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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Historical fiction recommendations
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Le Roc's post on the Reading thread:
quote:
I'm interested in reading historical novels, but ones that are set in time periods we don't know an awful lot about. So not something from the Tudors or the late Renaissance, but something from the Babylonian era, or the darker parts of the Middle Ages for example.
Preferably not books of the kind "passive woman finds out she needs a man who can give her a sense of security" (I'm looking at the Book Groop right now ![[Biased]](wink.gif) )
Does anyone have an idea?
I'd be really interested in this too. I've just finished a spate of historical novels set in the Tudor period, which, while enjoyable, have left me feeling I've had enough of Robert Dudley, Lord Cecil and Elizabeth I to last me for a while.
I quite enjoyed Alison Weir's historical novel "The Captive Queen", about Eleanor of Aquitaine, which was a bit of a change and an era that doesn't get covered that often. Eleanor was a lively, spirited personality who had quite a colourful life - you couldn't make it up - and the book was a good read.
Anyone got any good recommendations, as per Le Roc's outline?
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
One I keep meaning to read, so I can't truly vouch for it is The Tale of Genji, written in eleventh century Japan. It is touted as the first novel published and is still read today. I don't think you can get farther off the beaten path of historical fiction than a historical book written by an insider. Of course, it wasn't actually historical to the author, Lady Murasaki Shikibu.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
Thank you, that looks interesting! The book itself is in Public Domain because of its age of course, and there are even some free English translations available ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif) I'm downloading an epub version here right now.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
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georgiaboy
Shipmate
# 11294
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Posted
There is an historical novel called 'The Eye of God,' in which Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) is an important, though not major, character. The leading character is a female apothecary in Canterbury(?) who has an interesting career and love life. It is not lengthy, and I considered it a 'good read.'
Sorry I can't cite the author; I gave the book to a friend!
But with the current news about the remains of R3, it has a certain interest.
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AngloCatholicGirl
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# 16435
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Posted
If you're good with detective fiction, then I can recommend the Amelia Peabody series, by Elizabeth Peters. Amelia is a female Egyptologist in the pre-WW1 era, who gets involved in all sorts of crime and intrigue (along with her family). Very well written and nice to have a good strong female lead who is also very real and fallible like the rest of us. Link to Amelia Peabody site
Christian Jacq is a French archeologist who started writing novels set in ancient Egypt, I can recommend The Black Pharoah and his Rameses II series (he manages to work in Moses and the Exodus from the Egyptian viewpoint in those). He usually has good strong female characters too.
Also, P C Doherty, as well as writing historical crime set in Ancient Egypt and Medieval England (set during the reigns of Edwards 1,2 & 3) has written historical novels where he has pieced together available evidence of real mysteries and written them up as a novel. Death of a King and Fate of Princes are good. The Rose Demon is strictly non-crime fiction and is worth checking out too. You can find a bibliography Here
If you want more historical crime fiction, I know loads I can recommend!
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
Finished downloading The Tale of Genji. It's 1075 pages! ![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif) I'll see you in a couple of months ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
The Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are set in twelfth century England. They are very well-written, and AFAIK the details of life at the time are accurate.
Moo
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
There is always "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier, if anyone still hasn't read this. We don't often get historical novels set in the 17th century Netherlands. It's about a maid who comes to work for the painter Vermeer. I enjoyed this one enough to get the book, and the DVD is a visual treat.
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Niminypiminy
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# 15489
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Posted
Some left-field historical novels:
Out of print but available second hand, Children of the Book by Peter Carter is a gripping novel about the siege of Vienna -- told from three perspectives, an inhabitant of Vienna, a Turkish Janissary, and a Polish soldier.
The Corner that Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner follows the fortunes of an obscure East Anglian convent through the fourteenth century -- sounds dull, but is actually fascinating, clear-eyed and full of a sense of time and place.
I once read a historical novel about Athanasius -- I so wish I could remember what its title and author were -- it was a cracking read.
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Pine Marten
Shipmate
# 11068
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Posted
I very much enjoyed 'The Roman' and 'The Secret of the Kingdom' by Mika Waltari. These follow the (separate) stories of Minutus Lausus Manilianus, and his father Marcus Manilianus, who happens to be present at the Crucifixion. They are very well-written, a bit gory at times, and an enthralling read.
A very good novel about Richard III (my hero ) is 'The Court of the Midnight King' by Freda Warrington, a dreamy, beguiling fantasy, in a slightly parallel England.
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Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. - Oscar Wilde
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SusanDoris
Incurable Optimist
# 12618
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Posted
Well, these are true stories, but told, I think, in good story style. (maybe that's historical faction.) I have always enjoyed historical fiction too, of course.
'Wedlock' by Wendy Moore, sub-title: 'How England's worst husband got his come-uppance'. True story of Mary Eleanor, Countess of Strathmore and ancestor of the Queen. A gripping story - you just couldn't make it up! Friends to whom I recommended it found reading it was a bit tricky because of trhying to remember the names, but I listened to the audio book and it was un-put-downable.
'Perdita' by Hilary Scharper The story of Mary , Robinson late 18th century actress and, in some ways, the first 'celebrity'.
Can't remember the exact title, but it's a biography told in story style of John tradascant, Robert Cecil's gardener.
'Arthur and George'by Julian Barnes. Sir Arthur conan Doyle and George Edaljiand how their lives came together.
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I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
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Pine Marten
Shipmate
# 11068
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Posted
Just remembered: if you want a good laugh Gyles Brandreth has written a series of novels in which Oscar Wilde and his friend Arthur Conan Doyle solve murder mysteries! Yes, they are as daft as they sound, and meticulously researched. Very enjoyable.
[ 01. June 2013, 17:26: Message edited by: Pine Marten ]
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Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. - Oscar Wilde
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
Kristen Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undsett is one of my favorite novels (actually, a trilogy, but the books are normally sold bound together now). It's the biography of a 14th Century Norwegian woman who is anything but passive! The way the characters in the book pray is worth the read alone, plus it's a pretty ripping yarn.
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
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St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504
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Posted
The Sister Fidelma books by Peter Tremayne are good - she's an Irish religeuse in a Celtic monastry, and also a brehon of the Irish law system.
Phil Rickman has written some medieval stories involving Dr Dee. I've read The Bones of Avalon. (He's probably better known for his Merrily Watkins series - she's the diocesan exorcist for the Hereford Diocese - great fun to read if you know Herefordshire and the Borders at all)
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nickel
Shipmate
# 8363
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Posted
Simon Levack has a mystery series featuring Yaotl, who is an Aztec slave and failed priest, set in early 1500’s Mexico just prior to the coming of the Conquistadors. All four books are good, but I'd recommend starting with the second in the series, "Shadow of the Lords," then going back to book #1 for more of Yaotl's backstory. Fascinating non-WASP culture ... butterflies,"useless days."
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
Ellis Peters, who wrote Cadfael, was also Edith Pargeter, who wrote the Heaven Tree trilogy (which is excellent) and the Brothers of Gwynnedd books (3 or 4 of them, about the last independent Princes of Wales before Edward I took over).
Welsh history isn't that well represented in historical fiction, but the period of Llewelyn the Great and his grandson Llewelyn the Last has also been covered by the excellent Sharon Kay Penman, in Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow (which also includes Simon de Montfort) and The Reckoning. Have plenty of hankies ready for the end of The Reckoning!!!
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Edith
Shipmate
# 16978
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Posted
The Stephen Sayler Gordianus stories set in ancient Rome are excellent. Good history, good detection and precise writing.
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Edith
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Edith
Shipmate
# 16978
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Posted
I've just finished The Potter's Hand by AN Wilson, about Josiah Wedgwood and the Enlightenment. Wonderful writing and some fascinating reflections on the part played in 18 C England by religion in the shape of Methodism, Unitarianism and the established church.
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Edith
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
I assume nobody's mentioned Wolf Hall because it's too obvious?
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
Some good suggestions here! I have to say that detective/mystery isn't exactly my favourite genre, but I guess it might be a good excuse to look into a definite time period as well.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
Great question! I love reading historical fiction, especially seeking out unfamiliar times, places, and perspectives, and I love getting other people's perspectives.
I recommend Pauline Gedge on ancient Egypt ... she has a couple of series, if you're looking to explore that direction.
Annabelle Lyon's The Golden Mean and The Sweet Girl are about Aristotle and the people around him.
David Liss has an interesting series of eighteenth-century England mystery novels with an intriguing hero, staring with A Conspiracy of Paper.
Margaret George and Sharon Kay Penman are my two favourite authors of historical fiction, the only caveats being that they do tend to stick to the relatively well-known characters and periods, and in the case of both writers, I like their earlier novels better than their later. George's The Autobiography of Henry VIII and Penman's The Sunne in Splendour (Richard III) are two of the best novels I've ever read and they definitely kick-started my early interest in reading historical fiction.
Katherine Govier's The Ghost Brush is a fascinating novel set in nineteenth-century Japan. Leslie Downer's The Last Concubine is also set in that place and period.
Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes (sold under the title Somebody Knows my Name in the US, I think) is a wonderful exploration of the experience of an African slave captured and taken to the United States.
I could go on and on ... I got most of those recommendations from selecting the "historical fiction" tag on my own book review blog, which you could also have a glance through to see if anything else there interests you...
Also I've been looking for some good historical fiction set in ancient Rome for quite awhile (I read Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series; loved the subject matter; wasn't thrilled with her writing style). What I'd really like is a novel about Marc Antony, especially one that focused on his marriage to Fulvia, but I've never found any such novel. Anyone know of anything interesting in that era to recommend?
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Books and things.
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Keren-Happuch
Ship's Eyeshadow
# 9818
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Posted
Jean Plaidy has covered pretty much every era and not just UK history either. Her Ferdinand & Isabella series is very good and I think she covered some other European dynasties too.
I read Elizabeth Chadwick's books, set around the Norman Conquest, as a teenager but can't remember much about them now.
Michael Jecks is another historical crime author, set in the reign of Richard II if memory serves.
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Nea Fox
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
If you do decide to read Brother Cadfael, I would advise you to take them in the order in which they were written.
The first is A Morbid Taste for Bones. It has a very original plot.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
I've just downloaded 'The Corner that Held Them' to my Kindle as it sounds like my sort of book. Thanks for the suggestion Niminypiminy.
At present I'm reading Merivel by Rose Tremain. As it's set in at the time of Charles II it might be a time in history that's a bit familiar, but it's a good read all the same, as is Restoration the first book about Merivel.
Edited as it's late and I've drunk too much wine to spell properly.
[ 01. June 2013, 21:42: Message edited by: Gussie ]
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
Thank you, that looks interesting! The book itself is in Public Domain because of its age of course, and there are even some free English translations available I'm downloading an epub version here right now.
I just started reading it, but I am not abandoning the mystery I'm listening to on R4extra. I wish there were page numbers. I am forcing myself to put it down, i.e., shrink it and confine it to the lower right hand corner of the computer screen. It is a v. compelling story!
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
There is always "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier, if anyone still hasn't read this. We don't often get historical novels set in the 17th century Netherlands. It's about a maid who comes to work for the painter Vermeer. I enjoyed this one enough to get the book, and the DVD is a visual treat.
I enjoyed that novel too. I can also recommend David's Liss's novel 'The Coffee Trader', which is about the Jewish commodity traders of 17th c. Amsterdam. Another novel set in the same time and place is Deborah Moggach's 'Tulip Fever'. I own a copy, but haven't read it yet.
My preferred era for historical fiction is the 18th c. It doesn't seem to be a hugely popular period for British novelists, though, unless you're talking about naval novels set at the end of the century. Many prolific novelists will write one or two novels set in this period, but spend most of their time exploring earlier or later centuries.
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Horseman Bree
Shipmate
# 5290
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Posted
A plug here for Mary Renault. Her Alexander Trilogy, and sequel about the scramble after his death are the obvious choices, but there are quite a few others.
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It's Not That Simple
Posts: 5372 | From: more herring choker than bluenose | Registered: Dec 2003
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
As a huge fan of historical fiction, I can't resist putting in my tuppence-worth.
I'll add my voice to the cheers for Brother Cadfael but less so for Sister Fidelma; I didn't find the writing style nearly so good.
It seems that Brother Cadfael inspired several imitations: Brother Athelstan by Paul Harding (set in London in the 1370s) is lighthearted with larger-than-life characters; Matthew Bartholomew by Susannah Gregory (set in Cambridge in the 1340s) is a doctor and teacher of medicine at the University, more serious in style than Brother Athelstan, but good reads as well.
If twelfth-century sleuthing is your thing, try the Mistress of the Art of Death books by Ariana Franklin, the heroine being a lady pathologist. Sadly, there won't be any more of them, as the author died in 2011. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Elizabeth Chadwick's books were very readable, in a rather lightweight, romantic way. If you fancy the period just before the Tudors, Anne Easter Smith's novels set in the time of the Wars of the Roses are quite a good read.
[heresy alert]
As I said over on the Book thread, I gave up on Wolf Hall; I didn't like Hilary Mantel's writing style at all.
[/heresy alert OFF]
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
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Egeria
Shipmate
# 4517
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Posted
Pauline Gedge's novels are full of historical errors; one of my students amused herself by compiling two pages of them. Single-spaced. Gedge's love of melodrama and "glamour" often gets the better of her, so that we see historical figures being bumped off when the odds are that they died in their beds, Egyptian women painting themselves yellow all over, Ramesses II sitting at a desk (the Egyptians didn't use them), and the palace being furnished with marble water steps (there's very little marble in Egypt)!
But Gedge is the epitome of taste and accuracy compared to the egregious P.C. Doherty. He's written mysteries set in Egypt--the food is wrong, the trees are wrong, the names are wrong because he didn't take the time to find Egyptian names for many of his characters, just made them up. His detective character is called Amerotke; I assume that sounded Egyptian enough to this loathsome hack when he thought it up, perhaps in the shower. What's even worse is that he uses real characters and he gets them wrong too. Nobody has referred to Egypt's greatest Queen as "Hatasu" for a century; he calls her "Hatusu!" Incidentally, Doherty, using several pen names, churns his stuff out at an amazingly fast clip. What's wrong with publishers these days?
A writer using the pseudonym Lauren Haney has also written a series set in Egypt and Nubia; her main character is an Egyptian MP stationed in Nubia. A good idea, but her plotting is weak and her prose doesn't grip. Also, her research is way way out of date--her characters fret that no Egyptian army has been seen in Nubia in twenty years. Since the action takes place during the joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, that's a really elementary error; both co-regents saw action there. And she bought into the now discredited notion of the "Thutmosid feud," with a character wondering why Hatshepsut doesn't do away with her nephew. Umm, what about the future of the dynasty? One suspects that Haney was strongly influenced by the crap-o-rama fiction of Eloise Jarvis McGraw. ![[brick wall]](graemlins/brick_wall.gif)
So, if you want to read about ancient Egypt, my suggestion is: stick to non-fiction by reputable authors!
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Evangeline
Shipmate
# 7002
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Posted
I highly recommend Mistress to the Crown, a really well-researched and accurate story based on the scant facts we know of "mistress Shore" an amazing woman who was Edward IV's mistress. How she manages to divorce her husband for impotency, survive despite the "moral majority", the queen's powerful family and the turbulence after the King's sudden death is fascinating. It's a shame that the novel is "lumped" in with historical romance because it so isn't your bodice ripping, mushy fantasy.
Link on Amazon
Admission I do know the author but I wouldn't recommend her book if I didn't think it was great.
Posts: 2871 | From: "A capsule of modernity afloat in a wild sea" | Registered: May 2004
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
My preferred era for historical fiction is the 18th c. It doesn't seem to be a hugely popular period for British novelists, though, unless you're talking about naval novels set at the end of the century. Many prolific novelists will write one or two novels set in this period, but spend most of their time exploring earlier or later centuries.
True, and this has reminded me that I was a huge fan of C S Forester's "Hornblower" novels (young lad at the time of Nelson's navy works his way up to become Admiral and Lord Hornblower. As one does).
My preferred era at the moment is earlier medieval but there doesn't seem to be a great deal around. A book about Jane Shore would be good, if available in hard copy, and there's also "The Goldsmith's Wife", a Jean Plaidy novel about her, though Jean Plaidy's books are old now, and hard to get.
Anya Seton, who also wrote some great novels, is also difficult to get now, but "Katherine", set in Chaucer's day about the woman who had a long on and off affair with John of Gaunt, is a really good read.
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
Ariel: quote:
Anya Seton, who also wrote some great novels, is also difficult to get now, but "Katherine", set in Chaucer's day about the woman who had a long on and off affair with John of Gaunt, is a really good read.
One of my favorites!
ETA: Not only did she live in Chaucer's day, she was most likely Chaucer's sister-in-law.
[ 02. June 2013, 06:09: Message edited by: Lyda*Rose ]
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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Edith
Shipmate
# 16978
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Posted
I've just remembered a wonderful writer called Norah Lofts. All her novels are very well written and researched, the House at...series in particular, is excellent. It follows the story of a house in Suffolk over the centuries beginning in Saxon times and ending in the early 20C. Some of the characters are loosely linked down the ages.
The other very readable author is Edward Rutherford who takes a great city, for example New York or London, and follows the history of that city from its foundation to the present day.
And another easy writer is Ken Follett whose novels set in the past are well written and excellently constructed.
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Edith
Posts: 256 | From: UK | Registered: Mar 2012
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Haydee
Shipmate
# 14734
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Posted
And Lindsay Davis for Imperial Rome (and the Roman Empire) via her detective Falco
Posts: 433 | Registered: Apr 2009
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
The Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are set in twelfth century England. They are very well-written, and AFAIK the details of life at the time are accurate.
Moo
Should that be AFAIK or IIRC? (Sorry, just picking up on the line under your avatar)
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Egeria:
Pauline Gedge's novels are full of historical errors; one of my students amused herself by compiling two pages of them. Single-spaced. Gedge's love of melodrama and "glamour" often gets the better of her, so that we see historical figures being bumped off when the odds are that they died in their beds, Egyptian women painting themselves yellow all over, Ramesses II sitting at a desk (the Egyptians didn't use them), and the palace being furnished with marble water steps (there's very little marble in Egypt)!
That's good to know; I've read several of her books but as I know virtually nothing about the period, wouldn't have spotted any of those errors. Historical fiction can certainly be full of pitfalls as regards anachronisms and other detail. So many things to get wrong!
Someone recommended Ken Follett -- I personally think he's very mediocre as a writer (in terms of his actual writing style) but if his writing doesn't irritate you, he does do some nice historical blockbusters. A lot of people seem to like his medieval book, Pillars of the Earth, though I wasn't crazy about it. I have enjoyed the first two volumes of his trilogy about the 20th century, Fall of Giants and The Winter of the World ... again, not the writing, but the sweep of historical events and characters he takes in is interesting.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
Try looking out for the works of Ben Kane. The Forgotten Legion, The Silver Eagle and The Road to Rome give accurate details about the destruction of Etruscan culture by the Romans, very good details about the ill-fated 54/53BC campaign of Rome against the Parthians and the fate of Marcus Licinius Crassus and also touch on the life of a gladiator and the rise of Mithraism.
Or you could do worse than looking out for anything by Rosemary Sutcliffe: although originally thought of as a children's writer she was historically very good and the books aren't dumbed-down.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
I'd second the recommendation of Rosemary Sutcliffe - Roman to early medieval Britain (including Scotland), very well researched, includes Vikings and some periods that aren't well known. Some of it may be inaccurate according to our understanding, but she used the best information she had at the time she was writing. One of the things I particularly like about her books is the unsentimental portrayal of animals - the human characters do sometimes form close bonds with their favourite hounds or horses, but it's very clear that they aren't pets in the modern sense.
Mollie Hunter also wrote historical books for the same age range, mostly published in the 1970s but still fairly easy to obtain second-hand. Hers are all set in Scotland - for example, 'The Stronghold' about the people who built the brochs, or 'The Spanish Letters' (espionage in sixteenth century Edinburgh).
If reading any modern authors do bear in mind what Egeria said; a lot of them don't bother to do much research and those that do may ignore historical reality in order to produce a commercially viable story, so what you are actually reading is a story about modern characters in fancy dress. Some authors do manage to pull off the feat of writing about how things really were without alienating their modern audience, but watch out for the ones who started out as romantic novelists and switched to detective stories because the pay is better, they're the worst.
I don't read many 'straight' historical novels, but if you do want to try a few detective/mystery stories I can recommend Fidelis Morgan (Restoration London with an excursion to France and the Jacobite court in exile in the third book of the series; the first one is called 'Unnatural Fire'); R. S. Downie (accurately researched series about a doctor in Roman Britain); and Catriona McPherson (series about a character called Dandy Gilver set in 1920s Scotland; worth reading for the wry comments about Dandy's unhappy marriage).
Add me to the list of people who find Sister Fidelma intensely irritating... but Peter Tremayne does know the period, so that series is at least historically accurate.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Pine Marten
Shipmate
# 11068
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Posted
I've read a couple of Sister Fidelma stories and didn't mind them, although the small print of the paperbacks didn't help.
Mary Stewart's wonderful 'The Merlin Trilogy' is terrific, if you want something a little more than just historical fiction.
And Bernard Cornwell's excellent series of 'Sharpe' novels, set during the Napoleonic wars (as per the TV series), are well researched and good fun.
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Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. - Oscar Wilde
Posts: 1731 | From: Isle of Albion | Registered: Feb 2006
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SusanDoris
Incurable Optimist
# 12618
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Posted
I was not a reader of Wilbur Smith's books, but the two Ancient Egyptian books, 'River God' and the sequel, whose name I forget' I enjoyed very much.
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I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
Posts: 3083 | From: UK | Registered: May 2007
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gussie:
At present I'm reading Merivel by Rose Tremain. As it's set in at the time of Charles II it might be a time in history that's a bit familiar, but it's a good read all the same, as is Restoration the first book about Merivel.
That reminds me of Tremain's Music and Silence. I liked that a lot.
I'm not sure whether it's historical fiction, or sf heavily disguised as historical fiction, but Neal Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy, (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World) is brilliant. One of the main characters is a friend of Newton and Leibniz.
[ 02. June 2013, 16:19: Message edited by: Dafyd ]
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
May I point out that Rosemary Sutcliffe has quite a bit of pre-Roman stuff! There is a a listing in chronological order of her work on Amazon.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Garasu
Shipmate
# 17152
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pine Marten:
I've read a couple of Sister Fidelma stories and didn't mind them, although the small print of the paperbacks didn't help.
They were one of those, "historically, these ought to be interesting. What a shame he can't write" occasions.
Christian Jacq is another...
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"Could I believe in the doctrine without believing in the deity?". - Modesitt, L. E., Jr., 1943- Imager.
Posts: 889 | From: Surrey Heath (England) | Registered: Jun 2012
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Elephenor
Shipmate
# 4026
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Posted
A quick plug for one of my favourite living authors, Anita Mason. Her latest two books were both fictional depictions of major episodes contemporary with the Tudors, but very foreign to them - the Anabaptist rebellion in Münster (Perfection), and Cortés' conquest of Mexico (The Right Hand of the Sun).
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"Man is...a `eucharistic' animal." (Kallistos Ware)
Posts: 214 | From: UK | Registered: Jan 2003
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
They're mysteries, but the Judge Dee series by Van Gulik have held up pretty well for a look at medieval China. The first few are based on traditional Chinese mysteries.
And when you're done with The Tale of Gengi, there's always The Satyricon for a period nove
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Egeria:
... Gedge is the epitome of taste and accuracy compared to the egregious P.C. Doherty ...
He's the same bloke as the Paul Harding/Paul Doherty of the Brother Athelstan books. He's also written several books featuring another medieval sleuth called Hugh Corbett; I read one of them, but couldn't really get into it (I can't remember now which century he came from or what his function was).
I don't know enough about the time of the Brother Athelstan books (early in the reign of Richard II) to make educated gripes about the accuracy, so I just enjoyed them for their entertainment value.
Slight tangent re historical inaccuracy: Trudy mentioned Ken Follett, and we're getting a TV dramatisation of World without End at the moment. In the first episode they had Edward II being buried in the wrong cathedral; there's really no excuse for making mistakes like that. Anyone who watched the abomination that was The Tudors will know what I mean. ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
Sorry. Rant over, and fluffiness restored.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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St. Stephen the Stoned
Shipmate
# 9841
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
...the abomination that was The Tudors ...
It's on again. Watch out for
- cows with plastic ear tags
- concrete bollards by the roadside
- modern handrails in the Tower of London
- opening times and admission prices clearly visible during Anne Boleyn's execution.
(I made the last one up, but you get the idea.)
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Do you want to see Jesus or don't yer? Well shurrup then!
Posts: 518 | From: Sheffield | Registered: Jul 2005
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Lord Jestocost
Shipmate
# 12909
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Posted
Jan Guillou's Knight Templar trilogy trilogy - "The Road to Jerusalem", "The Knight Templar", "The Kingdom at the End of the Road". Guillou created a fictitious character, Arn, who has become a modern-day Swedish folk hero, and by a bit of handwaving becomes the grandfather of the very real Swedish folk hero Birger Jarl. He falls in love and for various reasons has to go off on the crusades for a decade or two. His one true love back in Sweden is exiled to a convent. Their stories are told in parallel, and as well as very well told romance, church politics, intrigue, battles etc we get the events that led to the creation of what is recognisably the modern kingdom of Sweden, out of the various tribes that just happened to be living in that area.
[ 03. June 2013, 08:34: Message edited by: Lord Jestocost ]
Posts: 761 | From: The Instrumentality of Man | Registered: Aug 2007
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Cottontail
Shipmate
# 12234
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Posted
An oldie but goodie: if you like your historical novels to be Romantic with a capital R, then D.K. Broster's The Flight of the Heron (1925) is hard to beat. It's set during the Jacobite Rebellion, and tells the story of a friendship between two noble-hearted men on opposite sides of the conflict. It also goes down as one of the most homoerotic books of all time. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
(There are a couple of sequels too, but in my opinion, not worth the bother.)
At the other end of the romance spectrum (i.e., realistic to the point of stomach-churning horror), you could try Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Spartacus (1933). It is earlier than the version that the film is based on, but is thoroughly well-written by an author who knew his antiquities. But be warned: it is the most distressing and bloody book, and you will never again be able to talk about the Roman 'civilisation'.
[ 03. June 2013, 08:35: Message edited by: Cottontail ]
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"I don't think you ought to read so much theology," said Lord Peter. "It has a brutalizing influence."
Posts: 2377 | From: Scotland | Registered: Jan 2007
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kingsfold
Shipmate
# 1726
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Posted
I've enjoyed a fair number of novels by Elizabeth Chadwick . They've been mostly medieval, set around the time of Henry II.
Posts: 4473 | From: land of the wee midgie | Registered: Nov 2001
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