Showing posts with label historical fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label historical fiction. Show all posts

2022-05-30

"Far Edge of Darkness" by Linda Evans

 


Publisher: Baen Books
Copyright: 1996
ISBN: 0671877358

Historical time travel novels are likely one of the more difficult stories to write (at least in my opinion), as the author needs to do something called research. In "Far Edge of Darkness" Linda Evans comes through as a star in the field as her research is impeccable.

The story revolves around three main characters:

Sibyl, a PhD student in Classical Archaeology who had recently discovered a something while digging in Pompeii that shouldn't have been there. This one little thing changed her life dramatically as we next see her in ancient Rome where she is being sold as a slave. 

The second, is Charlie a Miami Vice cop who was deep under cover, and is now a slave in the house of a cruel Roman master, after spending a few years in the Circus Maximus fighting for his life.

The third is Logan a psychiatric patient on day leave who disappears in a monstrous lightning storm in Florida and reappears five years later in Alaska.

These three characters, and many secondary ones interact in a truly believable way and I believe this is mainly due to the great job the author did in setting the stage, and painting the world of ancient Rome in a detail that will delight virtually all readers.

Ms. Evans has written a number of other books as well, which I will review, but this was the first of her I read (a number of years ago), and it is well worth it. She unfortunately hasn't written much lately, but hopefully this will be corrected in the near future.

Highly recommended.


2022-03-07

"Time's Eye" by Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) and Stephen Baxter

 


Publisher: Ballantine books
Copyright: 2005
ISBN: 034545247 X

"Time's Eye" is the first book in the Time Odyssey trilogy and is rounded out by Sunstorm, and Firstborn. It tells the tale of  a cataclysm that sees the world being carved up in time and reassembled much like a jigsaw puzzle. All over the world different periods in time lie next to each other, and the inhabitants of those times are forced to interact with each other, and survive.

Some of these groups consist of three members of the UN peacekeeping force who's helicopter is shot down, three cosmonauts who have just left the international space station, part of the Indian army from 1885, Genghis Khan and his troops, and the army of Alexander the Great.

The answers are all the quests seem to lie in the city of Babylon, which is a long ways away from where ever they were when the Kataklysm happened.

Very interesting book. Time travel books have always been one of my favorites, as it's always interesting to see how authors perceive the interaction between various cultures, and various time periods. For the most part the culture part is ignored by many authors, typically much to the detriment of their plotting and storyline.

I'm looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.

2022-02-07

"Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

 



Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Copyright:  1871 (This edition is a critical edition from 2013)
ISBN: 9780815633112

This is one of the very first vampire stories ever written, and is credited with having influenced Bram Stoker in the writing of "Dracula" in 1897.

Carmilla was originally serialized in 1871 through 1872 in The Dark Blue, and then went on to be published in its entirety in J. S. Le Fanu's 1872 collection "In A Glass Darkly". It isn't a long story, and today would likely be classified as a novelette, but it is well written and a very enjoyable read.

The Carmilla of the story is a vampire, however we don't learn this until the end. Throughout most of the story she is simply a rather sickly young lady who befriends Laura the daughter of widower, after a chance meeting outside their estate following an accident with their coach. Leading up to this time the reader learns a mysterious illness is present in the land and a number of young women have succumbed to it, but no explanation for it can be found. Readers of Dracula will likely be able at this point to see the connections, however this story was written twenty-six years before, so in some respected was responsible for introducing the general public to the vampire.

The influences on Stoker's Dracula are fairly obvious but he took the concept of the vampire and embellished it to a much greater degree than Le Fanu. I don't know which is the more accurate based on the folklore, as for example Carmilla doesn't change into a bat, or wolf. In fact we only see her referred to in a couple of scenes as "a dark shape". On the other hand, like in "Dracula" she is immensely strong. There is also no mention of silver, crosses, or garlic so this too might have been added by Stoker, or it possibly represents a different source of vampire lore.

Well written, and interesting to read.

2018-11-05

"Signal Red" by Robert Ryan



Publisher: London : Headline Review, 2010.
Copyright 2010
ISBN: 9780755358205
Characteristics: 593 pages.

The fictionalized tale of the greatest train robbery of modern times. In August of 1963 a gang of unarmed men led by Bruce Reynolds holds up the Royal Mail Train, which is carrying millions of pounds in bills that are destined to be taken out of circulation.

This novel goes into great depth on the planning, and execution of the robbery as well as the investigation and subsequent capture of the gang by Scotland Yard. The gang had gotten away will virtually all the money, and had gone to ground in a nearby farmhouse. They are eventually spooked out of their hiding place, and leave many clues behind for the then new science of forensics to get their hands on.

While this novel is long at almost 600 pages, it is well worth the read as the amount of research that Mr. Ryan had to concerning the real robbery is astounding, and definitely gives the reader the ability to be in the thick of the action.

In addition to being a great novel, it inspired the 2014 double movie "The Great Train Robbery" starring Luke Evans, Martin Compston, Jim Broadbent, and James Fox. I say double movie, as that is what it is you get one from the robber's point of view and another from the police's. An excellent way of telling the tale.

2018-10-08

"Loot for the Taking" by Don Levers



Publisher:[Victoria, British Columbia] : Tellwell, [2017]
Copyright Date:©2017
ISBN: 9781773027142
Characteristics: 297 pages

"Loot for the Taking" revolves around the real life robbery in 1977 of the Vancouver Safety Deposit Vault in Vancouver, British Columbia. It tells the tale of four average friends who decide to rob the vault of a fortune in money, jewels, and bonds.

The author has produced a cohesive story that is extremely well written, and keeps you reading to the very end. The characters are intricately developed, and their motivations are believable. The explaination of how the robbery was carried out is very detailed, and gives the story a life of it own that keeps you turning the pages.

Historical fiction is a growing genre, that more authors should investigate, as the rewards are substantial. These include such a thing as a targeted audience, which is something very few other genres can boast. On the down side of this genre there is the research that the author has to do to support the story, which most authors are unwilling or unable to do. Mr. Levers has definitely succeeded in this and has produced a story that should delight all readers. In addition, his interweaving of the dream sequences was an interesting plot twist that definitely kept me interested.

The only thing I found missing in this novel - and it's a minor thing that likely only matters to very few readers - is the lack of a bibliography. As an author myself, when I read a historical fiction piece I frequently like to read more on the subject, and would have appreciated the reference material.

I'm very much looking forward to the next book by this author.

Going on Hiatus

 Greetings, I have decided to put a hold on doing further book reviews for a while. In fact I'm not sure if I will resume doing reviews ...