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A review by assimbya
The Burning Times: A Novel of Medieval France by Jeanne Kalogridis
1.0
This turned out to be one of those rare books that I couldn't manage to make myself finish. Within the first fifty pages, it already had displayed a number of elements that irritate me in historical fiction - anachronistic insertions of Wicca? Check. Torture scenes during which the narrator remarks on the beauty of the victim's breasts? Check. A main character whose courage and selflessness is shown in her lack of reaction to the aforementioned torture? Check.
Also, I think the "smell of fear" cliche needs to be laid to rest immediately. It felt like Kalogridis attempted to prove the gritty realism of her Medieval setting simply by repeatedly referencing bad smells.
"Pagans in the Middle Ages" is a fine premise for a novel, but why are these pagans always generic Marion Zimmer Bradley-"all goddess are One Goddess" pagans? Where's the novel about an organization who's secretly preserved the Eleusian Mysteries for several centuries? That would at least be interesting.
Also, I think the "smell of fear" cliche needs to be laid to rest immediately. It felt like Kalogridis attempted to prove the gritty realism of her Medieval setting simply by repeatedly referencing bad smells.
"Pagans in the Middle Ages" is a fine premise for a novel, but why are these pagans always generic Marion Zimmer Bradley-"all goddess are One Goddess" pagans? Where's the novel about an organization who's secretly preserved the Eleusian Mysteries for several centuries? That would at least be interesting.