Tag: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2011

  • REVIEW of The Course of Honor, by Lindsey Davis

    REVIEW of The Course of Honor, by Lindsey Davis

    After finishing all twenty of Lindsey Davis’ Falco novels, I’ve moved on to some of her other historical fiction. Yesterday’s rainy afternoon brought me to the end of The Course of Honor, an early novel by Davis. Vespasian, the miserly and curmudgeonly emperor who was in love with assigning Marcus Didius Falco thankless tasks, is…

  • REVIEW of The Scarlet Lion, by Elizabeth Chadwick

    REVIEW of The Scarlet Lion, by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Elizabeth Chadwick is considered by most historical fiction readers to be IT. She’s the top of the field. She’s the cream of the crop. And this is one instance where I agree with the popular voice. Chadwick’s novels are beautiful in their historical accuracy, their characterizations, and their storytelling ability. The Scarlet Lion follows The…

  • REVIEW of Alexandria & Nemesis, by Lindsey Davis

    REVIEW of Alexandria & Nemesis, by Lindsey Davis

    I’ve been putting off writing this post for quite some time because it marks a monumentally sad occasion. I have finished the Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis–all twenty books. There are no more. Ms. Davis recalcitrantly refuses to add any more to the Falco canon–but then I suppose it is the author’s prerogative…

  • REVIEW of See Delphi and Die & Saturnalia, by Lindsey Davis

    REVIEW of See Delphi and Die & Saturnalia, by Lindsey Davis

    Having fully indulged her hostility toward building contractors, lawyers, and newspapermen in the previous books, Lindsey Davis now takes the opportunity in See Delphi and Die to lampoon the travel industry. While Aulus, Helena Justina’s stuffy younger brother, is traveling to Athens to study law, he runs across a suspicious death in the city of Olympia. A…

  • REVIEW of Venetia, by Georgette Heyer

    Venetia Lanyon has never been out in London society, and at twenty-five years of age she is almost on the shelf. After the death of her mother, her reclusive father kept the family tethered to the country estate, and after the death of her father, the role of managing the estate fell upon Venetia–at least,…

  • REVIEW of The Accusers & Scandal Takes a Holiday, by Lindsey Davis

    I rarely give a book five stars. According to Goodreads terminology: one star – “didn’t like it” two stars – “it was ok” three stars – “liked it” four stars – “really liked it” five stars – “it was amazing” Frankly, there just aren’t that many books where you think, “That was amazing!” when you…

  • REVIEW of A Body in the Bathhouse & The Jupiter Myth, by Lindsey Davis

    Britain–the last place on earth that Marcus Didius Falco wants to visit. But when Emperor Vespasian asks him to conduct a cost analysis of a building site on the edge of the empire, our hero can hardly refuse. A Body in the Bathhouse shows the Didius family traveling en masse to the wilds of Britain:…

  • REVIEW of The Virgin Widow, by Anne O’Brien

    “This was my favorite read of the entire year.” I saw one reader comment just that about The Virgin Widow, at that time the next title in my to-read pile. High praise indeed, thought I, with a little bit of cynicism–slogging through The Other Boleyn Girl tends to jade your perspective on life. My one hope…

  • REVIEW of The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory

    I read my first Philippa Gregory a little less than a year ago. The title I chose was The Red Queen, the story of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. Those who read my post on this novel back in September will know that I found it underwhelming, to say the least. Checking in with…

  • REVIEW of The Convenient Marriage, by Georgette Heyer

    If you’re looking to read something unpredictable, Georgette Heyer books are not for you. Thirty-something-year-old former rake falls in love with young girl barely out of the schoolroom (or alternatively, with a spunky twenty-something-year-old “spinster”), and after many misunderstandings, much wearing of finery, probably some gambling over cards, perhaps a duel or two, and loads…