Books, Blogs, Authors and More discussion

As requested - a thread for discussion / questions with spoilers (so for when you've finished the book - or during, depending on how you like to read).

Ooh, I do love spoilers! I find when talking about my own books to people I have a hard time keeping spoilers out of it because I'm used to brainstorming with fellow writers ;)

At the outset Reeve thinks that William Wallace's tactics are "foul play". I didn't agree, but I think that this was a common view historically. Many peoples believed that the only fair way to fight was the way they were trained to fight. So if someone used tactics that were outside their training, they were considered dishonorable. In fact, I read that the longbow was considered dishonorable by knights trained to fight with the sword. They thought that slaying at a distance was wrong. Now in the modern world nations routinely drop bombs which is considerably more distanced than the longbow.

I think that war is not a game. Rules for combat are for sports competitions. The reality of real combat is quite different. In the case of the Scots fighting against the English for their independence, it was a desperate struggle. William Wallace's tactics were pragmatic. He did what worked.

Does anyone agree or disagree? What should be considered unethical in war? I think that mistreatment of prisoners should be considered unethical. But so far I have seen in this novel that William Wallace was opposed to mistreatment of Reeve once he became a prisoner. I think that this was rather uncommon in that era.

Shomeret wrote: "At the outset Reeve thinks that William Wallace's tactics are "foul play". I didn't agree, but I think that this was a common view historically. Many peoples believed that the only fair way to fi..."

I agree that Wallace's tactics were perfectly sound, but the English didn't, and Reeve had been taught from an early age the code of chivalry which was very strict. You are right that knights thought bows were a dishonorable weapon which is why they were always used by the yeomen. Medieval knights would certainly be appalled by our war tactics today. Even the men going into WWI who had been taught all Napoleonic era war tactics in military schools were appalled to see what life on the front lines was like (yes, they really taught 19th century war tactics)

As for the treatment of prisoners, it could go either way. From what I've read of Wallace, I couldn't see him condoning mistreatment of anyone who didn't deserve it. He didn't have any qualms about killing the English sheriff who murdered his wife, but I don't picture him as a killer when killing wasn't necessary or justified. He had some knightly training himself. Apart from that, as this was originally aimed as being a YA novel, I didn't want my hero to be completely without morals.

Some of the Scots call Reeve a "Sassenach" which I believe literally means Saxon. They are marking him as an outsider, but Ancestry.com says that his surname, Montgomery, is used in Scotland as well as England. Ancestry.com also says that Montgomery is originally Norman French. So calling him a Saxon would seem to be inappropriate. On the other hand, Reeve might have some Saxon ancestors since Normans and Saxons did intermarry. Hazel, what is your concept of Reeve's heritage?

I found the name Montgomery by looking through old Norman names, because I wanted his family to have been of the Norman stock. Sassenach typically means English or anything relating to England, the culture, the people, the ideals, thus 'Sassenach' is more used by Wallace's men as an insult, marking their disdain of everything Reeve stands for, than actually marking his heritage.

Hazel wrote: "I found the name Montgomery by looking through old Norman names, because I wanted his family to have been of the Norman stock. Sassenach typically means English or anything relating to England, the..."

Sassenach is still quite commonly used as an insulting name for the English by the Scottish (I've heard it used recently in fact, which is the only reason I knew what it meant) - I imagine not disimilar to calling a french person a frog..?

To a degree, I suppose. Though it is actually a Gaelic word, and not slang, it's just come to mean more than simply "and Englishman" over the centuries, but normally when it's used, it is used in a derogatory way.

Yes, I am aware that "Sassenach" is used as an insult, but I looked it up and it did originally mean Saxon in Gaelic. So I was pointing out the irony of using that term to insult Reeve when his name is of Norman origin and it is also a name used by Scots.

Speaking of irony, when Cedraig chooses a story to chant, it's "Beowulf" which is a Saxon story, not a Celtic one. I wondered if Cedraig was making a point with that choice. He could have told a Scottish story, but he didn't.

He might have been ;) But Beowulf was also a widely spread story by that time too. I mainly added it because it's a personal favorite of my own.

If anyone's interested, this is a link to the character pictures I did for the story:
http://hazelwest.blogspot.com/2012/07...

Hazel wrote: "If anyone's interested, this is a link to the character pictures I did for the story:
http://hazelwest.blogspot.com/2012/07..."

In my head Gavin was a lot bigger than the others - you know the 'bear' type. Maggie was very like how I pictured her

Gavin's more one of those who is broad, yet thin, if that makes any sense :P He's a Lowland Scot so not as big as the Highlanders :)

Hazel wrote: "I found the name Montgomery by looking through old Norman names, because I wanted his family to have been of the Norman stock. Sassenach typically means English or anything relating to England, the..."

Interestingly one of the main historical characters in my book is Hugh Montgomerie(y) The Montgomeries were a significant clan in Southern Scotland by the 1400s - but can't remember how far back they went (not at home, so can't check)

Melanie wrote: "Hazel wrote: "If anyone's interested, this is a link to the character pictures I did for the story:
http://hazelwest.blogspot.com/2012/07..."

In my head Gavin wa..."

Just looked at your pictures, Hazel - wish I could draw - though I do have historical descriptions / portraits for some of my characters, but of course nothing for my fictional ones - pics would be so good.

There were several branches of the Montgomerys (Montgomeries) that I found when I was looked up the name, and it was eventually a Scottish clan, but they all trace back to a Norman family I believe. At least that's the information I found.

I can pretty much draw people and swords, haha ;) I love sketching out my characters because it sometimes helps me figure out what they look like. It's even better if I can find actors who look like them