Missive #480

Rome, 799 AD: Pope Leo is viciously attacked in the street by unknown assailants. Sigwulf, a Saxon prince who has been banished to the court of King Carolus in Frankia, is sent to Rome as a spy to discover who was responsible. There, he discovers a web of lies—the only clue to the attackers’ identity is an intricate gold buckle, which Sigwulf links with a mysterious gold warrior flagon he finds in the home of the Pope’s chamberlain.This book was the last in the Saxon series and is the last of Severin’s books that I have to read. I must say that I liked his fiction better than his nonfiction adventure books although they were very good. Could the attack have its source in the highest levels of the church? Pope Leo had made enemies among the nobility on his rapid ascension to St. Peter’s Throne, and there are many who would see another in his place. Returning to Paderborn Palace in Frankia to report his discovery, Sigwulf learns that the flagon has been stolen, and he is tasked with tracing it. His journey takes him deep into dangerous territory, to the notorious stronghold of the pagan Avars. — Book promo @ goodreads.com

Not much news. Still hot enough for me to want the A/C which continues to work for an hour or so then quits. I have my annual VA medical checkup tomorrow. The lab tests were available online and I have reviewed them. Everything looks reasonably good although I’m confused by them showing cholesterol test results twice with different numbers. Using either of the numbers shown the LDL readings are higher than the medicos want but all the cholesterol ratios are Good. Some medicos claim that is more important that just the raw numbers, then there are others that disagree with that. I’ll see what my ‘doctor’ has to say tomorrow.