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Alfred Duggan

annis
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Post by annis » Sun July 7th, 2013, 12:31 am

Going back to Bohemund and Tancred, I see Jack Ludlow has also "done" them in his Crusades trilogy, a continuation of the Mercenaries trilogy I mentioned earlier. I haven't read this lot myself, but it would probably be fair to assume that the comments I made about Mercenaries would apply here as well.

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Kveto from Prague
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Leopards and Lillies

Post by Kveto from Prague » Sun July 7th, 2013, 7:45 pm

One of Duggan's great ones, this is set in England in 1217 in the end of King John's and the start of King Henry's reigns during a Norman revival in England as a great deal of Norman refugees came to make their fortunes.

Although Duggan has written many strong female characters, but this is the first novel that takes as its narrator a young 13 year old heiress to a castle named Margaret de Redvers. Don't let her age fool you, like all Duggan females she is intelligent and sharp, working well within her own world to protect her young son and his inheritance.

Her new husband, Falkes de Breaute, is the bastard son of a minor Norman who rises, completely through his own abilities, to become head of the mercenary crossbowers who win such renown in the battle of Lincoln and later a power in England. An interesting look at the way that chivalry was so limiting, as Falkes becomes the greatest knight in England, but his low birth, foreignness, and mercenary status mean that his knightly accomplishments are overlooked or attributed to more famous noble knights, such as William Marshal.

Margaret makes for a great narrator as her own character shines through, for better and worse. And don't skip ahead, there are quite a few surprises, but like many Duggan characters, we see that when you violate your own principles, the end begins.

Another classic.

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Antoine Vanner
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Duggan Variability

Post by Antoine Vanner » Tue July 9th, 2013, 8:39 pm

I'm always amazed by how variable Duggan is as regards quality and readability. Some of his books (e.g. Knight in Armour, Three's Company, Cunning of the Dove etc) are some of the best historical novels I've read, while other books can be turgid and unreadable (e.g. God and My Right, Founding Fathers etc). I can see no pattern in this as regards subject matter, period etc. Has anybody got any ideas about this?

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Wed July 10th, 2013, 12:31 am

I must admit I found The Cunning of the Dove turgid and underwhelming. It's a while since I read it, but I wasn't inspired to read more Duggan after that outing.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Kveto from Prague
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Post by Kveto from Prague » Sat August 17th, 2013, 11:26 am

That's a pity, EC. I haven't read it, but many Duggan fans consider "cunning" and "God and my right" to be his poorest books. I'm not interested in the subject matter, so I doubt I'll ever try it.
Last edited by Kveto from Prague on Sat August 17th, 2013, 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Kveto from Prague
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Lord Geoffrey's Fancy

Post by Kveto from Prague » Sat August 17th, 2013, 11:46 am

Chronologically, this is the latest setting that Duggan has in any book, the mid-13th century. However, it is the location that makes this tale interesting. Set in the Crusader Kingdom of Greece in the century following the first fall of Constantinople, I can't recall any HF set in this unique time and place, the Latin kingdom of Byzantium.

I've always enjoyed reading about lands and peoples that no longer exist (like the kingdom of Oultremer) so this one is of particular interest. After the conquest, the French and Italian knights set up a chivalrous kingdom in the heart of old Byzantium. The most interesting aspect of the book is the interplay of the Frankish lords, the conquered Greeks (called Grifons), the Slavs (Esclavons) and the Turks. Multifacsited political dealings with constant changes in alliance. The Franks are like many dying colonial powers, refusing to see the inevitable writing on the wall, that the Greeks will kick them out eventually, and thereby becoming more "chivalrous" to distinguish their way of life from the Byzantium.

The narrator is a likable English knight William, who attaches himself to lord Geoffery de Bruier, the greatest Knight in Romanie. He makes a good marriage to a half-Greek lady and has a relatively good beginning, especially compared to other Duggan narrators. His wife Melisandre is particularly interesting, being better versed in Mediteranian politics than William, who as least has the good sense to notice his wife is cleverer than he, and follow he advice. William has a naive view of the world seeing good and evil, right and wrong, whereas his wife looks at strengths and weaknesses.

But the main character is Lord Geoffrey, who fascinates with his charm, skill and nature. But is he the greatest living example of chivalry or a charismatic scoundrel? The book lets the reader decide, but it really shows how much people are willing to let charming people get away with.

Lord Geoffrey was an actual personage and his actions are represented faithfully, but obviously Duggan supplies his own motivations for the characters. A recommended look at a fleeting kingdom and a study of character as usual from the master.

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Kveto from Prague
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founding Fathers (Children of the Wolf)

Post by Kveto from Prague » Fri September 20th, 2013, 9:33 pm

the final book of my Duggan journey, (it should have been the first but I got it after I had started the project), I'm sorry to say is my least favourite Duggan novel.
Set at the founding of Rome, from King Romulus's murder of his brother to his own death (about 35 years), the book really fails to live up to its promise. It follows a number of characters who interact at differnt intervals, a Latin, An Etruscan, a Sabine, A greek, who all contribute to Romes cosmoploitan nature. It feels like a bit more of a time-slip novel with the changing character perspectives. I often like time slips but the story never really gains momentum for me.

Where the book is successful, it shows the chaotic nature of Rome's founding as well as the reasons why Rome was successful and other city-states were not. Namely the idea that these refuges could gain citizenship, that becoming a prize these outcasts could aspire to. As well as the city's merciful way of dealing with defeated foes, by incorporating them into the city itself reather than the usual ransacking/destruction.

the novel does hold a surprise of two but I found the story difficult to get in to, but it has its moments. I'd recommend other Duggan novels.

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Kveto from Prague
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Elephants and Castles

Post by Kveto from Prague » Tue May 4th, 2021, 5:55 pm

Elephants and Castles (UK title “Besieger of Cities”)
“To the strongest” was Alexander the Great’s famous deathbed reply to the question of who would inherit his empire. This, of course, set off years of civil war as the generals of Alexander’s empire began to carve it up. In this novel, Alfred Duggan attempts to tell the story of the son of one of these generals, a Macedonian known as Demetrius of Macedon, the Besieger.
Interestingly, the research for this novel was not done by Duggan, but by a history professor in Texas who had planned to write the novel himself before his untimely death. The professor’s widow sent his research to Duggan, who used it for his novel.
Demetrius fits the mould of a typical Duggan subject, a dreamer who tried and failed, thereby showing why Alexander was successful while those who followed him were not, much as he had shown with Lepidus in Three’s Company.
But unlike Lepidus, Demetrius is a stuffed shirt, and we never really get a sense of his flaws. He is declared by the Hellenes as a god, and to some extent, it is his somewhat arrogant attempt to reunify the empire of Alexander that is his downfall. But he never really comes to life off of the page, which is filled with bland descriptions of giant battles on three continents, in the odd myriad of alliances and betrayals among the generals.
This is the only book concerning ancient Macedon which Duggan wrote, and it doesn’t seem to interest him as much as the Roman Empire or the Norman crusaders, his usual subjects. Demetrius has some interesting insights about democracy, such as considering giving slaves and women the vote, and he also has no less than 3 wives at one time to cement allies. It is this insight into the Macedonian world, which is the most interesting aspect, such as the use of elephants as machines of war and where all soldiers are paid mercenaries, which predates both Empire and feudalism. But unfortunately, the book is not as memorable as a result, which when I decided to reread, I remembered almost nothing from the original reading. One interesting thing about Alfred Duggan is his quality can vary greatly from book to book. This one unfortunately ranks low of his sale of excellence.
Most interesting are Demetrius’s interactions with sometimes ally, sometimes enemy, Pyrrus of Epirus, who gave us the term Pyrric victory, and might have made for a more interesting protagonist.

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Kveto from Prague
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God and my Right

Post by Kveto from Prague » Sat August 14th, 2021, 12:12 am

subtitled: The life and death of Thomas Becket

I was a bit tentative about trying this one as I feel Duggan is a much better writer on 'soft' HF, when he deals with obscure personages from the past. Thomas Becket is by far the most well-documented of the figures he has written about. However, he manages to bring Thomas Becket to life by trying to get into his head. While I can't evaluate the accuracy of Duggan's Becket, he does paint a clear picture of the man and his times.

The first third of the novel is set during Thomas's youth, growing up the son of a Norman tradesman over the course of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maude. In fact, although set in England, the book is much more of a study of the character of the Norman people, Duggan's favourite subject along with the Romans. Like all of his novels, he includes little tidbits of knowledge, such as the rumour among Normans that all Englishmen have tails, due to the English barons constantly switching sides in the conflict.
Thomas himself, rises from his father's rather lowly position in Cheapside, London, mostly through his own abilities and competence. He is neither sinner nor saint, but very human, as he tries a number of options available to him. Not overly religious, he becomes a clerk; his main flaw being a great deal of ambition.

The second third deals with the friendship between Thomas and a young King Henry II, once Thomas is made Henry's chancellor, two men who are alike and different in many ways. Most interestingly, each possesses an almost uncontrollable red rage when angered. In Thomas's case, he has spent a lifetime learning to control the rage so that it never shows, whereas Henry, being king, is allowed free reign to let loose in childish outbursts of anger. Of his men, only Thomas will not allow the king his way after his tantrums.

The final third is, surprisingly, the least interesting as it gets bogged down in the petty squabbles between the pair. Henry, unsurprisingly, feels betrayed by the man whom he raised to the most powerful see in England, while Thomas sees himself as the one man who can check the King's power and choses loyalty to his position rather than his benefactor. But both show a stubbornness that made their clashes unavoidable.

I thought that knowing the ending of the famous tale would make it anti-climactic, but instead it provides a slow burn as you see clues as to how a great friendship could go so wrong.

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