Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Alison Weir

We are warned in the preface that much speculation is involved in trying to write a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Stlll, I think a historian should know that the Langue d'Oc is a language and not a dialect of French (she spent a few paragraphs on this) and that the Langue d'Oeil is French.  Also, I think a historian should have been able to find out that a cythara actually is a lute, not maybe a lute.  And this was only Chapter 1.

Not having a lot of faith in Weir's abilities as an historian or researcher, I gave it up.

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Brass Verdict, Michael Connelly

Excellent story, as all of Connelly's books are, but the presence of both Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Harry Bosch was contrived and didn't do justice to Bosch.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

13 1/2 by Nevada Barr


No Anna Pigeon, no National Parks. Just fine writing, suspense, and twists and turns that always keeps you guessing.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Azincourt, Bernard Cornwell

The story is exciting in spite of Cornwell's repetitiveness, and the battles of Soissons, Harfleur and Azincourt are faithfully told.  This even gets a "history" tag as well as historical fiction.

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