Books: If only they *had* written that one ...

Over at Making Light, guest bloggers Debra Doyle and James Macdonald are plugging their latest novel, Lincoln's Sword, by talking about how it came to be. They have the interesting idea that Civil War stories occupy a place in the civil mythology of the United States similar to the one the King Arthur cycles hold in Great Britain's. So when they sat down to explore that idea in writing, this was the actual first draft of an opening chapter that Macdonald came up with: ( Read more... )

The actual novel is nothing like this, but as a lapsed medievalist, I sure wish it had been. I love stylistic pastiche; one reason I keep reading all those [Famous Pre-Twentieth-Century Novel] and [Unlikely SF/Horror Element] books is in hope that the author will manage a proper cod-[Pre-Twentieth-Century Novel] voice. As yet, I haven't found one that really does it, but I can't give up the quest.

Doyle and Macdonald's full post about the genesis of Lincoln's Sword is over here, for anyone interested. Share and enjoy!