Blood for Blood- D. S. Allen

Good historical thriller, which fitted in well to what I believe I know about 17th Century 'British Isles'. The plot had many stock historical themes from the Civil War and Protectorate periods. That isn't a criticism, as historical fiction without strong anchors in well studied events is very difficult to buy into.
The book is well enough written, conveying all the hardships and customary behaviours associated with those torturous times without every straying far into harsh graphic detail. This creates a book for a very wide readership. We are given the colours and outlines, being left free to paint the stronger images for ourselves. That doesn't mean the story lacks bite, far from it.
The characters are drawn with a depth of individual and understandable emotions and prejudices, especially in the light of the historic backdrop. As one living much of my life in one of the last country houses to hold to the King, in one of the strongest Royalist areas in the Civil War, I have always had an interest in that history. I read nothing that grated against my preconceptions. I wish I had written this plot.
Of interest to me is the strong connection this book has with so much that is currently happening as a result of interactions between prejudiced religious beliefs and cultural intolerances. I don't know if any of this was in Allen's mind as he wrote, but it was certainly in the mind of this reader.
To summarise: a good plot, with familiar historic anchors from an exciting period, written well.
AMAZON LINK

Commentaires

Enregistrer un commentaire

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

The Lives and the Times- Amit Verma

Image
  First, please don’t be put off by some rather dubious reviews. Authors have no say over who reviews their work, whether they wish to flatter with stars or trash with their absence. I took the trouble to make contact and ask the author about what had happened. He had a book signing event on his own academic institutions campus. We can’t control our popularity. I admire Verma’s honesty, especially in this world where the honest authors have to compete against an overwhelming pile of deceit in the book marketing business. Some or all of these over egging reviews may not be on other popular reviewing sites, in which case this opening paragraph is of only obscure relevance. (I read on Amazon.com)    This book is written with a very Indian voice, with a common rhythm of English spoken on the sub-continent. That style is exactly right for the book, however, a good edit to internationalise the sentence structure, and improve some word choices, is needed. There are also gramma...
Lire la suite

The Wake of the Dragon: A Steampunk Adventure- Jaq D. Hawkins

Image
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wake-Dragon-Steampunk-ebook/dp/B0080UVQIW This was my first Steampunk novel; immediately I'm wondering my neglect. Hawkins writing is good enough that I was unaware of reading, as the words flowed so effortlessly into the adventure. Some writers can make me feel I'm watching film, I felt that. Hawkins crafts a wonderful adventure out of her genre inspired distortion of 19th Century History. We read about a fictitious battle for wealth, conducted by industry, traders and outright crooks. In particular we observe a battle for the trade in opium and other nefarious goods between all parties from the huge East India Company, down to the lowest of pirates. We are not though, as history would lead us to expect, at sea. We are in the skies above East Anglia, London, Cornwall and eventually Paris. Pirates in airships and other inventively interpreted steam age technologies add a magical layer to Victoriana. Imagine Montgolfier balloons with wooden...
Lire la suite

A Tale of Moral Corruption- Marsha Cornelius

Image
This book is as unique as all Cornelius books. Those that prefer their authors' scripts predictable might not. I loved it, even though I'm a bit of a prude, preferring sexual content to be more implied than graphic. If one is going to lean towards porn, while still keeping the serious content on top of the page, one had better do sex scenes well. In too many books porn is included for the sake of commercial successful without regard to plot. Cornelius includes vivid porn without losing sight of her intellectual idea. There is also a little fairly graphic violence, which in its case the story simply couldn't have worked without. Both sex and violence were written with realistic efficiency, and with a great deal of gymnastics. Cornelius represents everything that is best about self-publishing, going places with her scripts that the established publishers generally fail at- genuine originality. This is inevitable because businesses have to make commercial decisions. True,...
Lire la suite