Recent reading
Jul. 14th, 2024 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaI am now on the train north, to do a botanical survey and then a forest survey, for two weeks.
The Pastor's Fire-side, Vol. 2 by Jane Porter (1817)
In the last volume, Louis was called to Vienna by his father (a minister in the Spanish court). My speculation that he was not in fact called there by his father turned out false, but there's still some deception in that his stern guardian in Vienna who puts Louis to the test turns out to be his actual father, not just his associate as he first claims! They are involved in scheming surrounding the Pragmatic Sanction (which eventually made it possible for Maria Theresa to be Empress of Austria). Maria Theresa is thus betrothed to a Spanish prince, and since I know she didn't marry one IRL, this must either be an AU or there will be some future political change of fortune. Glad I have some basic grounding in 18th century politics here. Duke Wharton is their political enemy, and Louis, who is there in secret, meets him by chance, allowing for some agonized dilemmas. Further on, Wharton saves Louis's life by warning him of an assassination attempt, so Louis is convinced Duke Wharton is his bosom friend even as Louis avoids him since it is his father's wish. A female love interest is introduced; Louis falls for the fair Otteline, but the omniscient narrator tells us she is only interested in his title, and eventually he knows her to lack the virtue he wants in a wife because (gasp!) she opened a sealed letter addressed to a political adversary! (I do kind of like that this is a gender-neutral fault.) Louis's thoughts on this occasion: Oh, what had I to do with love? with women's smiles and sorceries? Why should I give up my soul to lie in the lap of effeminate sensibilities, when I had such a friend as this [Duke Wharton], to occupy my whole heart with noble sympathies? with manly aspirations?
The volume ends with Louis saving his political enemy the widowed Electress of Bavaria from a burning opera building, she having been there in secret and appealing to him that he never reveal her presence, which would shock all of Vienna since she is still in her year of mourning. Louis says his lips are sealed, but as he clandestinely leaves the building, he is seen by Duke Wharton and two others! Duke Wharton tells the others that no, it's only Louis's lookalike. Further reports to come.
Sword Dance by A J Demas (2019)
This was delightful! It is an m/m romance set in fake!ancient Greece (or in fact one of the characters is probably non-binary). The prose style is nothing special, but it's warm-hearted and engaging. The plot is similar to K J Charles Think of England: a disabled former soldier comes to a house party, where he falls for a gender-nonconforming spy that he's not sure he can trust, and then they have to work together to defeat the shady dealings going on at the house party. But hey, it's a great plot! Glad to see that this is the first of a trilogy.
The Pastor's Fire-side, Vol. 2 by Jane Porter (1817)
In the last volume, Louis was called to Vienna by his father (a minister in the Spanish court). My speculation that he was not in fact called there by his father turned out false, but there's still some deception in that his stern guardian in Vienna who puts Louis to the test turns out to be his actual father, not just his associate as he first claims! They are involved in scheming surrounding the Pragmatic Sanction (which eventually made it possible for Maria Theresa to be Empress of Austria). Maria Theresa is thus betrothed to a Spanish prince, and since I know she didn't marry one IRL, this must either be an AU or there will be some future political change of fortune. Glad I have some basic grounding in 18th century politics here. Duke Wharton is their political enemy, and Louis, who is there in secret, meets him by chance, allowing for some agonized dilemmas. Further on, Wharton saves Louis's life by warning him of an assassination attempt, so Louis is convinced Duke Wharton is his bosom friend even as Louis avoids him since it is his father's wish. A female love interest is introduced; Louis falls for the fair Otteline, but the omniscient narrator tells us she is only interested in his title, and eventually he knows her to lack the virtue he wants in a wife because (gasp!) she opened a sealed letter addressed to a political adversary! (I do kind of like that this is a gender-neutral fault.) Louis's thoughts on this occasion: Oh, what had I to do with love? with women's smiles and sorceries? Why should I give up my soul to lie in the lap of effeminate sensibilities, when I had such a friend as this [Duke Wharton], to occupy my whole heart with noble sympathies? with manly aspirations?
The volume ends with Louis saving his political enemy the widowed Electress of Bavaria from a burning opera building, she having been there in secret and appealing to him that he never reveal her presence, which would shock all of Vienna since she is still in her year of mourning. Louis says his lips are sealed, but as he clandestinely leaves the building, he is seen by Duke Wharton and two others! Duke Wharton tells the others that no, it's only Louis's lookalike. Further reports to come.
Sword Dance by A J Demas (2019)
This was delightful! It is an m/m romance set in fake!ancient Greece (or in fact one of the characters is probably non-binary). The prose style is nothing special, but it's warm-hearted and engaging. The plot is similar to K J Charles Think of England: a disabled former soldier comes to a house party, where he falls for a gender-nonconforming spy that he's not sure he can trust, and then they have to work together to defeat the shady dealings going on at the house party. But hey, it's a great plot! Glad to see that this is the first of a trilogy.
