The Autobiography of Henry VIII

The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers is a nice bit of historical fiction by Margaret George. The author makes an interesting point in the afterword of the novel - what we know about some historical figures is based on the writings of people who didn't really like them, including Henry VIII. Unless you've been watching the Tudors (see picture of Henry the hottie), your impression of Henry VIII is probably that he was a cruel (and very obese) man who was more interested in women than he was in ruling. This book is George's attempt to give Henry's side of the story.

The story begins with a series of letters between Somers and a daughter of Mary Boyeln (one of Henry's mistresses). When the king died, Somers took the kings' private journal and hid it away so that Henry's enemies would not take it and destroy it. As Somers is aging he has decided that the journal should go to this woman who was probably fathered by Henry. Somers also took it upon himself to add annotation along the way to provide further explanation, or sometimes just a different point of view. Henry's journal begins with memories of his childhood and continues until close to his death - Somers fills in the end.

George's version of Henry VIII is a ruler who wants to take care of his subjects, and who isn't lustful as much as he just wants to find true love (and a couple of heirs along the way). She by no means tries to make him perfect, she just shows more compassion for him then most biographers have.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, George tells a good tale. I actually found myself sympathyzing with the King at many points. From what I've learned about this period of time, George also does a really good job in regard to historical detail. This is a great book to read if you like history, but like to have a more human point of view rather than recitation of plain facts. I give this book 5 papal dispensations. The dogs skipped this one because they are too busy arguing Hillary vs. Obama. The cat loved this book because once again "her" lap did not move much over the weekend.

Dies the Fire/The Protector's War

Don't worry, they'll save us------->

As I mentioned in a previous post, I really like post-apocalyptic science fiction. It’s interesting to think about how we would re-build and I sometimes wonder if I would survive. After reading the first two books of a trilogy by S.M. Stirling, I’ve come to the conclusion that I would be one of the first ones eaten. In Dies the Fire and The Protector’s War the people who are most successful are excellent swordspersons, magnificent archers, and also know their way around an anvil and forge. That’s right, you guessed it, they are members of the SCA (Society for Creative Anarchism). For those of you not familiar with SCA, these are the folks who study medieval culture and warfare and reenact in their spare time. I’ve seen SCA folks doing their thing and had no idea they were so talented. Well, this is sci-fi fantasy so anything is possible.

The story is about a mysterious event which could be an EMP, except for the fact that is doesn’t just take out electronics, it also renders explosives useless. How convenient for the SCA—no guns. While many people run nilly-willy for canned goods and still try to use money, other folks figure out that life is going to be different for a long time to come and begin to organize. The novel centers on several groups of people:
1) An ex-marine who is piloting a family to their vacation home when the blast causes them to crash in the mountains. Luckily the kids in the group are experienced on horseback and have had archery lessons. The youngest is so obsessed with Tolkien that she actually knows the steps for making a bow. And luckily again, they eventually find a family of horse trainers/traders that includes a man who knows his way around an anvil and forge. They grow into a large group of valiant and honorable fighters known as the Bearkillers.
2) A Wiccan high priestess who owns a lot of land in an isolated area (not that far from where the ex-marine lands) and is joined by quite a few of her coven members. Many of the folks who end up at Dun Juniper are SCA members who are so knowledgeable about the art of war, making weapons and armor, and just about anything else a fledgling society might need. They join forces with the Bearkillers to protect themselves and other good folk from…
3) A medieval studies professor who creates his own Machiavellian kingdom and controls his people through fear. Knowing as many professors as I do, this one cracks me up.

And while anything is possible in fiction, even a science fiction story needs some plausibility and this is one of the problems I have with this series. There are just too many instances of blind luck in these books. I imagine when I finish the last novel in the series I’ll discover that it isn’t luck or coincidence, but the hand of the “Lord and Lady”. You see, just like the author, most of the characters from one settlement are Wiccans so I’m pretty sure that it will be revealed that the gods have been controlling everything all along.

Despite the annoying number of coincidences (if they are indeed coincidence) I did enjoy these books and plan to read the last one of the series—when it’s out in paperback. So that’s my rating, I like them well-enough to buy the last novel in paperback, but not enough to shell out the extra dough for the hardback. The cat did not like these books because the mysterious blast knocked out the power which means no central air or heat. The dogs could care less, they’re busy following the primaries.