Author Archives: James - Page 13
Shifting Horizons by S.J. Sherwood [Book Review]
Shifting Horizons by Sherwood My rating: 4 of 5 stars Shifting Horizons is the second in Sherwood's Denounced series. It starts immediately where A Grey Sun finished. I was a little confused with the first few paragraphs until I realised that Ned, the main character, was confused. It was such a well written bit of disorientation that it worked on me as a reader. Shifting Horizons (The Denounced #2) There's depth, conflict and a series of obstacles in Shifting Horizons. The title shows how Ned and Pod 15's view of the world changes. At the end of A Grey Sun they'd broken out of the training dome. They'd been sent there after their faked executions. In Shifting Horizons they find themselves on the edge of the Sahara desert. The story is their struggle to evade the hunters attempting to recapture…
Horse-Riding Research Round-Up
My pseudo-viking YA fantasy novel moved from seaborne to horse-riding. Yngvild met a cavalry troop and learnt how to ride with them. Like Yngvild, I've had to research how to look after horses, and how far you can travel on horseback. I've not done much horse-riding, I've been on horseback fewer than half a dozen times in my life. I've done it just enough to know that you can take a teenager and give them the basics of horse-riding in about half an hour, but I'm far from being a Dothraki! Horse-Riding for Writers An Argentine Lancer, this is pretty close to how I've imagined the cavalry unit that Yngvild met. (picture credit ) There are many good websites for writers interested in realistic portrayals of horse-riding and horse borne expeditions. There are some links at the bottom, but by…
Of Blood Exhausted by Jemahl Evans [Book Review]
Of Blood Exhausted by Jemahl Evans My rating: 6 of 5 stars Of Blood Exhausted is the third in the Blandford Candy series that started with The Last Roundhead. (The second was This Deceitful Light.) If anything Jemahl Evans is improving with practice, there's a real feel for the period in the language used, the descriptions and the characters, several of whom are based on real people. There are footnotes throughout to add context to the historical events, either to corroborate the source or correct errors from Candy's recollection of events. Of Blood Exhausted As with the previous two in the series Of Blood Exhausted cuts between the aged Sir Blandford Candy narrating from 1720 and the imminent South Seas Bubble which his nephew is involved with, and the winter of 1644-5 culminating in the battle of Naseby. Candy is…
A Dark History: Vikings by Martin J. Dougherty [book review]
A Dark History: Vikings by Martin J. Dougherty My rating: 4 of 5 stars A Dark History: Vikings is a really good introduction for grown ups interested in Vikings. It's fairly modern and has lots of illustrations to bring the text to life. Way more informative than the stuff your kids might read, but also easily accessible compared to some of the more academic histories. A Dark History: Vikings What I enjoyed about it was that there was a mix of social and cultural history along with the usual timelines. It also gave me a sense of 'Viking' being a product of lazy thinking in the same way that 'Celts' are. The reality was that there were lots of people over a vast geographic area and a couple of centuries. There's no central drive or common ethos for the entire…
Code Name Beatriz by Lou Cadle [Book Review]
Code Name: Beatriz by Lou Cadle My rating: 5 of 5 stars Code Name Beatriz by Lou Cadle is historical fiction done right. I always shy from historical fiction, not because I don't like it, but because it's really hard to get right. That's doubly so when it's one of my favourite and most read periods of history. I've read about SOE agents since finding a copy of Carve Her Name With Pride at my granny's house when I was ten. Lou Cadle has done a great job with Code Name Beatriz. Code Name Beatriz French resistance fighters being arrested, France, Jul 1944 (photo: Bundesarchiv, Koll, Bild 183-J27289) Starting in the early spring of 1944 it follows an SOE agent with the code name Beatriz (hence the title). Beatriz is a fully rounded and complex character, which makes her interesting.…