communi_kate | Baby, I'm back! (Reply)

So this is where I've been for the last few weeks. Camping, very little mobile reception, or internet. Now I'm back, and I've showered, and after losing my damn Kindle on the flight out (NINE HOURS without anything to read, you bastard who nicked it at Gatwick), I've started on some more semi-serious research for the fantasy Epic That Shall Not Be Named, as well as catching up on all the fandom scandals (fandals?) over the last few weeks. To which I'd like to say; seriously, Revealing Eden? Seriously?

Anyway.

I'm currently recovering from extremely underwhelming minor surgery and re-reading two books simultaneously. The first is Natalie Zemon Davis' Trickster Travels, about the life of al-Hasan al-Wazzan al-Fasi, also known as Giovanni Leone de Medici, also and better known as Leo Africanus. The second is Amin Maalouf's Leo The African, a fictionalized account of al-Hasan's early life and his time spent in the Medici court of Pope Leo X (who featured in my AC fanfiction Only The Devil Laughed) after being kidnapped by Christian pirates. If Davis is quick to point out that much of al-Hasan's life is unknown, Maalouf is only too happy to fill in the blanks, and it's an entertaining ride that as normal* comes highly recommended. Davis's scholarly epistle is approximately a quarter footnotes, references and glossary, but don't let that put you off, it's extremely readable for those with an interest in non-Western history and cultural exchange.

*(Sometimes I think that I only review books I like on this blog, but if I dislike them that much I usually don't finish them, and I certainly don't spare the thought and time required to post a review( yes, three paragraphs and a photo does require some time and effort). Got enough on my plate already.)