Tag Archives: Medieval

The Canterbury Tales

Posted on April 30, 2017 by smellincoffee

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *ahem* If you’ve ever glanced at my Classics Club list, you’ll see Canterbury Tales sitting there, and I’ve regarded it as one of the tougher ones on my list — in the same tier as the Russians,  April is the … Continue reading →

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Hood

Posted on April 12, 2017 by smellincoffee

Hood © 2006 Stephen Lawhead 496 pages Beyond the borders of Norman-controlled England lies free Britain, and between them the March — a thick band of forest whose depths may conceal outlaws and monsters.  Hood reimagines Robin Hood as an exiled … Continue reading →

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The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Posted on April 8, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood © 1883 Howard Pyle 648 pages,  Duke Classics Edition. (Other editions seem to have anywhere from 200 to 400 pages, which is odd.) You who so plod amid serious things that you feel it … Continue reading →

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Lost Enlightenment

Posted on November 28, 2016 by smellincoffee

Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane © 2015 S. Frederick Starr618 pages Lost Enlightenment takes readers back to a time when Central Asia was the crossroads of the world, a hub of both commercial and … Continue reading →

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Dubh-Linn

Posted on October 31, 2016 by smellincoffee

Dubh-Linn: A Novel of Viking-Age Ireland© 2014 James Nelson326 pages All Thorgrim Nightwolf wanted was to go home.But the gods and Irish women have a way of…complicating things.  Thorgrim has more sense than to tangle with this benighted island and … Continue reading →

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Inferno

Posted on July 17, 2016 by smellincoffee

Inferno created 14th century Dante Alighieri translated © 2002 Anthony Esolen 528 pages If Dante’s Inferno is to be believed, Hell is mostly populated by Italians.  The first piece in the Divine Comedy, Inferno takes the reader down into the … Continue reading →

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Fin Gall

Posted on March 4, 2016 by smellincoffee

Fin Gall: A Novel of Viking-Age Ireland© 2013 James Nelson290 pages When a Danish longboat happened upon a small Irish craft on the rough seas , it found more than quick booty.  Onboard the boat was the Crown of the … Continue reading →

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Warriors of the Storm

Posted on January 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Warriors of the Storm© 2016 Bernard Cornwell320 pages “May God strike me dead this moment if I lie!”I drew Serpent-Breath, her blade scraping loud and fast on her scabbard’s throat.“Lord Uhtred!” Æthelflaed called out in alarm. “No!” Uhtred of Bebbanburg is … Continue reading →

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Here be Dragons

Posted on September 8, 2015 by smellincoffee

Here be Dragons © 1985 Sharon Penman 700 pages               Here Be Dragons takes readers to the Welsh Marches in 13th century England. King John, remembered for losing England’s ancestral holdings in France and being gelded by his own barons … Continue reading →

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Ornament of the World

Posted on September 4, 2015 by smellincoffee

Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain© 2002 Maria Rose Menocal315 pages            Ornament of the World is the story of a unique civilization in medieval Europe, one … Continue reading →

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