Of Mice & Maltesers 4 - arti's book

[artifarti]

My mum is always trying to lend me her historical novels but I usually can't stand them so manage to get out of borrowing them. However, in a moment of weakness I started one called The Owl Killers by the same author and found that I really enjoyed it (except the ending which was a bit pants IMHO). I went on to read this one, which again I enjoyed and it was so different from the literary fiction I usually recommend that I thought it would be interesting to see what others made of it. Enjoy!

[AgentProvocateur]

Like you, I hate historical novels, so my heart did sink when I got this one! And it was so thick... But once I started it, it was an easy accessible read. I found it easier to get into when I read it in chunks, rather than a few pages before bed. I did enjoy it, but I wish there had been loads more about the plague - I found that really interesting. I also didn't like the "woo-ness" around Narigam (sp), but the twist at the end really surprised me.

And why or why do publishers put a glossary at the end? It would have been far more useful to know what some of the terms meant as I was reading the book.

Summary - much better than I thought it would be, but could have been better still. Thanks for choosing it. I'd never have picked it up.

[stickyLFDTfingers]

oops I never posted did I? Well I love historical novels, and I particularly like them set in the medieval period, so this was looking good. I thought it was good in some ways, a nice sense of atmosphere, really felt the panic about getting away from the plague, and obviously some interest in getting it "right" (painstaking glossary!). But I also didn't like the Narigorm character, it was a bit of a easy short cut and a plot device and spoilt the book for me really, I wanted a better reason! It was very readable though, and once I got going I got through it very quickly! Thanks arti.

[aristocat]

Well, definitely not a book I would have chosen for myself ....... despite its slow start I found it to be quite a page-turner which made it very easy to read. Love the stories within a story and cannot imagine how much research must have been done to ensure that the mood/tone of the book was right.

The author has made the characters come to life and the writing is very good. An interesting read, my only negative comment would be that it is a bit on the long side.

I must say that I wasn't too keen on the ending. I was hoping for more.

Very enjoyable, thanks arti