Wildfire, the magic substance that saved King’s Landing, is based on Greek fire.

“Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning while floating on water.”

She’s also overly Anglocentric and miserabilist.

That isn’t to say that she isn’t interesting or well read, only that “A Distant Mirror” has limitations that become more obvious each year.

Phillipa Gregory writes anachronistic chick lit nonsense, Cornwell’s medieval novels have always been his weakest and Tuchmann is pretty out of date.

My pick for the finest historical medieval novelist is probably Alfred Duggan. He was the hell raising stepson of Lord Curzon who lost all his money and converted to Catholicism. Most of his characters would eat George R.R. Martin’s for breakfast.

The stuff about women strikes me as nonsense. Medieval women might have lacked power but medieval aristocrats, regardless of their sex, had plenty.

Religion was also a great leveler — not just Joan of Arc but all the Hussite warrior women.

Unfortunately, Martin seems to have lost interest. It took 20 years to get 5 books, and he’s only halfway through the story. I doubt he will ever finish it. Maybe one more book that leaves everyone stranded. His publisher should hire someone to finish it.

The book and the HBO series are nihilistic in the extreme and so have no real staying power. Contrast it with the Lord of the Rings, which has Catholic themes and medieval references, too, and which may actually enter the English Canon.