Book Briefs: NEW "Winter Quarters"

"Will you enjoy classy historical fiction?"

"Winter Quarters" by Alfred Duggan

BLUF: two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Duggan does here exactly what the Chicago Tribune says on the cover: "Achieves the standard of excellence in historical fiction".  He does outstanding work evoking the atmosphere and culture of a band of Gauls during the time of Julius Caesar, especially their thinking, their points of view and "world-view" including religion. He puts in enough of the day-to-day to give it a real feel, but avoids "filth for filth's sake". 

This is the type of book that makes you feel like you learned something about history and ancient culture even as you keep reading for the sake of the plot and adventure.  While I'm not a classical scholar, nothing I'm reading clashes with what I have read in new research since this book came out a few decades ago. Duggen has room to find a balance of real, reasonable, and conjectural that doesn't feel like "drama for drama's sake".  

Altho the characters encounter a number of famous people, they are not themselves famous or even noteworthy and important, which helps us to feel like we are on a fairly typical warrior adventure. It begs the question "how many other adventures like this are there to read about?"

Duggan has class, and altho he doesn't present his characters as paragons of virtue he also doesn't degrade them by writing things that only interest adolescents, like farts and boogers [see Robert Low, below]. In short, this is a mature story for mature adults that finds a great balance in all aspects of historical fiction.  Definitely an author to seek out at the library and second-hand shops, especially on-line.

"Will you wallow in filth and adventure?"

"The Whale Road" by Robert Low [NOT Rob Low, the actor!]

BLUF: two thumbs up

Low does well evoking the atmosphere and culture of a band of vikings, especially - in general - their points of view and "world-view".  He puts in enough of the hygiene and day-to-day to give it a real feel, but this can sometimes distract from the story as he indulges in "filth for filth's sake" with explicit presentation of violence, farts, boogers, and lice.  Do adults need to be reminded of poop and parasites in their leisure time?  Up to you to decide.

The characters are engaging, and he adequately places them in their own time that they "feel" like foreigners, but don't feel alien. They are motivated by some superstitions and various cultural aspects that are understandable even if we would give them scant credit; this is fairly nuanced, IMHO. On the downside, they have few redeeming qualities and regularly indulge in the most base lusts: whoring, drinking and gambling to name a few.

While exciting, fight and sailing scenes are a bit overly dramatic and it seems like they always have to use some unusual technique or trick, which lowers the realism quotient a bit.  Having done lots of sailing on 30-50 foot yachts, I'd say there is plenty that is nerve-wracking and dangerous about the sea, and it requires considerable skill without anything unusual or implausible. 

One big negative for me, he flogs the tired old trope of sadistic, amoral monks to the point of bigotry.  If 99 of 100 monks spent their entire lives cultivating, copying, and seeking holiness, somehow modern British authors have to make the 1% more like 50%.  Odd, since none of them would even know what a monk is, and probably don't know any priests either with a national church attendance of 5% or so. Apparently the price of bringing literacy and morality to a savage island people is to be mocked by them in later centuries.

Overall, I just barely give this two thumbs up. While you will likely not feel like you have been edified and lifted as a person, it is an engaging read and will certainly make you think about viking / Nordic culture. I'd recommend that you borrow it from the library [which is where I got my copy] in case you dislike it.

"Will you drink from the well, laddie?"

"The Well of the Unicorn" by Fletcher Pratt

BLUF: two thumbs up!

Pratt shows a surprising knack for the fantasy genre - he's much more famous for his WWII naval wargame! "The Well of the Unicorn" was published in 1948, between "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" which makes it even more impressive. 

Pratt's writing is very solid and he mostly shows without explaining everything. The reader is immediately immersed in the story which moves the plot forward quickly as it reveals more and more of the background of the world through events and the comments of the characters, thus avoiding long, tedious explanatory passages. By not spending chapters explaining background, the story and plot are better served and the reader is quickly engaged.  

I love Tolkein but sometimes want to skip the descriptions and explanations and get the plot moving.

Pratt has a narrative voice that is part of the world. As such, it is a bit like reading original manuscripts from the pasts, which makes it feel more authentic. There is zero anachronistic language or behavior by the characters. Some complain about this, but it is quite realistic - if you were dropped into their world, you wouldn't know everything, nor would everyone explain everything.  

In the end, this engaging story of a young man going from fugitive to war lord holds together on its own background and moral fiber, supported by the philosophical speculations of the characters along the way.  

Highly recommended, especially if you are a mature reader with a classical education - you will find much of the background quickly understandable.

"Vindolanda" trilogy, Adrian Goldsworthy

Includes "The Encircling Sea", "Brigantia".

BLUF: two thumbs up!

Goldsworthy shows himself an excellent technical writer and a master of presenting ancient culture in a comprehendible way without intrusive, anachronistic interjects and mishaps along the way.  

All three books drive forward in a series of plots where a Centurian is dashing about trying to keep the peace.  Sometimes he is successful, and sometimes a war breaks out. The military and cultural aspects are great, and I feel like I learn more about Rome as well as enjoying a good read.

"The Last English King" by Julian Rathbone

BLUF: one thumb down, one thumb up.

Rathbone is a good writer and the book moves along fine in structure and technique. Unfortunately, his use of anachronistic language [modern words out of the mouths of dark age people] kept popping my 'suspension of disbelief' bubble.  

This included modern crude language [would have been fun to hear crude language of the time!] and medical terms. Imagine Samwise Gamgee telling Frodo he is constipated, and Frodo saying he needs a diuretic, instead of saying he's "a bit stopped up" and Frodo recommending an herb to "pull the stopper".

Also impiety is the common attitude of the characters towards God and religion which is certainly anachronistic.  The baseline of people then would be to mix respect for religion, and belief in God and some superstition together.  Kings and other leaders wouldn't encourage impiety even if they were not strong in the faith as their claim to rule is that it's part of the divine plan to order society.

Anyway, read about 100 pages, returned to library.

I am always finding it a bit difficult to find just the right sort of historical read, so I want to present here some brief reviews of books, and hopefully they will help you decide if you want to read them, or buy them.  Feel free to comment, and ones that are useful to the review I may add to the actual post. Thanks!