Brendan by Morgan Llywelyn

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Brendan:

I hate this book so much.

Quick synopsis:

A biography of Brendan of Clonfert and his legendary voyage. I guess. Not sure I can really tell for reasons outlined below.

Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:

St. Brendan discovered America. No, I will not entertain arguments and facts to the contrary. My boy did it!

Fun Fact for History Nerds:

Uh. St. Brendan discovered America!

My Take on Brendan:

Morgan Llywelyn is a famous author who is well respected and is obviously very talented. She is a published author while I am merely a snarky blogger. I know my place in the world. However, I still hate this book with every fiber of my being.

The true villain here is the Amazon “you might like” recommendations. You are supposed to really KNOW me, Amazon. This is not the history I like. This is fiction with a little history mixed in. At least, I think. Either way, you need a time out, Amazon. You’re drunk.

The book has, as far as I can tell, multiple narrators. Some of it is third person, some of it is Brendan in the first person. All of it is infuriating. For me, if you are going to write fiction then you are free of the shackles of sticking to the script. Fiction should be constantly interesting because you don’t need to take the time to line up the facts of your story. 300 pages felt like 800. The narrative just keeps jumping and you end up caring about none of it. I think there’s some historical truth in here, but hell if I am going to try and discern where it is.

Bear in mind, I am named after St. Brendan. Do you realize how much I wanted to love this book?

Verdict:

Probably faster to just drop acid. Probably more enjoyable and will take less time. (Disclaimer: No, don’t actually do drugs.) Still want it?

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