Deus Vult - On crusade with Alfred Duggan

My review of Alfred Duggan's Count Bohemond just went up over at Black Gate. Not a crusade adventure like the stories of Lamb or Howard but a more sober examination of one of the period's towering figures.
   I only know of the writer Alfred Duggan because my dad had a copy of Count Bohemond in the attic. I only knew it was related to the Crusades because of the REH story "The Track of Bohemond" in The Road of Azrael. I only picked it up last week to read for review because I want to mix in some historical fiction along with the usual S&S. You know, to class up the joint a bit.
Seriously, because of S&S's deep roots in historical fiction and that there's a lot of similarities between the two genres, I thought it made sense to add some of it to my reviews. Tons of great old stuff is out there and plenty of new stuff's being written right now. I can't imagine any fan of S&S or heroic fantasy wouldn't be open to trying it out.
   I really don't know much about the Crusades. Most of what I knew until this past week was a mix of old romantic notions of the crusader period and the modern anti-imperialist condemnation of it. I think I have a little better grasp of the age now because almost every other page of Duggan's novel sent me to my copies of my books on the subject including Geoffrey Hindley's The Crusades, Zoe Oldenbourg's The Crusades and the Alexiad by Anna Comene.
   Ultimately, I believe the initial impetus was from the Byzantine's hope
that Anatolia could be recovered and the Westerners' that the Holy Land could be recovered and the centuries of Muslim victories overturned. At a time when warfare was endemic and pacifists scarce on the ground the crusaders were no better or worse than any other army.
   This may get me in trouble but I've never quite understood the animus some people seem to have towards the Crusades. There were horrible atrocities but sadly nothing rare for, well, pretty much the entire history of mankind. Some call them unprovoked but the reality is they were a response to centuries of defeats. When they failed the aggression from the East continued for another five or six hundred years. When did Greece win its independence from the Turks? It's not until the middle of 19th century that the West emerged the clear victor in the war with the East. Anyway, that's my take.

This week's music was almost exclusively Oasis. I'll probably get that worked out of my system in week or two. I imagine I'll get back to the heavier stuff after that.

Familiar to Millions

   I wrote to the editor of Black Gate that I miss Lin Carter every time I read a batch of short stories. I'm wistful for the days of my youth when every year was saw heroic fantasy anthologies from Carter and a host of other talented editors. Now, I have to make do with the occasional volume like the relatively recent Swords and Dark Magic. If I keep my eyes open I can catch something like Artifacts and Relics but books like that are just all too rare these days. I know I'm always harping on it but I'd just like some reasonably sized books. Whatever.
 My monthly roundup of short stories is live over at
   In keeping with my hope to read more historical adventure fiction I've started Count Bohemund by Alfred Duggan. It's about one of the leaders of the First Crusade and has an effusive foreword by his friend Evelyn Waugh. The next historical book I'm going to read is the Harold Lamb collection Swords from the West edited by Howard Andrew Jones.

  This week I broke out my Britpop albums. Oasis figured heavily in the mix. People can give Noel Gallagher grief for being arrogant and say his lyrics are simplistic. I can't argue with that. The thing is, Oasis set out to be a ROCK BAND. The lyrics are really there to give the crowd something to sign along to instead of just hollering. He's also accused of pilfering too much of his sound from previous musicians. I don't think it's any worse than most. He also knew how to take familiar sounds and forge them into something that could get sixty thousand people singing along.
   What made the band potent were their wall of sound approach to music and their swagger and braggadocio. Noel Gallagher said he wanted their first album to sound like an airplane taking off. From the first note of "Rock and Roll Star" it's clear what he meant. They went off the tracks over the years but their first two albums, Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? still shine.
   I've also been listening to Cast, a band formed by John Power from the La's. They were pretty much the exact opposite of Oasis. They're more heartfelt and their lyrics hippieshly cosmic. Their songs exude a positive upbeat vibe that's hard not to appreciate and get you smiling.
Their first album All Change is a blast of fun. I love even their supposed failure of an album, Beetroot. They've reunited but I doubt they'll play the States any time soon. Still, I've got my fingers crossed.