One of the most important advances in military technology came with the invention of the stirrup. The stirrup allowed warriors on horseback to use the power of horse and rider to deliver more powerful spear thrusts from a mounted position. With the stirrup, riders could rest the lance between the… Read More »The Diffusion of the Stirrup into Medieval Western Europe
The Evening of the World: A Romance of the Dark Ages (Dark Ages Trilogy) by Allan Massie *this novel borders on the late Roman, early medieval period Paperback – 304 pages Publisher – Orion Publishing (June 1, 2002) Description: The Evening of the World is set in the period of the… Read More »Medieval Historical Fiction Novel of the Week
David Anthony Durham steps into the world of fantasy with his latest novel Acacia: Book One: The War With the Mein. Most known for his historical fiction novels — Gabriel’s Story, Walk Through Darkness, and Pride of Carthage — Durham seems born for the fantasy genre. His characters are compelling,… Read More »Review of Acacia
I finished typing up the third revision to my novel last week. I think it will take at least two more revisions — though not as time consuming as the first three — to get the novel to a point where I can start shopping it around to agents. Revision… Read More »Novel: 3rd Revision Complete
When talking about fantasy novels, what does the term “urban fantasy” refer to? I haven’t read many urban fantasy novels myself, but according to wikipedia, urban fantasy is: A subset of contemporary fantasy, consisting of magical novels and stories set in contemporary, real-world, urban settings–as opposed to ‘traditional’ fantasy set in wholly imaginary landscapes, even… Read More »What is Urban Fantasy?
Came across this list someone posted that represents, in his/her opinion, the nine most accurate medieval history movies. I thought it was an interesting list. There are several on here that I had never heard of. Are there any you can think of that should have made the list? List… Read More »Historically Accurate Medieval Movies
I haven’t been able to post to my blog much lately, or read and post to others’ blogs as much as I would like, as I’ve been really trying to finish up the 3rd/4th draft of my novel (my day job has kept me extremely busy also). I’m currently in… Read More »Novel Update
While I generally stick to posts related to medieval history and historical fiction and fantasy, I ran across this short blurb about The Alchemist by Paul Coelho being made into a movie. I haven’t read the novel yet, but I’ve heard really good things about it from friends, and I… Read More »‘The Alchemist’ Bound for the Big Screen
LibraryThing is an online library catalog where you enter what you’re reading, and others do the same, and this makes it easy for you to find people who have similar interests and tastes as yours. Read the description from the LibraryThing Web site below: What is LibraryThing? LibraryThing is a site… Read More »Library Thing