Please enjoy this first chapter of my latest novel “Califia’s Crusade.” I hope you enjoy it! On the isle of California in the year of…
The Internet Home of Creator Justin Hebert
Tag: Medieval
How The Thriving, Prosperous Timurid Empire of Central Asia Declined and Dissolved While Timur’s personal brand of ruthless politics and battlefield competence kept his realm…
The Timurid Renaissance When Timur the Great passed away in early 1405, a succession dispute quickly arose among potential claimants. Timur had kept control over…
Who Could Claim Constantinople After the Ottoman Conquest? As I’ve previously noted, the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 was not the first time that…
Late Medieval Politics and the Quest for Constantinople The Crusades occupy a strange place in the American imagination. Popular impressions of what they were, why…
Warning: the following post contains spoilers for A Test of Honor and The People’s Champion, In A Test of Honor, Sir Aidan Franklin fought on…
The knights were the equestrian warrior class of medieval Europe, a land-holding noble defined by his ability to effectively ride a heavy horse into battle.…
The popular geek blog io9 published an interesting article a few months ago observing that modern Fantasy books often contain more actual science than Science…
Milestones were originally used by the Roman Empire to mark distance along their many roads. This helped people know how quickly they were traveling, and also how far they had to go. I think this is why I prefer thinking of accomplishments as milestones rather than goals. Goals imply that you’ve arrived, that you’re finished; milestones tell you that you’ve simply reached an important place on your journey.
Just recently, I completed a milestone that I began working toward at the beginning of the year. I finished writing the rough draft of A Test of Honor – eighteen chapters, 94,263 words, three months’ worth of focused creativity. And it feels amazing.
“Who was the first who forged the deadly blade?
Of rugged steel his savage soul was made!” – Tibullus
Swords Gone By
A shopping mall in a city where I attended College had two primary attractions: a Borders Bookstore and a movie theatre. For me and my group of friends, there was one other store that kept us coming back: a Golf and Gift Shop. It was full of kitschy little do-dads, trinkets, and ridiculous impractical golf gear (as well as legit clubs and bags), but we didn’t care much about Golf. We came for the swords.
I often wonder how a golf shop got into the sword business. They were mostly fantasy blades, and in retrospect I would bet a lot were half-tang and unlikely to stand up to actual combat. But we didn’t care about that. They looked cool, and they ignited our imaginations. We probably drove the shop-keepers nuts because we were always looking but never buying. Being a broke commuting college student, my money was tied up in truck payments, gasoline, and books.
However, there was a time when a sword was considered a much wiser and sounder investment than any book or vehicle. But for the Medieval warrior with the luxury of choosing, the question remained – what kind of sword should they wield?