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The once and future review
Mar. 1st, 2012 03:31 pmHey,
So I read some stuff.
First up, a couple of Osprey books.
Varangian Guard -- When Vikings roamed Europe, some of them hired on to the Byzantine Empire and served as the Emperor's personal bodyguard. This book gives a short historical overview and then details the equipment they wore/used.
The Guard was relatively loyal to the office and the person of the Emperor. When civil war racked the empire, the Guard tended to side with the incumbent only once cutting a deal when it was pretty clear the guy being ousted had no chance of clinging to power. It's interesting to note how many people made the long trek from Sweden, Norway and even England to apply for the job. It's also interesting to see just how fond the various Emperors were of their house guard.
The other book was Certain Death in Sierra Leone. This is part of Osprey's new Raid series where they look at small-unit operations of various sorts throughout history. In this one, a small patrol of British soldiers were captured while on patrol in Sierra Leone (in the Summer of 2000). The book describes the efforts to retrieve the men.
The book does a pretty good job of laying out what happened and how the raid went down considering that the rescue was spearheaded by SAS troops supported by members of the 1st Parachute regiment -- forces not exactly given to discussing things in great detail. Still, the overall plan is laid out with lots of great maps and diagrams.
I picked up the book hoping it would prove fodder for a Force on Force game. The problem is that in a well-executed raid, the enemy forces aren't given much of a chance to react -- the raiders hit hard and fast and it's over before you know what happened. It's not much of a game-able scenario. In this case, while the SAS forces rushed the small village where the prisoners were being held, the para regiment swept another village opposite the enemy position across the river. It was all over and done in less than a day with few injuries for the Brits (I don't think any of them died).
Still an interesting read. I managed to pick up some more Osprey books for cheap the other day so there'll be a few more of them coming along.
Finally, in the novel-length book department, I picked up a copy of King Maker: The Knights of Breton Court by Maurice Broaddus. Quite simply, it's a retelling of the King Arthur legend set on the mean streets of Indianapolis, Illinois.
Y'know, he just about pulls it off too. The writing, when characters are interacting with one another is just spot on. It paints a good picture of poverty in urban America where even the people who do want to get out are hemmed in by a culture that wants to keep them trapped in the ghetto. I also like the way they handle some of the magical elements. Oh and the female characters appear to have a bit more agency than you might expect in an Arthur retelling.
There were also a couple of problems with the book. First, the plot really skips around and it's very tough to sequence what happened when and what people are reacting to. Are they aware of the events previously discussed or will they learn about it or are they reacting to something we'll see next? A couple of months pass after a big event and no one seems to have much to say about it. There's a piece of narration that seems completely unmoored from everything else around it. Which isn't helped by the fact that there's a very large cast of people. I get it, it's Arthur, there's a lot of people in those books and setting up their backgrounds is key to figuring out how things proceed, but man there's a lot of people in this book.
Finally, there are some straight-up "how can you possibly explain that away?" moments in the book which is where a lot of urban fantasy breaks down for me. The magic is usually pretty subtle, but when it isn't, people seem real anxious to not talk about it. In one case the cops basically watch a guy not die from bullets but don't seem too anxious to follow up on it. Even when Arthur (simply known as "King" in this iteration) fights a dragon there's not even an acknowledgement that this is not exactly life on the streets.
I dunno. It was an interesting concept and had some interesting ideas, but the plot was just too choppy for me to follow. I probably won't pick up the follow-on books. My other recommendation is not to try too hard to tie the retelling back to the original stories. Just go with the flow and you'll be better off.
later
Tom
So I read some stuff.
First up, a couple of Osprey books.
Varangian Guard -- When Vikings roamed Europe, some of them hired on to the Byzantine Empire and served as the Emperor's personal bodyguard. This book gives a short historical overview and then details the equipment they wore/used.
The Guard was relatively loyal to the office and the person of the Emperor. When civil war racked the empire, the Guard tended to side with the incumbent only once cutting a deal when it was pretty clear the guy being ousted had no chance of clinging to power. It's interesting to note how many people made the long trek from Sweden, Norway and even England to apply for the job. It's also interesting to see just how fond the various Emperors were of their house guard.
The other book was Certain Death in Sierra Leone. This is part of Osprey's new Raid series where they look at small-unit operations of various sorts throughout history. In this one, a small patrol of British soldiers were captured while on patrol in Sierra Leone (in the Summer of 2000). The book describes the efforts to retrieve the men.
The book does a pretty good job of laying out what happened and how the raid went down considering that the rescue was spearheaded by SAS troops supported by members of the 1st Parachute regiment -- forces not exactly given to discussing things in great detail. Still, the overall plan is laid out with lots of great maps and diagrams.
I picked up the book hoping it would prove fodder for a Force on Force game. The problem is that in a well-executed raid, the enemy forces aren't given much of a chance to react -- the raiders hit hard and fast and it's over before you know what happened. It's not much of a game-able scenario. In this case, while the SAS forces rushed the small village where the prisoners were being held, the para regiment swept another village opposite the enemy position across the river. It was all over and done in less than a day with few injuries for the Brits (I don't think any of them died).
Still an interesting read. I managed to pick up some more Osprey books for cheap the other day so there'll be a few more of them coming along.
Finally, in the novel-length book department, I picked up a copy of King Maker: The Knights of Breton Court by Maurice Broaddus. Quite simply, it's a retelling of the King Arthur legend set on the mean streets of Indianapolis, Illinois.
Y'know, he just about pulls it off too. The writing, when characters are interacting with one another is just spot on. It paints a good picture of poverty in urban America where even the people who do want to get out are hemmed in by a culture that wants to keep them trapped in the ghetto. I also like the way they handle some of the magical elements. Oh and the female characters appear to have a bit more agency than you might expect in an Arthur retelling.
There were also a couple of problems with the book. First, the plot really skips around and it's very tough to sequence what happened when and what people are reacting to. Are they aware of the events previously discussed or will they learn about it or are they reacting to something we'll see next? A couple of months pass after a big event and no one seems to have much to say about it. There's a piece of narration that seems completely unmoored from everything else around it. Which isn't helped by the fact that there's a very large cast of people. I get it, it's Arthur, there's a lot of people in those books and setting up their backgrounds is key to figuring out how things proceed, but man there's a lot of people in this book.
Finally, there are some straight-up "how can you possibly explain that away?" moments in the book which is where a lot of urban fantasy breaks down for me. The magic is usually pretty subtle, but when it isn't, people seem real anxious to not talk about it. In one case the cops basically watch a guy not die from bullets but don't seem too anxious to follow up on it. Even when Arthur (simply known as "King" in this iteration) fights a dragon there's not even an acknowledgement that this is not exactly life on the streets.
I dunno. It was an interesting concept and had some interesting ideas, but the plot was just too choppy for me to follow. I probably won't pick up the follow-on books. My other recommendation is not to try too hard to tie the retelling back to the original stories. Just go with the flow and you'll be better off.
later
Tom
