Gillian Bradshaw's first few novels were historical fantasy, which I enjoyed very much back in my mis-spent youth. But then she pretty much dropped off my radar, and it turns out she's switched to straight historical fiction, no fantasy involved. Out of nostalgia as much as anything, I picked up The Sun's Bride, a novel set in and around Rhodes in 246 BCE, although I'm not much of a historical fiction buff.
I had mixed feelings about this novel. I'm still not a huge fan of historical novels, but Bradshaw avoids most of the pitfalls that bug me. One of the biggies is characters with modern attitudes in historical times -- Bradshaw avoids this one completely. Her characters are steeped in a culture where slavery is the norm, and even the hero doesn't particularly object to it.
My other problem with historical novels is that they tend to throw in all the major actors of the time -- a Civil War novel will find a reason to introduce Lincoln; a Roman novel will throw in Caesar, Cicero, and a host of others. Here, Bradshaw falls a bit into this trap. We end up encountering both Laodike, who triggered the Laodicean War between Egypt and Syria, and the King of Mycenae (although mostly in passing). Bradshaw makes it believable, but still...
On the other hand, Bradshaw is a good story-teller, and has a gift for making ancient Rhodes feel alive. I'd probably read more of her novels, but I'm also not in a huge rush to do so.
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