Jo Walton
Lent
Jakob says:This is the perfect present to pull coinesseurs of the literary and the historical novel in: Towards the end of the fifteenth century, the de-facto ruler of Florence for a few years was Girolamo Savonerola, a Dominican monk (who, as it seems, remains a controversial figure for Christians up to this day). Walton’s novel sticks close to the historical facts about Savonerola, painting him as a devout Christian, but also a social reformer. However, her Savonerola can actually see - and banish - demons, and they’re all around. Is it all just in his head? Or is his renaissance world really a magical one with demons, saints and hidden magical rituals? While you’re still trying to figure that out, Jo Walton throws you another curveball. Suddenly, history is not what it seems at all, and Savoneralo has to deal with a revelation that shakes him to the core … this historical fantasy novel with a surprising and slightly science-fictional alternate history bent may be great on several conceptual levels, but the most wonderful thing about it are its characters (keep the door closed while reading, because these people keep jumping off the page, and it’s enough of a pest to try and catch them when you only need to chase them through one room) and its pacing: While Lent can in no way be described as action packed, she spotlights only the essential moments - every sentence, every word in this book counts.
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