16 January 2009 Thanks
to all the Tudor enthusiasts who send me news of all the Tudor-related
books being published. I haven't listed them here because....
I've been very busy, plus you can't enter a bookstore without tripping
over a display of Tudor-y stuff.
The fascination for this era simply never ends. Unfortunately, and I suspect many of you will agree, the quality of current Tudor fiction is abysmal. So if you haven't read Ford Madox Ford's The Fifth Queen, or Margaret Irwin's Elizabethan books - in other words, if your only exposure to Tudor fiction is Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, please do yourself a favor and read the truly good stuff.
People often email and ask me to recommend Tudor fiction for them. Really, if you are only looking for an easy-going novel about Elizabeth I, there isn't any difference between Weir or Miles or Gregory. There isn't. They're all middling fiction writers. You're not going to read their prose and be amazed. Gregory throws more sex stuff in, but that's it.
But Margaret Irwin's books are very good, and Ford's work is often fantastic. It's like the difference between the Cate Blanchett Elizabeth films, and Elizabeth R. Eye candy and fluff versus intelligent storytelling and respect for the audience.
I read trashy stuff, too. I'm not being snobby here. But - it's important to read the good, challenging stuff as well. And I hate to think of a fellow Tudor enthusiast missing out on such wonderful books.
(You should also check out Keith Roberts' alternate history masterpiece, Pavane, and George MacDonald Fraser's The Candlemass Road and The Steel Bonnets.)
In other news, Showtime's The Tudors site has a nice little feature - you can place yourself in a Tudor portrait.
The fascination for this era simply never ends. Unfortunately, and I suspect many of you will agree, the quality of current Tudor fiction is abysmal. So if you haven't read Ford Madox Ford's The Fifth Queen, or Margaret Irwin's Elizabethan books - in other words, if your only exposure to Tudor fiction is Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, please do yourself a favor and read the truly good stuff.
People often email and ask me to recommend Tudor fiction for them. Really, if you are only looking for an easy-going novel about Elizabeth I, there isn't any difference between Weir or Miles or Gregory. There isn't. They're all middling fiction writers. You're not going to read their prose and be amazed. Gregory throws more sex stuff in, but that's it.
But Margaret Irwin's books are very good, and Ford's work is often fantastic. It's like the difference between the Cate Blanchett Elizabeth films, and Elizabeth R. Eye candy and fluff versus intelligent storytelling and respect for the audience.
I read trashy stuff, too. I'm not being snobby here. But - it's important to read the good, challenging stuff as well. And I hate to think of a fellow Tudor enthusiast missing out on such wonderful books.
(You should also check out Keith Roberts' alternate history masterpiece, Pavane, and George MacDonald Fraser's The Candlemass Road and The Steel Bonnets.)
In other news, Showtime's The Tudors site has a nice little feature - you can place yourself in a Tudor portrait.