Quatrevingt-treize Reading Club

Yeah, even what little i know (and it is LITTLE) is enough to have me going "Hugo, no." But then it's not the first time he's thrown historical people in flavor text; in some ways this is easier to take than when I actually know the context and end up screaming YOU CAN'T JUST LIONIZE COLUMBUS LIKE THAT. I almost wish I could decouple my history-brain from my reader-brain at points here, because as you say, it is really effective at setting up a mood, and the Hugo-AU of these people are interesting characters, they just aren't quite...them.