The Paul Kearney Thread

[wolverine]

I asked a question without reading the last page and realized that it was answered like two posts above.

First Hawkwood omnibus is fucking awesome so far though. Kinda shocked this was published in the mid 90s.

For whatever reason I read it about 7,8 years ago and really enjoyed it. Don't remember why I picked it up because I have not read near as much as most people on westeros. I wish I had the time to go back and read the edited/updated version though.

[Hooplehead]

Curious to see what's going on with Hawkwood himself. His story is not quite preserved as well in my brain as Corfe's.

Not sure if this should be spoilered, but

by the end of the story I was still asking myself "where is/was Hawkwood's story going?" It seemed like after sailing across the ocean and back, he really had no plans for Hawkwood. His stuff in the last book felt very wedged in, IMO

[shortstark]

Just finished Kings of Morning. A fitting conclusion to the trilogy, although a bit more subdued than the previous two installments, i too felt like there is a bit more that could have been added to the story that would have increased my level of satisfaction, but i am not whinging too much.

Overall though i quite enjoyed it 4****

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I'm looking for advice here. I adored his Sea Beggars novels but I did not like the Ten Thousand at all. Is the Hawkwood series more like the Sea Beggars? I do not like military fantasy and much prefer political type plotlines than war. I adore all things nautical and the age of exploration. I can deal with fantastic characters with thin plot but not with lousy characterization with great plot. I like characters who win with brains/wit vs brawn. Should I read the Hawkwood series given my preferences?

[JGP]

I don't think so, Gwen. The first book has some of the elements you like, as well as some elements of mystery, suspense and horror-- but once it's all on the out the series trends toward beating you about the head with about as much subtlety as a bludgeon between the eyes rather than the back of the head.

[Werthead]

There's the final Sea-Beggars book due at the end of this year though :)

Well, it's actually the first two plus a new third book in an omnibus, due to licensing and copyright issues, but the Monarchies omnibuses were priced like normal books, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If you liked the Sea-Beggars you'd probably like the first Monarchies book, which has a strong nautical theme. I'm not sure how you'd get on with the other four though.

[Migey]

I think you would definately enjoy the first 2 books of the Monarchies of God, as they feature alot of Hawkwood. However you will probably, just like my brother, have a strong dislike of the Corfemania of books 3 and 4, and i doubt you would be too satisfied with book 5.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

Double post!

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I don't think so, Gwen. The first book has some of the elements you like, as well as some elements of mystery, suspense and horror-- but once it's all on the out the series trends toward beating you about the head with about as much subtlety as a bludgeon between the eyes rather than the back of the head.

There's the final Sea-Beggars book due at the end of this year though :)

Well, it's actually the first two plus a new third book in an omnibus, due to licensing and copyright issues, but the Monarchies omnibuses were priced like normal books, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If you liked the Sea-Beggars you'd probably like the first Monarchies book, which has a strong nautical theme. I'm not sure how you'd get on with the other four though.

I think you would definately enjoy the first 2 books of the Monarchies of God, as they feature alot of Hawkwood. However you will probably, just like my brother, have a strong dislike of the Corfemania of books 3 and 4, and i doubt you would be too satisfied with book 5.

Thanks guys!

It looks like I will stick with the final Sea Beggars book.

[Antonius Pius]

Not sure if this should be spoilered, but

by the end of the story I was still asking myself "where is/was Hawkwood's story going?" It seemed like after sailing across the ocean and back, he really had no plans for Hawkwood. His stuff in the last book felt very wedged in, IMO

It probably should be, as this thread is partially intended for folks who haven't read Monarchies of God yet, so:

Hawkwood isn't very much present in the second omnibus, that's true. Kearney does make a point that he is a great mariner, so his part had more or less come to a conclusion after reaching the lands in the west. After that, there wasn't really much Hawkwood's character was necessary for (storywise). Though I did like to read him. Murad, his nemesis, was an entertaining bastard too.

I loved the second omnibus too. Some things seem a bit rushed, especially the last book (Ships from the West), but I loved it nonetheless. I didn't mind the Corfemania. The enduring heartbreak was a good touch. Kearney isn't opposed to killing characters of either, perhaps he's even more bloodthirsty than GRRM in that respect.

[jurble]

I just read the Macht trilogy. Real short, like everything he writes, started yesterday, finished today. Entertaining, no doubt, but it didn't have the seem feel of awesomeness Monarchies of God.

Also, the fact that Corvus was so clearly based on Alexander was more annoying than anything. I kept trying to guess where Kearney would stick to the history, or where he would diverge e.g. as soon as I saw a princess named Roshana, I was wondering if she'd be Roxanne or not, or whether he'd have to lay siege to an island city at some point...

On the other hand, unlike the Monarchies of God, it seemed far less rape-y and main-character-kill-y over all. I mean bad shit happens all the time, but after the Monarchies of God, I was afraid nearly every character in these books would find himself/herself raped/murdered .... possibly by werewolf priests.

[Antonius Pius]

I just read the Macht trilogy. Real short, like everything he writes, started yesterday, finished today. Entertaining, no doubt, but it didn't have the seem feel of awesomeness Monarchies of God.

Also, the fact that Corvus was so clearly based on Alexander was more annoying than anything. I kept trying to guess where Kearney would stick to the history, or where he would diverge e.g. as soon as I saw a princess named Roshana, I was wondering if she'd be Roxanne or not, or whether he'd have to lay siege to an island city at some point...

On the other hand, unlike the Monarchies of God, it seemed far less rape-y and main-character-kill-y over all. I mean bad shit happens all the time, but after the Monarchies of God, I was afraid nearly every character in these books would find himself/herself raped/murdered .... possibly by werewolf priests.

Good to know. I have Corvus on my to-read pile. Probably won't get around to it anytime soon, though. Perhaps I should get the entire trilogy.

[Werthead]

Paul's thing seems to be somewhat open-ended endings, whilst still closing off the character arcs for individual characters.

So with Monarchies:

It's a happy ending in that Aruan and the werewolves are wiped out. It's a bad ending because the anti-magic purges that were presented as a bad thing in Book 1 will likely now happen on a massive scale, since it's been 'proven' that magic-users are evil (by most of them throwing their lot in with Aruan, and the fact they were driven to by earlier persecution be damned). In addition, the Fimbrians basically take over most of the continent, aside from Torunna. However, the Fimbrians seem the least dickish of the major powers in the books, so that's not necessarily a bad thing (arguable: would Rome somehow resurging in the 6th Century and re-conquering all of its former provinces that would otherwise have spent centuries in the Dark Ages been a good thing or not?).

With the Macht sequence:

Rictus has a happy ending. He gets to go home and spend his last few years with his family. Corvus conquers the empire and becomes supreme ruler of the world. But we don't know what happens next. Does Corvus satisfy himself with being Emperor of the known world or does he follow Alexander's folly and keep going to the ends of the world and eventually his own death? We don't know.

Interesting to see how Sea-Beggars ends. Something similar cannot be ruled out.

[jurble]

Paul's thing seems to be somewhat open-ended endings, whilst still closing off the character arcs for individual characters.

So with Monarchies:

It's a happy ending in that Aruan and the werewolves are wiped out. It's a bad ending because the anti-magic purges that were presented as a bad thing in Book 1 will likely now happen on a massive scale, since it's been 'proven' that magic-users are evil (by most of them throwing their lot in with Aruan, and the fact they were driven to by earlier persecution be damned). In addition, the Fimbrians basically take over most of the continent, aside from Torunna. However, the Fimbrians seem the least dickish of the major powers in the books, so that's not necessarily a bad thing (arguable: would Rome somehow resurging in the 6th Century and re-conquering all of its former provinces that would otherwise have spent centuries in the Dark Ages been a good thing or not?).

Has anyone ever written an alt-history novel where the Plague of Justinian never struck, and Byzantium was able to hold the West? Seems like it would be an interesting book.

[Antonius Pius]

Paul's thing seems to be somewhat open-ended endings, whilst still closing off the character arcs for individual characters.

So with Monarchies:

It's a happy ending in that Aruan and the werewolves are wiped out. It's a bad ending because the anti-magic purges that were presented as a bad thing in Book 1 will likely now happen on a massive scale, since it's been 'proven' that magic-users are evil (by most of them throwing their lot in with Aruan, and the fact they were driven to by earlier persecution be damned). In addition, the Fimbrians basically take over most of the continent, aside from Torunna. However, the Fimbrians seem the least dickish of the major powers in the books, so that's not necessarily a bad thing (arguable: would Rome somehow resurging in the 6th Century and re-conquering all of its former provinces that would otherwise have spent centuries in the Dark Ages been a good thing or not?).

I read in an interview (it's linked or mentioned on Kearney's wikipedia-page) that he himself was apparently unhappy about the ending. He felt rushed himself, and seems to want to add another 100 pages one day. Having said that, the openness of the ending was definitely planned for. Aruan managing to prove the justification of the purges, the western monarchies all crumbling into dust, with Torunna becoming a double-monarchy with Ostrabar.

It is an interesting point re: Roman reconquest you mention. I'm not an expert on the period, but I would have to be done well to succeed. If you've ever read Ammianus Marcellinus' (heathen) biography of Julian the Apostate, you'll see what a shambles the Roman Empire was at that time.

Has anyone ever written an alt-history novel where the Plague of Justinian never struck, and Byzantium was able to hold the West? Seems like it would be an interesting book.

Definitely worth a go.

Is there any good Byzantine historical fiction, aside from Robert Graves and Guy Gavriel Kay?

[pat5150]

I'm currently reading Kings of the Morning and it's definitely one of the fantasy books to read this year!

Patrick

[Werthead]

Is there any good Byzantine historical fiction, aside from Robert Graves and Guy Gavriel Kay?

I find Stephen Lawhead to be extremely variable, but Byzantium was, by far, his best book for me.

[Antonius Pius]

I find Stephen Lawhead to be extremely variable, but Byzantium was, by far, his best book for me.

Interesting. I've never heard of him before.

[Grack21]

Interesting. I've never heard of him before.

o.O

[Migey]

Just finished Kings of Morning. It was pretty good and a fun read, and felt different from the other two books due to the greater emphasis on Kefren characters. This is however probably the first book of Kearney's that i've read and felt that perhaps it was a bit too short. Generally his books are a great deal shorter and smaller then the 'doorstoppers' as he puts it that is becomming the norm in fantasy books these days, with this book being just over 400 pages. Usually he handles this very well - he manages to fit a fair bit into his books effectively in a concise manner, and his books usually don't suffer from it. However this book could have benefited from maybe another 50-100 pages.

I especially felt that we could have spent longer with Rictus, Kurun, and Roshana after Gaugamesh. Considering that it looks like Kurun and Rictus will be spending alot of time together, it would have been nice to get a bit of a larger sense of their relationship, maybe see the Juthan King with Corvus, etc. We see less of Roshana after the first half of the book then i'd like, and it would have been nice to get to know her a bit better and see how she coped and feels about her upcoming marriage to Corvus, Rahksars death, Rictus himself and Kurun.