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David McK (3425 KP) rated A Flight of Arrows (The Hundred Years War #1) in Books

Sep 17, 2023  
A Flight of Arrows (The Hundred Years War #1)
A Flight of Arrows (The Hundred Years War #1)
AJ MacKenzie | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
As an actual archer (in my case, Olympic Recurve style although I have also shot Longbow) who enjoys reading historical fiction, I thought this would be right up my street.

Especially when it was on Amazon as #1 in archery.

Unfortunately, I found it rather sluggish in parts, with it never really gripping my attention the same way as a historical novel by Bernard Cornwell or Simon Scarrow or Angus Donald does.

This is set during the early stages of the 100 Years War (which lasted for 116 years), and is really a detective/spy story (rather than concentrating on the lives of the archers) as the herald Simon Merrivale investigates the assassination of an English knight , leading up to and including the Battle of Crecy.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the history, and learning a bit more about the times and the background to the war; I just wish it had gripped me more somewhat.

Maybe the sequels will follow through on that ... ?
  
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated The Noise of Time in Books

Oct 9, 2017 (Updated Oct 9, 2017)  
The Noise of Time
The Noise of Time
Julian Barnes | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Historical fiction at its very best
There is a huge amount of non-fiction elements of this bleak novel about one of Russia's most noted composers and musicians Dmitri Shostakovich, who fought inner demons for the majority of his life due to the immense pressures and threats posed by the Soviet Union.

From his complex relationships with women, to the government, the artist was forced to live a life of paranoia, after many of his fellow composers and musicologists mysteriously disappeared following talks with the "Power" at the Big House. There were many moments where it resembled Room 101 from George Orwell's 1984, and the oppressive atmosphere that Shostakovich had to live through.

In the end, Julian Barnes explains that agreeing to Stalin's and Khrushchev's demands had been the ultimate downfall to his health. and in many ways it was a fate worse than death. It is grim and tragic to think about such an important composer in history being treated in such way.