Clothar the frank
As part of trying to get myself in the mood to write again, I've chosen to read Clothar the Frank/The Lance Thrower by Jack Whyte. It's a doorstep of a book. This is because Jack Whyte takes his time (just a little bit!) telling a story. It is set in the 5th century, but it's very much Jack's 5th century. His Romans tend to use equipment that's from the early Empire, rather than the late, and there's loads of other historical inaccuracies that I could take him to task on. And I've just read a bit where he mentions the spatha (which is much more of a late Roman sword) but he says its specifically for stabbing. Wrong! It's long, often used by cavalrymen, specifically for slashing from horseback - it's difficult to stab from horseback (ahem!) But a good swipe with a long-bladed spatha as you swing by the infantry often literally causes them to lose their heads. It has a sharp blade, and is a close relative of the long sword used by the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings, who tended to fight on foot. Now the gladius - that was used for stabbing, and was the stock-in-trade for the the early Roman Empire infantry ...However, Jack's one of those writers, who have won me over through the power of their story-telling. I've read most of the previous books from the Camulod series, and they are very uneven (I've currently read through two long chapters where it's just one character reminiscing to another) but generally they're good fun. A fair few are in first person (as is Clothar) which suits me just fine :-)
posted by Alex Bordessa @ Wednesday, July 27, 2005
2 Comments:
I find that writing in the first person helps my own characterisation no end, although I've often been told my characters are one dimensional and flat ... apart from Marcie Craig who everyone loves. You "sound" chirpier today. I still hope the writing itch returns soon. Mine has. :o)
I love to read first person, and rarely give up reading one, but have certainly given up on 3rd person (especially when they're from a lot of povs) Tight third's OK, but when there's too much head-hopping ...
I bounced back from the hard crit quite quickly, by yesterday evening in fact. And that's a record for me. Perhaps I'm getting used to it. I hear a thick skin is a good idea for an author :-)
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