tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post7998393204857113131..comments2023-11-29T07:39:34.401+00:00Comments on Carla Nayland Historical Fiction: Hawk Quest, by Robert Lyndon. Book reviewCarlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-936015316117152852013-01-13T03:23:15.752+00:002013-01-13T03:23:15.752+00:00Yes. Yes. Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-54219420719662081472013-01-11T19:12:58.793+00:002013-01-11T19:12:58.793+00:00Yes, indeed, I probably had that phrase in mind. ...Yes, indeed, I probably had that phrase in mind. 'Applicablility' was the term he used, if I remember rightly.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-29289992095474008262013-01-10T02:04:08.665+00:002013-01-10T02:04:08.665+00:00Your overall impressions are very similar to mine,...Your overall impressions are very similar to mine, including the 18th century flavor of the Shire.<br /><br />Your final point puts me in mind of Tolkien's remark on 'history, real or feigned.'Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-18648489663570239722013-01-03T18:39:10.906+00:002013-01-03T18:39:10.906+00:00I can never make my mind up. The Shire always mak...I can never make my mind up. The Shire always makes me think of the 18th century (among the well-off, at any rate), with the postal service and the habit of letter-writing and the obsession with being 'respectable' and Bilbo's country-gentry lifestyle. Then as the story moves further out from the comfortable Shire it has a feeling of moving backwards in time, so things like the watchtowers on the Barrow Downs and the great road make me think of post-Roman Britain. Then the trolls and orcs and wilderness is reminiscent of Norse myth and saga. Gondor, as you say, has a distinct feel of decayed grandeur, and Byzantium might be the closest parallel. Although the whole 'Return of the King' aspect conjures up vaguely Arthurian images for me. Depending on how long you like to imagine Roman culture clinging on in Britain after 410 (quite a while in places, I would imagine), I wonder if some people thought of themselves as sort of officials or stewards keeping their patch going as best they could until the Emperor could return, such as whoever rebuilt Wroxeter in the sixth century to Roman measurements, or whoever built the halls at Birdoswald. <br /><br />Which I think is why Tolkien's Middle-Earth endures so well. It's so complex and multilayered that it draws on and can accommodate all sorts of parallels, depending on the reader. Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-17654291106536455712012-12-31T04:46:21.226+00:002012-12-31T04:46:21.226+00:00True, Byzantium had no equivalent to the ruling st...True, Byzantium had no equivalent to the ruling stewards. But it conveys a sort of honorable decline. Middle-Earth is certainly not a direct parallel to any historical period, but the flavor suggests the era broadly around 1000 more than anything else. Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-72125023616351625812012-12-30T12:47:22.388+00:002012-12-30T12:47:22.388+00:00Good point. I don't know whether Caitlin woul...Good point. I don't know whether Caitlin would have come into use in Ireland in time to be transmitted to Iceland for a heroine's romantic ancestry in 1072.<br /><br />Yes, Gondor does have a flavour of Byzantium about it, although the concept of a Steward 'standing in' for the emperor for several centuries doesn't have a parallel as far as I know (you probably know more Byzantine history than I do, but my impression is that whoever had the top job de facto tended to grab the title as well). I think somewhere in one of his letters Tolkien said something about Aragorn's restored kingdom being something like a restored Holy Roman Empire, which would fit. <br />Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-49551449559769247812012-12-29T17:34:54.320+00:002012-12-29T17:34:54.320+00:00Not just any real era either, but one that was a s...Not just any real era either, but one that was a sort of prototype for Middle Earth. Gondor seems to reflect a Byzantium that Westerners have not yet started sneering at, while the western empire has dissolved, but for wandering paladins.<br /><br />The author covers himself from pedantic quibbles well! But I can offer an even more pedantic one: 1072 is very early in the Western adoption of 'Catherine' in any form.<br /><br />Which cuts both ways, to be sure: So early in the usage of the names, the various standard language forms probably hadn't jelled yet. Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-4841230575818191162012-12-21T20:55:07.165+00:002012-12-21T20:55:07.165+00:00Rick - yes, that's not a bad description; a cl...Rick - yes, that's not a bad description; a classic fantasy quest set in a real historical era. <br /><br />Manzikert gets a mention in the background (it's where the to-be-ransomed Norman knight was captured). One of the main characters is from Sicily, but even so the Norman conquest of Sicily is no more than background (if even that).<br /><br />Well spotted; I thought exactly the same about Caitlin as a name! The author evidently expected pedantic quibbles such as this because he explains almost straight away that she has romantic Irish ancestry. Which is entirely likely; if I remember rightly there were a few Irish settlers in Iceland before the Norse arrived, and there were a lot of contacts between Iceland and Ireland as part of the North Atlantic trade routes. Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-90098598935532241082012-12-17T19:58:50.541+00:002012-12-17T19:58:50.541+00:00What an intriguing-sounding story! It sounds very ...What an intriguing-sounding story! It sounds very much like a classic fantasy quest, but minus the standard 'fantasy' elements - and set in the real historical era that is broadly the prototype for most fantasy settings.<br /><br />'Norman conquests' is sort of a hoot. But from the geography mentioned, it could bring in the <i>other</i> Norman conquest, of Sicily - and also the battle of Manzikert (1071, IIRC), which ended Byzantine rule over most of Anatolia.<br /><br />Pedantic Quibble alert: 'Caitlin' is the Gaelic form of the name, not the most obvious variant for an Icelandic lady! (But what is her ancestry?) Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-17755838686711761862012-12-12T11:07:57.170+00:002012-12-12T11:07:57.170+00:00Beth - thanks! I'm glad it wasn't just me ...Beth - thanks! I'm glad it wasn't just me that was puzzled by the flashbacks. I think the Greenland and Iceland landscapes were the most memorable for me.<br /><br />Cygnet Brown - Hello and welcome! I'm pleased you liked the review.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-57580734297987655152012-12-11T20:54:40.917+00:002012-12-11T20:54:40.917+00:00I enjoyed your review of Hawk Quest. I too find th...I enjoyed your review of Hawk Quest. I too find the characterization and imagery expressive.Cygnet Brownhttp://www.cygnetbrown.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-57016723989424886992012-12-11T20:34:07.145+00:002012-12-11T20:34:07.145+00:00Well, you already know how much I loved this one, ...Well, you already know how much I loved this one, and I think your review is spot on. <br />The flashbacks towards the beginning also caught me out - I needed to re-read some parts to sort things out, but in the end I think it was an effective way of conveying aspects of the narrative without dragging the reader through a lot (such as the journey to England) right at the start of the story. <br />It's a mark of Lyndon's desciprive capabilities that five months on I can still remember many of the places the characters visited as if I'd read the novel last week.Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05976355211484202185noreply@blogger.com