I just finished reading "Rude Tales and Glorious Being: The Only True Account of Diverse Feats of Brawn and Bawd Performed by King Arthur and His Knights of the Table Round" by Nicholas Seare, a pseudonym of Dr. Rodney Whitaker. I've been hunting for this out of print book for months and it was worth the wait! Dr. Whitaker, AKA "Trevanian" is one of my all-time favorite authors. As Seare, he perverts Arthurian legend just as Trevanian subverts the spy genre in The Eiger and Loo Sanctions and his masterpiece "Shibumi."
"Rude" had me laughing out loud. In his revamping of the Arthurian tales, Merlin is a con man who pimps out a very willing Guinevere, who's no Lady at all. Arthur is Merlin's assistant who becomes king when Merlin releases the clamps on Excalibur. "Hey Merlin, it's me Arthur."
Nicholai Hel, a man of Shibumi, is the man Ian Fleming wishes James Bond was. This book inspired me to start playing Go over twenty years ago. From the book, "Go is to Western chess what philosophy is to double entry accounting." Another quote that's stayed with me, "Advice helps only him who gives it, and that only insofar as it lightens the burdens of conscience. In the final event, you will do what fate and your breeding dictate and my advice will affect your future as much as a cherry blossom falling into the river alters its course."
Trevanian's "The Summer of Katya" and "The Main" are also must-reads.
The Summer of Katya - "In the golden summer of 1914, Jean-Marc Montjean, recently graduated from medical school, comes to the small French village of Salies to assist the village physician. His first assignment is to treat the brother of a beautiful woman named Katya Treville. As he and her family become friendly, he realizes they are haunted by an old, dark secret . . . but he can’t help falling deeply in love with Katya.
Jean-Marc is warned by Katya’s brother that she is delicate and that he should curb his attentions, but he is young, hopeful, and in love . . . and he is certain that Katya returns his affections. When Jean-Marc learns that the Trevilles are planning to leave the village forever, he insists on a final meeting with Katya. That meeting and the events that follow turn what was an idyllic romance into an unending nightmare. Katya’s secret is revealed in a thrilling tale that is part love story and part psychological thriller, and the chilling climax will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned."
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Just getting ready to start John Sanford's Invisible Prey. I finally broke down and got it when I found out that Kidd and LuEllen make an appearance. IMO the best Prey novel is Certain Prey. Clara Rinker from Certain and Mortal Prey is my all-time favorite villain.
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James Rollins books are action-packed fantasy thrillers. He also writes as James Clemens.
