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A review by carolhoggart
The Ill-Made Knight by Christian Cameron
5.0
I've never read a medieval-set historical novel that feels so very authentic. Cameron is a dedicated historical re-enactor, and shows in every page of The Ill-Made Knight. The Hundred Years' War of the 1350s and 60s is brought to vivid, uncomfortable life. Warfare isn't just about blood and swords, but also about sewing ripped clothing, scavenging for dead men's armour of your size, blurring boundaries between enemies (some of the English hero, William Gold's, best 'friends' in the first part of the book are French), and being everlastingly short of money.
The story is, as the title suggests, centred around William's ambition to become a knight. Yet it is not enough for William simply to be dubbed, but he must learn through often horrendous experience, just what knighthood and chivalry means. War in France is shown to be soul-destroying. The English rape the French countryside (and the women) in the aftermath of Poitiers. William Gold does as all the rest do, and dies inside as he does so. William must discover a saving grace in order not to descend to the barbarity of characters such as the Bourc Camus.
Despite its wonderful authenticity and the thought-provoking treatment of knighthood, I took quite a while to read this book because it lacked a driving plot. I'm not sure this is a flaw, for William's drift from one scene of war to another felt very real. It did, however, slow the reading down a lot.
I wasn't completely convinced by Cameron's treatment of Geoffrey Chaucer. While Chaucer's cutting critique of William's actions and warfare in France in general certainly rang true, Chaucer himself seemed a bit too acerbic to be in keeping with the tone of his writing. I was intrigued, however, by the possibility that Cameron based aspects of William Gold's character and career on the Knight of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, who notably wears armour "al bismotered" with dirt, tells a tale of beautiful "Emelye", and is about to go on Crusade as the book ends.
Finally, a very minor niggle: Cameron's portrayal of medieval swearing was oddly mixed. He seesaws between modern swearing and medieval-style blasphemy. As I understand it, medieval Christians did not consider explicit reference to bodily functions to be particularly bad words. The sort of phrases that Milady or Father Pierre really would object to, however, were those that took the Lord's name in vain.
But there isn't a historical novelist alive or dead who manages to avoid all anachronism or minor error. A friend lent me this copy of The Ill-Made Knight. I'm going to go out right away and buy my own so it can sit in pride of place in my bookshelf!
The story is, as the title suggests, centred around William's ambition to become a knight. Yet it is not enough for William simply to be dubbed, but he must learn through often horrendous experience, just what knighthood and chivalry means. War in France is shown to be soul-destroying. The English rape the French countryside (and the women) in the aftermath of Poitiers. William Gold does as all the rest do, and dies inside as he does so. William must discover a saving grace in order not to descend to the barbarity of characters such as the Bourc Camus.
Despite its wonderful authenticity and the thought-provoking treatment of knighthood, I took quite a while to read this book because it lacked a driving plot. I'm not sure this is a flaw, for William's drift from one scene of war to another felt very real. It did, however, slow the reading down a lot.
I wasn't completely convinced by Cameron's treatment of Geoffrey Chaucer. While Chaucer's cutting critique of William's actions and warfare in France in general certainly rang true, Chaucer himself seemed a bit too acerbic to be in keeping with the tone of his writing. I was intrigued, however, by the possibility that Cameron based aspects of William Gold's character and career on the Knight of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, who notably wears armour "al bismotered" with dirt, tells a tale of beautiful "Emelye", and is about to go on Crusade as the book ends.
Finally, a very minor niggle: Cameron's portrayal of medieval swearing was oddly mixed. He seesaws between modern swearing and medieval-style blasphemy. As I understand it, medieval Christians did not consider explicit reference to bodily functions to be particularly bad words. The sort of phrases that Milady or Father Pierre really would object to, however, were those that took the Lord's name in vain.
But there isn't a historical novelist alive or dead who manages to avoid all anachronism or minor error. A friend lent me this copy of The Ill-Made Knight. I'm going to go out right away and buy my own so it can sit in pride of place in my bookshelf!