L.A. Smith's Blog, page 4

Good/Bad Historical Fantasy

Recently I watched two historical fantasy series. One succeeded brilliantly, and the other was a complete fail in my opinion. The reasons why I loved the one and found the other painful was because of my personal standards for good historical fantasy.

The two shows are The Irregulars, based on the Sherlock Holmes stories, and The Frankenstein Chronicles, based upon Frankenstein, the classic book by Mary Shelley.

One is set in Victorian England, and the other in Georgian England, and both include...

Review: The Sterling Directive by Tim Standish

I really enjoy alternate history books. It’s so fun to be taken on a journey to a past where things are almost the same as what we think they should be, but with a twist that makes it all fresh.

I also really enjoy books set in Victorian London, books about Jack the Ripper, and espionage thrillers.

So, you could imagine my delight in reading The Sterling Directive, by Tim Standish, as this book combines all of the above, and even throws in a sideways nod to the legend of Spring-heel Jack, one of...

St. Cuthbert: The Coffin

The last time I looked at the treasures that were found in St. Cuthbert’s coffin, I highlighted the beautiful little Gospel book. This time, my sights are fixed on something much bigger: St. Cuthbert’s coffin itself.

You may wonder why a simple coffin is anything to be excited about. In fact, it seems rather morbid to talk about it. But in fact, this coffin is remarkable in many ways, just like the Gospel book.

You might remember from previous posts the long, torturous journey of Cuthbert’s rema...

Repost: St. Patrick’s Breastplate

I have been a little negligent on my blog these days. I’m working hard on getting my book edits done by end of April, so my blogging mojo is sporadic. But I have a lot of great content in my blog which didn’t get many eyes on it the first time around, so occasionaly I share some of those posts for another look. 

Seeing as we are heading into Easter, I thought it might be appropriate to share a link to an aricle first published in 2016 about Ireland’s most famous son, St. Patrick himself. One of ...

St. Cuthbert: The Gospel Book

A few years back I posted a detailed, two-part series on St. Cuthbert, one of England’s most famous saints. In those posts, I gave an account of this remarkable man’s life (and death!).

But there is still more to say about Cuthbert. In particular, there’s a lot to say about the wonderful objects that were found when his coffin was opened. Today I want to start with the beautiful little Gospel book.

A Remarkable Death

In AD 698, eleven years after St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne died, a cult ...

Interview: Suzannah Rowntree

Today you are in for a treat! I had the great pleasure of interviewing Suzannah Rowntree, author of A Wind from the Wilderness. (Click link for my review). We had a great chat about it, and about her historical fantasy series, The Watchers of Outremer, set in the First Crusade. By way of introduction, here’s what Suzannah says about herself on her website:

“ I live in a big house in rural Australia with my awesome parents and siblings, drinking fancy tea and writing historical fantasy fiction th...

Review: The Dig, Netflix, 2021

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers. You’ve been warned!]

Last week I watched The Dig, a new release on Netflix. Starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, it is the story of the finding of the 7th-century Sutton Hoo ship burial in 1939, just as England was on the cusp of war. The movie is based on John Preston’s* 2007 novel of the same name. I have no idea how I missed this book when it first came out, but I will certainly be reading it now!

First, a background:

During the reign of Vi...

Review: A Wind from the Wilderness, by Suzannah Rowntree

You might guess that I really enjoy a portal fantasy, where the main character is transported from one world to another by some mysterious means. And if that involves time travel between real historical eras in our own world, the more the better. In fact, I like that concept so much I wrote one of my own!

But it’s often difficult to find other books like this. So you can imagine my delight when I heard of A Wind from the Wilderness by Suzannah Rowntree, a historical fantasy in which a young man ...

Reviews: A Wind from the Wilderness, by Suzannah Rowntree

You might guess that I really enjoy a portal fantasy, where the main character is transported from one world to another by some mysterious means. And if that involves time travel between real historical eras in our own world, the more the better. In fact, I like that concept so much I wrote one of my own!

But it’s often difficult to find other books like this. So you can imagine my delight when I heard of A Wind from the Wilderness by Suzannah Rowntree, a historical fantasy in which a young man ...

The Best of 2020

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?

Not.

I don’t think I need to list all the ways that 2020 was a difficult year, do I? We all know them too well. So, I thought I’d see if I could drag something positive out of the year of COVID and give you a year in review, focusing on the good things I could find in my own life!

Review of 2020 Goals

Last year, when I posted my annual New Year’s post, I detailed some of the goals for 2020. How did I do?

New website – YES, I launched my new site early in 2020, and...