Bred Any Good Rooks Lately?

Kurben

Started Hawaii by James Michener. A historical epic novel that starts with the islands rising from the sea and goes on until the 50,s (written in 1959). Starting this made me think that there is three basic ways of writing a historical novel. One is Micheners (The Source, Alaska, Texas, Hawaii is some examples) and of a newer generation Edward Rutherfurd (The Forest, Sarum, London, Dublin) where the main actor is the place whether a big territory, town or small hilltop fort. The humans are passing through even through it is described thrpugh different humans eyes. 
Then we have the the one that put themselves in the mind of some famous person like Robert Graves with I, Claudius or Alison Weir with her Katherine of Aragon (the proud queen that refused to agree to a divorce with Henry VIII which led to him abandoning the catholic church). 
Then there are the most common form where the main person is someone is someone the author made up that lives close to the big historic names and things happening. From Alexandre Dumas to Conn iggulden, Ken Follett, James Clavell and Gore Vidal. I'm not counting Diana Gabaldons way because of the timetravel element but if that would be a fourth.

Neesy

I'm finally reading Fairy Tale by SK - kept me up until 1:30 a.m. so I had to skip my early morning workout and go back to bed for two hours

I had bought the book when it first came out but I was waiting to get the large type copy from the library

Hedda Gabler

Kurben said:

Started Hawaii by James Michener. A historical epic novel that starts with the islands rising from the sea and goes on until the 50,s (written in 1959). Starting this made me think that there is three basic ways of writing a historical novel. One is Micheners (The Source, Alaska, Texas, Hawaii is some examples) and of a newer generation Edward Rutherfurd (The Forest, Sarum, London, Dublin) where the main actor is the place whether a big territory, town or small hilltop fort. The humans are passing through even through it is described thrpugh different humans eyes. 
Then we have the the one that put themselves in the mind of some famous person like Robert Graves with I, Claudius or Alison Weir with her Katherine of Aragon (the proud queen that refused to agree to a divorce with Henry VIII which led to him abandoning the catholic church). 
Then there are the most common form where the main person is someone is someone the author made up that lives close to the big historic names and things happening. From Alexandre Dumas to Conn iggulden, Ken Follett, James Clavell and Gore Vidal. I'm not counting Diana Gabaldons way because of the timetravel element but if that would be a fourth.

Michener is good if you can just get through the set up.  Not that it isn’t interesting, just tedious. 

GNTLGNT

Neesy said:

I'm finally reading Fairy Tale by SK - kept me up until 1:30 a.m. so I had to skip my early morning workout and go back to bed for two hours

I had bought the book when it first came out but I was waiting to get the large type copy from the library

...I lost a few winks finishing it myself....

Kurben

Hedda Gabler said:

Kurben said:

Started Hawaii by James Michener. A historical epic novel that starts with the islands rising from the sea and goes on until the 50,s (written in 1959). Starting this made me think that there is three basic ways of writing a historical novel. One is Micheners (The Source, Alaska, Texas, Hawaii is some examples) and of a newer generation Edward Rutherfurd (The Forest, Sarum, London, Dublin) where the main actor is the place whether a big territory, town or small hilltop fort. The humans are passing through even through it is described thrpugh different humans eyes. 
Then we have the the one that put themselves in the mind of some famous person like Robert Graves with I, Claudius or Alison Weir with her Katherine of Aragon (the proud queen that refused to agree to a divorce with Henry VIII which led to him abandoning the catholic church). 
Then there are the most common form where the main person is someone is someone the author made up that lives close to the big historic names and things happening. From Alexandre Dumas to Conn iggulden, Ken Follett, James Clavell and Gore Vidal. I'm not counting Diana Gabaldons way because of the timetravel element but if that would be a fourth.

Michener is good if you can just get through the set up.  Not that it isn’t interesting, just tedious. 

Very true. Michener demands patience. He is not the kind of author that tries to capture you with a carchase in the first chapter or that first sentence that you always will remember. But you are often rewarded further on. I just hope Hawaii will be like that.

Hedda Gabler

Kurben said:

Hedda Gabler said:

Kurben said:

Started Hawaii by James Michener. A historical epic novel that starts with the islands rising from the sea and goes on until the 50,s (written in 1959). Starting this made me think that there is three basic ways of writing a historical novel. One is Micheners (The Source, Alaska, Texas, Hawaii is some examples) and of a newer generation Edward Rutherfurd (The Forest, Sarum, London, Dublin) where the main actor is the place whether a big territory, town or small hilltop fort. The humans are passing through even through it is described thrpugh different humans eyes. 
Then we have the the one that put themselves in the mind of some famous person like Robert Graves with I, Claudius or Alison Weir with her Katherine of Aragon (the proud queen that refused to agree to a divorce with Henry VIII which led to him abandoning the catholic church). 
Then there are the most common form where the main person is someone is someone the author made up that lives close to the big historic names and things happening. From Alexandre Dumas to Conn iggulden, Ken Follett, James Clavell and Gore Vidal. I'm not counting Diana Gabaldons way because of the timetravel element but if that would be a fourth.

Michener is good if you can just get through the set up.  Not that it isn’t interesting, just tedious. 

Very true. Michener demands patience. He is not the kind of author that tries to capture you with a carchase in the first chapter or that first sentence that you always will remember. But you are often rewarded further on. I just hope Hawaii will be like that.

I think I read Hawaii but I can’t honestly remember anything except pages and pages of island formation. 

Kurben

Hedda Gabler said:

Kurben said:

Hedda Gabler said:

Kurben said:

Started Hawaii by James Michener. A historical epic novel that starts with the islands rising from the sea and goes on until the 50,s (written in 1959). Starting this made me think that there is three basic ways of writing a historical novel. One is Micheners (The Source, Alaska, Texas, Hawaii is some examples) and of a newer generation Edward Rutherfurd (The Forest, Sarum, London, Dublin) where the main actor is the place whether a big territory, town or small hilltop fort. The humans are passing through even through it is described thrpugh different humans eyes. 
Then we have the the one that put themselves in the mind of some famous person like Robert Graves with I, Claudius or Alison Weir with her Katherine of Aragon (the proud queen that refused to agree to a divorce with Henry VIII which led to him abandoning the catholic church). 
Then there are the most common form where the main person is someone is someone the author made up that lives close to the big historic names and things happening. From Alexandre Dumas to Conn iggulden, Ken Follett, James Clavell and Gore Vidal. I'm not counting Diana Gabaldons way because of the timetravel element but if that would be a fourth.

Michener is good if you can just get through the set up.  Not that it isn’t interesting, just tedious. 

Very true. Michener demands patience. He is not the kind of author that tries to capture you with a carchase in the first chapter or that first sentence that you always will remember. But you are often rewarded further on. I just hope Hawaii will be like that.

I think I read Hawaii but I can’t honestly remember anything except pages and pages of island formation. 

Seems longer than it is, doesn't it? The island formation part is about 15-20 pages out of a 900+ pages book

Hedda Gabler

Kurben said:

Hedda Gabler said:

Kurben said:

Hedda Gabler said:

Kurben said:

Started Hawaii by James Michener. A historical epic novel that starts with the islands rising from the sea and goes on until the 50,s (written in 1959). Starting this made me think that there is three basic ways of writing a historical novel. One is Micheners (The Source, Alaska, Texas, Hawaii is some examples) and of a newer generation Edward Rutherfurd (The Forest, Sarum, London, Dublin) where the main actor is the place whether a big territory, town or small hilltop fort. The humans are passing through even through it is described thrpugh different humans eyes. 
Then we have the the one that put themselves in the mind of some famous person like Robert Graves with I, Claudius or Alison Weir with her Katherine of Aragon (the proud queen that refused to agree to a divorce with Henry VIII which led to him abandoning the catholic church). 
Then there are the most common form where the main person is someone is someone the author made up that lives close to the big historic names and things happening. From Alexandre Dumas to Conn iggulden, Ken Follett, James Clavell and Gore Vidal. I'm not counting Diana Gabaldons way because of the timetravel element but if that would be a fourth.

Michener is good if you can just get through the set up.  Not that it isn’t interesting, just tedious. 

Very true. Michener demands patience. He is not the kind of author that tries to capture you with a carchase in the first chapter or that first sentence that you always will remember. But you are often rewarded further on. I just hope Hawaii will be like that.

I think I read Hawaii but I can’t honestly remember anything except pages and pages of island formation. 

Seems longer than it is, doesn't it? The island formation part is about 15-20 pages out of a 900+ pages book

🤣

Kurben

Started The Restless Kings by Nick Barrett. About Henry II and his two sons Richard Lionheart and John Lackland. The title is rssther apt for these are kings that seldom stayed for long in one place. Always conquering, defending, establish new laws or putting down rebellious barons. Henry II ruled over England and two thirds of France, Richard defended these borders and John lost almost all of the french possessions in his reign  and also lost the internal power struggles that made royal power less. Henry II was a great english king. Richard could have been but was more interested in the middle east than his kingdom so only get a so-so vote from and John a complete disaster, comparable to Edward II in his total incapability to handle a kingdom. 

Grant87

Here's everything I read in April:

• The Gunslinger (Dark Tower I), Stephen King
• Episode Thirteen, Craig DiLouie
• Sundial, Catriona Ward
• The Devil Takes You Home, Gabino Iglesias
• The Fervor, Alma Katsu
• The Devil's Hand, Jack Carr

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My May TBR:

• The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower II), Stephen King
• Swan Song, Robert McCammon
• In The Blood, Jack Carr
• Only the Dead, Jack Carr

Only have 4 books to start with because Swan Song is a doorstop. If I get through all those, I'll add in something else. Not sure yet.

Kurben

Grant87 said:

Here's everything I read in April:

• The Gunslinger (Dark Tower I), Stephen King
• Episode Thirteen, Craig DiLouie
• Sundial, Catriona Ward
• The Devil Takes You Home, Gabino Iglesias
• The Fervor, Alma Katsu
• The Devil's Hand, Jack Carr

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My May TBR:

• The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower II), Stephen King
• Swan Song, Robert McCammon
• In The Blood, Jack Carr
• Only the Dead, Jack Carr

Only have 4 books to start with because Swan Song is a doorstop. If I get through all those, I'll add in something else. Not sure yet.

Swan Song is worth it in my humble opinion. Havent read any of Jack Carr....

not_nadine

 Kurben said:

Grant87 said:

Here's everything I read in April:

• The Gunslinger (Dark Tower I), Stephen King
• Episode Thirteen, Craig DiLouie
• Sundial, Catriona Ward
• The Devil Takes You Home, Gabino Iglesias
• The Fervor, Alma Katsu
• The Devil's Hand, Jack Carr

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My May TBR:

• The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower II), Stephen King
• Swan Song, Robert McCammon
• In The Blood, Jack Carr
• Only the Dead, Jack Carr

Only have 4 books to start with because Swan Song is a doorstop. If I get through all those, I'll add in something else. Not sure yet.

Swan Song is worth it in my humble opinion. Havent read any of Jack Carr....

Swan Song is great, but I think it has to be 'The Drawing of the Three'.

Kurben

not_nadine said:

 Kurben said:

Grant87 said:

Here's everything I read in April:

• The Gunslinger (Dark Tower I), Stephen King
• Episode Thirteen, Craig DiLouie
• Sundial, Catriona Ward
• The Devil Takes You Home, Gabino Iglesias
• The Fervor, Alma Katsu
• The Devil's Hand, Jack Carr

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My May TBR:

• The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower II), Stephen King
• Swan Song, Robert McCammon
• In The Blood, Jack Carr
• Only the Dead, Jack Carr

Only have 4 books to start with because Swan Song is a doorstop. If I get through all those, I'll add in something else. Not sure yet.

Swan Song is worth it in my humble opinion. Havent read any of Jack Carr....

Swan Song is great, but I think it has to be 'The Drawing of the Three'.

That SK is great goes without saying!

Grant87

I've been looking forward to reading Swan Song for quite some time. Should be starting it soon, as I'm almost finished with The Drawing of the Three.

And Jack Carr's Terminal List series is great. I've read the first four books and loved them all. If you like Clancy's Jack Ryan series, you'll love these. Check out the Amazon Prime adaptation too. It's really good.

Grant87

Swan Song is so good. I'm glad there aren't any more K-Marts near me, because I'd probably never step foot in one again, after what I read earlier today.

GNTLGNT

...current read....eclectic assortment of tales....

Kurben

Katherine Of Aragon: The True Queen. A novel by Alison Weir, the historian with a fondness for writing biographies. Here she puts herself in Katherine's mind and everything that happen we know because of how she knew about it. This is a novel but she has tried very hard to be as close to fact as possible. Of course it is impossible to know for certain what she thought about all the people she met when she was dumped in a strange country to marry a sick prince only to be forced to marry her husbands brother when he died on her after only a years marriage. Very interesting though. Katherine was a force in english politics long after her divorce.

Hedda Gabler

Kurben said:

Katherine Of Aragon: The True Queen. A novel by Alison Weir, the historian with a fondness for writing biographies. Here she puts herself in Katherine's mind and everything that happen we know because of how she knew about it. This is a novel but she has tried very hard to be as close to fact as possible. Of course it is impossible to know for certain what she thought about all the people she met when she was dumped in a strange country to marry a sick prince only to be forced to marry her husbands brother when he died on her after only a years marriage. Very interesting though. Katherine was a force in english politics long after her divorce.

Henry was very cruel with her after he dumped her. Kurben, what do you think? Why didn’t Henry behead her? Find some fake treason? Rig an “accident” to be free of her? He could’ve been sneaky and made it look like natural causes. 

Kurben

Hedda Gabler said:

Kurben said:

Katherine Of Aragon: The True Queen. A novel by Alison Weir, the historian with a fondness for writing biographies. Here she puts herself in Katherine's mind and everything that happen we know because of how she knew about it. This is a novel but she has tried very hard to be as close to fact as possible. Of course it is impossible to know for certain what she thought about all the people she met when she was dumped in a strange country to marry a sick prince only to be forced to marry her husbands brother when he died on her after only a years marriage. Very interesting though. Katherine was a force in english politics long after her divorce.

Henry was very cruel with her after he dumped her. Kurben, what do you think? Why didn’t Henry behead her? Find some fake treason? Rig an “accident” to be free of her? He could’ve been sneaky and made it look like natural causes. 

One big reason is that she was a princess of Spain, the most powerful country in Europe at the time. Henry could be a very cruel man but he could calculate politics. He figured the spanish could stomach a divorced and badtreated Katherine but not a murdered. He was right. The ones he did murder was english so it was an internal affair. Who would care except the immediate family (the Boleyns and the Howards) and those he could handle. Jane Seymour died giving birth or rather never recuperated afterwards and Katherine Parr outlived him. The only one he is recorded to have actually mourned is Jane, the mother of his only son. Anne of Cleves (the german princess) was only to happy to divorce him and go back to germany while Katherine was brought up strightly catholic and saw divorce as a nonoption. She was a proud and loyal woman and didnt want to agree to a divorce. Also there was her duty towards her daughter Mary to consider. But as Henry was a sneaky man he together with his first minister figured out that if England no longer is catholic then they dont need the popes permission to annul the marriage. So they founded the anglican church (Henry was really a catholic in belief but if we call it something else) and the first anglican bishop (no longer bound by the popes opinion) appointed by Henry granted the divorce. The suspicion against catholics didn't start to grow until his daughter Mary became queen and started to burn protestants. And later it escalated...... 
There is another consideration but i dont know if he thought about that. The main reason he wanted a divorce is he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn and she did not want to be his mistress on the side. So Katherine had to go but how would it look for Henry if he killed her. Would Anne stop and wonder if he kills a spanish princess why cant he kill me when hes tired of me? Every eyewitness from this time says he was totally besotted with Anne but infatuation is a passing thing which Anne, who was no dummy, likely realised and Anne was probably not in love with Henry even if she was flattered by his attention. So she demanded marriage to be his bedmate and it would look kind of strange if he killed Katherine then. Katherine was also, unlike Anne, a queen beloved by the people which Anne never managed. 
Those are my two main thoughts on the subject.

Kurben

OK, I went into a bookstore recently and saw Justin Cronins new stand alone novel, The Ferryman. Has anyone here read it? Any good? Needing one more book to take with me for my trip and thinking about this one. I really liked The Passage even if the followup wasn't quite up there compared with the first book. Is this in the same genre?

Hedda Gabler

Kurben said:

OK, I went into a bookstore recently and saw Justin Cronins new stand alone novel, The Ferryman. Has anyone here read it? Any good? Needing one more book to take with me for my trip and thinking about this one. I really liked The Passage even if the followup wasn't quite up there compared with the first book. Is this in the same genre?

Can’t help you, kurben. Hopefully somebody can offer some thoughts. 

GNTLGNT

Kurben said:

OK, I went into a bookstore recently and saw Justin Cronins new stand alone novel, The Ferryman. Has anyone here read it? Any good? Needing one more book to take with me for my trip and thinking about this one. I really liked The Passage even if the followup wasn't quite up there compared with the first book. Is this in the same genre?

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/books/review/justin-cronin-ferryman.html

Notaro

Finally got Frozen Hell, the expanded version of Who Goes There?

GNTLGNT

...outstanding!!.....

Grant87

Kurben said:

OK, I went into a bookstore recently and saw Justin Cronins new stand alone novel, The Ferryman. Has anyone here read it? Any good? Needing one more book to take with me for my trip and thinking about this one. I really liked The Passage even if the followup wasn't quite up there compared with the first book. Is this in the same genre?

I'm planning to read it in June, so I can let you know then. It seems to be getting great reviews so far.