Three for the Month (October 2020)

Steph P. Bianchini October 3, 2020 2 Comments

September has just ended, but the books I had on my table were over long before. I am already at an advanced stage in my October reading list. Which looks like this:

1. In the Name of the Family: A Novel By Sarah Dunant. This is the second instalment of Dunant’s series on the Borgias –the first book was Blood and Beauty, a well written and gripping example of good historical fiction. “Here is a thrilling exploration of the House of Borgia’s doomed years, in the company of a young diplomat named Niccolo Machiavelli. It is 1502 and Rodrigo Borgia, a self-confessed womaniser and master of political corruption is now on the Papal throne as Alexander VI. His daughter Lucrezia, aged twenty-two, already thrice married and a pawn in her father’s plans, is discovering her own power. And then there is Cesare Borgia: brilliant, ruthless and increasingly unstable; it is his relationship with the diplomat Machiavelli which offers a master class on the dark arts of power and politics. What Machiavelli learns will go on to inform his great work of modern politics, The Prince. But while the pope rails against old age and his son’s increasing maverick behaviour it is Lucrezia who will become the Borgia survivor: taking on her enemies and creating her own place in history. Conjuring up the past in all its complexity, horror and pleasures, In The Name of the Family confirms Sarah Dunant’s place as the leading novelist of the Renaissance and one of the most acclaimed historical fiction writers of our age.“

2. Terra Formars by Yu Sasuga. To be precise, this is a manga series, not a novel, but now it comes in volumes, so that I treat it like a graphic novel or sort of. What doesn’t change is the story, an SF-horror of great interest if you have loved the Alien franchise. “In an attempt to colonize Mars, 21st century scientists are tasked with terraforming the planet. Their goal is to seed the planet with modified algae to absorb sunlight and purify the atmosphere, and cockroaches, whose corpses spread the algae across the planet as they feed. Five hundred years later, the first manned ship to Mars lands and its six crew members are attacked by giant mutated humanoid cockroaches with incredible physical strength, later labelled “Terraformars”; the crew is wiped out after sending a warning back to Earth. Two years later, BUGS II, a multinational expedition of genetically modified humans, is sent to collect 10 samples of both sexes of roaches, and exterminate the mutated bugs to take control of the red planet.” What can possibly go wrong?

3. 1000 Years of Annoying the French by Stephen Clarke. Hugely recommended to anyone interested in the long, shared history between the two countries, this book is funny, entertaining, quite accurate (I was able to spot only minor imprecisions so far), and it is packed with curious episodes. This is what the author says: “One of the most frequent questions I get when doing readings and talks is: why is there such a love-hate relationship between the French and the Brits? The love is easy to explain – despite what we might say in public, we find each other irresistibly sexy. The hate is more of a problem – for a start, it’s mistrust rather than hatred. But why is it even there, in these days of Entente Cordiale and European peace? Like everyone else, I always suspected that the mistrust had something to do with 1066, Agincourt, Waterloo and all that, but I felt that most of our battles were too far in the past to have much effect on the present. So I decided to delve into that past and come up with a more accurate answer. And having written this book, I finally understand where the never-ending tensions come from. The fact is that our history isn’t history at all. It’s here and now.” For more, look up the author’s website.

What about your reading? Let me know in the comments or by getting in touch with me through the social media!