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A belated happy 100th birthday to President Carter, and a happy new year to those who celebrate.
I think I'm about done with Unruly, with a fair amount of skimming. Didn't really tell me anything I didn't know and was unfortunately not much help in untangling the Anglo-Saxon kings. But of course the A-S are as difficult to untangle as their coevals, or co-evils, the Merovingians. Nasty, brutish, and short, the lot of them: and the women just as bad as the men. Why would anyone want to be a monarch? What's the appeal of power? especially when having it means everyone else wants to take it away from you. But it's like those dudebro billionaires who, not content with having more money than they could ever spend in three lifetimes, seem to want a voice in politics as well, which will give them-- what? What is it they haven't got?
Otherwise I've finished nothing else this week. On the go is Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, of which I had high hopes. But it has switching time frames, a new one every chapter, which I find far more disconcerting than switching PoVs. And *seems* to be doing a Craft schtick in which divine power is governed by, or involved in, the stock market, which was head-hurty enough in the Craft books.
Also a couple of manga, and Chuang Tzu (why did the translator use Wade-Giles? I'm no fan of pinyin, but at least it semi-makes sense), all of which are library books and the manga at least are 'five people are waiting' ones. Will get back to Aaronovitch eventually.
I think I'm about done with Unruly, with a fair amount of skimming. Didn't really tell me anything I didn't know and was unfortunately not much help in untangling the Anglo-Saxon kings. But of course the A-S are as difficult to untangle as their coevals, or co-evils, the Merovingians. Nasty, brutish, and short, the lot of them: and the women just as bad as the men. Why would anyone want to be a monarch? What's the appeal of power? especially when having it means everyone else wants to take it away from you. But it's like those dudebro billionaires who, not content with having more money than they could ever spend in three lifetimes, seem to want a voice in politics as well, which will give them-- what? What is it they haven't got?
Otherwise I've finished nothing else this week. On the go is Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, of which I had high hopes. But it has switching time frames, a new one every chapter, which I find far more disconcerting than switching PoVs. And *seems* to be doing a Craft schtick in which divine power is governed by, or involved in, the stock market, which was head-hurty enough in the Craft books.
Also a couple of manga, and Chuang Tzu (why did the translator use Wade-Giles? I'm no fan of pinyin, but at least it semi-makes sense), all of which are library books and the manga at least are 'five people are waiting' ones. Will get back to Aaronovitch eventually.
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Feuding princes is exactly it. The A-S ones have the extra wrinkle of everyone having the same name including, or rather especially,the women.
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Once we get to the 18th and 19th centuries, I do quite well on Welsh history, but early history has defeated me a couple of times.
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That sounds quite as bad as all the Edmunds, Edwards, Haralds, and Aelfwhatevers.
Of course, the kings and queens of Engand get a bit more comprehensible, if personally not much better, once we hit 1688 and all that, but that doesn't make up for the wars of the roses.