I can’t remember exactly when What Kings Ate floated past me, but given my love of both fantasy and historical foodstuffs I knew it was going to be a hit. What to expect A non-fiction that’s still light-hearted, both informative and entertaining. The author covers many aspects of food throughout history as a way to […]
Historical Fiction
World-building Historical Fantasy (or, of Unicorns and Icebergs)
The Historical Fantasy Book Club is one of my favourite FB groups (shocking, I know), and back in June they invited me for an “author takeover”. I thought rather than talking about my usual topics (Romans, and their obsession with fantastical beasts and how to cook them), I’d try to create a broader discussion, one […]
All in a Name: Romans, Russians, and Fantasy
A character’s name will be the trait most often referred to in a book, so today I’d like to talk about historical and fantastical names, as well as literary usage. We’d start with a quick review of some interesting naming conventions from history (Romans, duh, but also others), then touch on fantasy and science fiction […]
Book Review: Reasons to Kill God, by I.V. Olokita
Having grown up in Israel, I was drawn to this book by the subject matter of Nazi war criminals, especially considering the author and unique point-of-view used. What to expect The story is told by a Nazi war criminal, Klaus Holland, hiding in Brazil post WW2. When he’s found out and sent to trial, he’s […]
Book Series Review: Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart
Whenever someone asks me about my all-time favourite books, I invariable whinge about not being able to choose just one. But if I’m pressed further, Barry Hughart’s Bridge of Birds is amongst the first books I’ll mention. The novel tells of the first adventure of Number Ten Ox (the villager who’s telling the story) as he’s […]
Book Review: Memento Mori, by Ruth Downie
This is probably my most-favourite Roman-era mystery series. I have previously interviewed both protagonists and was proud to be a part of the global launch of Memento Mori (you can read the first chapter here on my blog). So the short version is: unsurprisingly, I enjoyed it very much. In fact, I enjoyed it so much […]
Book & Series Review: Erast Fandorin by Boris Akunin
I’ve recently finished reading the latest (to be translated) Erast Fandorin mystery – All The World’s A Stage. I’ve talked about this series before, so it’s a good opportunity to review both the series and the latest volume. Overall, this is one of the best historical-detective mystery series out there. It is intelligent, engaging, and […]
Book Review: Philip Matyszak’s 24 Hours in Ancient Rome
I came across Matyszak’s 24 Hours in Ancient Rome: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There via a recommendation by Alison Morton (of Nova Roma fame). It looked right up my alley, so I jumped straight into it. Very glad I did! What to Expect A witty, fictional non-fiction description of […]
Ancient News
As most of you know, I love reading news about discoveries from ancient Rome. This post collects some recent articles, as well as a short piece I wrote for Virtual FantasyCon event about using real historical detail as background colour for storytelling. First, a bit out of In Numina. I use a lot of real […]
National Maritime Week – two millennia ago
A few weeks ago, Mary R. Woldering has asked me to contribute a piece for her blog, with the theme of National Maritime Week. I have chosen to address the issue of the life of ancient galley-slaves, and who really rowed the naval war galleys. Below I reproduce the full post. Hi, and welcome to the […]
