Historical novels

So I finished a bunch of good books, as I've been raving about recently all over the place.

But because of The Dreadful Book, I had to moosh around my holds schedule, and now I'm in a bind, with none of my hold expected in for another week or so.

Last week dh needed a quote from the Clementine books... the one about choosing vs not-choosing, which is perhaps one of the most subtle concepts ever portrayed in a children's book. I mean, choosing really isn't hard. The hard part about choosing is that there are load of not chosens which have to be reckoned with after. I'd borrowed both _Clementine_ and _The Talented Clementine_ to find it (couldn't remember which book it came from) and I read them both last night (but LOL, only mentioned one on goodreads, because two would be too easy on my "books read" challenge.

But there I was. It was only 11pm or so and I had to find something already on my Kindle to read.

What I found was Mary Renault's _The Last of the Wine_. I'd read several of her books while a teenager (my mom liked them) but I'm pretty sure not that one. I can't even remember when I bought it. Anyhow, I started it, it seems interesting and I can too read something other that SF/F.

However, there is a pitfall about historical novels. See, when I read Sharon Kay Penman's _Here Be Dragons_ I was constantly expecting, well, dragons. Or at least a wizard. I mean, it's Wales for crying out loud. Merlin? Morgane le Fay? At least a shapeshifting wisewoman?

But not. Purely boring people.

I expect I'll have a similar reaction to Ancient Greece.

When people are walking everywhere and living in a pre-industrial society, my brain immediately translates this to 'fantasy'. That doesn't mean I can't believe magic in an industrial society, but just that when I start reading about horses in stables and slaves (god that always makes me uncomfortable) and people in clothes without zippers, my brain goes straight to dragons.

Well, here, maybe harpies, gorgons, or hydras.