Becca Edney's Blog - Posts Tagged "musing"
I'm obsessed with... The Plantagenets
I have...
*grabs The Knight Who Saved England: William Marshal and the French Invasion, 1217, Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses, and She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth off the shelf *
... a burning...
*buys The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England *
... need.
OK, so full confession this particular obsession was triggered by a TV documentary, not a book, but now I'm reading every book I have on the topic because I want to read all the things.
I often sneer at people who try to bring history and fantasy too close together, despite my conviction that all fantasy writers should read lots of history. That's actually not as much of an opposition as it may seem at first, because most of the time "historically accurate" fantasy isn't. Talking about how one fantasy book is better than another (I mostly see it done with A Song of Ice and Fire and The Lord of the Rings) because it's more historically accurate is nonsensical because there's a big difference between history and fantasy. As I often say, the Anarchy was not known for its dragons.
Often, "historical accuracy" is an excuse for two things: first, ultra-violence. And yes, I can't read a bunch of stuff on the Plantagenets without admitting that they were totally into that. The second is marginalisation of women. You object to the pattern in anything set in any time period pre-1992 or in fantasy of women being invisible except when they're the victims of sexual violence of one sort or another and the response is always "but historical accuracy!"
That's why fantasy writers should read more history. I invite anyone who knows about Maud, Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, or Margaret of Anjou to say it's unrealistic for a medieval woman to wield political power and make her own decisions, for good or ill, and then I recommend reading She-Wolves as an introduction.
Also, you get to learn about so many cool things that happened, which is good even if you're not planning to write a book. Right now, for me, it's one period in English history. I encourage everyone to go find something in their own history to get obsessed with.
*grabs The Knight Who Saved England: William Marshal and the French Invasion, 1217, Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses, and She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth off the shelf *
... a burning...
*buys The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England *
... need.
OK, so full confession this particular obsession was triggered by a TV documentary, not a book, but now I'm reading every book I have on the topic because I want to read all the things.
I often sneer at people who try to bring history and fantasy too close together, despite my conviction that all fantasy writers should read lots of history. That's actually not as much of an opposition as it may seem at first, because most of the time "historically accurate" fantasy isn't. Talking about how one fantasy book is better than another (I mostly see it done with A Song of Ice and Fire and The Lord of the Rings) because it's more historically accurate is nonsensical because there's a big difference between history and fantasy. As I often say, the Anarchy was not known for its dragons.
Often, "historical accuracy" is an excuse for two things: first, ultra-violence. And yes, I can't read a bunch of stuff on the Plantagenets without admitting that they were totally into that. The second is marginalisation of women. You object to the pattern in anything set in any time period pre-1992 or in fantasy of women being invisible except when they're the victims of sexual violence of one sort or another and the response is always "but historical accuracy!"
That's why fantasy writers should read more history. I invite anyone who knows about Maud, Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, or Margaret of Anjou to say it's unrealistic for a medieval woman to wield political power and make her own decisions, for good or ill, and then I recommend reading She-Wolves as an introduction.
Also, you get to learn about so many cool things that happened, which is good even if you're not planning to write a book. Right now, for me, it's one period in English history. I encourage everyone to go find something in their own history to get obsessed with.
