eep

[ewein2412]

I was looking up the ISBN for The Empty Kingdom and discovered that it's been seriously reamed by an Ethiopian reader. Very interesting criticism (it's actually a review of A Coalition of Lions, though he doesn't refer to the title). I'm rather taken aback at his notion that my politics are shamelessly Eritrean Apologist.

http://www.amazon.com/Empty-Kingdom-Mark-Solomon/product-reviews/0670062731/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Comments

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think complaining about the British barbarians is overlooking the fact that the books came out of a book about the British barbarians (and, I admit, The Winter Prince is still my favorite of your books and one of my favorite books, period). You didn't start with Ethiopia and paste the British barbarians in. You started with the Matter of Britain and ended up in Ethiopia.

Sure, there's a story about Ethiopian history that needs to be told, but I'm not sure that you, specifically, not being Ethiopian, are the one to tell it. That said, he may have some points, although I don't know enough about Ethiopian politics to sort them out.

[ewein2412]

one of the things that I remember worrying about at the time I was writing Coalition was that I might fail to do justice to the monastery at Debra Damo--and that it was incredibly unlikely that Goewin would have been allowed in. However, I did find a few lapses in their strict no-girls-allowed policy, not counting Gudit (Judith), the 10th century non-Christian queen who sacked and burned the place!

I don't know much about modern Ethiopian politics either.

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

I have always had the impression that you have specific reasons for deviating from history when you do so. :)

(Huh, I wonder if Gudit was Guy Gavriel Kay's model for Judit in The Last Light of the Sun? I'll have to read up about her.)

[ewein2412]

I have always had the impression that you have specific reasons for deviating from history when you do so. :)

Thank you! That is exactly how I operate!

[tiboribi.livejournal.com]

Isn't The Last Light of the Sun the Viking one? Does it get that far south?

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

It's Norse/Anglo-Saxon/Welsh, and no, it doesn't go that far south. The Judit is in the Anglo-Saxon analogue culture, but I still wouldn't be surprised if there were some inspiration there. Kay's inspirations aren't always super-direct. I dunno, I'm basing this mainly on a couple throwaway lines about Judit's future.