Category talk:St. Oswald's Niche Characters

Hist refs
There are a number of possible additions to References to Historical Figures in Turtledove's Work in the novel, which are listed in my blog. Jennet Walker's recital of the Henry-Beckett feud (which would simply add on to existing entries) is an important meet-cute which establishes the character as a supercharged Mary Sue knowitall, akin to Dora the Explorer or other such character. (I think of Dora only because that's the most recent movie I've seen.) Numerous other hist figs are discussed in the novel, but I confine myself to the ones that are discussed extensively, and/or are crucial to the macguffin: Henry I of England, Robert II of Normandy, William of Mortain, William of York. It seems like Laura Frankos, not having Wikipedia to work with in the early 1990s, simply copied down a few Encyclopaedia Brittanica entries to fill out her page count. William of York is just filler, but has a very hefty word count. Henry I, Robert II, and William of Mortain are all crucial to quirky references in the York Tapestry ("They're not standing in the right places, according to history books!" establishes why the Tapestry is important), which seems like it might lead to a creative secret history revelation, but is ultimately relegated to the status of macguffin in the lame Scooby Doo chase scene. And the reference to Prince Charles is kind of cute and raises the possibility of a Forrest Gump style cameo, even though it ultimately leads nowhere.

So, opinions, anybody?Matthew Babe Stevenson (talk) 19:54, December 3, 2019 (UTC)