Recently, as I was listening to an audiobook of Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom, I was disturbed by a scene of martyrdom. Not because it was violent or anything like that. Rather, something seemed off about it. King Edmund of East Anglia, gathering to try to make peace with a superior force of Vikings, derails the peace attempts by trying to force all the Vikings to convert first.
He comes off as a typical stereotype of an obnoxious Christian, as imagined by the Richard Dawkins types. But even that didn’t bother me so much, since I’ve almost gotten used to it. There was something … off about how Edmund first championed the example of St. Sebastian (whose martyrdom he would mimic), then backed off in fear at the prospect of dying for the faith.
The scene, in a supposedly historical novel (a genre whose readers are scrupulous about historical accuracy) felt somehow wrong. So I went on a little trip of internet discovery. What I found was interesting and disturbing in equal measure.
I talk about that, as well as giving a short review of the excellent Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs by Brandon Dayton, in a recent video that you can watch below. (Forgive the hemming and hawing in the beginning, if you will).
If you’d prefer to listen in audio, here’s a link for you as well:
Unrelated gift alert: I’m offering a free download of the fantasy map for my Raven Son universe. Interested? Add your email below so I can share it with you!