★★★★☆ Written on the Dark, by Guy Gavriel Kay
GGK's take on the Hundred Year's War
Written on the Dark
Guy Gavriel Kay
GGK's take on the Hundred Year's War
If you've read a few of Guy Gavriel Kay's "quarter turn towards the fantastic" novels, you know the drill. The novel is, approximately, about some period in our history. However, he makes up new names for all the people and locations, and changes the events around a bit. This works better than it sounds.
This one in particular is about events in the latter half of the Hundred Year's War, from roughly CE 1410 - 1425, between England and France. (This novel, however, takes place almost entirely in Ferrieres, GGK's ersatz France.) This period encompassed the reign of Henry V of England (Hardan V in the novel) and his famous victory over French forces at Agincourt. It was during this period that the Dukes of Burgundy struggled with the mad King Charles VI of France for power. It also includes Joan of Arc's (Jeanette de Broché in the novel) life. One of France's most famous poets, François Villon (Thierry Villar) thrived a little after this, having been born after Henry V's and Joan of Arc's deaths.
In fact, Thierry Villar is the central character of Written on the Dark. It is told from his point of view. GGK has used one of his signature tricks to rewrite the history of this period. He changed the relative timing of certain events, so that they line up differently.
Specifically, he has shifted Villon's life a few decades earlier. Thierry Villar is able to tell the story of Jeanette de Broché, having been a contemporary of hers. The real Joan of Arc was about three years old at the time of Agincourt, thus not a factor in that battle. Jeanette de Broché is slightly older, a teenager when Hardan invades France, and thus relevant to GGK's equivalent of Agincourt.
These changes have consequences for events, which I will not reveal so as not to spoil.
It's a good novel -- not the best and not the worst of GGK's work. I enjoyed it.