Fiction is fun, but don't mess with the history

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Justinian (1998), by H. N. Turteltaub

Justinian is an earlier historical novel by Harry Turtledove, under his favorite nom-de-plume. The summary below, from Library Journal, gives the basics.

Written four years before the first book of the Hellenic Traders series, Justinian lacks several elements that make those books so enjoyable. Mainly, it's the character of Justinian, whose lack of depth offers little insight into the bases of his unpleasant personality. As noted above, the "asides" of the faithful soldier Myakes are better, but still lacking depth. Development of an author's writing skills from one book to the next is interesting to track and, although the newer Greek novels are much better than Justinian, this earlier effort is still worth reading for the hist-fict fan.   


The five criteria:
  1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?
Yes. This was my first novel set during the Byzantine Empire - not because it's an uninteresting historical period, but because I've found no other such novels. If nothing else, the development of the mighty imperial city of Constantinople from the earlier Byzantium would be a good subject for someone like Edward Rutherfurd (we can hope).
Score = 5
  1. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?
Yes. The author's ability to read the original Greek was undoubtedly helpful. More detail would, however, have made the descriptions more compelling - even if it had to be based largely on educated conjecture.
Score = 4
  1. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?
Yes. The history is well-researched, although the lack of detail and/or embellishment makes it somewhat dry.
Score = 4
  1. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?
Yes, as far as it goes. The author notes that little can be learned from the historical record about the lives of the principal figures of this era, which seems odd after the literary outpouring of the earlier Roman era.
Score = 4
  1. Were the fictional or fictionalized plot and characters plausible?
Maybe. Justinian himself is the least plausible. It's hard to believe that he could have been as single-minded and lacking in self-doubt as he is portrayed. For me, Robert Graves' fictionalized Claudius remains the gold standard of hist-fict character development, and Justinian could have been more interesting with some of that psychological speculation.
Score = 3


From Library Journal


While not as well known as his namesake, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, Justinian II certainly bears investigating. Treacherous, vicious, driven, and self-serving, Justinian took the throne in 685 at the age of 15. Overthrown in 695, he was cruelly mutilated and exiled across the Black Sea, where he languished for years with his bodyguard Myakes as his only companion. Although the bulk of the story is told from Justinian's point of view, the more interesting bits are found in the asides by Myakes, who, after the death of his emperor, was blinded and sent to a monastery. In spite of lengthy and tedious descriptions of military campaigns and an underpopulated cast of characters, the reader is drawn into a Byzantine world where the glory of God and the glory of earthly power are two sides of a glittering gold coin. Turteltaub is the pseudonym of sf author Harry Turtledove.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.