The Accursed Kings series by Maurice Druon

I put Maurice Druon's series The Accursed Kings on my reading list several years ago, largely because I saw that George R. R. Martin referenced it as a major influence in his creation of A Song of Ice and Fire. Then I promptly forgot about it, until my recent binge on historical fiction (The Ivy Crown, A Very English Scandal) brought it to mind.

The series takes place mostly during the 14th century in France, from the last of Phillip the Fair's reign until the time of John the Good. The characters are many and varied, from royalty and courtiers to merchants and peasants. There are six books, which sounds long but really went quickly, as each book is fairly short and there's no lack of interesting activity to keep the reader turning the page. (There's a seventh book as well, but it was written many years later and doesn't quite fit with the rest. The library didn't have it, so I stopped at six.) Credit to both Druon and translator Humphrey Hare for well-crafted writing that maintains the reader's interest!

There's no lack of action and intrigue in the series, which I'm sure is part of why Druon chose to wrote about this particular time period. Love affairs, embezzlement, blackmail, secret plots against the powerful, torture and executions, conflict internal to France and externally with England...plenty of material to work with! Much of it centers around Robert of Artois, either directly or indirectly, who is clearly the author's favorite figure from the time. And with good reason, as his actions had huge impact on the direction of both France and England during his life. Robert wasn't a good man, but was certainly a very influential one, and his story is incredibly interesting.

Occasionally the author steps outside the story and speaks directly to the reader about medieval society and events of the time, which I thought added to the feeling of listening to a great storyteller. Unfortunately, this also occasionally spoils some of the suspense for any reader who doesn't already know the fate of the various monarchs and nobles. I think Druon assumes that most of his readers have studied history in enough detail to already know who became king/died/was imprisoned/etc, and so doesn't worry about occasionally talking about future events.

I can definitely see the influence on Martin's work. The various factions playing the "game of thrones" have plenty of similarities to those in The Accursed Kings books. The intrigues and plots of 14th century France would fit right into the world of Westeros and Essos. Inspiration for individual characters can be seen on a regular basis: Enguerrand de Marigny reflected in Eddard Stark, or Marie of Hungary in Olenna Tyrell. Martin added magic and dragons, of course, but even there you see some reflection in Druon's writing when lack of understanding leads people to interpret poison as magic or the suffering of a stroke as the fulfillment of a curse.

For any historical fiction fan, The Accursed Kings series is a must-read. If you're not yet such a fan, read it anyway, you might become one.

A Very English Scandal (TV series)

Amazon's algorithms have been recommending A Very English Scandal to me for a while now to watch on Prime Video. This seemed like a good time to check it out, after my recent reading of The Ivy Crown rekindled my interest in historical fiction.

A Very English Scandal is a three-part miniseries about the Jeremy Thorpe scandal in the 1970s. Thorpe was a British MP who had a homosexual relationship with a man called Normal Scott. It was secret, as homosexuality was still illegal at the time, and over the years Thorpe made quite an effort to cover it up. Eventually that led to a murder attempt on Scott, and a public trial. The series covers the better part of 20 years, from the affair in the early 1960s until Thorpe's trial in the late 1970s.

The series spends a good amount of time following the lives of both Thorpe, living the life of the rich and powerful; and of Scott, who was neither. I appreciated the background, since I had zero knowledge of the events around the scandal. From a quick web search, it looks like the series was fairly accurate to the real events.

Of course, historical fiction is only as good as the ability to make the events come to life. I was impressed with A Very English Scandal on this front, and much of the credit for that goes to the actors. Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw were great as the two leads, and several of the supporting characters gave memorable performances as well. I particularly liked Alex Jennings as Peter Bessell. Judging from all the awards that the series won, it appears I'm not alone in enjoying the performance.

An easy theme to identify in this series is how the criminalization of homosexuality caused major problems in people's lives as they were forced to hide their true selves. While the criminal aspect is gone in most places these days, there are still significant social issues for LGBT people that can have a significant impact. I think a deeper theme here is that living a lie, whether it's hiding from the law or your neighbors, rarely stops with just the lie. It leads to more extreme measures to cover yourself; most people won't go as far as conspiracy to murder, but there's still an impact. Whether you approve of a person's lifestyle or not, they're still human beings and deserve the chance to be themselves.

A Very English Scandal is entertaining, teaches a bit of history, and is short enough that it won't take much of your time. Recommended.

The Ivy Crown by Mary M. Luke

The Ivy Crown by Mary M. Luke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

English royalty isn't something I'm particularly interested in. Most of what I know comes from the occasional Jeopardy category about the various Henrys and Richards and Edwards (which I almost always get wrong). But I was looking for something from the 1500-1800 timeframe and The Ivy Crown caught my eye, about Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII. And I was somewhat surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

The Ivy Crown is historical fiction, as opposed to an academic biography, which certainly helped make it entertaining. In the author's note, Mary Luke says that she enjoyed being free from the restrictions of direct quotes and citations, and I think it shows in the writing style. Having said all that, I still think the "historical" part of this book is the primary focus, not the "fiction" part. Luke may have imagined some of the happenings in Parr's life, but it's all in a framework of true history.

The Katherine Parr in this book is an intelligent woman who devoted herself to family and friends. She asked very little from life for herself; only her eventual final marriage to Thomas Seymour really came from her own desires. By all accounts she was well-loved by almost everyone she met, making few enemies and many friends. Even when she fell out with various people over political and religious issues, she did her best to reconcile when the situation changed. When reading historical fiction, I always wonder how much the person's life and reputation has been burnished by the author; in this case, I don't think Parr's life needed much help to stand out.

Parr lived through some very interesting times, with Henry VIII running around on his various wives and declaring himself head of the Church. She wasn't directly involved in most of it, but since she was friendly with many of those involved, all that upheaval played a large role in her life. And then, of course, she ended up right in the middle of it all when she became Henry's sixth queen. That lasted only a few years before the king died, and then Parr herself had only a few more years before dying after her daughter was born.

I knew in a general sense that people's lives in those times had much different norms than we do today, but Luke's writing really brings it to life. Children used as pawns in power games, the casual misogyny that women suffered, people dying from "the sweats" on a regular basis, teenagers married and having children, the nobility living richly while commoners barely survived...it was a very different time and mostly not in a good sense.

There are a bunch of intriguing characters in The Ivy Crown besides Katherine herself. Anne Askew, who became a martyr in the power struggle between Catholics, the Church of England, and Protestant reforms. The Princess Mary, Parr's childhood friend and eventual stepdaughter. Thomas Seymour, who would become Parr's fourth husband. And many more, from the famous to the common.

I highly recommend The Ivy Crown to anyone who enjoys a good story of a life with plenty of drama and intrigue. Even better if you're interested in the specifics of 16th century English royalty, but I don't think you need to care about the historical period to enjoy the book.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Book Thief is an uncomfortable book.

The setting is Germany in World War 2, certainly an uncomfortable place. The central character, Liesel, loses her brother, is taken from her mother, and placed with a foster family. Nearly everyone they know is poor, struggling to survive, even before the war comes to their doors.

The writing is uncomfortable, at least for me. The style is simple and easy to follow, but I found it uninteresting and was often bored. Very little happens in this book, it seemed to me. There are few major events and those are described quickly, with the majority of the book taken up with the slow, steady grind of difficult daily life.

Death is quite literally present throughout the entire book, because he is the narrator. Taking an interest in Liesel's story after she is present at his duty several times early in life, he tracks the minutia of her life for several years. This sounded intriguing to me at first, but interesting observations from the point of view of Death were few and far between.

I can see why The Book Thief is an important story. It describes a difficult but important time and place. But the style is emphatically not for me.

Bury What We Cannot Take by Kirstin Chen

Bury What We Cannot Take by Kirstin Chen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a depressing view of human nature is shown in Bury What We Cannot Take, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Bury What We Cannot Take is set in late 1950s China, under Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party. The Ong family, who were well-to-do business owners in pre-Communist society, find they've waited too long to leave. Split by the closed Chinese border, they try to reunite in Hong Kong, but must find a way to convince the Communist Party to let them go. It does not go smoothly.

I'm no expert on the history involved here, but I know the basics. The China depicted in this novel is extremely harsh, practically unlivable for anyone not connected to the Communist Party. Which from everything I've read seems pretty accurate, though the timing may be slightly off. The book takes place before the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, but there's a lot of elements in the book that seem taken from that era. Chen says in her Acknowledgements section that she's used history where it fits the story, so I suspect she knew exactly what parts may have been out of place but chose to go with the better story. Which I have no problem with, it certainly worked for me.

The back cover of the dust jacket has some quotes that include "beautifully written", "suspenseful", "engrossing historical fiction"...all true. But I think they missed a very important descriptive point, which is that all the main characters are kind of jerks. Well, maybe not San San. But I didn't like any of the others, who professed great love for family and concern for those around them, then failed to act accordingly.

Which is where that "depressing view of human nature" part comes in. The family made some really bad choices, particularly the father and son. Though they may have struggled through some of the consequences, it's clear there's plenty still to process. There's no fairy tale happy ending here, at least in terms of the personal relationships and emotional impact on the entire family.

Jerks or not, I very much enjoyed reading Bury What We Cannot Take and everything is has to say about family, culture, and the human tendency to make terrible choices. I think most anyone would enjoy this one.

11.22.63 (on Hulu)

11.22.63 is an eight-part miniseries about an English teacher who goes back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination. It's based on the book 11/23/63 by Stephen King.

I'm a fan of time travel and alternate history in general, so when this show popped up in a recommendation list it was a natural choice. I haven't read the book, so I didn't have any preconceived notions about the plot going in.

The series uses a very limited form of time travel in which a person can go through a "rabbit hole" in space-time and emerge in 1960. There's no other destination, and any changes you've made in prior trips are erased if you go through a second time. And if you try to make a major change to history, unlikely events will conspire to prevent you. There's no effort made to explain how it works or where it comes from, which is fine since it's just a plot device to enable the real story.

The protagonist is Jake, an English teacher who is recruited by his friend Al to go back in time and stop the assassination of JFK. Al is motivated by his experience in Vietnam, which he hopes will be prevented by changing history. Jake is a reluctant recruit, but eventually becomes dedicated to the cause.

Al gives Jake plenty of advice on how to avoid trouble while he's in the past, most of which is ignored. Just about everything Al warns Jake about...spending too much money, getting into close personal relationships, drawing attention to his future knowledge, overdoing his money-making scheme of sports betting...ends up happening. Honestly, I found it a bit silly just how inept Jake turns out to be in his role. But it makes for good drama, so it's not too hard to ignore.

The vast majority of the series is spent describing everything that happens with Jake from the time he arrives in 1960 until November 1963. While dealing with his self-inflicted issues from failing to follow Al's advice and bad luck from trying to change history, Jake follows the threads of various theories about what lead up to that day in Dallas. Russians, CIA, FBI, and of course lots about Lee Harvey Oswald. There are quite a few directions that the story could have gone, and I thought the one chosen made sense in the end.

The last episode wraps up Jake's time in the past and sends him back to his own time. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that he doesn't manage to create a utopia. It's a recurring theme in the series that good intentions don't always lead to the best results, and historical change is no exception.

All told, I enjoyed 11.22.63. It probably could have been a couple of episodes shorter, but it didn't drag out too long. I thought the portrayal of the 1960s was well done, and the cast did a fine job with all the characters. Worth a few hours to watch if you like drama and suspense with a historical twist.

Night Raid 1931

Night Raid 1931 is a good example of a combination of many genres: historical fiction, action-adventure, mystery...a lot to cram into 13 short episodes!

The setting for Night Raid 1931 is 1930s China, a tumultuous period when the Imperial Japanese army was occupying parts of mainland China. The story follows a small group of Japanese in Shanghai, ostensibly civilians, but in reality an independent group of spies working for the Japanese government. They take on some of the shadowy activities that official government operatives can't be involved in.

And these aren't just any spies, but spies with superpowers: teleportation, psionics, speed. The exact source of the powers isn't really specified. I got the impression that they came either from mutations or mystical spirits, but it doesn't really matter. The powers are important, but they aren't the central focus of the story...more of a supporting role.

The characters themselves are a big part of what makes Night Raid 1931 work so well. Each character is well defined and has their own motivations. The telepathic girl hunting for her missing older brother. The tight-laced young military man unsure of which side is in the right. The older man in charge of the team's missions, using his mysterious contacts to set up their activities. I found myself wishing the series was a bit longer to explore their backgrounds a bit more, and find out what happens to some of them in the future.

The historical setting is very much in the center of the storyline. Freedom for Asian countries from the colonial powers is a major theme. The Manchurian Incident is a major turning point. The distrust and strife between Japanese and Chinese during this period is made very clear in several instances. I ended up doing some reading up on the period when the show made a reference to something I wasn't familiar with, and what I found fit very nicely into how the story was progressing. The writers clearly know the period and did their best to make things fit.

That's not to say that this is a historical drama. Beside the obvious difference of people with superpowers, the entire plot revolves around a secret organization that isn't in the historical record, and their efforts to change the course of history. By the end, it isn't clear whether the story is meant to take place in our own history, showing us secret events that have been forgotten; or if it's all in a parallel reality, that has its own future that may not be like our own. It didn't really matter to me which it was, because either way it was a well-executed story that kept me interested all the way through.

In the end, my only complaint about Night Raid 1931 is that there wasn't enough of it. For anyone who enjoys a bit of a mystery, set in an interesting historical period that isn't commonly used, and doesn't mind suspending disbelief in the occasional use of superpowers - highly recommended!