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A review by english_lady03
Adventures and Adversities by Sarah Holman
3.0
I just today finished listening to the audiobook of this story. Thank goodness for Audiobooks. The narrator was- OK- but the book was better. It was a good, old fashioned, clean and wholesome adventure story about three young people who have to come through incredibly difficult circumstances, as well as the trials of life, whilst keeping their faith and loyalty one another. The relatively young author has created a remarkably good story, with characters I genuinely came to care about.
As Medieval-type Fantasy goes, I would say was actually better than some of the Historical Fiction novels I have read, which are supposed to be more accurate or closer to reality. I think it was the absence of Political Correctness and modern judgement which made it a little more authentic.
There's no agenda here or proselytizing with modern values, although some might consider some passages a little on the preachy side, but I did not feel it detracted from the story.
I was however disappointed when I found that the author had in her words, chosen to 'drop' the fictional setting into Europe, and the characters started mentioning real countries like Britain France (Gaul as it was called here) and cultures. It was good as pure fantasy, but making it Historical was, I fear a mistake because it very much undermined the historical accuracy of the story.
There were Vikings alongside castles and tournaments, for instance. Some people might not see anything wrong with that as 'its all Medieval'- but it’s a big deal, as by the Twelfth century when stone castles became common and tournaments popular, the Viking Age was pretty much over. Most of them had converted to Christianity and were much more settled by then.
Also, the language left something to be desired, Americanisms like 'getting mad at' were frequent, and the characters used modern terms such as 'okay' a few times. The reference to a Mountain Lion was also rather jarring. We haven't had lions in Europe since before Christ, and even then, they were more like Asian or African lions not American mountain lions.
To positives generally outweighed the negatives, although like another reviewer I feel the story could have benefitted from more research. I have the other two titles in the series, as well as two accompanying novellas, which I look forward to reading in the not too distant future.
As Medieval-type Fantasy goes, I would say was actually better than some of the Historical Fiction novels I have read, which are supposed to be more accurate or closer to reality. I think it was the absence of Political Correctness and modern judgement which made it a little more authentic.
There's no agenda here or proselytizing with modern values, although some might consider some passages a little on the preachy side, but I did not feel it detracted from the story.
I was however disappointed when I found that the author had in her words, chosen to 'drop' the fictional setting into Europe, and the characters started mentioning real countries like Britain France (Gaul as it was called here) and cultures. It was good as pure fantasy, but making it Historical was, I fear a mistake because it very much undermined the historical accuracy of the story.
There were Vikings alongside castles and tournaments, for instance. Some people might not see anything wrong with that as 'its all Medieval'- but it’s a big deal, as by the Twelfth century when stone castles became common and tournaments popular, the Viking Age was pretty much over. Most of them had converted to Christianity and were much more settled by then.
Also, the language left something to be desired, Americanisms like 'getting mad at' were frequent, and the characters used modern terms such as 'okay' a few times. The reference to a Mountain Lion was also rather jarring. We haven't had lions in Europe since before Christ, and even then, they were more like Asian or African lions not American mountain lions.
To positives generally outweighed the negatives, although like another reviewer I feel the story could have benefitted from more research. I have the other two titles in the series, as well as two accompanying novellas, which I look forward to reading in the not too distant future.