Brother Cadfael Mysteries - Page 2

listgoddess · 07-15-2012, 09:18 PM

Cadfael is an acquired taste, but if you majored in medieval history and English, it's a gourmet feast. And the best part is that the depictions of daily life and court and church politics is very accurate.

GlenBarrington · 07-16-2012, 11:47 PM

Oh, They're OK, They don't excite me as a great read, but they can pass the time. I've never seen the TV series, but I have a hard time seeing Derek Jacobi as Cadfael. In my mind, I always sort of saw Edward G Robinson or Bob Hoskins (actually MY Cadfael was a blend of the two). A tough guy who gave it all up for something he valued more.

listgoddess · 07-20-2012, 12:48 AM

I don't care for Jacoby as Cadfael either. He's a good actor but wrong for the part. Hoskins would have been good. The late, lamented Richard Burton would have been perfect for the part, and he was Welsh too.

cearbhallain · 07-20-2012, 03:07 PM

Ellis Peters also wrote straight historical fiction under her real name, Edith Pargeter. She's pretty respected in terms of historical accuracy and I find these books much more enjoyable than the Cadfael's. It isn't that they're better in any other way than they're not mysteries - I hate mystery novels. In that respect, I liked the Jacobi series. Mysteries make better tv shows than books as far as I'm concerned. I also loved the Dresden Files series but found the books to be unmitigated bores

DiapDealer · 09-03-2013, 05:39 PM

Any idea why the ebook availability seems to be so scattershot (in the US, anyway) on these? I can find NOs:1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, 19, 20 ... etc. Just seems odd that they would skip about like that.

jbjb · 09-04-2013, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I very much enjoy them, and have them all in paper. I would definitely buy the eBooks if they became available.

Looks like you're in luck - the kindle versions are available at amazon.co.uk:

Morbid Taste For Bones

/JB

crich70 · 09-04-2013, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Any idea why the ebook availability seems to be so scattershot (in the US, anyway) on these? I can find NOs:1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, 19, 20 ... etc. Just seems odd that they would skip about like that.

I'd guess it has to do with the publisher more than anything. I don't have any facts to support that, but it seems logical. Why they do things like that is another question entirely of course.

AlexBell · 09-04-2013, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Any idea why the ebook availability seems to be so scattershot (in the US, anyway) on these? I can find NOs:1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, 19, 20 ... etc. Just seems odd that they would skip about like that.

I don't think the books, as I remember them, are really a series - there's not much plot or character development. It may be that the publisher has chosen the most popular ones to release first.

DiapDealer · 09-05-2013, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I don't think the books, as I remember them, are really a series - there's not much plot or character development. It may be that the publisher has chosen the most popular ones to release first.

That's certainly plausible (if a bit annoying on their part).

As a public service to those above who indicated an interest in getting the ebooks when they became available, I thought I'd make a few comments on the general quality of the first book (from Amazon -- Velmon Books Pty Ltd, July 7, 2005)...

All paragraphs are indented AND there's a space (the equivalent of one line) between all paragraphs.

It was created and/or converted with calibre. It looks like it might have been an earlier version as I noticed the fairly rare occurrence of a backward closing quote (the punctuation was "smartened") when it followed an mdash character/entity. I haven't noticed that in more recent implementations of calibre's "smarten" routines. Still, there were maybe three occurrences of the reversed closing quote in the entire book.

I've picked up on two typos in the first half of the book (they don't appear to be your typical "scanno" errors so it's possible they were in the print version, too).

One broken paragraph encountered in the first half.

I have no print version to compare to, but I'm assuming the original contained distinct "scene-breaks." If so, those visual breaks are missing in the ebook--making for some awkward reading at times.

I've seen far, far worse--and at $4.99... I'm not feeling all that trampled on, oppressed, or taken advantage of.

PeterT · 09-05-2013, 08:44 AM

My parents lived for many years in Shrewsbury, and my father was active in the local Wildlife Trust based just across from Shrewsbury Abbey (or the remains there-of).

The Wildlife Trust did at one point have a Cadfael Discovery Center but I'm not sure it still exists.

For anyone who is interested, see http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/...-list-2013.pdf for details of an upcoming Edith Pargeter weekend.

I believe it was Thomas Telford had some of the ruins of the Abbey demolished to allow construction of the A5 road.

PS: If anyone does go and attends any of the sessions at the Wildlife Trust, remember my father David Eric Thomas and all the pleasure he had working there.

HarryT · 09-05-2013, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

My parents lived for many years in Shrewsbury, and my father was active in the local Wildlife Trust based just across from Shrewsbury Abbey (or the remains there-of).

The Wildlife Trust did at one point have a Cadfael Discovery Center but I'm not sure it still exists.

For anyone who is interested, see http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/...-list-2013.pdf for details of an upcoming Edith Pargeter weekend.

I believe it was Thomas Telford had some of the ruins of the Abbey demolished to allow construction of the A5 road.

Shrewsbury Abbey has a stained-glass window showing scenes from Brother Cadfael, and dedicated to Edith Pargeter. The Abbey benefits from royalties on the sale of all her books.

frquixote · 10-18-2013, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cearbhallain

Me too! Her other books are rather epic.

Here, here! I'd buy The Heaven Tree Trilogy and The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet in a heart beat.

DiapDealer · 02-03-2014, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Any idea why the ebook availability seems to be so scattershot (in the US, anyway) on these? I can find NOs:1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, 19, 20 ... etc. Just seems odd that they would skip about like that.

It appears things have actually gone the OTHER direction as of late. Seems I can no longer find any (English) ebook versions in the US. Spanish and German versions abound, though.

VictoriaP · 02-03-2014, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It appears things have actually gone the OTHER direction as of late. Seems I can no longer find any (English) ebook versions in the US. Spanish and German versions abound, though.

What the heck?! I bought all that were then-currently available just six weeks or so ago via Amazon, and you're right, they're gone now. I was hoping the missing volumes would be coming available soon. How aggravating!

HarryT · 02-04-2014, 03:08 AM

They don't appear to be available on Amazon UK either.

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07-15-2012, 09:18 PM	#16
listgoddess Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 880 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle and Nook	Cadfael is an acquired taste, but if you majored in medieval history and English, it's a gourmet feast. And the best part is that the depictions of daily life and court and church politics is very accurate.

07-16-2012, 11:47 PM	#17
GlenBarrington Cheese Whiz Posts: 1,986 Karma: 11677147 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Springfield, Illinois Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Tab A 10.1(2019), Pixel 6a.	Oh, They're OK, They don't excite me as a great read, but they can pass the time. I've never seen the TV series, but I have a hard time seeing Derek Jacobi as Cadfael. In my mind, I always sort of saw Edward G Robinson or Bob Hoskins (actually MY Cadfael was a blend of the two). A tough guy who gave it all up for something he valued more.

07-20-2012, 12:48 AM	#18
listgoddess Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 880 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle and Nook	I don't care for Jacoby as Cadfael either. He's a good actor but wrong for the part. Hoskins would have been good. The late, lamented Richard Burton would have been perfect for the part, and he was Welsh too.

07-20-2012, 03:07 PM	#19
cearbhallain Groupie Posts: 183 Karma: 1053258 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Fort Vancouver Device: nook	Ellis Peters also wrote straight historical fiction under her real name, Edith Pargeter. She's pretty respected in terms of historical accuracy and I find these books much more enjoyable than the Cadfael's. It isn't that they're better in any other way than they're not mysteries - I hate mystery novels. In that respect, I liked the Jacobi series. Mysteries make better tv shows than books as far as I'm concerned. I also loved the Dresden Files series but found the books to be unmitigated bores

09-03-2013, 05:39 PM	#20
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,882 Karma: 207000000 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Any idea why the ebook availability seems to be so scattershot (in the US, anyway) on these? I can find NOs:1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, 19, 20 ... etc. Just seems odd that they would skip about like that.

09-05-2013, 08:44 AM	#25
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,693 Karma: 79983758 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	My parents lived for many years in Shrewsbury, and my father was active in the local Wildlife Trust based just across from Shrewsbury Abbey (or the remains there-of). The Wildlife Trust did at one point have a Cadfael Discovery Center but I'm not sure it still exists. For anyone who is interested, see http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/...-list-2013.pdf for details of an upcoming Edith Pargeter weekend. I believe it was Thomas Telford had some of the ruins of the Abbey demolished to allow construction of the A5 road. PS: If anyone does go and attends any of the sessions at the Wildlife Trust, remember my father David Eric Thomas and all the pleasure he had working there.

02-04-2014, 03:08 AM	#30
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	They don't appear to be available on Amazon UK either.

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