Jack Vance, 1916-2013

Regular visitors to ::Acquired Taste will know of my devotion to the works of Jack Vance, who died at the weekend aged 96.  His books have inspired and delighted me for over thirty years, and when I was I was lucky enough to meet him when working on the Vance Integral Edition, he disproved the old maxim that you should never meet your heroes.  His down-to-earth geniality showed that you should never mistake the authorial voice for the author himself; Vance's prose was at once meticulous and distant with a diamond cutting-edge.  And while Jack Vance the man had a real sense of fun, his work's humour mines an altogether drier and darker territory.

Jack Vance at the helm of a boat,
one of his favourite pastimes

I first discovered Jack Vance's novels as a teenager, and his books enlivened a generally gloomy adolescence.  Unlike just about any other writer I read at that age, I can read his work with equal pleasure today (more, in some cases, as life experience validates some of his insights). 

He has clearly been huge influence on me (as well as many better writers, G.R.R. Martin to name but one), and if any visitors to this blog haven't yet read any Jack Vance, I'd suggest now is a good time to start. 

It's a cliche, but we shouldn't mourn Jack Vance's death, but instead celebrate the magnificent body of work he produced, and be glad that his stories will still be around to enthral generations to come.

This year I will be reading mainly...

Past visitors to ::Acquired Taste may remember that a couple of years ago I was working on a story called "Shadow Puppet", the story of a bomber pilot and the war between the imaginary realms of Lauchenland and Beruzil.

For various reasons this aeronautical tale never took off.  Now I'm returning to it in a rather different form.  The bombers are replaced by airships.  Lauchenland and Beruzil make way for the Holy Roman Empire.  And the whole things takes place in a 19th century with some major differences to the one you learned about at school.


"The Last Stagecoach"
by Vadim Voitekhovitch
A wonderful evocation of an airship age that never was

The picture above is one of a series of hugely atmospheric steampunk fancies by Vadim - to see the full range, check out his remarkable gallery here.

Real-world stories--even those set in an alternate past--require real-world research.  So what I have been reading (pretty much non-stop for the past six months)?

Blog Tour - Today Hosting Aliya Whiteley

The arrival of local writers causes
Attibassi to empty instantly

I've long admired the work of my fellow ex-Macmillan New Writer, Aliya Whiteley (and reviewed her debut Three Things About Me).  Recently Aliya relocated with her family to the south coast, only a few miles from where I live, and from time to time we have a coffee in the relaxed surroundings of Attibassi in Chichester.


In 17th century London writers met in coffee houses for trenchant debate and the odd bout of fisticuffs occasioned by the issues of the day.  Chichester ain't that kind of town, and our conversations, although naturally of an elevated intellectual cast, lack the ink-spotted fervour of Pepys and his contemporaries.  Last week we discussed badgers and Aliya's latest book, a collection of short stories entitled Witchcraft in the Harem published by Dog Horn Publishing.  Our conlcusions on badgers can be summarised by noting that they often urinate in inconvenient locations, but of perhaps more general interest is what Aliya had to say about Witchcraft in the Harem.

These badgers wait until my back is turned
before performing a nuisance

TS: Some writers seem to have a natural gift for the short story (I certainly don't).  What is it about the short form that appeals to you?

AW: I think it’s the circularity of it, and the detail. You make your point, you tie it all back up to the beginning, and you get the hell out of Dodge. You concentrate on one or two key moments, and the sheer complexity of the novel is not an issue.

TS: The major publishing houses are notoriously unwilling to publish collections of short fiction.  Why do you think there is such a small market for what can be one of the most provocative and exciting fictional forms?

AW: I really don’t know. People tell me all the time that they love short stories, and the short form would seem to be a natural companion to the hectic pace of modern life. I wonder if simpler books are selling so well (Twilight and 50 Shades, say) because they can be held in your head so easily. There are fewer characters and only one or two plots that have very straight lines to them – perfect for picking up for ten minutes or so during a lunch break or at the end of the day. I don’t know why short stories didn’t rush in to fill that market. You do have to start over with a new idea every time, I suppose, when you read a short story. You have to concentrate to get the best from it.

TS: Genre labels are more popular with publishers and agents than with writers, who generally don't like being pigeon-holed.  You've written crime, science fiction and more recently have occupied the "feminist literary fantasy" corner.  Do you feel even that label is too reductive?

AW: I just don’t think I’m going to be a feminist literary fantasy writer forever. I like how writing changes and grows as new thoughts occur to me, and new issues excite me. I write wherever that leads and let other people sort out the labels. But for now I’ll be a literary fantasy writer. I’m always a feminist.

TS: The Macmillan New Writers who have been the most commercially successful have tended to be the crime writers.  Were you tempted to stick with crime for longer, or are you happier dwelling among the untrodden ways of small-press experimental fiction?

AW: I found it very difficult to write to order. The order was – another crime novel just like Light Reading, please, and the more I tried the more unhappy I became.  Nobody wanted fantastical elements in those books, and my brain refused to write something more mundane, so in the end I had to (very unwillingly!) admit defeat. But within a week of giving up on it all I sold a fantasy story to Strange Horizons and felt so much better. Hopefully I’ve learned not to chase the money, but to chase the stories instead.

TS: You contribute regularly to the influential Den of Geek blog, where you display an encyclopaedic knowledge of film history.  Do you think your affinity with cinema influences your fiction?

AW: Having made two short films in the past, I can categorically state that they’re very different art forms! I’m not keen on very cinematic writing, where everything is described apart from what’s going on in the characters’ heads. I like mucking about with words too much. And time. And point of view.

This is really one of those things that sounds deep but actually isn’t deep at all, but sometimes I think that cinema tells you what to see, but the written word can tell you what to feel.

Don’t analyse that too hard. It doesn’t really make any sense. But I do love film, and books, equally. Just in different ways.


TS: Of course, we wouldn't stoop to crass product-placement on this blog, but when and where is your launch party for Witchcraft in the Harem, where readers can meet the author and buy the book?

AW:  It’s on Monday May 13^th at Victoria Library in London. 6pm to 7.30pm. My publisher informs me there will be wine and crisps, which should help to break the ice. I’m going to read a short story. I haven’t decided which one yet. All suggestions gratefully received. One of my own stories would be preferable, but I’ll do something from Winnie the Pooh if I get enough of the free wine.

TS: And finally, if you were a badger, which inconvenient place would you choose to urinate?

AW: Isn’t badger urine always inconvenient? Wherever you come across it, it’s not going to be welcome when you step in a puddle of it. What about you? What would your badger name be? Mine would be Melvyn Bragg. All badgers look a little like Melvyn Bragg, I’m thinking.

TS: I'd have to go for "Pampers".  There's clearly a huge untapped market for badger nappies, and if I were a badger I'd be out there exploiting it.

If you've stayed with us this far you deserve an
 immaculately presented Attibassi cappuccino

Thanks to Aliya for dropping by at ::Acquired Taste.  Witchcraft in the Harem is available directly from Dog Horn Publishing or the usual online book retailers.  You can follow her on Twitter @AliyaWhiteley.

On self-publishing ebooks

Most writers will reach a point in their labours where they find that commercial publishers are not interested in the book which have been years in the making.  In days gone by, that was pretty much that: time to move on, either to another book or perhaps taking up carpet bowls.

More recently, print-on-demand self-publishing became an option for the enthusiast and not just the obsessive.  With no expensive print run, any writer could publish a book at minimal financial risk.  All four of my novels (including The Dog of the North before Macmillan picked it up) followed that path.

Two Gentlemen of Verona, with apologies to William Shakespeare

About this time of year in 1997--16 years ago, although that barely seems possible--I sat down in front of my very first PC.  I was determined that, having run out of excuses, I would write the novel I had been promising myself for years.  I had some vivid characters and the outline of the plot.

That Friday evening, after a day at work and a light dinner, I wrote the opening chapter of The Zael Inheritance.  (It transpired, in a process that all novelists will understand, that I'd actually written Chapter 7).

After a brief adjournment...

After a break of over 18 months, ::Acquired Taste lives again.  You may want to believe I've spent the interval on a new--or more accurately, first--masterpiece which I'm now ready to share with the world/pimp shamelessly.

A New Release

I'm delighted to announce that the ebook of The Last Free City has been re- released today as an ebook with Thirst eDitions - who also re-published Dragonchaser earlier this year.  A publication day is always exciting, but what's doubly so about this one is that it's being released alongside MFW Curran's barnstorming The Secret War, an old school historical fantasy adventure. I've known Matt Curran for several years; we are the only straight fantasy writers to have been published by Macmillan New Writing, so it's a pleasure to be published alongside Matt with Thirst eDitions.

If you're over here on ::Acquired Taste you're probably already familiar with my novels, but you may be less so with Matt's.  If you have a Kindle, why not get both books, and still have change from the price of most paperbacks and ebooks.

Things have been quiet over here lately.  Unfortunately that doesn't mean I have a new novel ready for you all.  Instead I've been preoccupied with some major family health issues which have taken most of my time away from writing.  Instead my leisure time has been spent reading (never a bad thing for a writer on sabbatical to be doing) and trying to decide which of my nebulous ideas I will start fleshing out when I return to writing at full speed.

My book of the year so far, for those looking for something to read, is Phillip Kerr's Prague Fatale.  It's the latest in Kerr's series of novels about Bernie Gunther, an honest cop in 1930s Berlin.  The translation of this instalment to Prague reinvigorates the series, and gives us wonderful locked room mystery with a cast of real-life Nazis and a tip of the hat to Agatha Christie.  Highly recommended!

Furst Among Equals

You all got the ebook of Dragonchaser while it was free, right? (If you didn't, it's now £1.53 so it shouldn't break the bank).  You might be wondering now what to download and read next.  I can't recommend anything else free, I'm afraid, but you could do much worse than pick up Alan Furst's WWII espionage novels, starting with Night Soldiers.

 

Furst is at the John le Carre end of the spectrum rather than Ian Fleming.  The novels are quiet and understated, much of the drama internal (although when the external world intrudes, it's often with shattering effect).

Furst's protagonists are pragmatists, not ideologues.  They are looking to survive in a world whose rules they did not write, and which often they don't fully understand.  The mechanics of the 1930s Soviet Union, where your friends are far more dangerous than your enemies, and "recalled to Moscow" is always a one-way trip, are especially well realised.

These novels are not for everyone.  Palates jaded by the helter-skelter pace of contemporary thrillers may find themselves asking "where's the beef?" (witnessed by some uncomprehending Amazon reviews), but once you've adjusted to Furst's calm prose and measured plotting, there's much of interest in store for the attentive reader.

Get Dragonchaser - free!

Monday 23 April marks the launch of the Thirst eDitions ebook of Dragonchaser, alongside the promised excellent volumes from Aliya Whiteley and Ian Hocking.  The Thirst eDitions website will tell you plenty more about the authors and their work.

Even better, for the first five days all these ebooks will be FREE!

How can we afford to give our work away?  It's simple - we wrote it so that you could read it.  Download it, try it - and if you like it, maybe you'll buy some of our paid-for work, or recommend us to your friends.

Coming Soon - a New Edition of Dragonchaser

The word 'exciting' is grossly overused in publishing.  I am allowing myself a frisson of anticipation, however, at the news that Dragonchaser will be re-released as an ebook on 23 April.  That's not the exciting bit, though; that date marks the launch of the new electronic publisher Thirst eDitions - run by writers for writers.  On the same day there will be a special promotional launch of Aliya Whiteley's Mean Mode Median; Roger Morris' The Bridge That Bunuel Built; and Ian Hocking's Proper Job.  This is amazing company to be keeping, and there will be others following soon after, including Frances Garrood's new novel Basic Theology for Fallen Women.

To mark the occasion, Dragonchaser will have a new cover, at the moment looking something like this:

A bonus point for anyone who can tell me the name of my illustrious, if unwitting, cover artist.

Danish Invasion

During the Dark Ages, with the Vikings at their belligerent high-water mark, the English used to pay the Danes to stay away: Danegeld.  These days, it seems, the boot is on the other foot.  Now we pay them to come over here - or at least to send us their best television.  The two series of The Killing are among the best crime dramas in recent years; and last weekend saw the final episode of something even better: Borgen, a compelling and incisive study of the insidious effects of power, starring the magnetic Sidse Babett Knudsen.

Knudsen plays Birgitte Nyborg, the leader of a minority Danish party who, to the despair of her spin-doctor, throws away her script and speaks from the heart.  This moment makes a connection with the voters, and she scores an unexpected electoral success which makes her Staatsminister (Prime Minister) heading a fragile coalition.  She soon finds, however, that gaining power is the easy part; as the series unfolds, she is forced into a series of compromises and betrayals that take her ever further from the idealism which swept her into office.

You may have difficulty in believing that a subtitled drama about the intricacies of Danish coalition government can travel.  But Borgen uses this backdrop to explore themes of Shakespearean breadth: the nature of power, the corruption of ideals, loss of trust and betrayal.  Any temptation to soften the ending is resisted: the finale is bleak, and the price of power is exacted in full.

If you only watch one subtitled programme this year, make sure it's Borgen.

Attention!  Are you a really cheap person?

Do you begrudge paying £12.27 for The Last Free City but find £9.20 an altogether more attractive proposition?

If so, this special offer from Lulu is just for you.

Simply follow this link before 31 January, buy the book and enter the promotional code LULUBOOK305 at the checkout for a 25% discount.  It also works for all my other books except The Dog of the North - that's The Zael Inheritance, Dragonchaser or any of the omnibus editions.

What's keepin' ya?

Pop over to Macmillan New Writers...

...where a number of us are displaying extracts from our recent works - including an excerpt from The Last Free City which you will only have seen if you've bought the book.

Why not nip over and have a look?

Strange Books of Our Times

If ever a book qualified for the description "niche market", it's one which I got hold of last week: Les Compagnons de Villehardouin, by Jean Longnon.  Longnon has trawled, I suspect over many decades, through the primary sources of the Fourth Crusade.  His goal: to identify and provide capsule descriptions of all the Frankish crusaders who accompanied Geoffrey de Villehardouin on the crusade to Constantinople.  The historical record is scanty, and most can be summed in a paragraph, invariably ending in their death at the battle of Adrianople in 1205.  Longnon also throws in a few non-Frankish crusaders, including our old friend Boniface of Montferrat; he avoids death at the battle of Adrianople by the sensible expedient of being elsewhere at the time, but the reaper catches up with him two years later when he's killed in an ambush.

Les Compagnons de Villehardouin is described somewhere on the internet (the book is almost impossible to source) as "for serious students of the Fourth Crusade only".  That must mean me, then.  It has no narrative as such, but as a source of minor characters for a novel it's invaluable (and also a good way of summarising what happened to the major ones).  It's also in French, which is less than ideal for someone's who's only had a glancing acquaintance with the language since my O-Levels.  But with a bit of perseverance, it's surprisingly easy to extract the main information.

My researches, then, continue.  Next time, we'll look at women in the Middle Ages, where information is not always easy to mine.

The Historical Novelist's Choices

My research into the Fourth Crusade has been going very well (and so it should be - I've been reading nothing else since mid-September).  Knowing a lot of facts about the Crusade doesn't get you very far as a writer, though.  It's like buying a pet sheep and expecting to get a jumper out of it.  You have the raw material but you need a lot of skill and labour to turn it into the end-product.

After the critical "when and where?" question has been addressed, the writer of historical fiction has at least two other critical decisions to make.  These are the proportion of genuine historical characters in your story (the peerless HBO series Rome adroitly mixed the giants of the late Roman republic with fictional characters), and the balance between character and action (which we can also think of as the extent to which the drama is internal or external).  I've plotted a few historical novelists on the graph below to suggest where their work falls against both of those criteria:

A writer at the top left, like Bernard Cornwell, writes mainly action-centred stories built around fictional characters.  Depth of characterisation will be sacrificed for pace and excitement, and appearances from characters from history will be rare.  At the other extreme, Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian is a largely interior drama imaginatively recreating the psyche of a genuine historical character.  Closer to the middle we have writers like Dorothy Dunnett or CJ Sansom, who in their different ways interweave historical and fictional characters while balancing character and action.

There isn't one right way to do this, and the reader's enjoyment will be conditioned by the author's execution and personal taste.  I myself found Memoirs of Hadrian one of the most boring novels I've ever read, but I love the work of Allan Massie, which sits very close to it on my quadrant.

These are choices I still need to make for Sons of the Devil.  My thinking at the moment is somewhere round about Robert Graves or Sharon Penman on the graph.  Once that's sorted, I'll need to consider some more plot-specific questions: the identity of my protagonist(s), starting point of the story, narrative tone.  But for now, those things can wait.  Instead, I must continue my journey through Charles M. Brand's compelling Byzantium Confronts the West, which explains in convincing detail just why Constantinople was ready to fall to a group of quarelling opportunists in 1204...

What's In A Name?

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

John 8:44

Last time we looked at some of the material available on the Fourth Crusade (there is plenty more - this is a subject historians made whole careers from).  Today I'm starting to explore how that might express itself in fiction.

The Crusades, however their original intentions became perverted, sprung from a religious impulse.  Any attempt to write about them in our largely secular age is doomed to failure unless it recognises that people had a fundamentally different world-view at the time of the Crusades; sober and reliable chroniclers can mix accurate eyewitness accounts with tales of miracles and spiritual apparitions.

With this in mind, I thought a title drawn, directly or indirectly, from the Bible would be a good place to start.  I ended up with the passage quoted at the head of the piece (taken from the never-bettered King James version - the progressive enfeeblement of subsequent contemporary versions can only be deplored).  The quotation above readily fits the Fourth Crusade, whose participants may have felt they were inspired by God, but whose achievements were rather less elevated.  The working title for the first instalment paraphrases the verse to become: Sons of the Devil.

Future volumes--if this is not looking too far ahead--have titles that similarly take their inspiration from the same source.  The second volume, covering the sack of Constantinople, is The Land Desolate.  Again the King James version gives us the crispest prose.

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Isaiah 13:9 

The final volume treats the early days of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, and resolves the stories of those characters who survived the first two volumes.  In this case I set aside my fidelity to the King James version; the New American Standard version has greater force.

For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

This gives us the title for the last part of the story as The Fate of Beasts.

All that remains now is the little matter of finishing research and writing the book(s).  Next time, we'll look at some of the narrative choices I'll have to make before I can start.

The Fourth Crusade - a Selective Bibliography

My recent research into the Fourth Crusade has been making good progress.  I have learned--and unlearned-- a lot more than I did a month ago, although inevitably there is always more...  

The Siege of Constantinople

The mutual incomprehension and different motives between the Pope, the Franks, the Venetians and the Byzantines led to a tragedy of accelerating inevitability.  There were no Christian winners of the Fourth Crusade: Constantinople, immeasurably the greatest city in the world, was all but gutted and its empire emasculated; few of the Crusade's leaders survived to return home.  Those Crusaders who pressed on to the Holy Lands achieved next to nothing, and Jerusalem remained in Muslim hands.  The Crusade mounted three successful assaults on cities: Constantinople twice, and Zara once; all were Christian.

Those who are interested in the topic may find my reading list helpful.  There is no shortage of well-written and researched material on the subject, although it has surprisingly rarely featured in fiction.

Primary Sources

The Conquest of Constantinople, Robert of Clari

This account of the conquest, by a humble knight, neatly counterbalances Villehardouin's "official" version.  Not to be relied on facts, but his awe on arriving at Constantinople is palpable.

The Conquest of Constantinople, Geoffrey of Villehardouin

One of the Crusade leaders, Villehardouin is not always to be taken at face value.  His negotiations with the Venetians at the outset set in train many of the horrific consequences of the Crusade, and he understandably keen to push responsibility elsewhere.

Histories of the Crusade

The Fourth Crusade, David Nicolle

This Osprey illustrated history, only 100 or so pages, is an excellent primer.  The battlefield diagrams, as one would expect from Osprey, are invaluable.

The Fourth Crusade - the Conquest of Constantinope, Donald Queller and Thomas Madden

Perhaps the definitive history of the Crusade.  Queller and Madden judiciously assess the sources, clearly outline the sequence of events and delineate the key players.  Indispensable for students of the period.

The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, Jonathan Phillips

Covers much the same ground as Queller and Madden, in equally engaging fashion.  In line with most modern scholarship, Phillips acquits the Venetians of the charge of wilfully aiming the Crusade at Constantinople.

Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice, Thomas Madden

Working on his own this time, Madden gives a fascinating insight of Venetian society throughout the 12th century and shows how the Venetian doge Dandolo was shaped and constrained by his environment.  Impressive scholarship and a stimulating tale.

The Fourth Crusade, Michael Angold

Angold approaches the Crusade thematically rather than chronologically, so this is not the place to start your crusade researches; but once you understand the events and the sources, this study offers some telling insights.

Histories of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages, Morris Bishop

A high-level study of a lengthy period by its nature offers little detail, but this is a good overview for the beginner.  Bishop, an American career historian, bizarrely dismisses the Emperor Frederick 'Stupor Mundi' (perhaps the first 'Renaissance prince') as "not really a very nice man", which is perhaps not entirely to the point.

Daily Life in the Middle Ages, Paul B Newman

This one does exactly what it says on the tin.  Food, drink, underwear, armour, medicine: all human life is here.  Well worth a read for anyone interested in any aspect of the Middle Ages.

Although the Fourth Crusade is fascinating, the book titles display a dismal lack of variety.  The logic of calling your book "The Fourth Crusade" is undeniable, but in fiction we can allow ourselves a little more latitude.  Tune in next time to see my working title...

"Where Do You Get Your Ideas?"

This is notoriously the question that irritates writers the most.  I'm never sure why  (Personally I'd rather hear that than some clown on my doorstep asking "Can you spare £2 a month?" or "When did you last speak to God?").  I think perhaps it's because the question so fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the creative process.  A novel is a synthesis of influences and stimuli and there's very rarely a "ping" when the essence of the thing springs into existence.  For various reasons, I doubt that Melville was slumped in front of  the Discovery Channel eating pretzels one evening watching a documentary about whales and was thus inspired to write Moby Dick.

That said, sometimes there is an identifiable moment when a notion pregnant with possibilities leaps forth.  This is rarely in a very usable format but, with suitable polishing, the rough diamond may eventually turn into a jewel for all to admire.

Such a moment occurred for me a month or so ago.  At last year's Chichester Writing Festival, one of the panellists was Jonathan Phillips, Professor of the History of the Crusades at Royal Holloway University of London.  He was there to plug his latest book, Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades.

Professor Phillips was an engaging speaker and his book also seemed interesting, and made its way onto my Christmas list, from where it languished unread for many months.  The Crusades are of interest to all students of the Middle Ages, and in the past I've read Runciman's three-volume account more than once, and Norwich's popular histories of Byzantium and Venice have also treated the topic.  But it was not until I read Phillips' brief examination of the Fourth Crusade that I realised how magnificently it would lend itself to fiction.

The Fourth Crusade, preached by the choleric and dynamic Pope Innocent III, set out to recover Jerusalem from the Saracens, who had taken possession under Saladin some years previously.  Things did not go according to plan.  The predominantly French crusaders contracted with the Republic of Venice to transport them by sea to the Holy Lands; unfortunately they had somewhat overestimated the number of crusaders, and the wily Venetians (led by the scarcely credible blind nonagerian Enrico Dandolo) had negotiated a fixed price contract.  With no way to pay, they instead agreed to stop off and besiege Zara, a city coveted by the Venetians, but inconveniently a Christian one.  Having circumvented the further obstacle of excommunication by a furious Pope, they then found themselves inveigled into another side-project, this time the restoration of the claimant to the (once again Christian) Imperial throne of Byzantium.  This involved another siege and assault, this time of the impregnable walls of Constantinople.  The Crusaders' valour was unquestioned, but their political skills were more dubious, and they had failed adequately to assess the credentials of their candidate, the worthless Alexius Angelos.  And that  takes us merely to the end of the first volume of our tale...

Professor Phillips clearly shares my fascination for the Fourth Crusade, since I found he had written a volume devoted solely to that topic.

This book only cemented my enthusiasm.  The crusade contained all kinds of heroism,bizarre reversals of fortune, tragedy and triumph.  There are also some surprisingly readable primary sources, including Geoffrey of Villehardouin, essentially the crusade's chief of staff.  Even after eight centuries, his character shines through: brave, pious, but also dogmatic and humourless - and no match for the subtle Venetians.

The Fourth Crusade readily lends itself to a trilogy, for the story naturally falls into three self-contained blocks, and many of the central characters are already drawn from history with vivid strokes.  All I need is once more to tackle my ambivalent relationship as a writer with historical fiction.  Watch this space...

News on The Last Free City

Readers who previously cavilled at paying £5.99 for the ebook of The Last Free City need bridle no longer.  You can now buy it on the Kindle for £0.86, $0.75 or €0.99, depending on your country of residence.  This is surely a bargain no-one can resist!

If you need any further incentive, this encomium from Chris Turner's thoughtful blog ::Fantastic Realms should clinch the deal:

In Tim Stretton’s entertaining The Last Free City we have hierarchical and intricate organization. A tightly-knit society where etiquette and tradition rule, and tradition seal the acts of most of the characters—most, except the rebel protagonist Todarko who goes up against the grain; his emotional convictions won’t let him sit back and stay complaisant, nor the disgruntled second-in-line descendant, Malvazan, who is constantly seeking recognition. Stretton is attempting to bring life to a world which defies change. Its petty politics and machinations of the ruling class clamp individuals down, heroes and villains alike. I admire Stretton for the purity of his attack. He is not relying on magical tropes or talismans to ‘jazz up’ his world, or serve as convenient means to get his characters out of jams. No, they must fend for themselves and use their own wits. This is somewhat artful and to be admired in today’s world of ever-growing adventure and pseudo-magical tales. The strength of  The Last Free City lies in its vivid depiction of reality of its participants. They are linked together in complex ways, and are intelligently-wrought humorous characters who meld perfectly with their renaissance world.