Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion
General Discussions
>
Random Thoughts
message 4501:
by
Paula
(new)
Oct 21, 2013 02:06AM
It sure does. I loved another one a little while ago called Warrior Graveyard where they examined the bones of warriors killed in certain skirmishes, samurais, crusaders and 18thc sailors. so fascinating
reply
|
flag
Remember our earlier conversation about GoodReads rather strange suggestions? Well, they've done it again. I have a speculative history shelf. GR has recommended a Hardy Boys novel because I read a book about the Bermuda Triangle!!!I'm going to be months trying to work THAT one out!
Glad the laptop recovered, Terri. Let's hope it has learned the error of its ways!@Margaret: Where to begin?
@ C.P. I know. Isn't it marvelous? I'll spend many happy hours contemplating that one. :D
Margaret wrote: "Remember our earlier conversation about GoodReads rather strange suggestions? Well, they've done it again. I have a speculative history shelf. GR has recommended a Hardy Boys novel because I rea..."Oh wow - that got a smile:)
Quick confession - I did read The Hardy Boys way back when and even enjoyed them :D
happy wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Remember our earlier conversation about GoodReads rather strange suggestions? Well, they've done it again. I have a speculative history shelf. GR has recommended a Hardy Boys no..."I read the Hardy Boys books when I was a girl, they were by far superior to Nancy Drew. However, I certainly don't remember them venturing into the Bermuda Triangle.
Talkin about The Hardy Boys - I love going on walks this time of the year ( I walk 6 miles a day ). Shuffling through the fallen leaves takes me back to my boyhood (Thus tying this to the Hardy Boys :D)
To those pleased to see my laptop situation has sorted itself out. Thanknoyu. :) I am most relieved (even if I am waiting for it to start playing up agin).
Now at least you know what to do, even though it sounds like a pain to reload everything.
Oh gawd. I would hate to do it again. :)Thing of it is that if it is a software problem that means it is not the problem of Acer. If it keeps happening they don't have to fix it. Which sucks..since they preload the software.
That's not fair. Quality control of the softwar company/ies sounds not so good.
I was doing some urgent cattle work last week, Hubby was away for the week with work and I had a fence get knocked down and cows get out.As I was trying to fix the problem a guy drove up the driveway. He was looking for me to ask if I would rent him our workers cottage (which hasn't had a worker living in it for 10 years). He wanted to pay some rent and pay the rest in farmhand work.
He helped me get my cattle in and fix the fence. When hubby got home a few days later I invited the guy around to meet hubby and after the itnerview we decided to let him live up at the old workers cottage in return for a small amount of rent and a few hours farm work a week.
Now I am just hoping he isn't a serial killer....:\
Terri wrote: "I was doing some urgent cattle work last week, Hubby was away for the week with work and I had a fence get knocked down and cows get out.
As I was trying to fix the problem a guy drove up the drive..."
Lol! An Australian Ted Bundy....helpful but psychotic.
As I was trying to fix the problem a guy drove up the drive..."
Lol! An Australian Ted Bundy....helpful but psychotic.
I did ask him "you don't have psychotic episodes do you?"I don't think he would have lied to me when he said no.....would he...??
Funny thing is, his first name is Norman. When I told hubby over the phone, he said "What? Like Norman Bates?" :]
Bahahahahaha Terri. Isn't a shame that today it's all about risk assessment when dealing with people. Well good on you for giving him a go! Did you get any rain from the storms through there last week?
Terri wrote: "I did ask him "you don't have psychotic episodes do you?"
I don't think he would have lied to me when he said no.....would he...??
Funny thing is, his first name is Norman. When I told hubby over ..."
Maybe you can introduce Norman to Uhtred...:)
I don't think he would have lied to me when he said no.....would he...??
Funny thing is, his first name is Norman. When I told hubby over ..."
Maybe you can introduce Norman to Uhtred...:)
Lisa wrote: "Bahahahahaha Terri. Isn't a shame that today it's all about risk assessment when dealing with people. Well good on you for giving him a go! Did you get any rain from the storms through there last w..."No. There was one storm that split around us and we got about 3mm. :(
The guy works sometimes for someone we know from the community and so Norman mentioned the guy he worked for as a character reference.....only that guy is in Papua New Guniea at the moment and we can't get the character reference...:]
Hubby and I are going of instinct and our judge of character..*gulp*.
Derek wrote: "Maybe you can introduce Norman to Uhtred...:) .."
If I open the shower curtain to see him standing there I'll introduce him to my inner Uhtred. ;)
I'll grab my hair brush for a weapon and make a shieldwall out of hubbys shaving mirror.
I think just the vision of me standing their wild eyed and naked banging my hairbrush against my shaving mirror would frighten him more than he frightened me!
That's quite the image to start the day with. :D
LOL!Didn't they recently remake Psycho into a tv show or something? I thought I had run across a preview somewhere, but I never heard more about it.
I probably would have remembered better if there were wild-eyed Vikings and shield walls in there ;).
Amanda wrote: "LOL!Didn't they recently remake Psycho into a tv show or something? I thought I had run across a preview somewhere, but I never heard more about it.
I probably would have remembered better if ..."
haha. :D NAKED wild eyed Vikings mind you.
That series is called Bates Motel. I watched it this year and really liked it. The guy that plays Norman Bates is so good. He is just like the original Norman Bates from the Hitchcock movie.
Norman Bates' mum on the show, Vera Formiga (spelling?) got nominated in the Emmys this year. She deserved it. She's so good. :)
I have a question for you all...Do any of you know of any really good resources on history, preferably Ancient or Medieval history?
I am terribly ignorant when it comes to certain parts (read: all) of history, even though I would love to know more. I don't remember learning much of anything about history in school. What I do remember is taking turns reading out-loud from a dry textbook about the Vietnam war...and that's about it. It's embarrassing how ignorant I am.
I've even tried to do some research on the internet but I haven't run across any good resources. And I'd prefer not to trust Wikipedia to my education :).
Azincourt was one of my first historical fiction novels and I was shocked by the fact that I knew almost nothing about the war between the English and the French. And what I did know was because I had read Shakespeare's Henry V.
Damn.
If I could make a suggestion that you think of a couple/three periods or geographic areas that you think you might be interested in. I don't think any kind of survey type text would be all that helpful as they tend to only provide surface info and they don't really provide a good sense of space and time. Also, the group's booklist (can't link it at the moment, but it's on the right of the main page) - those are fictions that we've discussed a lot, so you might get some idea of whether they are of interest. Prior monthly reads as well.
If you do have areas of focus, I'm sure you'll get a boatload of suggested readings. It's one thing this group does more than well :-)
I think there are some good non fictions your library might have of history timelines.There is one in my head, but I can't recall the darn title.
I believe there are two volumes and it gives short accounts of events in history.
i will have a look if I can find it..
Darcy wrote: "This one Terri A History of World Societies: Combined?It also comes as a 2 volume set"
That could be one of the books I was trying to remember, Darcy. I recall it being in a couple volumes.
For British history. I also have this little gem. Handy for grabbing off the shelf when I am trying to remember when in history a King or Queen reigned in England.
Kings & Queens: The Concise Guide
This is our Recommended Reading List that Darcy mentioned before.https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
As I have said in the List's description (on the list) we cannot guarantee that every book is going to be a four or five star. They make it onto the list if they a very popular and get talked about a lot in group, or if they have been in the group read polls (to help people keep track of which books have been in our polls over the years).
Folks may notice a topic in the Rules & Guidelines Folder is showing as having a new post in it.Ever since the beginning of this group we have had writers trying to post new topics in our General Discussions Folder. These topics are intended to fish for information from our members and we have had to delete them.
Sometimes we have really disrespectful authors ignore all our rules and post new topics dedicated to their books. *shudder* Don't even get me started on that one. We try to delete those before anyody sees them.
We have had a 'Guidelines for Posting Topics in Folders' thread for a very long time (it shows being set up in Feb 2013, but I copied and pasted it from a different thread in Feb).
It has been in the Rules & Guidelines Folder at the top of our home page. Today, in an effort to draw people's eye more, i have renamed it: 'RULES FOR Posting Comments & Topics in Folders'
Lately we have had a few authors posting some of these 'fishing' topics without bothering to read those Guidelines.
It states in the guidelines that if anybody would like to start a new thread in General Discussions then they should speak to a mod first.
The reason for this is; we don't want a lot of dead topics laying around in there. So any new topics must create good discussion or serve a purpose.
Also, that rule exists so that any authors wanting to fish the group will be cut off at the pass when they contact a mod to ask if they can post a topic that relates to writing or publishing.
There are writers groups for that sort of thing, where readers can join if they want to give feedback to authors.
This is a group for readers. With a one eyed approach to serving readers. It is our main objective.
So I have added an extra explanation to get the attention of authors who refuse to pay attention to our guidelines.
But also, in regards to our reader members, in case you have never noticed that thread, it is actually where the guidelines that detail the whole 'no fantasy no romance thing' are. If you haven't read the guidelines before, you now know where to find them. :)
RULES FOR Posting Comments & Topics in Folders
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
(EDIT: This is in no way meant to deter all our friendly law abiding authors who interact with us on a daily basis as readers and sometimes also chat writing if the topic comes up) :)
Thanks for the suggestions! I am especially interested in A History of World Societies: Combined.Darcy wrote: "If I could make a suggestion that you think of a couple/three periods or geographic areas that you think you might be interested in."
I have Irish, Scottish, and Norwegian roots. I would love to learn more about those areas and cultures, especially during the ancient and medieval time periods.
I am also very interested in English history, pre 1880's.
I have a set of Churchill's A History of the English Speaking Peoples, 4 Vols, though I have yet to sit down and read it. Every time I look at the fat books sitting there, I think of all the wonderful fiction books I'm neglecting.
I'm going to go plunder the group's bookshelves now :).
Ireland: I think to get a good grasp of Ireland's history, one should read some of the folklore/mythology. Hound is an historical fiction version of The Táin. Some of its bits are a little loose, but over all it's a good representation of the mythology. You also wouldn't go too wrong reading some Morgan Llywelyn, though I hear some have a bit of mythology. I've read Brendan and there wasn't any in that one.Scotland: For non-fiction I would suggest Warriors Of The Word: The World Of The Scottish Highlanders. It's dense and comprehensive, maybe a bit dry in spots, but it covers everything from language to politics. Another suggestion, they work both as a travelogue and a fun look through history David R. Ross's books, especially Desire Lines: A Journey Around Scotland and Through Her History are him travelling as an historian by motorbike through Scotland. It also reveals something of Scottish humour. ;)
As for fiction - any of Nigel Tranter's HF will serve you well. Might have to find them at car-boot sales or charity shops, or if lucky at your library. Most of his stuff is out of print - a right shame really. Let me know if you want even more specific areas for Scotland.
Someone else will have to help with Norway. It's not somewhere I know much about, or have any resources for.
English history: This one we could go on all day...
Terry Jones's Terry Jones' Medieval Lives provides a more honest approach to how people lived in England in the period. But really doesn't get specific about the more well known folk. A.D. 500: A Journey Through The Dark Isles Of Britain And Ireland is a fictionalised history of a Greek visiting the British Isles in the times of the Saxons and it quite humourous, but no less honest. As for ancient Britain Britain Begins I believe should be on every shelf.
Medieval doodles. Looks like they got bored during meetings too.http://erikkwakkel.tumblr.com/post/49...
What would be the best way to learn Gaelic?
The Teach Yourself Publishing group has a courses for Gaelic, Irish and Welsh. I took Gaelic at Uni and found that due to my circumstances (working full time, living off campus) I was at a disadvantage. My opinion is that the best way to learn a new language is to find others who are familiar with the language and spend time with them. Not that the text stuff isn't good to help understand, but to really get a good sense of cadence, inflections, stresses etc, it's best to practice with someone who knows.
Thank you very much for all of the recommendations! That was exactly what I was looking for. I have a lot of reading to do :).
'Recommended' amusements.Yesterday, because I'm reading Romola, I had 'a few classics' recommended, and the three I can see on the sidebar, had three women in a row throwing themselves down face-in-arms on the furniture. It was funny. Near-identical poses, must have been a 19th-century thing -- they were paintings. I wish I'd noted the books, I'd give you the covers.
Those recommendations provide hours of innocent amusement.
Margaret wrote: "Those recommendations provide hours of innocent amusement."Very true.
I like you rec sory, Bryn. :D
Mark wrote: "If you loved agincourt then I would recommend 
Juliet Barker"Amanda,
I second that - both her Agincourt and the follow on
for an overall look at the English Plantagenet era - Thomas B. Costain's series is not bad - if a little dated
https://www.goodreads.com/series/list...
Have we started a thread for the november read? I'm so looking forward to this! I've had this book for awhile now Sworn Sword
Of course we have a thread. :)You can find it here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
And if you are ever looking in the future....just look toward the bottom of the group home page and find the folder called Monthly Group Reads.
Amanda wrote: "Thank you very much for all of the recommendations! That was exactly what I was looking for. I have a lot of reading to do :)."
1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England pretty much covers everything in 1 book if you want.
For a really high level overview you can try Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present.I had an interesting experience this week. I wrote an exam paper on The origins of South African Law today. Since the legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law, the Romans featured strongly. I couldn't wait to get the exam over so that I can go and read some Lindsey Davis or Ruth Downie since I now understand more of the whole society at the time.
I also fell over an obscure comment on the Provisions of Oxford of 1258 in the English law section and could go: "I know that" since I had just read The Dragon at Noonday which dealt with that event! Historical fiction definitely has its advantages.
Amanda wrote: "I have Irish, Scottish, and Norwegian roots. I would love to learn more about those areas and cultures, especially during the ancient and medieval time periods. ..."I would also suggest you work your way through the books of
Robert Low about the vikings and the scottish wars of independence. That will cover at least 2 of those geographical areas and both time periods.
Had a super busy day, jumped on to update everyone, who was around for my posts about the farmhand (Norman) who showed up asking for work and a place to live. And we let him move into our workers cottage.This was the last day of his first week here. He stayed two nights during that week. One of those nights he covered the floor, furniture and lower walls with 20kg of Lime and slept outside on a door that we had in storage up at the old cottage.
We, naturally, thought what the heck is with this lime??? But he wasn't around to ask why he did that.
He showed up late last night. Stayed at the cottage all night. Was not there when hubby and I woke up at 4am this morning.
He never returned.
We went up to the worker's cottage this afternoon to see if his stuff was there or if he had gone..
All his stuff was indeed gone and there was a note on the front stairs that said..
"No rest for me here. Norman"
So jest as I may about Norman Bates and psycho and getting killed in the shower...it appears we dodged a bullet with this guy. Seems he was not mentally stable after all.
The experience has left us with is a house covered all inside with a thick layer of lime powder, and a headache from trying to work out what the hell jjust happened???.
I am kind of grateful it happened now and not further down the track. Who knows what form his crazy may have taken after he'd been with us a while... :[
no good deed goes unpunished, Terri... :)
Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction
Books mentioned in this topic
The Berry Pickers (other topics)Fortune's Child (other topics)
Hild (other topics)
Sharpe's Command (other topics)
Edenglassie (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Amanda Peters (other topics)Nicola Griffith (other topics)
Bernard Cornwell (other topics)
Bernard Cornwell (other topics)
Allan Hands (other topics)
More...
