Review: Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
Company of Liars
by Karen Maitland
It is the year 1348, and the Black Plague has just reached English shores. Desperate to escape the horrible disease, people migrate to the north and to the east, away from the ports and the sick. In an act of kindness, a relic-seller known only as Camelot tells a lie to help out a musician named Rodrigo. It soon becomes apparent that Rodrigo and his apprentice lack the practical experience to survive on the road, so they join Camelot on the summer circuit of England's fairs and markets . As the group makes its way northward to the shrine of John Shorne, new faces are added to their party. Each person has his or her own secrets to hide, and each character becomes a storyteller, blending truth and fiction as they create and dismantle their identities.
This was such a fun read. You can't be sure when a character is telling the truth or making up another lie, but through Camelot's one good eye (the other eye stolen by a werewolf or a Saracen, depending on the audience) little clues are revealed. But the sheer variety of the group, and the uncertainty of their stories - are they who they claim to be this time? - makes this fun reading.
Yes, that's the best word for it. This book is fun. Camelot is a witty and observant narrator, a practiced storyteller, who keeps the narrative rolling along as if you're sitting by the fireside in an old inn with a room full of travelers. There's suspense and mystery; a wolf's howl seems to be following the group as they travel, and always the specter of the plague haunts them. Their youngest companion, mysterious albino Narigorm, is constantly reading her runes to determine their fates. There's something sinister and otherworldly about her...but no more so than Cygnus, a man with a wing instead of an arm, or Zophiel, the magician protecting his mysterious boxes and is most urgent in his quest to reach Ireland.
The plot twists and turns - some predictable, some quite a surprise - as this 'company of liars' meanders across England. When I finished the book, I was so surprised by one of the last plot twists that I immediately started the book over, to see if I'd missed major clues the first time around. The writing is very vivid and evocative and really creates a medieval world. It is written in modern dialect, so it is not difficult to follow the conversations, although bits of Italian or Yiddish will pop up once in a while.
For a book that brings medieval England to life and clearly shows the paranoia and terror the Black Plague inspired throughout Europe, a suspenseful novel that is both creepy and hilarious, The Company of Liars is the book for you!
To read more about the book, buy a copy or add it to your wishlist, click here.
by Karen Maitland
It is the year 1348, and the Black Plague has just reached English shores. Desperate to escape the horrible disease, people migrate to the north and to the east, away from the ports and the sick. In an act of kindness, a relic-seller known only as Camelot tells a lie to help out a musician named Rodrigo. It soon becomes apparent that Rodrigo and his apprentice lack the practical experience to survive on the road, so they join Camelot on the summer circuit of England's fairs and markets . As the group makes its way northward to the shrine of John Shorne, new faces are added to their party. Each person has his or her own secrets to hide, and each character becomes a storyteller, blending truth and fiction as they create and dismantle their identities.
This was such a fun read. You can't be sure when a character is telling the truth or making up another lie, but through Camelot's one good eye (the other eye stolen by a werewolf or a Saracen, depending on the audience) little clues are revealed. But the sheer variety of the group, and the uncertainty of their stories - are they who they claim to be this time? - makes this fun reading.
Yes, that's the best word for it. This book is fun. Camelot is a witty and observant narrator, a practiced storyteller, who keeps the narrative rolling along as if you're sitting by the fireside in an old inn with a room full of travelers. There's suspense and mystery; a wolf's howl seems to be following the group as they travel, and always the specter of the plague haunts them. Their youngest companion, mysterious albino Narigorm, is constantly reading her runes to determine their fates. There's something sinister and otherworldly about her...but no more so than Cygnus, a man with a wing instead of an arm, or Zophiel, the magician protecting his mysterious boxes and is most urgent in his quest to reach Ireland.
The plot twists and turns - some predictable, some quite a surprise - as this 'company of liars' meanders across England. When I finished the book, I was so surprised by one of the last plot twists that I immediately started the book over, to see if I'd missed major clues the first time around. The writing is very vivid and evocative and really creates a medieval world. It is written in modern dialect, so it is not difficult to follow the conversations, although bits of Italian or Yiddish will pop up once in a while.
For a book that brings medieval England to life and clearly shows the paranoia and terror the Black Plague inspired throughout Europe, a suspenseful novel that is both creepy and hilarious, The Company of Liars is the book for you!
To read more about the book, buy a copy or add it to your wishlist, click here.