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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Stonehenge - Bernard Cornwell

Stonehenge is a novel of prehistoric times in which we have no recorded history and little archaeological data. The monument Stonehenge is not the only ancient temple found in Great Britain. There are many scattered across the country.

Having very few facts to derive a story, the author paints a picture of big battle, lust and ego. The story revolves around three brothers: Lengar, the warrior; Camaban, the club-footed madman; and the main character, Saban. As their rivalries grow, so does the need for a grand temple in their homeland. A temple to bring back the favor of the gods.

The author describes many of the processes involved with moving the large stones and the alignment of the stones with the sun and moon in relation to the solstices.

Although this standalone book has little historical events for the modern reader to relate to, the author's character building and plotting is topnotch, implementing love of child and spouse, bloodlust, death and victory.

2 comments:

david santos said...

Excellent post, excellent!
Happy day

Anonymous said...

The post is incorrect. There is a wealth of archaeological information from the "prehistoric" - no longer a relevant term. However, most historical fiction writers are afraid of submitting fiction mansuscripts set in this era because the NY agents and editors are too uninformed to accept it. EG, a NY editor with a Big House publisher actually commented as follows (regarding 2000 BC) : "Were there people in Europe then?" So what is accepted for publication is like Cornwell's -- soap opera plots, predictable and forgettable, with no substance.