Ramon Pons: Count of Toulouse by Michael A. PonzioMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
A tale about the Count of Toulouse (the region in South Western France) in the early medieval times. This not very long book depicts his life as it "could have been", including his political manoeuvring, fighting with Saracens, Hungarians and others, building the monastery, serving the king in Paris and more.
The historical background of the book is well set. It was interesting to learn that Hungarian tribes reached as far West as Catalonia. The Roman heritage and deep religious influence of Christianity in all aspects of life in medieval France were depicted very well too.
However, overall, the book is quite one-dimensional: plain characters, plain language, not very realistic dialogues (where characters explain to each other history of the places etc) and all these references to Pons / Pontus and origins of the surname. The latter might be exciting for the author (imagining where his surname might originate from and where it has left all its traces), but was just too repetitive to encounter again and again.
