped me on this one — the characters go off on tangents. They will be talking about one thing and then remember something else, talk about it for a few pages, pull an anyway, and move you back to the story. I think there is a place for this. We all need important background information, but something here threw me off. Maybe I’ll try it again next year and see how I feel then.

For anyone interested, here is the information from the cover:

Drood is the name and nightmare that obsesses Charles Dickens for the last five years of his life.

One June 9, 1865, Dickens and his mistress are secretly returning to London, when their express train hurtles over a gap in a trestle. All of the first-class carriages except the one carrying Dickens are smashed to bits in the valley below. When Dickens descends into that valley to comfort the dead and dying, his life will be changed forever. And at the core of that ensuing five-year nightmare is…Drood.

Drood…the name that Dickens whispers to his friend Wilkie Collins. A laudanum addict and lesser novelist, Collins flouts Victorian sensibilities by living with one mistress while having a child with another, but he may be the only man on Earth with whom Dickens can share the secret of …Drood.

Increasingly obsessed with crypts, cemeteries, and the precise length of time it would take for a corpse to dissolve in a lime pit, Dickens ceases writing for four years and wanders the worst slums and catacombs of London at night while staging public reading during the day, gruesome readings that leave this audience horrified. Finally he begins writing what would have been the world’s first great mystery masterpiece, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, only to be interrupted forever by…Drood.

The Winter King

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

 

The Winter King

The Winter King

The Winter King

By Bernard Cornwell

St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 0-312-14447-4

5 stars

Quick disclosure — I adore Arthurian legend and will read almost anything that promises a story with Arthur and the knights of the round table. I have to admit, this book did not disappoint.

The Winter King is narrated by Derfel, a Saxon born ward of Merlin and a warrior in Arthur’s army. He tells the tale for Igraine, Queen of Powys, who is his patron. He begins the long tale at the Tor, Merlin’s home, when Mordred is born, the grandson of Uther Pendragon and the eventual leader of Dumnonia. Years of invasion, fighting, and suffering follow which he describes in detail.

As a child, Derfel yearns to become a warrior and, years later, is granted his wish by Arthur. After proving his worth and loyalty, Derfel finds himself serving directly under Arthur. He travels across Britain fighting for the peace Arthur believes he can bring to the land. He eventually finds himself titled Lord Derfel and disagreeing with many of Arthur’s ideas, yet, he fights anyway in the hope that the much wished for peace will come. It is also his friendship and admiration for Arthur that keeps him fighting, if for nothing else.

Cornwell brings to life the dramatic fights, the grisly life, and spoils and indecency of war. He does not shirk from the brutality and blood and, if you happen to be squeamish, he may not be the author for you. I mean that in a very good way. He brings you into the fight, you hear the clanging of swords, smell the men, and feel the pain. He holds nothing back from the way he describes the lifestyles of the individuals, the rituals of the numerous religions, and the fighting itself. It is brutal, disgusting, and above all, fantastic.

What I truly enjoyed about this book was the fact that it was told from an observer’s point of view. I know Arthur and his tale, but to hear it from Derfel makes it fresh and interesting. I feel sometimes that I have read the same story over and over and this one felt very different. In fact, it made me want to read books two and three in the series. I want to listen to Derfel finish his tale and I want to know more about these brutal people.

One drawback, there is an incredibly long list of characters in this book. Sometimes it can be hard to keep them straight but that didn’t take much away from the story for me. Although, at times, it can be confusing since many of the spellings are similar. After you get into the story, the traits make each character unique, plus there is a list in the front of the book that is useful when you need to remember who someone is.

The Devlin Diary

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

 

The Devlin Diary

The Devlin Diary

The Devlin Diary

By Christi Phillips

Pocket Books

ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-2739-8

4 stars

In addition to this blog, I also do reviews for The Book Reporter website. Below is a short summary of my review of The Devlin Diary which can be found on their website in full here.

London, 1672, Hannah Devlin is ministering to the sick when she is summoned by an official of the king, to care for King Charles’s mistress. Over 300 years later, historian Claire Donovan, uncovers a decades old diary belonging to Hannah that chronicles a fascinating tale of murder and deceit at court.

Following the lives of two women, one is 1672 London and another in Cambridge in 2008, the reader is taken on a journey of murder, mystery, and English court intrigue in The Devlin Diary.

Phillips takes the reader on a wild chase through London streets, court conspiracies, and the stacks at Trinity College. Her talent lies in the details. She pulls together a rich tale set in 1672 London. One can clearly picture this London, smell the rank Fleet river, and feel sympathy for Hannah and all she has lost. Her descriptions of the inventions of the time and the characters she has assembled are marvelous.

In the end, Phillips delivers a story full of historical suspense. In fact, you’ll wish there were more of her take on the time period which she describes wonderfully.