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Hugo Angelo
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I like to learn. Macro enthusiast, BTC believer.
Replying to Avatar Lyn Alden

Moorish Spain was the period from the 8th to 15th centuries when Muslims ruled the Iberian peninsula.

Anyway, here's a book review of The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, which I've had time to finish on this fine Thanksgiving day. It's historical fiction written back in 1995 about the final years of Moorish Spain.

Guy Gavriel Kay is known for writing stories that are mostly historical fiction, but with a small touch of fantasy. In this story, Al-Rassan refers to the southern part of Spain/Portugal controlled by Muslim city-states, while three Christian kings rule their mini-kingdoms in northern Spain/Portugal. In this book, Muslims are called Asharites and identify with the stars, Christians are called Jaddites and identify with the sun, and Jews are called Kindath and identify with the twin moons over this world (which is a touch of the aforementioned fantasy element).

Ultimately, it's a story about love and friendship across cultural boundaries, but duty that sometimes has to separate them.

The three main characters are Ammar (an Asharite poet-swordsman), Rodrigo (a Jaddite noble knight-leader), and Jehane (a Kindath physician), and it spans a few years as the Jaddites and Asharites grow increasingly hostile toward each other. The story is probably best summed up when Ammar laments that the concerning way things are headed, it's likely not going to be his poetry that he's remembered for.

It's not as simple as two sides of a war, though. The Asharite city-states of Al-Rassan are rather secular, as are the Jaddite mini-kingdoms in the north. But the Jaddite clergy seeks to push those secular Jaddite kings to have a holy war and retake the peninsula, and the Asharite warlords back across the strait seek to push those secular Asharite kings to reclaim their peak of power of the peninsula as well. So there are basically four powerful factions in conflict, along with the Kindath as the fifth minor element.

The word "Lions" in the The Lions of Al-Rassan refers to men without equal. Ammar and Rodrigo both represent basically the pinnacle of their sides, and it's a story about what happens as those two "Lions" meet in the waning days of Al-Rassan.

I mostly enjoyed the plot, as well as the main three characters. Guy Gavriel Kay is kind of an "author's author", meaning that several authors consider him one of the top authors out there, but his books only have moderate popularity compared to the top bestsellers. Kay also helped Tolkien's son edit The Silmarillion back in the 1970s after Tolkien's death.

Although Kay is praised for his prose, it's not my favorite. I prefer more concise, straightforward prose, whereas this is somewhat poetic in nature. To me there's a slight distracting element when prose is written like that. The author Brandon Sanderson has used the analogy of clear glass vs stained glass when it comes to prose style. Sanderson's prose is "clear glass" meaning you read for the story, not the prose. Kay's prose is "stained glass" meaning that you read partially for the prose itself, with the trade-off that it's harder to see the story/characters as perfectly clearly through it. And then of course there are many subtypes. Kay's prose just doesn't vibe with me well.

I think it's a great book, with strong themes and intricate politics and a broad cast of fascinating characters. Some will quite enjoy the prose, but it made me slightly detached from the characters as I read it.

Looking forward to your visit to Portuguese mainland!

Shout out to @Derek Ross

Shakespeare is incredible. Really very impressed.

I can’t stop building websites! 🤓

Same here. I’ve been using brave on both laptop and phone (Apple both) for the past 4 plus years. I like it, but bear in mind I’m not super technical.

Joe,

When shall we have the pleasure of welcoming you at Quase Quase?

We have two stores in Lisbon (Alvalade and Campo de Ourique) and we accept bitcoin.

Come and try our delicious flash frozen meals, healthy and nutritious or our rich bone broth.

See you soon!

This is the way! nostr:note1x2pgscef8crsv3m7274jaka55uh2t6l0ks220yx8ax7crllp8s7sgwkwck

Não. Abre o browser, o link parece carregar, mas só aparece o primeiro frame.

Replying to Avatar Derek Ross

Missing Twitter Spaces? Come and talk all things Nostr and Bitcoin. Open Discussion. 👀 https://spaces.nostrplebs.com/general

This is a test. The server could get rugged if traffic is too much or resources are too low. Come chat.

Seems to be pretty good. Great quality.

If I understand correctly, one cannot have a LNurl of our blue wallet, isn’t it?