Historic Fiction

[Liadin]

I have a feeling they may be referring to the series as a whole. Still not a bodice ripper by any stretch, but romantic (and sexual) relationships between characters become far more important later on, both for characterisation and for plot purposes. It's not what most people think of when they hear "historical romance", that's for sure.

Also, you probably know this, but just in case, the first book is set in Scotland, yes, but the whole series covers a lot more than that. I'm trying to think through in order, and will probably miss some, but: Scotland, France, Malta, the Ottoman Empire (including North Africa and then-Constantinople), and Russia, with a few places used as a setting more than once.

Is it a sort of serialized adventure story? Or does the author take the plot/characterization/setting more seriously? Because this is sounding like something I might really like.

I thought about that, but when I first read the description it was a misleading label for me.

Given what "romance" has come to mean, if I were in marketing I would not call a book a "romance" unless the plot focused on a romantic relationship between two characters. It's quite a loaded word these days, and using it wrong means you're likely to drive away readers who might like the book but wouldn't read genre romance, while irritating genre readers (romance readers have very firm expectations and often get upset when a book isn't what they expected--"too much history" etc.).

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Oh goodness, very seriously indeed. Plot is important, and I'll admit it's a little neat how some things fall into place for the protagonists, but neither it nor characterisation is neglected. There's a ton of stuff mentioned in passing that means so very much when you put it together.

[wolverine]

Is it a sort of serialized adventure story? Or does the author take the plot/characterization/setting more seriously? Because this is sounding like something I might really like.

It is certainly not a serialized adventure. The first book was a bit difficult to get into for me but was very rewarding. At times it is challenging. The protagonist is a bit of a superman but he is an extremely interesting character.

[Liadin]

Sounds good. :)