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Hadrian's hidden history explored in ‘Lady of the Eternal City’

» An interview with historical fiction writer Kate Quinn

“hs, Nimra Khan

The Silhouette

I: the two years since I last
spoke to historical fiction

writer Kate Quinn about her

book Empress of the Seven Hills,

she has had time to work on

its sequel, Lady of the Eternal

City, which came out on March

3. It surpassed all her other

efforts based on subject matter,

characters, and plot. In short: I

loved it.

Lady of the Eternal City
follows the trio of Vix, Sabina,
and Titus from the previous
book one year later. Hadrian,
now Emperor of Rome, is
engrossed in his new plans
for the Empire, leaving little
time or respect for his wife,
Empress Sabina. He's earning
the reputation of a ruthless,
untrustworthy emperor, and
Sabina needs to find a way to
control that side of him. Vix is
serving as the Emperor’s “dog,”
forced to jail his friends on
the Emperor’s command and
possibly kill his best friend,
Titus. The lives of these three
friends that I grew to love in the
previous books continue to get
entangled ina flurry of schemes
revolving around Hadrian.
Along with the addition of a
few new faces, the views of
many different characters are
effortlessly woven together.

Quinn said, “T’ve always

: liked complicated interwoven

: plots, so perhaps I’m just getting
: used to it by now? To be honest,
: I'm very glad you thought I

: pulled it off, because this book

: was the book from hell in

: many ways. Many plots, many

: characters, many historical

: threads, and ... many headaches
: while writing.”

: Emperor Hadrian was hailed :
: asa man with many masks, and
: someone who was hard to pin

: down. Quinn said that Hadrian
: was the most surprising and

: contradictory historical figure in :
: her research.

“Almost every character

: trait he had was bracketed by

: its exact opposite: he wasa

: cynical mystic, an artistic man
: of science, a scholarly warrior,

: an animal-loving hunter, and

: aman of mercy with a cruel

: streak. I still have no idea if my
: version is anywhere near to the
: truth—and that’s what makes

: him fascinating.”

I was surprised to find so

many serious topics so deftly

: woven into the story, including
: homosexuality, rape, misogyny,
: and religion. For instance,

: Quinn boldly tells the story of

: the love between two men (one
: of them being the Emperor), the :
: backlash they face from society,
: and the very real legacy they

: leave on Rome.

Quinn explained that she

: has wanted to write a more

: central gay male romance fora
: long time, “precisely because

: it would give the chance to

: explore the issues we face

: today through a lens of Roman
: culture, which at first seems

: much more lenient than our

: own, but is revealed to have its
: own set of prejudices. Ancient
: Rome didn’t have homophobia _: &
the way we do today; they didn't :

: have words for ‘gay’ or lesbian’:
: as states of identity, just words
: for individual homosexual acts.
: And Roman men especially :
could face a lot of condemnation :
: if they were perceived as ‘taking :
: the woman’s role’ ina male-male :
: relationship.’ :

I was also surprised that

: Hadrian and his lover's story

: was never something I'd read or
: heard about. Given his stature,

: why wasn’t Hadrian’s love

: story as commonly known as

: some other historical figures’

: dalliances?

Quinn explained, “There

was a lot of embarrassment from :
: historical scholars of the past

: in studying Hadrian, because

: you cannot write about him

: without writing about the male
: lover he adored so publicly.

: Their romance—and by effect,
Hadrian’s reign—had something :
: of ascholarly blackout for along :
: time, but thankfully that view
: is changing and we are seeing

: a lot of scholarly work done on

re Werte (1 Pe
—MARGARET GEORGE ~

 

Hadrian’s remarkable reign. We

: are also starting to see a good
: deal more LGBTQ characters
: in mainstream romance ... and
: not just as ‘the heroine's gay :
: best friend’ or ‘the hero's lesbian :
: cousin, but getting their own

stories as protagonists.”
Although many characters

: in this book are fictional, there
: are just as many that are very
: real in the hallways of history, so

: be sure to read this book before

: searching up all the characters (a
: mistake I made myself) so that

: nothing is spoiled for you.

This series is definitely
worth the read. You might

also want to read about this

: Emperor's reign and discover

: how much we can learn from

: history, and more importantly

: the very real humans of the past
: that shaped our present.

 

Animesque: Tainted bloodline

» ‘Vampire Hunter D’ can’t compete with modern vamp fiction

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

OOOOS

efore Akira, there was

Vampire Hunter D (VHD),
an anime based on a long-
running series of light novels
penned by Hideyuki Kikuchi,
an author best-recognized
as the Japanese equivalent of
H. P. Lovecraft. The stories

unfortunately named vampire
slayer “D” ina macabre future
dominated by supernatural

the novel’s illustrator Yoshitaka
Amano, Toyoo Ashida (known
for Toei Animation’s Fist of the
North Star) adapted the first of
Kikuchi’s novels into a film that

was destined to become a horror : bo
: wants to make Doris like him

: because he needs a woman's
: touch in his undead life every
: thousand years or so.

cult classic among anime fans.
VHD takes the plot of
American Western Shane

: (lonely drifter blows into town
: and saves the day, but must

: move along despite the friends
: he’s made) and puts it ina

: fantastical world populated

: by vampires, werewolves,

: and all manner of beasts too

: outlandish to even name with

: human language. As a result,

: it tries to bea film that spends
: its time building atmosphere.

: Thanks to the unique setting,

: it does so, but at the same time
: it lacks dynamic characters ora

chronicled the adventures of the :
: complex plot.

Everyone in this movie is a

: plot device. D is the lonely hero
creatures. In 1985, together with : who will save the villagers and

: move on. Doris isa determined
: homesteader who needs D’s

: help with a vampire problem.

: Count Magnus Lee (a reference
: to Christopher Lee’s Dracula)

is an aristocratic vampire who

The supporting characters

: are barely worth mentioning

: and nobody develops past

: their basic outline. This is only
: worsened by some of the flattest :
: dub work I’ve yet heard in my

: anime-watching journey. D in

: particular sounds like he’s been
: huffing paint.

VHD is an early effort and

: it shows, but a lot of these

: problems can be explained by
: the fact that nobody at the time
: had a clue about production.

: In the ‘80s, anime for adult

: audiences had a bright and

: shiny novelty, so things like

: inadequate animation cycles,

: 10-second filler shots in an

: already short movie, and

: tinny audio were forgivable on
: the basis of the film’s visual

: creativity.

VHD isa visual treat for

: sure. Seeing the crumbled

: remains of skyscrapers at the

: foot of a mountain range drives
: home just how far in the future

: we are. Humanity has been

: reborn into an Edwardian

: society surrounded by lush

: forest and ruled by creatures

of the night. Van Helsing-

: style desperadoes called

: Hunters offer their services for
: (occasionally lewd) payment.

: D’s poncho/cloak/thing could
: give Batman cape envy, and

: there isa scene where a man’s

: own disembodied hand gives

: him CPR. The Count’s fortress
: looks like something out of

: Castlevania, backgrounded by
: the blood-red moon.

It’s all very attractive,

: but you'll predict every twist

: if you’ve watched any of the

: vampire shows doubtlessly

: inspired by this animated

: ancestor, such as Angel, Forever
: Knight, and Blood Ties. It’s the
: “Seinfeld is Unfunny” effect,

: meaning the more copycats

: there are over time, the less

: clever the original series seems
: tonewcomers. Today, I can

: appreciate the significance

: of this film’s place in anime

: history, but that didn’t stop me
: from going catatonic halfway

: through.

Since VHD was one of the

: very first adult-oriented anime
: ever made, I have to give credit
: where credit is due: this was

: indeed a groundbreaking film

: in its time. Nobody, east or

: west, had yet seen anything

: that combined minimalist

: Western plot structure with

: Gothic horror iconography

: and Universal Studios

: monster mashing. It was

: also accomplished in a time

: when animation studios were

: underfunded and understaffed.

It’s not VHD’s fault, but

: times change. Due to the ocean
: of imitators, even the hardest of
: the hardcore vampire nuts will

: havea hard time trying to find

: something in this they haven't

: seen before.