tegels

Never mind my library job got me sent to the Library Show in Birmingham on June 9th. Never mind that the train journey down there was a trial. The there was historical fiction to be had! It came in the form of Roger Bennett the MD of Quaestor 2000 (website currently not working). This small independent publisher produces historical fiction, and very often the titles are set in periods which mainstream publishers think are 'unsexy'. Hence, they currently have a couple of titles (Paths of Exile by Carla Nayland and The Whispering Bell by Brian Sellars) set in the 7th century.

As well as producing paperback, they also do large print, and this is the reason why it was worth their while coming to the Library Show. Roger very kindly gave me a pre-release imperfect copy of The Whispering Bell, which I've just started reading. It wasn't immediately captivating, but is growing on me. A synopsis can be found at: http://www.briansellars.co.uk/bell.html

A title in the pipeline, and of particular interest to Anglo-Saxon fans, is:
Landwaster by Mike Burr - 11th century, Harald Hardrada from Norway to Byzantium to Saxon England

And then there was an hf author talk by Lindsey Davis. She spoke about her new Falco novel Alexandria (http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/alexandria.htm). This is set in the Library of Alexandria, so was of course of interest to my fellow librarians. As usual, Davis was on amusing form, and it's always great to hear her speaking.

I took a couple of photos of Roger Bennett and Lindsey Davis as souvenirs:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98703&id=674305193&l=3e433ffd92

I know it's in the post, and it hasn't arrived today :-( I'm waiting for a book from Amazon. It's called Twilight of Avalon: A Novel of Trystan & Isolde by Anna Elliott, and got a good review from the Historical Novel Society recently. Since it's set in my period of interest, plus I'm short on hf to read at the moment, I thought I'd give it a go.

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... which seems to me (only 30 pages in, admittedly) to be a rather similar set up to his previous book, Of Merchants and Heroes. Cast Not ... however, is set in the 4th Century AD. The hero's Dad has been called to Trier, so the hero has been sent to live with his money-loving uncle in London.