Monthly Archives: April 2023

Review

Book Report: The Boleyn Inheritance

Book 10 of 15 in Philippa Gregory’s series is The Boleyn Inheritance. The inheritance is a reference to the impact of Anne Boleyn’s brief tenure as Queen on those who followed her, though this does take on different connotations depending on the character. The book begins in July of 1539, which means we have skipped ahead a few years from The Other Boleyn Girl, past Henry’s marriage to Jane Seymour in 1536 and her death in 1537.

The book is a first for the series in that it has three different view point characters, switching between the three each chapter. They are (in order of appearance):

  • Jane Boleyn, wife of George Boleyn and sister-in-law of Queen Anne Boleyn. One of the witnesses against her husband and sister-in-law, she begins the book in exile from the currently queen-less court. She is waiting for a chance to return.
  • Anne of Cleves, a young noble woman from a German duchy. She is in the running for the next queen of England. Her portrait, from the master Hanz Holbein, will entice Henry. Henry will make her queen, and bring an alliance to her brother.
  • Katherine Howard, a 14-year-old excitable teenage and cousin to Anne Boleyn and, by marriage, of Jane Boleyn. Katherine is living in a house of many young women, with little supervision and many gentlemen callers. Despite being 14, she is already an experienced lover, and has the Howard desire for social climbing.

Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford

‘My mother commanded me to trust nobody at court. She said, especially Lady Rochford.’

-Catherine Carey, daughter of Mary Boleyn

Jane Boleyn is an experienced hand at Henry’s court, having participated in three previous queens. Her actions against Anne Boleyn and her husband haunt her, yet she longs to return to court. Her Boleyn inheritance is the literal wealth she kept after her husband’s execution.

Jane Boleyn comes off as a very sympathetic character when reading her scenes. She is constantly telling herself, and the reader, how much she regrets her actions with Anne and George, and how much she missed both of them. You can’t help but feel sorry for her. At least, until you read other character’s scenes.

Jane may speak of guilt, but her actions show none of it. She joins Anne’s court to spy for the Howard family, with Katherine as a confederate. When Anne falls from favor, Jane makes a token effort to refuse to participate in the scheming against her, but eventually falls in line. In Katherine’s court, Jane continued her service to the Howard family, participating in Kitty Howard’s affairs without much thought, knowing what the penalty will be when they are caught.

When Jane falls from grace, it’s hard to find much sympathy for her. She had many chances to defy her uncle, or to guide Anne and Katherine better, but chose to follow the family line, even as she stresses her regrets over and over to the reader. Only once does Jane do something noble: at the height of the danger to Anne, Jane provides wise counsel that Anne accepts, and survives.

Jane is a character who talks about guilt but makes no effort to avoid repeating her offensive acts. While I did not despise the character, I do think her end at the block was well deserved. Which might be a first for this series.

Anne of Cleves

‘If it were not so tragic, this would be the highest of comedies: this gawky girl stepping into the diamond-heeled shoes to Anne Boleyn. What can they have been thinking of when they imagined she could ever rise to it?’

-Jane Boleyn

Anne of Cleves begins the book excited to come to England, to escape a smothering religious family in Germany and finally exercise some agency in her life. She is aware that there are problems in the way; she and her entourage stand out in their dull dress ‘fat little ducks besides these English swans’, and she does not know the language, but she is committed. Her Boleyn Inheritance is a poisoned throne.

Anne is an immediately sympathetic character, due to the puritanical family life she leaves in Germany. Her approach in England and the throne is one of a scared woman who is eager to prove she can do the job, sort of like Katherine of Aragon only without the confidence. I read her scenes happy to watch her try, and eager to see her succeed.

Anne also brings an outsider’s perspective to the English court. Unlike every other character, who knows what Henry’s court is like and what to expect, Anne has to learn. Her presence, and her actions, put Henry and his nobility to shame. Also, because Anne is not from an English family, Anne is not immediately part of the court schemes.

Of the three arcs, Anne’s was my favorite, not only because she critiques the court with her presence, but because she gets a happy ending. From the oppressive German family to the dangers of Henry’s court, Anne finally ends up with estates and a stipend, and freedom. She ends up happy.

The only thing I wish we could have seen: Anne writing a letter to her brother, telling him off. Oh, well.

Katherine ‘Kitty’ Howard

‘She is a foolish, frivolous little thing, but she has the cleverness of a stupid girl, since, like any stupid girl, she thinks about only one thing, and so she has become very expert in that. And the one thing that she thinks about? All the time, every moment of every day, Kitty Howard thinks about Kitty Howard.

-Anne of Cleves

Katherine Howard is a vain, greedy teenager who grew up always wanting more: more lovers, more wealth, more stuff. She is brought to the court to act as another agent of the Howard’s. When she becomes queen, it is only because she is young and pretty. Her Boleyn Inheritance is the family’s insatiable need for more.

Katherine’s scenes are written from a very unique viewpoint for this series: they’re shallow. Her descriptions of characters are always about their dress. She loves parties and frivolity. Many of her chapters start with ‘Now let me see, what do I have,’ followed by a list of what she currently owns, the length of which charts her rise and fall. Compared to the educated and measured viewpoints of pretty much every other character in 10 books, it might be the most unique voice so far.

Katherine’s rise is entire due to her beauty, and her willingness to be a trophy queen to show off Henry’s virility. She’s pretty, and she knows it, and she uses it. Her downfall is because she is never happy. She demands so much she irritates the king, and bemoans marriage to a man old enough to be her grandfather.

I’m mixed on Katherine’s story. On one hand, she had a unique view point, and being a young woman who goes through what she does incurs some sympathy. On the other hand, she’s well aware of the dangers of King henry’s court yet makes no effort to learn any lessons. Thus, Katherine walks to the same end as her cousin.

Conclusion

The Boleyn Inheritance was fun to read. Three characters, with different backgrounds influencing their actions. Three stories, ending in wildly divergent and deserved endings. And three inheritances of Anne Boleyn’s trek to the throne.

I’d put this book above average. While we never get too intimate with any of the three characters, their contrasts help sharpen each individual’s arc. It helps that the viewpoints are diverse, so each one stands wholly separate from the other. It makes for an exciting read.

With this, we enter the last third of the series, one step closer to the end of Henry VIII and the rise of Queen Elizabeth. After so many kings, it’ll be good to see a queen.

-Michael

Event

Minicon 56

This past Easter weekend, I spent three days at Minicon 56, a science fiction convention in the Twin Cities. One of the oldest science fiction conventions in the Midwest, I had never attended this convention before, either as a vendor or a guest. Not only was this new, but this was my first multi-day book event since before Covid. Needless to say, I was excited.

Author-man

The Table

My primary reason there was to be author-man. I had an eight-foot table with electricity, which was more than enough space for my two books. My location was at a corner, so I was starting down a long edge of the dealer’s area.

I set up my picture frame with the wallpapers scrolling through angled to be visible from either direction and my recruiting poster visible down the long approach. I had my ‘Library of the Renaissance’ display up (the real books that Sasha reads during the series), my array of cards and fliers, and then my books themselves.

With all this space I had enough room to have my laptop out, so I could work in my downtime. Which was great, because over the course of three days, I certainly had enough of it.

The People

The other vendors in the room were a mix of more established writers, sellers and craftsmen, and a few first timers. As I’ve always found, everyone was friendly, happy to discuss their tables and projects. It’s always fun to be around eager and inventive people. I met with science fiction and fantasy writers, jewelry makers, and a podcaster who covers cryptids.

The guests of Minicon were a standard mix of longtime convention goers, newer attendees, and everything in between. I saw some Manticon and TRMN people I recognized from my first conventions (and some of them recognized me as well). It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything the TRMN, but I still remember them being a fun group.

During my time at my table, I got to speak with a lot of people who came up to find out about my book. Some of them got drawn in by the artwork. Some of them came in because of the ‘Library of the Renaissance’. And some talk to every author in the room to find out about their books. I had people buy my book, or decide it wasn’t for them.

The ‘Library of the Renaissance’ got a bit of interest. Grant’s Memoirs sparked a few conversations, as did Art of War and Laura Cereta’s Letters. Red Badge of Courage not only sparked conversation, but someone got upset over the book. I’m still not clear on why; I’m not sure he was clear on why I had it out. Overall, the Library idea went over well, with the only thing I would do differently is add a ‘not for sale’ sticker to the books so people understand it’s a display.

The Panel

One other exciting experience from the weekend was my first official panel, with microphones and a name plate and everything. The topic was ‘Writing the Twin Cities.’ Now, I had two reasons to be nervous. First, public speaking, always a worry of mine. Second, while my books are set in Minnesota, they’re post apocalyptic. I was worried that might come off poorly.

Turns out, every author up there destroyed at least part of the Twin Cities. I guess it’s not uncommon. I’m sure there’s a master’s thesis about why somewhere out there.

The panel itself went well. I answered a few questions about writing in Minnesota, and how I treated historical landmarks. The last half of the discussion got into the various tunnels and caverns of the Twin Cities, which I know nothing about, so I didn’t get to say much there. But that happens.

Overall, I’m glad I got to participate, but I do have to work on my presentation. I thought I kept rambling while trying to get my thoughts in order. Not too bad, but enough I want to work on it.

Conclusion

I absolutely loved the convention. It was a blast, with great sales, great people, and more than enough time to work on my projects. I have already registered for next year, and I’ve promised myself that I will have at least one more book on my table.

Minicon 57, here I come.

Monthly Update

April Update

March was a busy and productive month. I got a lot done and knocked a lot of things off my lists.

Writing

I’m closing in on a good draft of The Colonel Lieutenant. I finished wargaming and writing the big campaign, and re-worked most of the subsequent scenes. Right now, I’m working through the first scenes, one by one, focusing on the timeline, specifically how fast people and news moves across the land. What was originally two days worth of events is now spread out across a week, now that people aren’t teleporting.

I’ve been focused on Book 3, so Orcfyre (the fantasy novel) and my untitled Science Fiction novel are on the backburner. I also haven’t done much with the Tales of the Templar short story collection. Sometime this month I’m going to sit down and work out what I have to do for all my projects and set a schedule for the year.

On a slight aside, I’ve had some work come in through Fiverr, so I spent some time building another person’s military background, in this case plotting out a campaign for their story. It was a lot of fun, and I’m writing out a blog post on it for April.

Movies and TV

After a couple of weekends of false starts, I finally got down to watch All Quiet on the Western Front. It was certainly a brutal war movie that captured the psychological terror of combat. And I did like it. But, I felt that it fell short of the impact of the 1930’s adaptation. There’s never any scenes of the characters returning home and failing to connect with civilians. And the sub-plot of the end of the war (between General Foch and the German leadership) seems to be written to make the French seem as if they were intransigent villains, without explaining why they might feel justified being so firm in their position.

I finished Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in March. The new, episodic series really took me back to the TOS and TNG days of Star Trek, before multi-episode and season-long story arcs became the norm. And it really worked for me. The stories were fun to watch. The characters were enjoyable (both legacy and new). And the ship beautiful. I felt the crew of the show understood Star Trek and made an effort to honor its legacy.

And in the same field, I finished Star Trek: Lower Decks, the animated humorous show. I was worried about this one, because I found the first season to be very hard to get through. I have a hard time with characters who always have to be right or always have to be wrong, and Season 1 had both (Mariner and Boimler), specially because the always right character was always provign the other character wrong. But that didn’t continue into Season 2 and 3, and I found those to be much, much more enjoyable.

Books

I finally finished Education in Violence: The Life of George H Thomas by Francis F. McKinney. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a history book of that type. Most of it was fun, but it did drag towards the end when it got away from Thomas and followed the Army of the Cumberland. Still, I’m glad I read it. I don’t read a lot of biographies.

I started and almost finished The Boleyn Inheritance, the next book in the Philippa Gregory series. This book follows several of the later wives of Henry VIII, jumping between several characters chapter after chapter. I look forward to having the book report up soon.

Also started The De Facto Duchess, Book One of the Burton House Saga, by Ashley Katharine Houghton. It’s a historical fiction novel set in the Georgian era of Britain. I’ve found it to be a comedic drama, in that the story is overall serious (as far as I’ve read), but a lot of the scenes have humorous elements. I’ll have to see where it ends up.

Games

I continue to play through Last of Us 2 and pick at Napolean: Total War. I added a new game, one I kickstarted many years ago that finally release: Ancient Cities, a stone-age city builder. I’ve enjoyed what I tried so far, but the game doesn’t have much of a manual or guide. I have so many questions I can’t answer and it bugs me. I’ll still play at it a bit, but unless I can find some answers I’m not sure how much time I’ll invest in it.

I’m happy to report I’m still playing the same RPG characters. I’ve also gotten to try a new system called Blades in the Dark, a story telling RPG set in a dark, steampunk fantasy world. If you want to try a new story-telling game, this is one to take a look.

What’s Next

This upcoming weekend I’ll have a table at Minicon 56, my first full convention since before Covid. That will be fun, though of course I’m worried about my table set up. By the end of the month I’m aiming to have at least one more event lined up. Fingers crossed.

Until next time, keep writing!

-Michael