A plague on both your houses

Week 35: The Speckled Monster: A Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox – Jennifer Lee Carrell
Recommended by: Viki Mortimer

And now for something completely different. No, not a giant foot merrily stomping along in time to the Liberty Bell March, or, god help us, a UKIP party political broadcast. Instead, in a long overdue new post, we have some historical faction. This being a nonsense term of my own devising to mean historical fiction which is based heavily on facts, drawing on lots of primary and secondary evidence but then constructing a story around it as necessary.

A lot of people probably know the story of Edward Jenner and cowpox, or at least vaguely remember it from school. This story predates it and tells of two separate battles, one either side of the Atlantic, to inoculate people and save them from the horrors of the worst disease humanity has faced. Hyperbole? Not really. I'll spare you the gory details and the imagery, you can search for it yourself if you want to, but we're talking grimness with a capital grim. The figures are equally sobering, it had a historical fatality rate of about 30% over approximately 12,000 years, killing untold millions in total.

So here we get two early 18th-century stories, one of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu of London and one of Dr Zabdiel Boylston of Boston, the connecting strands coming together in the third part of the book. Both suffered, as did all, from the disease, whether being ravished by it personally and surviving, or seeing friends, family and peers wiped out by it. Both fought resistance to their experiments based on ideas from the Middle East, Africa and Native Americans, which it will come as no surprise to anyone were looked down on by most proponents of Western medicine. Boylston in particular faced severe persecution in the line of duty.

Yet ultimately both prevailed, their evidence simply too great to be ignored, especially when the British Royal family decided to adopt the method. It's a fascinating spotlight on unknown (at least to me) historical figures who contributed much to the world, courtesy of their skill, dedication and courage. Even better is the fact it's a tale well told, engrossing and interesting in equal measure.

It's also a reminder that we have a lot to be grateful for, that humankind is capable of incredible things, and eliminating smallpox is a major achievement. And it's a timely one that should be highlighted to the current crop of anti-intellectualism manifesting in anti-vaccination movements; I won't go into full-on rant mode as there's no need and I don't want to raise my blood pressure unnecessarily, so I'll leave it with the short and sweet message that they can go fuck themselves. To borrow the sentiment from Churchill's Battle of Britain speech, we really did have some unsung heroes who probably saved an incalculable number of lives. This books does Lady Mary, Dr Boylston, and the author herself a lot of credit.

The abyss gazes back

Week 34: Prince of Thorns – Mark Lawrence

Recommended by: Luke Kidson

If Locke Lamora (pay attention, you read about him a few months ago) is a self-styled Gentleman Bastard then it's fair to say that Prince Jorg Ancrath is best described as an Utter Bastard. Blacker than black, he's the most anti of antiheroes, perhaps to the point where you wonder if he is the antagonist even though it's his story. That was my first impression anyway.

And remained so for a while, wondering if the author is simply trying to see how far he can push the envelope with acts of cruelty and depravity, with the fact that he's so young thrown in for good measure, and still take you along on the ride. But as you read on, there's the odd streak of charcoal grey thrown in, perhaps a vein of silver, maybe even a dash of something that may once have been off-white. So there is some character development and while he's not necessarily likeable or sympathetic, he's sure as hell compelling. Lawrence drags you kicking and screaming into his world and has written what I believe in the trade is known as a page turner.

The world itself is a faux Western Europe, a brutal and bloody affair reminiscent of the Holy Roman Empire in that it consists of dozens of kingdoms of varying strengths and sizes. What is interesting is that it's almost an alternate Europe, for there is a Pope and it throws in references to historical figures from Plato to Shakespeare and, somewhat inevitably given Jorg's nature, Nietzsche. The abyss probably hasn't gazed into many darker souls. Ordinarily this might stand out in a medieval setting (it's par for the course in plenty of urban fantasy and steampunk), but world building here takes a distinct backseat to the characters and plot so I think it passes muster.

Otherwise my main complaint would be that while Jorg's natural abilities, both physical and mental, allow him to work his way out of many situations, his rashness and lack of forethought at times ought to land him into trouble that he simply cannot get out of. The arrogance of youth is perfectly befitting for his character and while killing off the protagonist is not unheard of, one senses that if he were not the leading man, he would soon discover that there's always a bigger bully in the playground.

If you can stomach it – there's probably a reason George R.R. Martin didn't write any chapters from Joffrey's perspective – there's a lot to like here. It fairly zips along and Jorg and his Brothers are certainly memorable characters. As the warning goes, "He who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose." Well Jorg dares and he's power-hungry, ambitious and ruthless enough for a dozen men, so woe betide anyone who crosses him, or even his path.