Jordan H.

Not Overrated!!

Revisado: 03-13-25

I was certain a book with this many positive reviews would be not near as good as the claims. And boy was I wrong! I didn't expect to like this book so much, having been a little unsure of the author's other works. It was such an engaging story and the plot twist was done so sincerely that I could hardly believe it. Also, and this may just be me, but I appreciated a main POV character who wasn't constantly cursing.

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This is not a book

Revisado: 01-21-25

This is a dissertation or thesis. I did not take the other reviews seriously when they warned that this book was INCREDIBLY academic in nature. If you were searching for a well-documented source for a paper on Theodoric, this is the place. If you are an armchair historian who enjoys learning about Late Antiquity, prepare to be both bored and overwhelmed. Intricacies of the coinage, early christian turmoil, and marriage alliances can be really interesting but their treatment here was so incredibly boring. If I could get my money back by returning this book, I totally would.

One thing this book does really well is drill home the idea that there was no "fall of Rome" in 476. I understand better than ever before that there was certainly a continuity through at least the 6th century of both Roman institutions and Roman identity. Theodoric was not a barbarian who destroyed Rome, but probably saw himself as an inheritor and tried to maintain a similar way of life in Italy, which seemed to work for a time. It was more the later invasion of the Lombards that set Italy on its path of medieval fracturing. If this book had treated that as its main point and focused less on all the jots and tittles, it would've been a lot better.

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Love this time period, too many names

Revisado: 05-23-24

I really enjoy learning more about this period in history but the sheer volume of names given in this work was almost impossible to keep up with. I really wish it came with a PDF containing an extended family tree of the concerned parties. A map, too, would be a great companion because of the importance that various land holdings and castles play. I'm ultimately glad I read it, but also glad I didn't have to spend a credit on it.

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Absolutely Brilliant

Revisado: 04-30-24

I've listened to enough Great Courses lectures on the history of the Middle Ages to know that this is an exquisite work. I think the first section, Imperium, was my favorite because of how well the author handled the incredibly difficult-to-navigate period that we now call the "Great Migration" but what was once exclusively thought of as the "Dark Ages". The Germanic peoples were not treated as backwards brutes and there was no mourning the loss of some classical Roman-ness which had long since ceased to exist in the west, well before any sacking started. I loved learning more about Theodoric, Alaric, and the various people groups who migrated westward in large part due to the pressures of the migrating Huns. It's the narrative continuity between Diocletian and Charlemagne that really does it for me, excellently done.

The fact that he acknowledged (rightly) that the character Vortigern, supposed king of the Britons after Roman authorities withdrew from the island, most likely never existed and there was no great warrior invasion by Angle, Saxon, or Juteish armies into Britannia is what sealed the deal for me. Treating the mythologized traditions of the founding of England as legitimately historical is a useful red-flag when it comes to judging the trustworthiness of a work like this, And that's because Vortigern, Hrengr, and Hrorst only existed in the minds of the later historians who were either trying to legitimize their claim to the land or demonize others who claimed the land. It's a small thing in the overall story, but taking care to scrutinize an age-old tradition because it doesn't survive any critical thought is evidence of good history.

I'm not going to give a play-by-play of my thoughts, but suffice it to say that this book is by far the best treatise on Medieval history I have yet to read. I loved how clearly the author explained how history doesn't happen in a vacuum and places as disparate as Spain and China affected one another even "way back when". I thought the wrapping-up chapters were also excellent; I haven't read a more compelling theory on what constituted the "end" of the Middle Ages before. This will definitely be my go-to suggestion for people interested in learning more about Medieval Western history!!

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Rated M for Mature

Revisado: 04-08-24

Geez, talk about bawdy!! I read this because it is one of the "Great Works" of English Literature but I was not expecting the subject matter to be quite so vulgar at times. There is definitely no Shakespearean subtlety here; don't expect many euphemisms to describe sexual acts. However, there were many stories that I think explain why this has been such an enduring work over the centuries. And I suppose, as a window into the common folk of the late medieval period of England, it's probably a pretty useful resource. That window is colored by Chaucer's own experiences and biases, but still. The fact that such a vulgar book became so widely distributed back then speaks to some of the cultural norms of regular folk in that time, I guess. To that end, I honestly didn't mind the moralizing too much (though the values regarding women and slavery can sound also sound jarring to modern readers) as it was a necessary respite from the likes of The Miller, etc. I'm no scholar, but I'm glad to have actually read this for myself.

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Oh, right, British comedy....

Revisado: 03-25-24

I forgot how crass British comedians are. The first F-bomb definitely took me by surprise, and their eventual frequency became distracting. Not to mention the field day the author had with Canute the Great. Unfortunately for me, the story being told was so engaging that I had to just put up with the method in which the author told it. The book definitely also has a despairing undertone to it. The author isn't wrong to point out how stupid and ineffectual the overwhelming majority of monarchs are (and the system in general), but removing the patina of history to expose them for what they were, well, it's a little discouraging to admit: "Oh right, that thing we did for thousands of years? Yeah, we made it up and totally got away with it". It honestly read like a very Hobbesian take on history: nasty, brutish, and short. The author even lampshades this at one point talking about his feelings towards horned viking helmets and "why can't we just let the past be mysterious and cool" while giving the British monarchy the exact same treatment.

Still, crudity aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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What a nice return

Revisado: 01-03-24

Man, I was not expecting to feel emotional in a Percy Jackson book. Chapter 28 (29 in the audiobook) about wrecked me: embrace aging? A Percy Jackson book that had a moral like that? Extolling the idea of getting older rather than treating it like a disease? I did not see that coming. It hit all of the usual notes, including bashing old people, but that turnaround at the end was so unexpectedly well done I was actually emotional listening to it. Maybe it was because I lost my Grandma this time last year, I don't know, But the idea of a book series like Percy Jackson (I read The Lightning Thief when it was new) treating a subject like that - especially the whole thing with Hebe - was so impressive.

I also liked how the stakes in this story were not universe-ending or anything like that. If every threat is "the end of the world" then the end of the world is a pretty cheap threat over time.

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The British history is showing its age

Revisado: 12-07-23

Gaaaaaaaaaah the takes on British history are so outdated here. I can't speak for the other people groups, but this is a *very* teleological telling of history. As if everything that happens is pushing history forward "towards" some destiny of the present. Like, "[mythological figure] resisted the invaders because the [outside group] needed to be kept out so that our [modern-day country] could eventually be". Apparently different people groups can "miss their chance at forming a nation" as if nationalism even existed in its modern form back then.

Gaaaaaaaaaah its take on the "Anglo-Saxon 'Invasion'" of Great Britain is so cringey and outdated; pushing the old "three arrows" theory so hard. The idea of Vortigern even existing is almost certainly not true and there was oh-so-likely no such thing as an invasion by Angles, Saxons, and Jutes who all happened to settle together in distinct geographic regions thus called. That whole notion was just invented by the Victorians as part of their romantic nationbuilding.

It was settlement in the vacuum of Roman authority over the course of centuries; there were no Anglo-Saxon armies who all departed the northern shores of Germany at the same time with conquest on their mind. There were simply more of the settlers than there were Romano-British who stayed in the southeast. Many of the settlers settled communities on Britain well during the Roman period, even being used as mercenaries against the Picts and Irish tribes occasionally.

The settlements around Kent, for example, were around long enough to become relatively well integrated into the Romano-British economy and so were well positioned (in addition to their proximity to the continent) to grow into the space left behind by the Roman administration during the century of flux that was the 5th century. Was there violence? Well of course there was. There was violence everywhere. There just wasn't an "Age of Kings" for a couple more centuries at least.

Borders and nations the way we think of them didn't exist back then. Language and religion did and those were the primary means by which one distinguished whether someone was "your people" or not. The Germanic settlers did speak a different language than the Romano-British and they did follow pagan religions while much of Roman Britain had been Christian for quite some time already.

Again, I can't speak for the other people groups, but I've become very familiar with the latest in early medieval British history and seeing these old folktales passed as fact drives me crazy. I'm sure this means there are other instances of folktale histories throughout this work, but being ignorant of them I can't say. I have liked the breadth that this history covers worldwide, but it could've done to include more than political history. I must say that the coverage given to the "fall" of the Roman Empire was far more in-depth than most histories I've ever heard from that period and place and that was really interesting. It really drove home the idea that there was no singular fall, but that it was a gradual transformation from one administrative system to another. Though even then, it was more the scope of the system that changed most dramatically. This book would've been greatly improved with the addition of an atlas though, that's for sure. And maybe a few colorful tree charts to keep track of all these people and places.

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Frustrating to the Max

Revisado: 11-28-23

Gall I wanted to like this book!! I've read the entire Inheritance Cycle (plus FWW) multiple times and was so excited for this story, but this was a chore to get through. I read Inheritance in 12 consecutive hours when it released; this book has taken me weeks to force myself to get through.

I guess I've outgrown my angst too much to care about Murtagh. The fact this was an Idiot Plot didn't help; the story only happens because of Murtagh ignoring lessons we had already watched him learn. Maybe that was supposed to be "the point" but if so it was a really weak one.

It honestly feels like Christopher was trying to copy Brandon Sanderson's trauma fantasy in "The Stormlight Archive" by attempting to transform Murtagh into Kaladin. It didn't work.

Christopher's "enlightened atheism" came screaming through to such a degree that it felt like the story was an afterthought for him to pontificate his beliefs. Like, I get it: you made a paper-thin straw-man Cult so you could take potshots at the concept of faith in a higher power. Very spooky; cult bad. Riveting. IQ off the charts.

What's most frustrating is that when Christopher can get over his personal issues there is a very interesting story going on!! Everything to do with the big-bad is fascinating yet is constantly dragged down by his "im14andthisisdeep" philosophizing. Ironically, whenever the story took us underground the quality skyrocketed.

The expansions this story makes for Alagaesia as a whole are intriguing. I'm still looking forward to the possible futures that this world can take; I'm also looking forward to Murtagh *not* being the main POV character again. I kept wishing Nasuada or Eragon or Angela would show up, but I knew that wasn't really a realistic expectation. Future books, though.

This just wasn't my book and that's okay. It was quite "narmy" at times and that was disappointing. Not all the hits landed the way Christopher wanted them to, I believe. It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the Cycle, but my anticipation of future books has been checked a little bit. Growing up can have its downsides.

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Hey this was great!

Revisado: 11-09-23

My favorite period of English history goes from Alfred to the Angevins and Empress Matilda is a key factor. Her life story is so fascinating!! I though the author did a great job telling the story in a balanced way: Matilda was unfairly lambasted by historians for too long, but she wasn't perfect. That's what makes her so interesting. The fact that Empress Matilda's daughter-in-law was Eleanor of Aquitaine adds an additional layer into the story of her life. The treatment Matilda received from her contemporaries is unfortunately too recognizable, and the suffering that her and Stephen's Anarchy inflicted on the people of the England and Normandy was hard to hear, but this woman has echoed through history and this is an excellent means by which to have her story told.

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