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jakewritesbooks's review
4.0
I can’t remember on what suggested list I first heard of Cecilia Holland’s The Firedrake. It was probably when I was searching for stuff related to William the Conqueror. There are oceans of works that cover the Tudor Kings and the Wars of the Roses, but very few touch upon the birth of the English monarchy.
The story of William’s rise is told from the perspective of Laeghaire, a wandering Irish mercenary knight. Holland does a great job of making the reader care about his plight. Her prose is fantastic and despite the slimness of the volume, she takes her time in building the story. It’s not a slow burn; there’s plenty of action. But I also got a sense of time and place and person. I found Laeghaire to be boorish at times but I was captured by his story up through the final page. And that’s mostly a credit to the writer.
While there is some political maneuvering discussed as Laeghaire gets close to the eventual King William (sorry for spoilers but again, this is historical fiction), the focus of the book is his journey to different places. It’s not as much of a quest, rather a story about a person who has a specific duty to do one thing and carries it out to the best of his abilities, not worried what will come of tomorrow. In this regard, it made for a more engaging read as I truly did not know what was happening next on Laeghaire’s journey, even as I knew how the history itself would unfold.
The gender part is tough at times. Holland is honest about the book’s 11th century era sexual politics. She doesn’t wallow in them, per se but some scenes are uncomfortable to read. I guess it helps this was written by a woman but there are still some pretty awful dynamics so be forewarned. Otherwise, if you want a well-written historical fiction read, check this out.
The story of William’s rise is told from the perspective of Laeghaire, a wandering Irish mercenary knight. Holland does a great job of making the reader care about his plight. Her prose is fantastic and despite the slimness of the volume, she takes her time in building the story. It’s not a slow burn; there’s plenty of action. But I also got a sense of time and place and person. I found Laeghaire to be boorish at times but I was captured by his story up through the final page. And that’s mostly a credit to the writer.
While there is some political maneuvering discussed as Laeghaire gets close to the eventual King William (sorry for spoilers but again, this is historical fiction), the focus of the book is his journey to different places. It’s not as much of a quest, rather a story about a person who has a specific duty to do one thing and carries it out to the best of his abilities, not worried what will come of tomorrow. In this regard, it made for a more engaging read as I truly did not know what was happening next on Laeghaire’s journey, even as I knew how the history itself would unfold.
The gender part is tough at times. Holland is honest about the book’s 11th century era sexual politics. She doesn’t wallow in them, per se but some scenes are uncomfortable to read. I guess it helps this was written by a woman but there are still some pretty awful dynamics so be forewarned. Otherwise, if you want a well-written historical fiction read, check this out.
lnatal's review
1.0
Just arrived from Oregon. Would I love or hate Cecelia Holland's books??
What is this book about??
What is this book about??
nigellicus's review
5.0
Laeghaire of the Long Road, from Tralee, no less, an Irish mercenary knight, a devil of a fighter and, well, a devil in general, finds his way, indirectly, into the employ of William of Normandy. The two make an impression on each other in the course of a Summer campaign, but to say much more than that might give things away, though I'm sure even the most casual student of history will work out where it's all headed.
This is Holland's first novel, and it shows a bit as in her first pages of terse, short sentences she's grappling with her craft and learning the difference between short sentences that are monotonous and repetitive, and short sentences interspersed with sentences of more varied length leading to an effect that would be praised as 'hard-boiled' in a crime novel, but which suits descriptions of deadly but prosaic men going about the business of warfare and statecraft. Laegharie is an intense, morose, driven, haunted man who is beating off bandits one minute and buying peasant girls the next; pillaging a landscape one minute, doting on his son by the bought peasant girl the next; but on the whole, Laeghaire is not destined for happiness, whether by mischance or his own love of violence, and if a happy life eludes him, then violence he gets a-plenty, waiting for him on a hill outside Hastings.
Anyway, it's superb.
This is Holland's first novel, and it shows a bit as in her first pages of terse, short sentences she's grappling with her craft and learning the difference between short sentences that are monotonous and repetitive, and short sentences interspersed with sentences of more varied length leading to an effect that would be praised as 'hard-boiled' in a crime novel, but which suits descriptions of deadly but prosaic men going about the business of warfare and statecraft. Laegharie is an intense, morose, driven, haunted man who is beating off bandits one minute and buying peasant girls the next; pillaging a landscape one minute, doting on his son by the bought peasant girl the next; but on the whole, Laeghaire is not destined for happiness, whether by mischance or his own love of violence, and if a happy life eludes him, then violence he gets a-plenty, waiting for him on a hill outside Hastings.
Anyway, it's superb.
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