Making History is a dark fantasy novella by K.J. Parker (aka, Tom Holt). A group of scholars are forced by a tyrannical King (think Trump) to invent a fake ancient civilization to justify a war with a country that the King wants to invade and pillage. The narrator of Marking History is a linguistics professor tasked with creating a fake language for the invented culture required by the King. The creation of the fake ancient civilization must be convincing enough to lead to war or the scholars will be facing execution if they fail.
Like all of K. J. Parker’s works, Making History is witty, sardonic in tone, and suggests that history is propaganda. GRADE: B
The Official Versions tend that way. Wonder how much this work differs from Holt’s other work that he decided to use a pseudonym.
Todd, the Tom Holt novels are mostly comical. The K.J. Parker novels have some humor but can be very dark and violent.
Don’t know him, but sounds good.
Jeff, if you’re in the mood for something a bit off-beat, K. J. Parker books are just the things to read!