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Worst HF you've ever read
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Margaret
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2440
- Joined: August 2008
- Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
- Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
- Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
- Location: Catskill, New York, USA
- Contact:
Yes. It did give me pause when someone mentioned in this thread that he used to be a member at the old forum. But what good is a reviewer who doesn't give her honest opinion of a book because she doesn't want to hurt the author's feelings?
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info
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SonjaMarie
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 5688
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Vashon, WA
- Contact:
[quote=""Margaret""]Yes. It did give me pause when someone mentioned in this thread that he used to be a member at the old forum. But what good is a reviewer who doesn't give her honest opinion of a book because she doesn't want to hurt the author's feelings?[/quote]
That was me. Probably why this thread was in my dreams last night!
SM
That was me. Probably why this thread was in my dreams last night!
SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
Just stirring the pot here, but I wouldn't have thought the premise of a female Spartan warrior a totally implausible one, putting all other objections aside.
Indications seem to be that a Spartan < girl's education was equally as brutal as the men's; many athletic events such as javelin, discus, foot races, and staged battles were also for both sexes. In many such events, Spartan women would run naked in the presence of their male counterparts and were respected for their athletic feats. Though women in Sparta were not subject to the same training as given by Lycurgus, Spartan women were expected and driven to produce strong and healthy children, and to be loyal to their state. Spartan girls were better fed than their Athenian counterparts, and were taught writing, something which Menander (an Athenian) said, "Teaching a woman to read and write? What a terrible thing to do! Like feeding a vile snake on more poison." A woman was expected in times of war to oversee her husband's property, and to guard it against invaders and revolts until her husband returned; hence many Spartan women are pictured as warriors.>
Interesting point about being better-fed than their counterparts in Athens, though.
Keeping in mind, as Robin Fowler points out in her article , "Women of Sparta", that unfortunately <there is no real historical documentation that spells out the ways of the women of Sparta. Historians rely on the accounts of Archaic Greek (7th century) poets and other subsequent Greek historians and literary figures to piece together the history, and sometimes the mythology, of the lives and culture of Spartan women.>
Indications seem to be that a Spartan < girl's education was equally as brutal as the men's; many athletic events such as javelin, discus, foot races, and staged battles were also for both sexes. In many such events, Spartan women would run naked in the presence of their male counterparts and were respected for their athletic feats. Though women in Sparta were not subject to the same training as given by Lycurgus, Spartan women were expected and driven to produce strong and healthy children, and to be loyal to their state. Spartan girls were better fed than their Athenian counterparts, and were taught writing, something which Menander (an Athenian) said, "Teaching a woman to read and write? What a terrible thing to do! Like feeding a vile snake on more poison." A woman was expected in times of war to oversee her husband's property, and to guard it against invaders and revolts until her husband returned; hence many Spartan women are pictured as warriors.>
Interesting point about being better-fed than their counterparts in Athens, though.
Keeping in mind, as Robin Fowler points out in her article , "Women of Sparta", that unfortunately <there is no real historical documentation that spells out the ways of the women of Sparta. Historians rely on the accounts of Archaic Greek (7th century) poets and other subsequent Greek historians and literary figures to piece together the history, and sometimes the mythology, of the lives and culture of Spartan women.>
Last edited by annis on Wed December 31st, 2008, 8:32 am, edited 3 times in total.
Scarrow and Cornwell
[quote=""Carla""]I think I said I thought it would appeal to fans of Simon Scarrow and Bernard Cornwell, didn't I? I think I'd stand by that. Fast plot, lots of brutal cinematic action scenes. I also quite liked the central character's utter tactlessness and (misguided) conviction of her own superiority; I found it quite amusing to watch her congratulating herself on her own astuteness while the other characters were running rings round her.[/quote]
Hello Carla....Please explain your Cornwell and Scarrow comments......I hope your not lumping "us" BC and SS fans with Whitfield's work...........Have you had a chance to review Cornwell's website....He is very articulate and fair with his comments about his novels.....
Hello Carla....Please explain your Cornwell and Scarrow comments......I hope your not lumping "us" BC and SS fans with Whitfield's work...........Have you had a chance to review Cornwell's website....He is very articulate and fair with his comments about his novels.....
[quote=""Margaret""]Yes. It did give me pause when someone mentioned in this thread that he used to be a member at the old forum. But what good is a reviewer who doesn't give her honest opinion of a book because she doesn't want to hurt the author's feelings?[/quote]
I think you're quite right Margaret. I've had folk on the forum dislike my work and I've not thrown a hissy fit. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion and I think as long as a reviewer gives reasons for why they think so and so, it can only add to the discussion/debate. I'd hate everyone to be muzzled just because the author was on the forum. You have to be able to take the custard pies as well as the champagne and flowers!
I think you're quite right Margaret. I've had folk on the forum dislike my work and I've not thrown a hissy fit. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion and I think as long as a reviewer gives reasons for why they think so and so, it can only add to the discussion/debate. I'd hate everyone to be muzzled just because the author was on the forum. You have to be able to take the custard pies as well as the champagne and flowers!
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI 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
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI 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