Cromwell follow-up

[yendi]

So, it turns out that if you want to comment-whore, Cromwell is almost as effective as sex or politics. Who knew?

Anyway, it's pretty clear that, although knowledge of Cromwell is second nature to some, it's a nigh-unheard-of topic to others. So it sounds like the characterization is legit, although I still feel mildly surprised about her lack of knowledge.

For those with the patience for it, there are some damned interesting comments in the thread from yesterday.

I deliberately didn't mention the book itself, as I know some folks have read the author, and I wanted basically neutral opinions. That said, the book is The Hidden Family, by Charles Stross, and it's damned fun (which is why that one scene was so frustrating). It's the second book in The Merchant Princes series, so you'd be best off reading The Family Trade first. Once you get past all the blurbs insisting you compare Stross to Zelazny (as I noted yesterday in another context, would you want to compare penis size to John Holmes?), the books are perfectly fun fantasy novels with some nice examinations of and twists on traditional genre motifs (although they seem to get as much hate as love on Amazon, especially by folks who seem to have expected something more than fluff -- the tendency of everyone from editors to critics to compare the series to Amber certainly doesn't help).

Comments

[theferrett.livejournal.com]

Interestingly enough, you'll probably find that the number of comments that admit to an ignorance of Cromwell and the English Civil War are drastically understated. Me? I'd heard the name and knew vaguely that a Civil War had happened, but didn't feel like getting lectured on how I should know history better, yadda yadda yadda. Whereas I suspect that if I had known, I would have stood up proudly and shouted, "Yes, I'm intelligent!"

[ian-gunn.livejournal.com]

What he said, I think that accounts for the high comment volume more then the specific topic.

[yendi]

I was being facetious about that part. :-)

[ian-gunn.livejournal.com]

It's too early. Need more caffine. Or less staying up late gaming.

[yendi]

The former. Less gaming leads to brain deterioration. I'm sure there's science to prove it.

[yendi]

*nod* That's partially what led to the ETA on that post, as what boggled me wasn't just that she didn't know all about Cromwell, but that the name didn't ring a bell at all. But yeah, I didn't exactly frame the original post to make that clear (a result of my own Angocentrism, amongst other things), and the topic definitely strayed.