Oh, would be really interested to hear what you think of them when you finally get to them (my to read pile is a bit that way too...). On one level (worldbuilding/history), I really like them - the 'unsatisfying' is mostly on the characterisation level. They would have been a real boon during my long-ago history degree- making it much easier to remember which one was Oswy, Oswin, Edwin, Oswald, etc (historical fiction excellent for that, I reckon :-D )
I agree with you about the differing standards. Understandably fiction tends to prioritise the dramatic over the boring/mundane - but definitions of mundane are likely to vary.
I just find it an unlikely depiction that everyone in history was nasty brutish and short, apart (of course!) from Our Heroine. But if they were, then how would Our Heroine know to react with horror...?
The horrible ritual Lugh-sacrifice in this book is horrific to my eyes (and to Our Heroine's) - but for someone for the right culture, I suppose it might be closer to a child undergoing a routine gynecological inspection by a qualified professional today? I mean, not fun, but how would she know she was supposed to find it horrific? It's only horrific because the reader is a modern person who knows the whole thing is really unnecessary hokum. Hum.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-02-15 01:29 pm (UTC)I agree with you about the differing standards. Understandably fiction tends to prioritise the dramatic over the boring/mundane - but definitions of mundane are likely to vary.
I just find it an unlikely depiction that everyone in history was nasty brutish and short, apart (of course!) from Our Heroine. But if they were, then how would Our Heroine know to react with horror...?
The horrible ritual Lugh-sacrifice in this book is horrific to my eyes (and to Our Heroine's) - but for someone for the right culture, I suppose it might be closer to a child undergoing a routine gynecological inspection by a qualified professional today? I mean, not fun, but how would she know she was supposed to find it horrific? It's only horrific because the reader is a modern person who knows the whole thing is really unnecessary hokum. Hum.