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Swordland
Swordland | Ruadh Butler
6 posts | 1 read
Beneath the warhorses' hooves, a nation will fall. A tale of war, death, lust, and scheming, set in the starkly beautiful landscapes of medieval Ireland and Wales. Robert FitzStephen is a warrior down on his luck. Arrogant, cold, but a brilliant soldier, FitzStephen commands a castle - yet although his mother was a princess his father was a lowly steward. When a Welsh rebellion brings defeat and a crippling siege, his highborn comrades scorn him, betraying him to the enemy. A hostage of his cousin, Prince Rhys, FitzStephen is disgraced, seemingly doomed to a life of obscurity and shame. Then King Diarmait arrives ... Diarmait is the ambitious overlord of an Irish kingdom. Forced to flee by the High King of Ireland, he seeks to reclaim his lands by any means possible - and that includes inviting the Normans in. With nothing left to lose - and perhaps a great deal to gain - FitzStephen agrees to lead the Irishman's armies, and to drive Diarmait's enemies from his kingdom. His price? Acceptance, perhaps ... or perhaps a kingdom of his own? Butler's debut novel, Swordland is a powerful, impeccably researched story of medieval Celtic life, of the loves, losses, and hatreds of some of the most important figures in Irish and British history.
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blurb
GingerAntics
Swordland | Ruadh Butler
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I‘d never bailed on a book before this year. I always powered through and just hated it the whole way. When I bailed before the book, I was well into the book and knew finishing was going to be painful. I bailed on this book part way into the second chapter. There was just no way. The writing was dry. The chapters were ridiculously long. There was Medieval cross dressing (not sure that was really a thing). #worstreads #swordland #worstreads2018

Caroline2 This book made me roll my eyes too much! 🙄 6y
julesG I bailed on quite a few. This I bailed on because the convoluted writing was unbearable, there were nonsensical mistakes in the descriptions ("from somewhere in the house she heard the back door falling to" - or so - - - if she knows it's the back door, why say from somewhere? Her position was static, she was in the drawing room.) ? 6y
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julesG Too many POV. They are connected. But I didn't care about it. The technical aspects gave me a headache. It was too far fetched. 6y
julesG The first few pages were technical descriptions of a bird like drone circling above the leader of a fictional Asian country, which was an obvious copy of North Korea. 6y
julesG I've started this several times since I bought it in 2009. I gave up. It's soooo big, it has two time lines and I couldn't connect to it. It's supposed to be good though. 6y
julesG Oops, totally misunderstood this meme. Sorry. 6y
15 likes8 comments
review
GingerAntics
Swordland | Ruadh Butler
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Bailedbailed

I have officially bailed on this book. I have zero ambition to keep reading this. The main character, FitzStephen, is just a jerk. He‘s got no redeeming qualities. I‘m waiting around hoping another character will kill him (or at the very least slap him really hard across the face). I really wanted to like this book, but it‘s just not happening. Sorry. The Medieval 🏰 crossdressing was the last straw for me.

julesG 👏👏👏👏 6y
GingerAntics @julesG thank you 🙏🏻 thank you 🙇🏼‍♀️ 6y
17 likes2 comments
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GingerAntics
Swordland | Ruadh Butler
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Still getting a feel for this book, but I have never heard of a MAN wearing a shift before. I‘ve spent the last fifteen minutes looking it up, and no mention of men wearing a shift in this period or any other. I want to like this book, I really do, but so far the main character is dreadful (not likeable in the least) and I‘m not getting into it. Chapters a mile long aren‘t helping, either.
#swordland #edwardruadhbutler

GingerAntics A bit about “the Wales” is bugging me, too. It‘s definitely supposed to be Wales and not the Welsh, but where was the editor on this? Who was cool with these chapters being 40+ pages long and having so many changes of venue and even time gaps they should logically be multiple chapters? This is NOT what I want to be dealing with when I‘m trying to relax and get ready to sleep. (edited) 6y
GingerAntics @julesG I‘m starting to get a phobia of biologists that write historical fiction. This is not going well. 6y
julesG I feel you. I just laughed at the shift. They did not call it shift, even if it was similar to the female garment. 😂😂 Sounds like cross-dressing. 😜 6y
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GingerAntics @julesG it did sound like an eccentric old man lol Everything I could find called men‘s undergarments at that stage a long shirt. 🤷🏼‍♀️ How do I get myself into this madness? Maybe it‘s just that this was his first attempt? Maybe I should try the other book I have but this guy. Maybe it would be better. I can‘t imagine anymore about this FitzStephen guy. I want to punch him in the face or worse (I think the Welsh has the right idea). 6y
GingerAntics @julesG and by god are they the Welsh or the “Cymri” (especially considering it was actually spelled Cymry) because no one group of people would have used both. Thanks. Oh my god. How am I supposed to sleep under these conditions?! 6y
GingerAntics @julesG oh god help me the next book has a KING (read man...his name is Henry) in a “chemise.” I have no words. I have very scary mental images of Medieval men cross dressing. 🤣😂🤣 I may have nightmares now, of incredibly hairy, smelly men dressed as women (and not a Shakespearean context, either). 6y
julesG 😂😂😂😂😂 6y
julesG Nearly choked on my morning tea. 6y
julesG This sounds awful. Put it away at once. 6y
GingerAntics @julesG I kind of want to know what happens in the next one, but it‘s got the epic chapter lengths, so no so sure. I do have another book ready to go that does sound nice. 6y
TrishB I enjoyed these posts 😂😂 hate bad historical fiction!! 6y
GingerAntics @TrishB sadly there seems to be a great supply of it. I think that‘s a big part of what has kept me from actually attempting my own historical fiction. Cross dressing Medieval men is not something I would have considered myself. 🤣😂🤣 6y
TrishB There is definitely a lot. I read a medieval one where there were zips in the dresses. Had to stop. 6y
GingerAntics @TrishB absolutely NOT!!! I saw one on Apple Books that had high ratings, it was a free download so I got it, luckily before I read it I saw the review that talked about coffee and showers not being part of ancient Britain and walked away. At least I didn‘t pay anything for it. (edited) 6y
17 likes14 comments
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GingerAntics
Swordland | Ruadh Butler
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Early Christianity was REALLY weird. Everything from substances that were supposedly the virgin mother‘s breast milk to little chunks of leather that were supposedly Jesus‘ foreskin, anything and everything was a bloody fecking relic. #creepy #swordland #edwardruadhbutler

Bklover Ewwwww 6y
GingerAntics @Bklover the Medieval period was very strange time...and supposedly these things made knights brave...? Or win...or something? 🤷🏼‍♀️ People do weird things for a boost. Just imagine, people still mutilate their children‘s genitals because they think it will make them blessed or more holy or less likely to sin. If it makes you feel any better, the breast milk was supposed to be powder by then. (edited) 6y
GingerAntics @Bklover there is actually some saint that was supposedly healed during the Medieval period when a statue of the virgin mother bared her breast and squirted her *holy breast milk* into his eye. There is even a statue that commemorates the *blessed* moment. That‘s when people started carrying around vials of the *holy milk.* (This is officially the weirdest thing I have ever posted on the internet.) 6y
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Bklover Wow! This is making me laugh, although I‘m not sure that‘s the point! I think they should make the statue into a fountain with water squirting out of both breasts! 6y
Bklover Thanks for the info though!. Everything I‘ve ever read about the medieval period makes me very glad I wasn‘t around then. 6y
GingerAntics @Bklover you and me both...especially since I‘m an opinionated, intelligent woman. I would have been murdered a LONG time ago. lol Actually, it‘s hard not to laugh to think people actually believed 1. it was possible to actually have this stuff and 2. that they revered such weird and seemingly random things. He fountain idea sounds legit to me. When I first saw a picture of the statue I thought it was a fountain. 🤣😂🤣 (edited) 6y
14 likes6 comments
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GingerAntics
Swordland | Ruadh Butler
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I get that Wales is a small place, but apparently interesting things only happen in an even smaller area than the country itself. 🤷🏼‍♀️
#swordland #edwardruadhbutler #wales #gwynedd #deheubarth #ceredigion #welsh #history #war

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GingerAntics
Swordland | Ruadh Butler
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Medieval Ireland 🇮🇪 AND Medieval Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿!!!
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!
What is not to love here?
Can‘t wait to get started on this tonight before bed.
#ireland #wales #medieval #swordland #edwardruadhbutler