Review Round-Up

I haven't posted a review here in a while, not because I'm not reading but because I don't have a lot to say about most of the books I've come across in the last few weeks. I've abandoned most of them, but even those I've managed to finish have been meh. Just in a reading slump, I guess. I did find The Wheel Spins (book The Lady Vanishes was based on) interesting, but it's not in the public domain. I have some brief thoughts on the following novels, though, which might be worth checking out if you're interested.

The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. Howard

Original Publication Date: 1935-1936

Genre: fantasy

Topics: war, sorcery, revenge, quest, adventure




















Review by heidenkind:

Conan is the King of Aquilonia after killing the previous ruler. You know that's not going to last long, and it doesn't: a group of conspirators raise the evil sorcerer Xaltotun from the dead so they can depose Conan and put some other guy on the throne. Due to luck and a slave girl with a crush, Conan manages to escape with his life, but can't regain his throne without a magical stone called the Heart of Ahriman.

This is the first and only novel-length Conan the Barbarian story Howard wrote. I didn't dislike it, but it also wasn't as amazeballs as some of the shorter stories I've read by him. There was only one major female character, who was kind of boring, and I found Xaltotun more interesting than Conan. I did think Howard did a great job of making Conan seem more human in this story, but where were the crazy twists?? The Hour of the Dragon was just too long and felt slightly draggy.

Download The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. Howard at Project Gutenberg|Librivox

Miss Pim's Camouflage by Lady Dorothy Stanley

Original Publication Date: 1918

Genre: science fiction/fantasy

Topics: World War I, espionage, old lady, germanic horde




















Review by heidenkind:

Miss Pim is a middle-aged spinster who feels nearly invisible. Then, one day, she doesn't just feel invisible—she becomes invisible! Soon all the guys at the War Office are feeling her invisible body up and then she's off to France to work as a spy, with the ultimate goal of assassinating the Kaiser.

I really loved the concept of this novel. Old lady adventures for the win! However, there was just wayyyyy too much anti-German propaganda in this book. I mean, I know me some anti-German propaganda (it's impossible to avoid in early 20th century English novels, and even some American novels), but in the case of Miss Pim's Camouflage it was so insanely over-the-top I felt like it overshadowed the story completely.

Interesting side note: if Google is to be trusted, Dorothy Stanley was also a successful painter known as Dorothy Tanner.

Download Miss Pim's Camouflage by Lady Dorothy Stanley at Google Books|Librivox

Aucassin et Nicolette

Original Publication Date: 12th or 13th century

Genre: chantefable (combination sung poetry and verse)

Topics: love, honor, chivalry




















Review by heidenkind again:

Aucassin is the son of a count and he really wants to marry a girl named Nicolette, but his dad's like, "Yeahhhhh, Nicolette is pretty and all, but she's a slave and not really appropriate marriage material. How about this nice princess?" And Aucassin's like, "This isn't the 11th century anymore, Dad, I can do what I want. I hate you!" So the count locks Aucassin in his room the dungeon and sends Nicolette away to a nasty viscount. Will these two crazy kids ever get together?

At first I really enjoyed this poem because Aucassin was an idiot. It was quite entertaining. But then Aucassin also turned out to be really mean. I can handle stupid, and I can handle nasty, but stupid AND nasty? I was kind of hoping he'd take a short plunge into a long spear, but instead he and Nicolette ended up getting together through a series of coincidences that were eye-rollingly unbelievable. But Wikipedia says it's meant to be a parody, so maybe that was the point? Either way, Aucassin was too annoying for me.

Download Aucassin et Nicolette at Project Gutenberg|Librivox

Review: IVANHOE by Sir Walter Scott

Original Publication Date: 1820

Genre: historical fiction

Topics: romance, honor, chivalry













Review:

You may have noticed I haven't been posting reviews for a while. That was because I was slogging through this monster. When will I ever learn to stay away from romantic tomes? Probably never.

Wilfred of Ivanhoe is a Saxon knight returning from the Crusades to reclaim his inheritance and his true love, Rowena. Conflicts in England, however, make his journey a difficult one.

I decided to read Ivanhoe a long time ago--after seeing the miniseries starring Ciaran Hinds, actually. I'm glad I saw that miniseries, because I'm not sure I would have made it through this book without it. Walter Scott is not one of those writers who believes that less is more; instead, he writes Ivanhoe as if the whole time he's thinking to himself, "Hm, how can I tell this story in the most indirect and meandery way possible?" The first chapter opens with, like, 10 pages about the Norman and Saxon languages. KILL ME NOW. And then there's another ten pages describing one guy's clothes. Unnecessary clothing descriptions happen to be one of my major annoyances in life.

Fortunately, the story moves pretty quickly to a tournament with all the major characters present, including Isaac of York, the badass Brian de Bois-Guilbert, and a mysterious knight who refuses to be identified. Once the tournament starts, Ivanhoe becomes really fun. Ivanhoe does a GREAT job of transporting you to 12th-century England. This book has everything you could possibly want in a novel about medieval Britain: Prince John, Richard the Lionhearted, jousting, a fool, Robin Hood (have I mentioned I'm a trifle obsessed with Robin Hood?), Templars, folk songs, witch trials, romance, family squabbles, and people coming back from the dead. It even has the scenes you would expect to see in a book like this, such as Robin Hood participating in an archery competition and splitting another guy's arrow. I have no idea how historically accurate Ivanhoe is; but it FEELS 100% historically accurate. Which for the purposes of fiction is just as good, if not better.

Ivanhoe himself isn't really in the book that much. Instead, for me Ivanhoe is all about Brian de Bois-Guilbert, the Templar knight who sees the Jewess Rebecca and decides he HAS to have her because she is beautiful. But I think more importantly, she's attractive to him because she's good, even though he never says so. Unfortunately, she's just not that into him. Because she's an IDIOT.

And speaking of the female characters in Ivanhoe, there are only two of them: Rowena and Rebecca, both of whom seem like they could easily step into an Edward Burne-Jones painting. So yes, this is definitely a "guys" book. But it's a guy's book that that favors the autonomy of people regardless of gender or class, and that promotes the chivalric code. It is definitely an Enlightenment reinterpretation of the Middle-Ages, but romantic and inspiring for all of that. As Ivanhoe explains at one point, "We live not--we wish not to live--longer than while we are victorious and renowned--" These boys are balls-to-wall warriors, but with manners and respectful of their mamas. What's not to like?

Do I think Ivanhoe is worth the haul? It definitely has its moments. I think as long as you don't mind spending a month reading a single book, and have a weakness for romantic literature, you'll want to give it a try. I can definitely understand now why this book has endured and inspired artists for nearly two centuries.

Fun things I learned from Wikipedia:

• The name Cedric comes from Ivanhoe. Walter Scott actually meant to name Ivanhoe's dad Cerdic but misspelled it. For 800+ pages.
  
• The term freelance also comes from Ivanhoe--Maurice de Bracy says he offered the services of his "Free Lances" to King Richard.
• The idea that Robin Hood came from a town called Locksley is something Scott concluded in his research for this novel and put it into the book. No references to "Robin of Locksley" exist before Ivanhoe.