Stanley J. Weyman is one of the big authors of swashbucklers from the decades between Alexandre Dumas and Rafael Sabatini. But, unlike the mentioned masters, his name is more or less forgotten these days. Nevertheless, he was a prolific author and known for the accuracy of historical details in his adventure stories. Under the Red Robe is set in the late 1630, at a time when Cardinal Richelieu's growing power was suddenly challenged in the plot that came to be known as the Day of the Dupes.
James Clavell's Shōgun is a classic - there's no going around that. I first read the Finnish translation when I was a teen, so it was high time to go back to it and read it in the original language. It is said that Shōgun has inspired many to cross-cultural learning and to study the Japanese culture and history - and it may be partially responsible even for the ninja/samurai/katana enthusiasm that seems to make Europeans forget about their own wonderful history of musketeers and rapiers. And, when you read Clavell's novel, you will understand why.
It's been a while since I succumbed to the lure of werewolf stories, mainly because finding good ones is such a challenge. But when I saw a plethora of good reviews for Rise of the Werewolf (Lycan Fallout #1), I had to take a look. The author promised that although the novel stars the same protagonist as his earlier zombie novels, reading them would not be necessary to enjoy this werewolf storyline. To a degree, he was correct.
Artturi Leinonen's Hakkapeliitat series (originally released as three novels) relates the adventures of a group of (Finnish) cavalry (whom the author refers to as dragoons) serving under the rule of the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus during the 30 Years War. Written in 1932-1934, the storytelling style is old-fashioned: there's no strong overall plot and the story tends to get lost on tangents every now and then. Still, it is a fun read, overall, and deserving of a lot more attention than it has received in the recent years.
Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche: A Romance of the French Revolution from 1921 is perhaps the most acclaimed of Sabatini's works. However, before I finally read it, my only knowledge of it came from the 1952 film, which I liked but never enough to actually go and try the novel before now. It turns out that I had been missing one of the best historical fiction novels ever written.
The Brethren Prince by Ira David Smith might well be one of the definitive novels of piracy and privateering in the Caribbean. Following the life of James Ketcham, it shows us historically accurate life among the buccaneers of Hispaniola, in the famous pirate haven of Tortuga and in several other historical locations on the islands and on the mainland. The novel certainly has some drawbacks, but they are outweighed by the good parts.
I'd better get this straight right from the start: Patrick O'Brian is my absolute favourite author. More specifically, I love his Aubrey/Maturin novels for how they transport me to another place and time so completely. I've read the series through twice and finished reading the first novel, Master and Commander, for the third time a few days ago, which led me to write this review love letter.
The late George MacDonald Fraser is perhaps best known for his hilarious Flashman stories, one of which was also turned into rather a funny film, starring Malcolm McDowell. Towards the end of his career, he wrote two somewhat different comical novels, the first of which is The Pyrates. In his afterword he describes his love for golden era pirate films and novels and therefore it is with great expectations that a reader begins to read the first pages.
Wilbur Smith's Birds of Prey is one episode of his long Courteney Adventures series that relate the tales of several members of the long line of adventurers in different times and places. While I've not read the rest of the series, I picked up Birds of Prey, since it is set in the 17th century.
Before I go into the story, I must note that, for a historical fiction enthusiast, the novel has one glaring problem: Wilbur Smith actually uses the foreword to tell the readers that he did not even attempt to use period-accurate names for the ships or firearms in order to make the story more "approachable" to the modern reader. I'm not sure if I'm alone here, but I rather imagined that people read historical fiction partly to actually learn something about the period. But, onto the story and some spoilers that mostly affect the very beginnings of it...
I've now progressed to the third book in my read-through of Paul Féval and M. Lassez's The Years Between series. This is a 4-part series where they take the famous characters (more or less loosely based on real historical people) created by Alexandre Dumas and Edmond Rostand, namely d'Artagnan and Cyrano de Bergerac. The events of the series take place in-between Dumas' The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After, in 1641.
The third novel continues directly from the events of the second novel and thus the following review will contain spoilers for those not familiar with the story. If you don't want to be spoiled, you can jump directly to the last paragraph.
In my previous blog entry, I reviewed the first part of Paul Féval and M. Lassez's The Years Between series of novels where they take the characters created by Alexandre Dumas and Edmond Rostand, namely d'Artagnan and Cyrano de Bergerac, and bring them together in a new adventure that takes place in-between Dumas' The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After.
The second novel in the series continues immediately after the first one ended and thus the following review will contain spoilers for those not familiar with the story. If you don't want to be spoiled, you can jump directly to the last paragraph.
The question arises every now and then whether one should review a novel if one cannot say something good about it and give it at least a three star review. I usually find myself in the opposite side of the fence in these discussions, urging people to use the full rating scale. Why? Let me try to explain in the following.
Dudley Pope’s Buccaneer shows promise on the surface, but doesn’t really deliver as a novel. Set in the 17th century, it tells the story of a royalist plantation owner in Barbados who finds that he will have to flee the island or face the Roundheads whose fleet is coming over from England to subdue the Caribbean settlements. The protagonist, Ned Yorke, snatches his neighbour’s wife and makes his escape only to find that it is not so easy to decide what to do afterwards.
The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo offers an interesting protagonist: a Vietnam veteran who returns to his homeland as a drifter, is generally not liked by anyone he meets and curses a lot. He is also a werewolf who cannot control himself very much during that special time of month. Delightfully written, the language makes you laugh on several occasions.
The Wolfen is one of the classics of werewolf literature and was turned into a movie sometime in the 1980's, if I recall correctly. I saw the movie, thought it pretty mediocre and was not interested in reading the book for a long time.
While looking for the ever elusive "good" werewolf novel, I heard about McCammon's The Wolf's Hour. And, what I read of people's opinions of it, I was immediately intrigued. A sample soon led to a purchase and I was devouring the novel at a speed I rarely achieve these days.
I have a weakness for werewolf stories, especially the ones where werewolves are not depicted as all-out evil monsters/killers. Therefore, I picked up Anne Rice's The Wolf Gift with somewhat elevated expectations, even though I had been warned that it was not that great a story.
