I feel like a broken record always citing my love of history as a reason behind my interest in historical fiction. But there is so much more to historical fiction than just history. Sure there are the nobles: kings, knights, queens. But it's the infamous that attract me, and what is better than a gladiator?

I'm currently reading Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn, an adult historical fiction that revolves around a Jewish slave girl and a Britannic gladiator. What an interesting match up, it's heartbreaking no less.

Rome was an important stepping stone in humanity's past and their ingenious inventions are things to be admired. But like most early humans, they were a savage and tough people. I don't know how else to describe a population who spent their Sundays watching men and women being skinned by vicious animals and cheering for their downfall.

However, that was the way of life in ancient Rome and a well documented one as well. Many know of the Romans and their accomplishments. We know of crazy Nero who played his lyre while Rome burned or of Caligula who despised the Senate so much he named his favourite horse a senator. No doubt they were ridiculous leaders but how about the people below them? The gladiators forced to put down their lives for their entertainment?

Honestly, it was probably a horrible fate and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but like other not too noble occupations like: assassins (Assassin Creed) and thieves (Robin Hood), gladiators are romanticized and incredibly interesting to read about.

• They know any fight can be their last.
• They are tough men and women from across the world.
• They wish for a rudius, an Emperor's grant of freedom.
• They are the object of many's fancy.
• But, they are slaves (not all).
• Barbarians

It's a mystery how they managed to live and how the men and women that loved them coped after their death.

I've just started to make a dent in Mistress of Rome but gladiators seem to be the super stars of the Romans. They were slaves whose lives were forfeit in the Colosseum but outside they were peppered with noble women, fans and graffiti.

It's kind of sad that I have to travel outside the YA genre to find a book that interested me and captured Rome in a realistic and detailed fashion. There are definitely a fantastic bunch of YA historical fiction authors who do this phenomenally but none to my knowledge who wrote about gladiators. Wouldn't it be a great new craze? Vamps, werewolves, angels, zombies to gladiators!

What do you think of gladiators? 

-Mari

A discussion with P.E. and Mari.

YA is awesome. But it can get even more awesome. I was inspired for this post by this tweet that was asking for a YA romance set in the Olympics. I don't really need the romance part (but I wouldn't mind) and this got me thinking about all the types of stories that aren't found in YA. So, I'll start with saying there aren't enough stories about athletes, especially professional athletes. You get drafted in the NHL at 17/18. There's a 15 year old Russian skater killing it at the Olympics. Teens are a huge part of the Olympics and sports, and I know that it's a stereotype that bookish people don't care about sports because I know we're both fans. So, I would love to read a YA about that. What do you think?

Google and I have a long standing relationship and it knows how much I wish there was more to YA with my relentless searches: "YA book that features sports", "YA book set in Korea", "BOOK IN THE OLYMPICS"!!! I completely disagree with stereotyping in general. Bookish people aren't a type of people, they are a diverse community of people spread over different ages, countries and languages. We don't all read the same books, we definitely don't all like the same books, so who says that we all don't like the same things as well; especially sports. Hating sports is a lot like hating music; it's something that is supposed to be fun. I don't play sports because I suck at them but I sure would love to read about them and act like I don't suck. 

Well, we all know about my illustrious career as a defence in touch football. Or how about the one time in fifth grade where my coach said I was the most improved player after I did like six straight volleyball serves that managed to GET OVER THE NET. I'm a rockstar. 

Okay, I get your point. You also touched on some other thing I wanted to mention: diversity. Everyone agrees on the need for more diversity. I personally want diversity in books, but not books about diversity. Well, I'm not saying those shouldn't exist either, but I personally am not interested in social issue books. I'd love if there was diversity in a book, but it was completely natural. Like, I think R.J. Anderson had a Korean character in Quicksilver and it was awesome. I want diverse characters in paranormals where their diversity is not their defining character point, but just another part of them. YA is pretty white-washed as it is, and ideally, I think YA needs more of a variety of characters from different cultures. 

It's great that we both agree on that. Team diversity over here. Something else that I've been thinking about a lot lately is the awesome literature other counties have that we don't necessarily know about. I mean english can't be the only language with great books. Les Miserables and Le Petit Prince are French, Anna Karenina is Russian. Those can't be the only jewels of their language, there must be more and so I would love if we could read books written by a foreign author just as easily as we can watch a movie by one.

I absolutely agree. The Ruby Red series was by a German author, if I'm not mistaken, and I think that's something I would love to see- books FROM other cultures. Stories resonate with people, and I am so open to reading a YA book written for, say, Indian teens. Some of the stuff Western culture takes for granted would be discovered, and it would be awesome. Right now, it seems like so many Western books are being published in other languages and I would like to see the same happen. This can only help my book selection, because then I can have books from all the YA authors on Earth! (I am way too excited about that!)

Haha, same here. It would be fantastic imagine the variety we can find. One for every mood and mindset.

You know what else YA desperately needs? Canada. No, seriously. In dystopias, it's usually some enormous government running North America, and the government seems to be emulating American styles (with Presidents and no French) so I've always wondered what happened to us. I know Canada would not want to merge with the US, so maybe this is weird, but I always feel like the history of these dystopias is lacking. 

History and politics as well. As far as I know Canada and the US are tight allies so one turning on the other is hard to imagine, at least in my mind. I think more Canada and more accurate history/politics wouldn't hurt. Come to think of it, I was roaming Chapters a few hours ago (because that's what I do on my Sundays) especially the adult section and I was thinking about how much more detailed adult literature is. I wouldn't mind some of that leaking over to YA!

What do you think?