Dreams of Falling

I'm inclined to be more merciful, but not much. I've read a lot of historical novels, and 90 percent of them either fall into 'I have done a lot of research and by God I will get it in here come hell or high water', or 'O hai there's this nifty thing (usually a Theory about some historical secret or other) and I want to show off this nifty thing, regardless of characterization, consistency, or any of the usual literary virtues, much less verifiable historical accuracy.' Which last also covers the aforementioned DA VINCI CODE etcetera. I like conspiracy theories considerably better when I don't have the feeling of the author hanging over my shoulder being all, "And it's true!"