tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post6913089186605520111..comments2024-03-27T22:25:42.129-05:00Comments on Reading the Past: Book review: Rebellion, by James McGeeSarah Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-88547178305664556802011-02-06T14:44:18.444-06:002011-02-06T14:44:18.444-06:00Sounds interesting! I will have to see if I can ge...Sounds interesting! I will have to see if I can get a copy at some point.Kailanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11136262232046813471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-66517562372568233422011-02-05T22:45:18.262-06:002011-02-05T22:45:18.262-06:00Thanks for your comments, everyone!
Rebellion is ...Thanks for your comments, everyone!<br /><br />Rebellion is a nondescript title for a novel about war... but if it had to start with R, I'm not sure what else would have worked. And you're right, Lucy, the guillotine automatically calls up images of the French Revolution, even though - if I'm to believe Wikipedia - it was in use in France through 1977!<br /><br />I enjoyed your review of Rapscallion, Annis, and it fills in some gaps in Hawkwood's backstory that were hinted at in Rebellion. McGee/Moy seems to have a knack for bringing to life lesser-known episodes from Napoleonic history.Sarah Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-22207216839733284382011-02-05T21:54:58.040-06:002011-02-05T21:54:58.040-06:00Thanks for the excellent review, Sarah. I'm lo...Thanks for the excellent review, Sarah. I'm looking forward to this one I've enjoyed all the others in the "Hawkwood" series, which are all dark, fast-paced historical thrillers. James McGee (a pseudonym for author Glen Moy) does do his research. "Rapscallion", which I reviewed <a href="http://www.historicalnovels.info/Rapscallion.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>, was inspired by an article by Australian historian Dr Gavin Daley about the role of smuggling during the Napoleonic Wars. (I've added a link to the original article in my review if anyone's interested).Annishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02367569632016734415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-42599868310392864112011-02-04T21:36:12.323-06:002011-02-04T21:36:12.323-06:00Thanks for a very nice review.Thanks for a very nice review.Mysticahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10941269615559681014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-63987289274963050502011-02-04T14:24:47.666-06:002011-02-04T14:24:47.666-06:00Ratcatcher--now there's a title. You know it&...Ratcatcher--now there's a title. You know it's interesting with that picture of a guillotine. I guess I should logically know that they went on using it for many years, but my brain automatically pegs it to A Tale of Two Cities and Madame Defarge. Hence, the association with the French Revolution.<br /><br />Your fault, Charlie Dickens! :DLucynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-65943746455798664902011-02-04T12:47:01.653-06:002011-02-04T12:47:01.653-06:00Funny -- as thought initially it would be the Amer...Funny -- as thought initially it would be the American Civil War, which also is called the 'Rebellion,' by General Grant, among others.<br /><br />Then I thought the War of 1812, in which I've been immersed for months, the parts involving the the Chesapeake, the Indian Wars in the southwest (meaning then Alabama, etc.) the Gulf, and finally New Orleans -- in which Napoleon had no litte effect too. That fellow got his licks in one way or another over the entire globe.<br /><br />This sounds good. I like good 'male' historical adventure very much as long as it's not self-consciously, or smirkingly, crude.<br /><br />Love, C.Foxessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06754083123669916994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-47561993402492514972011-02-04T10:00:10.580-06:002011-02-04T10:00:10.580-06:00This book was an attempt to branch out a bit becau...This book was an attempt to branch out a bit because historical adventure usually isn't my thing - but I quite enjoyed it. And before I read Rebellion, I'd never heard about the attempted coup against Napoleon. Afterwards I had fun discovering which characters were historically based. Many of them were. <br /><br />The guillotine on the cover represents the threat Hawkwood and co. faced if they were caught. And the title... I should've mentioned that the previous books in the Hawkwood series are called Ratcatcher, Resurrectionist, and Rapscallion.Sarah Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-63433705393796383712011-02-04T09:34:24.194-06:002011-02-04T09:34:24.194-06:00This female definitely enjoys dark historical adve...This female definitely enjoys dark historical adventure. This looks very interesting!Heatherhttp://teacake421.livejournal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-87314646569528212302011-02-03T23:59:15.278-06:002011-02-03T23:59:15.278-06:00Wow, different! I have to admit, the cover threw ...Wow, different! I have to admit, the cover threw me a little bit--made me think of the French Revolution, and then wonder if we weren't headed for the American Revolution instead, as it's so often referred to as the Rebellion.<br /><br />I'm deeply intrigued by the review, but I wonder if the publisher could have nailed either cover or title on this one a little better. Just a meandering thought....Lucynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-23406699821361899462011-02-03T23:48:54.497-06:002011-02-03T23:48:54.497-06:00Oh Sarah, your incisive, enjoyable review has utte...Oh Sarah, your incisive, enjoyable review has utterly sold me on this book, and I am not even fond of the Napoleonic Wars as a setting. That the hero "doesn’t emerge unscathed" from this "dark, edgy thriller", which has a few "skilfully evoked", "heroic" female characters clinched it for me.Daniellehttp://romanticarmchairtraveller.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-1030242359157376432011-02-03T22:27:36.231-06:002011-02-03T22:27:36.231-06:00Sounds very interesting! Great review, Sarah. Than...Sounds very interesting! Great review, Sarah. Thanks to you :) I just ordered this series.C.W. Gortnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11881402758065602605noreply@blogger.com