What Are You Reading? July 2013

HevRob · Post by **HevRob** » Tue July 2nd, 2013, 7:24 pm

Off on holiday next week and taking Sword & Scimitar by Simon Scarrow with me. Has anybody read it yet?

Nefret · Post by **Nefret** » Tue July 2nd, 2013, 8:44 pm

[quote=""HevRob""]Off on holiday next week and taking Sword & Scimitar by Simon Scarrow with me. Has anybody read it yet?[/quote]

Nope. Is that part of his Roman series? (I've been meaning to read that.)

DianeL · Post by **DianeL** » Tue July 2nd, 2013, 11:34 pm

GAH just lost a whole post. Dagnabbit.

Threads like these tend to intimidate me, as I'm not good about staying on top of everything that's current in histfic, but I figure I should take the plunge. So.

Slowly finishing off The Red Tent over lunch hours, and it's okay but I can't get excited about it. Ursula leGuin's Lavinia spanks it, for a take on "the unseen woman" character from ancient literature - and of course one has to swallow rather a lot of biologically untenable theory in service of goddess paganism. I don't mind goddess paganism, but it does have an unfortunate tendency to come with a soundtrack of feminist ax-grinding, and even as a feminist (especially as a feminist) I find that distracting when I wish to be told a *story*.

I've also recently picked up Steinbeck's "The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights" again, having not read it in (apparently) fourteen years. Wanting to see how that one feels at this point in my life. I'd love to have time to re-read that, as well as Mary Stewart's Arthurian series, again. They've been on my mind lately.

On the non histfic front, if I could get my Galaxy charged up again (yay! the charger has spontaneously quit working - great), I'd finish up Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently novels. In some ways, I like them better than the H2G2s.

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed July 3rd, 2013, 3:17 am

Posted by HevRob

Off on holiday next week and taking Sword & Scimitar by Simon Scarrow with me. Has anybody read it yet?

I'm a Simon Scarrow fan, but Sword and Scimitar - a stand-alone set around the 1565 Great Siege of Malta - just didn't do it for me, I'm afraid. I don't want to put a damper on your reading experience, though, and it has plenty of happy readers, going by the Amazon reviews. I feel SS may have chugged this one through too quickly in a race to capture the Christmas market. Be interested to hear your opinion once you've read it yourself

HevRob · Post by **HevRob** » Wed July 3rd, 2013, 8:52 pm

I will certainly let you know how I get on with Sword & Scimitar...

princess · Post by **princess** » Fri July 5th, 2013, 6:10 pm

Currently reading The Falcons of Fire and Ice by Karen Maitland. Really hoping this is better than her last (The Gallows Curse) which I found a huge disappointment compared to The Owl Killers and A Company of Liars.

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat July 6th, 2013, 4:26 am

The Golden Dice by Elisabeth Storrs - sequel to Wedding Shroud, set in Italy during the struggle for power between ancient Rome and the Etruscan League. Loved WS and enjoying the continuation of Caecelia's story.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sat July 6th, 2013, 12:50 pm

[quote=""annis""]The Golden Dice by Elisabeth Storrs - sequel to Wedding Shroud, set in Italy during the struggle for power between ancient Rome and the Etruscan League. Loved WS and enjoying the continuation of Caecelia's story.[/quote]

I hadn't realized the sequel was out. It's $4.99 (US) for the Kindle as is The Wedding Shroud. Thanks!

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Sat July 6th, 2013, 3:47 pm

Just started Conn Iggulden's Stormbird. The opening is dramatic but I am not convinced it's authentic.

princess garnet · Post by **princess garnet** » Sat July 6th, 2013, 7:06 pm

Plan of Chicago by Carl Smith (NF)
Story of the 1909 city plan for Chicago--a landmark document