[Mithfânion]

Fans of Bernard Cornwell may be pleased to note that the first book in a new trilogy about the Dark Ages will be released in October this year, titled " The Last Kingdom". It'll feature the struggle between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons. Mwaaaahh!! I'm pumped :)

[whitebelly]

The last couple of years have been good for historicals focusing on intriguing women -- there was Fingerpost, Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, and The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber. All excellent.

Haven't been on this post fr a while, but catching up ...

Couldn't agree more, Auntie Pam, about Fingerpost and Fingersmith. I have read everything by Donoghue but not Slammerkin, and Crimson Petal is high on the to-read list.

Am planning to do some more non-fiction and fiction reading on Rome and Naples for the silly reason I am going there this summer. Has anyone here already read Pompei by Harris? McCullough puts me off because I can't help associating here with the (pass me a bag to be sick in) Tornbirds and Richard Chamberlain.

[snake0024]

I have a copy of Pomei sitting on a self somewhere, though I haven't read it yet

I finished Fortune's Favourites last night, and am about a hundred pages or so into Ceasar's Women, and it just keeps getting better and better :)

[E'man]

I'd like to recommend 'The Crusades Trilogy' by Jan Guillou. The books are called: 'The Road to Jerusalem', 'The Knight Templar' and 'The Kingdom at the End of the Road'.

ANd one other amazing book: 'The Dwarf' by Pär Lagerquist.

[FicusFan]

Am planning to do some more non-fiction and fiction reading on Rome and Naples for the silly reason I am going there this summer. Has anyone here already read Pompei by Harris? McCullough puts me off because I can't help associating here with the (pass me a bag to be sick in) Tornbirds and Richard Chamberlain.

McCullough's Ancient Rome series is very good. You may want to give her current series a whirl before you judge her by past works, especially if your beef was with the movie and the actor.

[Priestvyrce]

Fans of Bernard Cornwell may be pleased to note that the first book in a new trilogy about the Dark Ages will be released in October this year, titled " The Last Kingdom". It'll feature the struggle between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons. Mwaaaahh!! I'm pumped :)

I've read his Stonehenge novel,very interesting and informative and have his The Archer's Tale in my TBR pile. He did a book about Arthur, but I forget what the title is called.

[Mithfânion]

E-man

ANd one other amazing book: 'The Dwarf' by Pär Lagerquist.

Could you tell me a little bit about it's content and what it is that makes it so great?

Priest

The Arthurian series is the Warlord trilogy, starting with The Winter King.

[Priestvyrce]

E-man

ANd one other amazing book: 'The Dwarf' by Pär Lagerquist.

Could you tell me a little bit about it's content and what it is that makes it so great?

Priest

The Arthurian series is the Warlord trilogy, starting with The Winter King.

I thought that it was titled something like that, I want to read the series badly. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

[E'man]

Mith: Yepp, can do.

The story takes place in a city state in renaissance Italy. I don't want to give any spoilers, but the story is basically about intrigue at court and war, everything seen trough the eyes of the court dwarf Piccoline.

What makes the book amazing, in my eyes, is the well-written prose, the insight you get, via the dwarf, into the darkness of humanity, and the dwarf himself. He's just a great character. He might just be the most evil character in literature...

'The Dwarf' was published in 1944, and the author received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1951.

[AuntiePam]

Amazon spells his name Lagerkvis, took me awhile to find the book. Amazon has some sample pages; enough to convince me to get the book -- the first paragraph did that. :)

I found a new one at www.bookcloseouts.com for $4.99 plus shipping.