arrr.
Swallowdale arrived on Monday. Yay!
Although, still, every time somebody calls him "Mr. Turner" (instead of his *real* name), I hear it in Captain Barbossa's voice. (I'm half convinced that the name was a deliberate reference by the PotC folks. Hooray for James Turner, the (semi-)retired pirate!)
Meanwhile I re-read The Eagle of the Ninth. I'm trying to decide (for nefarious yuletide purposes. I recently realized that Alexios and Hilarion are about 90% of the reason I want to see Cam and John together as much as possible.) if all the books with the flawed emerald dolphin ring count as one series or as a loosely connected set of stories, or if just *some* of 'em are part of the official series. Also trying to decide if it's worth the trouble to try to work out the entire Aquila family tree.
And then I read what is probably the only long tEotN fanfic out there, The Centurion's Hound by Jay Tryfanstone, which is *very* good, though it probably would have been at least as good, if not better, without the explicit slash. It's not like Marcus and Esca could be any *more* in love, after all; and it's kind of a distraction from the important parts (like the ripping plot, and all the characters and how perfectly they fit together, and Flavian and Cub, and and and) and none of the actual canon has, as far as I can recall, so much as a kiss in it anywhere. Although it's been ages since I've read her grown-up stuff, and I think that did get kind of ... odd. Anyway, the other thing that bothered me about the fic was that her plot (as fun and well-crafted as it was, taking up a thread that Sutcliff had dropped halfway through) involved taking the Eagle of the Ninth *out* of the hiding-place in Calleva. Because part of the joy of the book is that you have to believe, with all your heart, that the Eagle that was found there by archeologists in the 20th century is the same one that Esca and Guern and Marcus Aquila brought out of Caledonia together, and that if you go to the museum where the cast of it can still be seen, you will be gazing at the very same fierce face and gripping talons that was buried with full military honors in Uncle Aquila's house in Calleva.
Usually, I'm not picky about taking canon from outside the actual text of the book. But somehow, that's different. Just as much as there were, after all, Roman legions at Exeter, so the Eagle of the Ninth was found and buried and stayed safely there until our day gave it a sky again. No matter what future I imagine for them, the Eagle has to stay there to be found, or else there's a temporal paradox!
Clearly other people don't find that as important, though. And it was only in the introduction. But it's the base that the whole rest of the story was built on. It must be the same Eagle!
... I really really want to take a Rosemary Sutcliff tour of the United Kingdom someday.
Now to watch Bones House and watch for election results. And try to figure out the proper way to sew a pennant. And build a pirate bookpile for LT.
Although, still, every time somebody calls him "Mr. Turner" (instead of his *real* name), I hear it in Captain Barbossa's voice. (I'm half convinced that the name was a deliberate reference by the PotC folks. Hooray for James Turner, the (semi-)retired pirate!)
Meanwhile I re-read The Eagle of the Ninth. I'm trying to decide (for nefarious yuletide purposes. I recently realized that Alexios and Hilarion are about 90% of the reason I want to see Cam and John together as much as possible.) if all the books with the flawed emerald dolphin ring count as one series or as a loosely connected set of stories, or if just *some* of 'em are part of the official series. Also trying to decide if it's worth the trouble to try to work out the entire Aquila family tree.
And then I read what is probably the only long tEotN fanfic out there, The Centurion's Hound by Jay Tryfanstone, which is *very* good, though it probably would have been at least as good, if not better, without the explicit slash. It's not like Marcus and Esca could be any *more* in love, after all; and it's kind of a distraction from the important parts (like the ripping plot, and all the characters and how perfectly they fit together, and Flavian and Cub, and and and) and none of the actual canon has, as far as I can recall, so much as a kiss in it anywhere. Although it's been ages since I've read her grown-up stuff, and I think that did get kind of ... odd. Anyway, the other thing that bothered me about the fic was that her plot (as fun and well-crafted as it was, taking up a thread that Sutcliff had dropped halfway through) involved taking the Eagle of the Ninth *out* of the hiding-place in Calleva. Because part of the joy of the book is that you have to believe, with all your heart, that the Eagle that was found there by archeologists in the 20th century is the same one that Esca and Guern and Marcus Aquila brought out of Caledonia together, and that if you go to the museum where the cast of it can still be seen, you will be gazing at the very same fierce face and gripping talons that was buried with full military honors in Uncle Aquila's house in Calleva.
Usually, I'm not picky about taking canon from outside the actual text of the book. But somehow, that's different. Just as much as there were, after all, Roman legions at Exeter, so the Eagle of the Ninth was found and buried and stayed safely there until our day gave it a sky again. No matter what future I imagine for them, the Eagle has to stay there to be found, or else there's a temporal paradox!
Clearly other people don't find that as important, though. And it was only in the introduction. But it's the base that the whole rest of the story was built on. It must be the same Eagle!
... I really really want to take a Rosemary Sutcliff tour of the United Kingdom someday.
Now to watch Bones House and watch for election results. And try to figure out the proper way to sew a pennant. And build a pirate bookpile for LT.