March TBR

Welcome back, dear readers

I come to you with an absolute derailment of my reading plans. Originally I had intended to continue my quest to read all the Cassandra Clare books to see what the fuss was about.

 

Then, of course, a hyperfixation woke up and now I'm mired in very old texts about King Arthur.

 

I'm sure it happens to all of us, on occasion reader.  

With that in mind, here is what is currently on my TBR list for March.

March TBR

1. Britain After Rome by Robin Flemming
2. The Age of Arthur by John Morris

 

 I've already combed through Flemming's book to get a sense of what the period from 350-1000s was like based on archaeological findings. Morris' book I'm very excited for, not because it's going to be a great history, but because it's the first time a professional historian tried to write a history of Arthur like he was a 100% real historical figure.

Honestly, from what I've read so far Morris' isn't a bad historian. He just has to rely on very inaccurate texts and (I'm pretty sure) less material evidence in 1973 than Flemming had access to in 2011. Still, the book utterly ruined the man's reputation amongst his peers. The average reader liked the book just fine when it came out.

So The Age of Arthur isn't a great historical source, but that doesn't mean it's without value. Especially to me, reader. I'm trying to collect all the interesting tidbits people have written about Arthur and his famous and mostly fictional knights. My intention? I'm not entirely sure yet, but I do know I want to write a prose version of Gawain and the Green Knight, but even more gay than it already was.

The history research is mostly so I know what the actual period was like before I start inventing things. I find that I have the most fun crafting a story when there's a little nugget of reality alongside it. In this case, the landscape of Roman ruins King Arthur (should he have really been born in c.475) would have grown up in.

I might start writing separate posts about this so I have someplace to put it all. Apologies, dear readers if you have literally no interest in anything related to this period of British history and/or King Arthur. I cannot control the whims of my brain.

I am also behind on my February Wrap up post. I swear, every time I try to summarize a Cassandra Clare book, it grows three new subplots that I forgot to mention. I hope to get it out this weekend. In the event that I do not, dear reader, well. Pour one out for me, I guess.

And as always,

I will see you next time, reader🎃